Category: PAICE ASHTON LORD

Nothing was made public but mysterious adverts appeared in the British music press during July 1976: “British Band Requires British Bass Player and Lead Guitarist for formation of new rock band by three established musicians”. In August 1976 the music papers confirmed Deep Purple’s split and announced that Ian Paice, Tony Ashton and Jon Lord were forming a new band to be known as PAICE ASHTON LORD.
There were 150 applicants for auditioning bassists and guitarists at an old cinema in Fulham. They loved Bernie Marsden for his confidence. He was in a band called Babe Ruth and was recommended by Cozy Powell having worked with him in Cozy Powell’s Hammer. He’d also previously been in UFO. Bass player Paul Martinez had been in a band called Stretch, and perfectly fit.
The album “Malice In Wonderland” was released in 1977 and soon after PAICE ASHTON LORD began touring. Their gig at the Golders Green Hippodrome, London, on the 10th March 1977 was recorded and aired by ‘BBC Radio 1 Live In Concert’. The album was finally official released 1992, but one song was missing.
This remastered edition released as ”Live 1977” includes the previously missing song and sound quality is far superior. Ex-Deep Purple legends Lord & Paice, alongside Paul Martinez, Marsden and Ashton translate the songs very well in the concert situation and it makes for a terrific live album…

After Deep Purple Mark IV split, Jon Lord needed “a band I can have a bloody good time in and feel satisfied musically”. So he called singer/pianist buddy Tony Ashton, with whom he’d made First Of The Big Bands in 1974, and fellow Purple alumni, drummer Ian Paice.
PAICE ASHTON LORD born, but they needed a fine guitarist. Enter the great Bernie Marsden. Their debut LP (and only album) 1977’s “Malice In Wonderland” should have been released as PAICE ASHTON LORD & MARSDEN, right? The combo added a brass section and female backing singers then turned PAICE ASHTON LORD into an awesome swinging blues / rock / fusion hybrid.
Co-produced with legend Martin (The Wasp) Birch, the one thing they didn’t want to end up being was laid-back. And they didn’t. ”Malice in Wonderland” is driving and swinging feel-good British rock at it’s finest.
“It’s like Mad Dogs And Englishmen”, Marsden observed, referring to Joe Cocker’s legendary ensemble, “but more your good old English rock’n’roll”. And he was spot-on. From the belting ‘Ghost Story’, through the Ian Dury-like ‘Arabella’, to Ashton’s ‘I’m Gonna Stop Drinking Again’ – a booze blues gem – the album was loaded with quality.
Paice and Lord decided to call time on the band before they finished the second album, and the two of them eventually joined David Coverdale’s Whitesnake. This finely remastered reissue includes the ‘Another Story’ previously unreleased songs – a pure Classic Rock delight…