During the early seventies the rock duo Hardin & York supported Deep Purple on a number of shows in Europe. On occasions drummers Pete York and Ian Paice came on stage together to perform a special instrumental "drum battle".

Pete later formed The Pete York Percussion Band, recording and releaseing a rare album for Decca in 1972, before he rejoined The Spencer Davis Group in 1973. From time to time he would still get together with his old mates and play live as The Pete York Percussion Band, and in July 1974 he did a few shows in Europe. For these gigs he assembled a group comprising himself and Ian Paice on drums, Ray Fenwick on guitar, Charlie McCracken on bass and Jon Lord on keyboards, along with extra percussion, a brass section, and players from a British band called Yipee.

During the course of the evening, the music ranged from rhythm and blues, through jazz, rock and often all three styles blended together. The experiment was never repeated, but one of the gigs was recorded by Pete. This unique show captures for the first time the York/Paice drum battle on the lengthy track "Extension 345", along with further numbers from his Decca album and some covers, including the old Spencer Davis classic "Gimme Some Lovin'".

This is the first official release anywhere of this rare recording. Pete York has recently been involved with the release of his German Superdrumming series on DVD (which to date has sold over 25,000 copies), has worked on the new Jon Lord solo album, and is soon to be touring himself with a big band covering material from his entire career to date.

The Pete York Percussion Band / Extension 345 can be ordered from the dpas online store.

purple records catalogue