Amid the ever-growing tide of Deep Purple box sets (this was at least their eighth in nine years), Listen Learn Read On stands alone, not only as the ultimate round-up of the band's greatest moments, but also as the answer to more collectors' dreams than most collectors were even aware they'd had. You want Deep Purple's long-legendary, but forever unavailable BBC sessions? They're here. You want the killer live encores that other albums omitted? They're here. You want a solid introduction to the band members' pre-Purple passages? They're here. And, of course, you want the hits. So they're here as well…
A six-song EP released while fans waited (and waited) for the Gigolo Aunts to follow up Flippin' Out, Learn to Play Guitar features some of the band's finest work. The unforgettable lead track, "Kinda Girl," is guitar-driven power-pop at its best, featuring clever lyrics and infectious hooks, while "Wishing You the Worst" is a resentful and melancholy ballad reminiscent of Grand Prix-era Teenage Fanclub.
Los Angeles jazz, rock and blues jams are frequently heavily infused with latin percussion; Carlos Santana, Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton and Alvin Lee guitar licks; George Duke, Willie Dixon, Berry Oakley and James Johnson bass runs; and horns. Oh yes, the horns. Although they rarely take the lead, they act as point and counter-point. Quick blasts of power followed by torrents of blues guitar licks. When the music slows an Angeleno mestizo Eagles sound a mixture of country, blues, folk and rock - predominates. And, of course, all of it is layered in an often hypnotic blues, country or latin-tinged rhythm punctuated by lead and background vocals. That summarizes The Delgado Brothers and the contents of their September 2009 release, Learn to Fly.
Werner Müller (1920-1998) was an orchestra conductor and popular music arranger during the 1950s and 1960s. In 1946 Müller joined the orchestra of Kurt Widmann, one of the most successful bands in Berlin. In 1949 Müller, age 30, started his musical activities in radio at the RIAS Berlin. He was concertmaster for RIAS radio and of Hans-Georg Arlt Tanzorchesters with 18 radio channels. After almost two decades in Berlin, he moved to Cologne, where he conducted performances of the WDR orchestra on radio and television.
He also contributed numerous albums to London's Phase Four label, the longest-running of the Space Age Bachelor Pad series.