Ian Gillan, Happy 70th Birthday!

Released in 1971  

Earlier today I heard on Absolute Classic Rock Radio that Ian Gillan is celebrating his 70th birthday. So, what’s a girl to do when she finds a spare hour? Record a track for the blog, of course! I’m sorry that it’s such short notice and so this post won’t be up to the standard of the others, but I couldn’t miss an opportunity to record a Deep Purple song - who knows, it could be a while before another anniversary comes up.

Gillan joined Deep Purple in 1969, leaving his then band Episode Six and taking bassist Roger Glover with him. Although his presence has been patchy over the decades (including a year spent as the vocalist for Black Sabbath), the band are still touring regularly, with Gillan up front. As lead singer and lyricist he is mainly responsible for the band’s biggest hits, including Smoke on the Water, Child in Time, Speed King, Black Night and my favourite, Strange Kind of Woman.

It’s only now recording this song that I see its resemblance to an old folk song, a bit like Whiskey In The Jar, for example. It won’t come as a surprise that the original title for the track was Prostitute (well, the hints at Nancy’s profession aren’t subtle, are they?), but actually, this is a love story, with a tragic ending. Gillan has said in interviews that it's a story of a friend, and in other reports that Nancy is an amalgamation of many different women and experiences, but I’ve read some research that this the track is actually written about Gillan himself, who wed a lady before she passed away just three days later.

Enjoy the track, and if you’re near a glass, raise it to Ian, and to Nancy, whoever she may be...