Steve Morse: the Innerviews interview

photo: DiMarzio

Innerviews has an in-depth interview with Steve Morse, Deep Purple's longest serving lead guitarist, who made a name for himself in the jazz-rock niche as a member of the Dixie Dregs. On recording that band's first album, The Great Spectacular in 1976:

The preparation for that album is the part I liked best. We were together as an ensemble and playing—usually for free—somewhere on campus at the University of Miami or around the city of Miami. The recording itself was stark and unpolished. We had to record it in one night after a long day of school and classes. It was done late at night. We were 19-20 years-old. It wasn’t really a studio. They just put the recording equipment in a live concert hall. We were set up in there with headphones. My amp was in an elevator shaft. The violin, Fender Rhodes and bass went direct. The drums were on stage. It was bizarre. We had to trudge upstairs to the very back where the projectionist would be in the movie theater and do the mix there. So, there was nothing great about the sound. But the preparation was the magic. The songs were in a good place because we had come together as a band.

» stevemorse.com