Contractual Obligation #3: Live in St. Petersburg Ian Gillan

• 1Hang Me out to Dry (Live in St. Petersburg)04:08
• 2Pictures of Home (Live in St. Petersburg)05:31
• 3No Lotion for That (Live in St. Petersburg)03:11
• 4Strange Kind of Woman (Live in St. Petersburg)04:57
• 5Razzle Dazzle (Live in St. Petersburg)04:12
• 6A Day Late 'n' a Dollar Short (Live in St. Petersburg)05:08
• 7Lazy (Live in St. Petersburg)10:22
• 8Rapture of the Deep (Live in St. Petersburg)07:58
• 9When a Blind Man Cries (Live in St. Petersburg)05:20
• 10You're Gonna Ruin Me Baby (Live in St. Petersburg)01:16
• 11No More Cane on the Brazos (Live in St. Petersburg)09:02
• 12Difficult to Cure (Beethoven's Ninth) (Live in St. Petersburg)05:30
• 13Anya (Live in St. Petersburg)07:56
• 14Perfect Strangers (Live in St. Petersburg)06:44
• 15Hell to Pay (Live in St. Petersburg)05:13
• 16Demon's Eye (Live in St. Petersburg)04:33
• 17Smoke on the Water (Live in St. Petersburg)07:39
• 18Hush (Live in St. Petersburg)08:35
• 19Black Night (Live in St. Petersburg)07:19
• Total Runtime01:54:34

Info for Contractual Obligation #3: Live in St. Petersburg

Vocalist Ian Gillan, together with Robert Plant, Ozzy Osbourne and a few others, is considered one of the legendary voices that shaped hard rock. Despite his commitment to Deep Purple, the singer has built an impressive solo career. “Contractual Obligation” is a collection of performances during a recent tour through Eastern Europe.

Still fresh from the success of the studio album “NOW What?!”, and just a few months before the release of the latest and equally successful album “inFinite”, Ian Gillan accepted the offer to tour for a month in Eastern Europe with a full rock show, accompanied every night by a different local orchestra.

Gillan decided to recruit the Don Airey Band, which features the guitar talent of Simon McBride.

All shows were truly unique, with Airey and McBride delivering perfect performances night after night. Deep Purple material (including rarities like “Razzle Dazzle” or “Anya”) went hand in hand with Gillan solo songs and surprises for those into the deepest catalogue.

The title is a humorous reference to Ian Gillan’s notorious reticence to pay any attention to his own or Deep Purple live releases (as he explains in the album liner notes). This live album and video might well be one of the nicest chapters in Gillan’s solo production ever and a reminder about how great his solo music and concerts have been over the years.

Ian Gillan, vocals
Simon McBride, guitar
Don Airey, keyboards
Laurence Cottle, bass
Jonny Finnigan, drums
Amanda Somerville, backing vocals
Grace Gillan, backing vocals
Jaques Verhaeren, backing vocals
The Don Airey Band & Orchestra
Steve Bentley-Klein, conductor

Ian Gillan
was born on August 19th 1945 in Hounslow and was brought up in this Middlesex suburb in an atmosphere where musical endeavour was highly regarded. He was introduced to rock and roll by Elvis Presley's 'Heartbreak Hotel' and at 16 decided to form a group, The Moonshiners. A few weeks later he was poached by The Javelins. It was October 1962, and Ian jacked school in mid-term.

Ian took the stage name Jess Gillan or Jess Thunder, and The Javelins worked hard for two years semi-pro until December 1964 when Gillan was again head-hunted, by Wainwrights Gentlemen, a soul big-band. He only stayed a few months and was invited to join Episode Six in early summer 1965. Episode Six's career was long and busy. They gigged continuously for four years and issued singles for Pye and others. In the band Gillan met founder member Roger Glover, while Mick Underwood later joined on drums. The group were highly thought of but never had any serious chart success in the UK and by early 1969 were hard up. Drummer Mick Underwood mentioned Ian to his old mate Ritchie Blackmore, looking for a singer to front Deep Purple, and Gillan got the job.

He devoted himself to Deep Purple for four years, with only a session on Jesus Christ Superstar, some production work for Jerusalem and others, and a few solo ideas breaking his concentration.

When he left in Deep Purple 1973, it was to start a number of business ventures - a recording studio (Kingsway), a delux Hotel (The Springs), and a motorbike engine company. It wasn't until 1974 that he began developing ideas which eventually became The Ian Gillan Band in 1975, which after two years doing jazz-rock changed line-up and became simply Gillan, employing a more direct rock direcion. They enjoyed European success, with hit singles and albums, before running out of steam in 1982.

With the possibility of a Deep Purple reunion under discussion, Ian Gillan accepted an invitation to join Black Sabbath for a year, recording one album with them, and leaving just before the reunion became fact in 1984. Ian left Deep Purple again in 1989, after two studio albums and a joint solo-album with Roger Glover. He then recorded a solo album, put together a new version of Gillan for one album, and toured extensively before rejoining Deep Purple in 1992.

This album contains no booklet.