''Last Concert in Japan'' is an album by

Deep Purple Deep Purple are an English rock band formed in London in 1968. They are considered to be among the pioneers of heavy metal music, heavy metal and modern hard rock music, but their musical style has changed over the course of its existence. Ori ...

released in March 1977 in Japan and in 1978 in Europe. Dedicated to

Tommy Bolin Thomas Richard Bolin (August 1, 1951 – December 4, 1976) was an American guitarist and songwriter who played with Zephyr (from 1969 to 1971), The James Gang (from 1973 to 1974), and Deep Purple (from 1975 to 1976), in addition to maintaining a ...

, it records the last Japanese concert of the Mark IV-lineup that included Bolin. It was recorded on 15 December 1975 at the Tokyo

Budokan The , often shortened to simply Budokan, is an indoor arena located in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. It was originally built for the inaugural Olympic judo competition in the 1964 Summer Olympics. While its primary purpose is to host martial arts ...

and achieved gold certification in Japan.

Background

The performance drew 14,000 people, an attendance record for the Budokan Hall. Parts of the concert were also recorded on 16mm film and included in the video '' Rises Over Japan'', released in Japan in 1985. The recording was substantially edited to fit a single LP. The complete concert was remastered and restored for '' This Time Around: Live in Tokyo'', released in 2001. In addition to including a large portion of the set omitted from the original release, the 2001 re-release restored the show's original sound quality, which was compromised when a hurriedly mastered audio track meant for a potential video release was used to hasten the original release. The album's original cover incorrectly stated that it included a live version of "Woman from Tokyo", when it included only a short jam on its main riff, performed during Jon Lord's organ solo. This displeased Deep Purple fans, who assumed the misinformation would boost sales. In a 1995 interview, Glenn Hughes called ''Last Concert in Japan'' an "awful record". He said it "should never have been released" because "Tommy couldn't play", as Bolin had taken drugs the night before and fallen asleep on his left arm for eight hours.Deep Purple – Rock Family Trees – 1995
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Track listing

Personnel

;Deep Purple * Jon Lord –

keyboards Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Musi ...

Hammond organ The Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond and John M. Hanert and first manufactured in 1935. Multiple models have been produced, most of which use sliding drawbars to vary sounds. Until 1975, Hammond organs generated s ...

backing vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are use ...

* Ian Paice –

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Exc ...

David Coverdale David Coverdale (born 22 September 1951) is an English singer who is best known as the lead vocalist of Whitesnake, a hard rock band he founded in 1978. Before Whitesnake, Coverdale was the lead singer of Deep Purple from 1973 to 1976, after wh ...

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lead vocals The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of t ...

Glenn Hughes Glenn Hughes or Glen Hughes may refer to: *Glenn Hughes (musician), born 1951 *Glenn Hughes (American singer) (1950–2001) *Glenn Hughes (cricketer), born 1959 *Glen Hughes Glen Hughes is an Australian former professional rugby league footbal ...

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bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in the bass range: ** Bass (instrument), including: ** Acoustic bass gui ...

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

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guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

, lead vocals on "Wild Dogs" ;Additional Personnel *Produced by Deep Purple and Martin Birch *Engineered by Martin Birch *Assistant engineer: Shigeo Matsumoto

Charts

Certifications

References

{{Authority control Albums produced by Martin Birch 1977 live albums Deep Purple live albums Purple Records live albums Warner Records live albums