Deep Purple California Jam Photo Biography Book!

Only 350 Copies worldwide individually signed by Jon Lord, David Coverdale, Glenn Hughes and Ian Paice

On April 6th 1974 Deep Purple appeared on stage at the California Jam festival at the Ontario Speedway in California.Taking top billing at the all-day event, and with great weather, Deep Purple and the other bands drew a crowd of around 165,000 people. It became the largest single-day paid attendance in U.S. rock concert history.

This astonishing concert is now the subject of a new documentary book, Deep Purple at the California Jam, published in December 2012 by Rufus Stone Limited Editions. Collecting together hundreds of black and white and colour images from a number of photographers who had all area access to the concert (and rehearsals), the large 12" by 12" format presentation allows these images to shine. Many of the photographs have never been seen before and have been fully restored and colour corrected.

The book is available in three editions, from the astonishing Signature Edition, signed by Jon Lord, David Coverdale, Glenn Hughes and Ian Paice to a Vinyl edition and the book on it's own. The total run is just 1000 copies worldwide making this a true collectors presentation, whatever the format. A contribution from the sale of the Signature Edition will be made to Jon Lord's chosen charity. The Signature Edition is going fast... pre-ordering is advised.

The Signature Edition £300 350 copies
This premium edition is numbered and individually signed by the great Jon Lord in June 2012. Subsequently it has also been signed by David Coverdale, Glenn Hughes and Ian Paice. The 288 page hand-bound coffee table book is bound in Purple recycled leather with a silver foil emboss to the front. Printed on 170gsm artpaper, the pages will be hand stitched. The book comes in a recycled leather slipcase and is presented in a beautiful leather style clamshell box with inlaid colour graphic. Alongside this is a heavyweight double vinyl album of the live recording from the concert, together with reproduction back stage passes, poster and certificate of production

The Vinyl Edition £200 150 copies
Presented in a leather slipcase together with the vinyl recordings this edition of the book features a printed cover with foiled emboss.. Individually numbered with a certificate of production.

The Standard Edition £120 500 copies
The book on its own and quarter bound with a photographic cover and supplied in a card slipcase. Individually numbered.

For More details on all the formats of the book please go to the website
http://www.rslimitededitions.com/

Here is the story of the signatures in the Signature Edition obtained by the publisher Mark Smith in late 2012

THE CALIFORNIA JAM SIGNATURES
When Jon Lord agreed to sign our California Jam book earlier this year we were understandably delighted. A date was quickly arranged and in late June I found myself at Jon's house, cup of tea in hand, sat talking to the great man about the California Jam itself, Deep Purple Mark3, early Whitesnake (the most fun he'd ever had in a professional band) and his classical work, including the new Concerto recording. Jon was amazing, passionate about his work and his musical history. He was very interested in the Cal Jam book and wanted to help further. After an hour of talking it was clear he was getting tired, so with carefully signed sheets in hand I bid farewell to Jon and told him I'd be back in touch.
Three weeks later Jon Lord passed away.

To be honest I was unsure of what to do with my signed sheets. We knew Jon was ill when he signed but hoped the end was somewhere much further down the line. I wanted him to see the final product. After a while it occurred to me that it would be great to see if the other band members from that era would also sign the sheets... a reunion of sorts, even if only on paper. So, I got back in touch with Jon's manager and he started to assist. Our commitment would be to make a contribution from the sale of these items to Jon's charity and in return provide something genuinely unique for the fans.

First on board were Ian Paice and Glenn Hughes. Ian signed the sheets at his home shortly before this year's Sunflower Jam. Like Jon he did a cracking job and I'm genuinely grateful to rock's governor drummer. Glenn Hughes responded to my email with a very positive "yes" and we tried to co-ordinate the signing with his recent UK trip, but as things were getting difficult with Black Country Communion this proved difficult. So, Glenn went back to LA and the task was uncompleted.

And then we got an affirmative from David Coverdale. We thought about sending the sheets via Fedex to the West Coast but quickly put the idea to one side. These sheets could not get lost. A trip was quickly arranged (I hate flying, with a vengeance) and both David and Glenn agreed dates to receive and sign the sheets. Within a few days we found ourselves in San Francisco before driving to Lake Tahoe, where I met Michael Mcintyre. Michael was charming and although we had missed David that day the sheets were left with him and we returned the following morning to meet David and collect the signatures. David seemed genuinely interested in the project and was pleased to help, talking about those early Purple days and his memories of Jon Lord.

The car trip down to LA was long but beautiful. The west coast is an astonishing landscape and we managed to take in some great views at Yosemite and the coast road itself. Great fun.
A few days later I found myself at Glenn's house, overlooking LA. Glenn apologised for not getting together in the UK and proceeded to sign the sheets with gusto, talking about that lineup and also about his ongoing "secret" project. Like David he was full of energy and seemed genuinely happy to sign the sheets and be part of the process.

All too quickly it was over... mission accomplished. So now, we have something unique, a major book signed by almost all band members of what was the biggest band in the world, performing at one of the biggest gigs in the world. I couldn't be happier.

Mark Smith
October 2012