Butterfly Ball Live

  • David..
    Great clip, man! You can tell that at least Glenns vocal is live..other parts I'm not so sure about..the audience reaction sounds canned..But Glenn,Oh..nearly always his live delivery is much more raw/soulful/with more"Glennisms"..
    Thanks again from the Dallas-based Musician/Glenn-freaks!!
    (Where do you get this stuff?)
    billy :cool:

  • this bootleg is taken from the movie "butterfly ball"
    it was from english tv, so the audience is a little strange.
    exist also the movie in italian linguage.
    the narration voice was from the master of horror vincent price.

    roberto :eek:

    ***

  • Music Video Distributors and Film Chest have announced the home viewing release of "The Butterfly Ball" for North American distribution on DVD.

    In 1973, Jonathan Cape Ltd. published a children's book called "The Butterfly Ball and Grasshopper's Feast". It contained a collection of poems by William Plomer, lavishly and intricately illustrated with 28 color plates by Alan Aldridge, an artist who had produced THE BEATLES Illustrated Lyrics. The inspiration for the work came from a poem "The Butterfly Ball and Grasshoppers Feast" by William Roscoe published in November 1806.

    The book then prompted this jubilant live production of "The Butterfly Ball" that took place at the Royal Albert Hall on October 16, 1975. It was produced and directed by Tony Klinger, who later produced the critically acclaimed story of THE WHO, "The Kids are Alright". This performance of "The Butterfly Ball", magically narrated by Vincent Price, was a benefit for Bud Flanagan's Leukemia Fund and Action Research for the Crippled Child. Roger Glover, who at the time had just departed from DEEP PURPLE and was embarking on a career in producing music, was able to get most of the artists who had taken part in the studio recordings to perform.

    Featuring:

    Ian Gillan
    Twiggy
    Tony Ashton
    Helen Chapelle
    David Coverdale
    John Gustafson
    Eddie Hardin
    Glenn Hughes
    Earl Jordan
    Judi Kuhl
    Neil Lancaster
    John Lawton
    Mickey Lee Soule
    Al Matthews
    Barry St. John
    Liza Strike
    John Lord

    "The Butterfly Ball" is scheduled for release on March 14.

  • No mention of Dio - did he not participate in the live concert, or is this just an oversight? From http://www.blabbermouth.net/

  • No,that's correct. Gillan took Dio's place (his first live appearance since leaving Purple). Dio was too busy with Rainbow (or was blocked from doing it by Ritchie, is the other story).

    cheers
    John

  • another dream come true release for me - I have waited a long time for this!!!!!
    :bouncer: :bouncer: :bouncer:

    See, I'm a big Vincent Price fan too.... :cool:

    Cheers,
    Christian


    MEDUSA

        

  • I have it on vhs black & white copy bad quality the show is not so good many breaks between songs but is interesting for every purple fan This is the Gillan comeback on stage it must be on Mark IV days, Lord & Ashton , Ray Fenwick I love these oldies I would love to have also the Coverdale song and the Gillan song on mp3 or mpeg Another rare and unusual gig was about a year earlier I talk about the Lord's Windows any memorabilia ? I want to thank specialy David for all the rare videos HughesThrall 1982 MTV1994

  • Earlier in the month Deep-Purple.net had posted these news concerning the Butterfly Ball DVD release...

    Quote

    We have had a lot of requests for information on an advertised release in America only of The Butterfly Ball on DVD. We have not posted any details because we were not sure that all necessary permissions had been granted for this, and we have now been advised that there are problems which may well lead to it being cancelled. More news as we get it.

    ...but amazon have posted my copy yesterday, so it seems that it has now been released!

    Has anybody else ordered it?

    Later,
    Christian


    MEDUSA

        

  • I was also notified yesterday that mine was shipped so we'll see what turns up in the mailbox. I don't have this in any form other than CD so it should be interesting nevertheless.

    Brian

  • Interesting reading over at rogerglover.com regarding this new DVD release....

  • The Butterfly Ball DVD arrived yesterday and I watched it, er, more like suffered through it. Roger Glover's recent comments ring true. I'll highlight some points below:

    1. Packaging: There was no attempt to repackage or embellish the original film which has a no-frills air about it. Surprisingly, Glenn Hughes (not Glover!) appears on the DVD spine and the same photo is also on the disc. Really amateurish.

    2. On the menu, there is a Chapter Selection option which, perhaps fittingly, does not work.

    3. Performance-wise, the musicians/singers are all interesting but the original film itself is such a mess. For example: You get a few seconds of a bushy-haired Glenn Hughes singing Get Ready and then you are subjected to the irrelevant and ultra-boring ballet-dancing of some unattractive couple. This is the opening segment and I was already yawning and looking to move on to the next track! This goes on for what seems like an eternity before they flip back to GH just as the song ends. On many of the songs there are strange segments of people in horrific animal costumes running around in what has to be some of the cheapest-looking footage I've ever seen, even by low-budget B-movie standards. The same treatment affects both John Lawton's and Ian Gillan's performances, which otherwise, would've been superb. Now, from the moment I heard the album, my favorite song on it was Behind the Smile. I always thought it was too short and deserved to be expanded on at some point. Well, the band puts in a superb extended section to this song and it turns into a really funky and exciting jam. David Coverdale turns in a great performance and, finally, you can see most of it! They do flip back and forth to an exotic Asian dancer in some provocative dance but at least here it is brief and she is moderately attractive. Of course, the film balls things up badly by curiously putting masks on her by the end of the song! The only other odd moment is Johnny Gusafson's performance which is just, er, odd. He looks so uncomfortable or maybe he was just drunk.

    I can't tell if the the filmmakers were trying to be artsy or not but the film just ended up being cheap and brain-less. The director should never have worked again! The DVD release offers nothing remotely worthwhile other than for collectors (like me!) needing 3-second snippets of their favorite singer. With such stellar talent on stage, one would think the treatment would have fared better. Now, if you're into people dressed in cheap animal costumes or bad ballet dancing, this film is for you!

    Sorry Roger, you're a great guy and a talented musician and you deserve so much better than this...

    Brian :confused:

  • So how did Roger Glover or anybody else at Deep Purple release this thing if it's in such bad shape??????????????????????

  • The way things turned out, it was broadcast once (low-key) and then sent straight to the vaults. The blame or credit for the occasional resurgence of this film sits firmly in the hands of the filmmakers or whomever owns the rights, I guess. If it were up to Roger Glover, he'd probably take the master reels and bury it in the deepest, darkest moors of Britain, never to be seen again. Its a shame because apparently it was a terrific concert with an unbelievable cast and, as I said before, Roger is a really great guy. He is obviously embarrassed every time this thing is reissued.

    Brian

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