Paice Ashton Lord “Malice in Wonderland”

I had no idea this record (or band existed) but when I saw the awkward band name (Paice Ashton Lord) Deep Purple (Jon Lord and Ian Paice) naturally popped into my mind—and you can’t beat a title like “Malice in Wonderland” (though, not so the creepy album cover). As a title song, however, excellent song, one of the better ones here—that organ! A lot of the record, though, is pretty straightforward 1977 rock’n’roll, so not really my thing—but neither was Deep Purple (a few years ago I bought a nostalgic copy of “Burn” but couldn’t return to it)—I wasn’t exactly aware that Deep Purple broke up in 1976. If you’re a Purple completist, however, you gotta have this. The band is, as you’d expect, excellent—I mean, Ian Paice, drums. And especially when they stretch a bit funk-wise. One particularly hot number, the hilarious “Silas & Jerome” is kind of a parody of inappropriate relationship fun. Nice guitar solo, too. The group lasted only one record—maybe that band name didn’t help—three last names. Compare that, I mean the name, to Ritchie Blackmore’s Rainbow, which is at least colorful. Maybe they should have been called Ian and the Paice-makers, or Ashton to Ashes, or The Year of Jon Lord, or The Unrepentant Tosspots. Just a few of the ideas me and mates come up with, sittin’ ’round the pub comin’ up with band name ideas, y’ see. I believe Tony Ashton did most of the singing here, and he’s great. The excellent backup singers (Sheila and Jeanette McKinley) I could do with more of. The rock’n’roll-style horns, less of, though the solo on “Arabella” is quite nice. The “Sneaky Private Lee” chorus is an excuse to recite some American city names: “Milwaukee, LA, Detroit,” etc., ending in “downtown Orleans.” Orleans? “I’m Gonna Stop Drinking” is the most fascinating one here, a drunken blues ballad that starts out so grim you think, this has to end with, perhaps a good woman standing by while he’s in rehab, maybe an AA success story, or the embrace of Jesus (with the Hammond), or maybe a sad, untimely death (with the Hammond). But no! It ends with “I’m gonna stop drinking… (extended ellipsis) SOME DAY.” Nothing triumphant about it at all, perhaps a bit melancholy, but matter-of-fact—kind of the ultimate ode to the joys of alcoholism!

11.6.26