[Dave88]

Just found this on Facebook. Never heard of this band before.

https://www.facebook.com/officialheavenandearth

Edit: a couple pics from the recording sessions
https://twitter.com/HeavenEarthBand/...796224/photo/1
https://www.facebook.com/richiesambo...18464798285889

[Avantasian]

Cool, he once did a killer version of When a blind man cries on their first album back in 1998. I've got that one and it's pretty good. Heaven and Earth is actually kind of a solo project by guitarist Stuart Smith, whose style is pretty similar to Ritchie Blackmore's. So the music can be described best as classic rock in the style of Deep Purple and Rainbow I think.

[CKatz]

Fun fact: Stuart Smith used to be Richie's brother-in-law....used to be married to one of Heather's older sisters. That's how they became friends.

[RS8MB0R8]

So there's talkbox in his track then.

[Simon]

Originally Posted by Avantasian

Cool, he once did a killer version of When a blind man cries on their first album back in 1998. I've got that one and it's pretty good. Heaven and Earth is actually kind of a solo project by guitarist Stuart Smith, whose style is pretty similar to Ritchie Blackmore's. So the music can be described best as classic rock in the style of Deep Purple and Rainbow I think.

Yeah, that version is pretty good. And it always made me wanna check out more of their stuff...

[WildBilly]

Heaven and who?? That cover photo on their Facebook page is truly something else, isn't it? Robert Downey Jr. with a poodle perm wig in the middle right there.

[Rumen]

"I love him to death," Smith says of former brother-in-law Richie Sambora (left). "He's the nicest guy."



Richie Sambora plays on the song Man & Machine. How do you know Richie?

"Yeah, he's on that track. Actually, Richie was my brother-in-law. I was married to Collean Locklear, and of course, Richie was married to Heather. On the first album, I called him up and said, 'Hey, I don't want you to do this as a favor because you're my brother-in-law, but I have this solo deal, and I'd love for you to sing on a couple of tracks, 'cause I love your voice.'

"Richie was so excited – 'Oh, my God! Nobody ever asks me to sing. They only want me to play guitar.' And as you know, he's got a lovely voice. We did a version of Deep Purple's When A Blind Man Cries. Richie sang on it, and he was absolutely superb. The fans loved it. Having Richie on it brought a lot to the table, and he did play guitar, as well, on that and another one of the tracks.

"So we've been good friends and have stayed in touch even though we're both divorced from our wives now. Richie was down at EastWest Studios in Los Angeles, working on his solo album. What happened was, I needed an SG. My producer said, 'We should have an SG on this song,' but I didn't have one. So I called Richie, knowing that he'd have one, and he said, 'Yeah, I've got an SG. Come on over, and you can borrow it.' So I went to the studio, and we hung out. While I was there, we both signed a Strat that was to be auctioned off. It ended up on the internet, and fans kept saying, 'Oh, my God! Are you two going to collaborate?' The reaction was incredible.

"I called him up and asked him if he wanted to do a track on the new album, and he said that he'd love to. We were going to do it at EastWest, but there was a glitch with the studio, and then Richie got busy. He was out promoting his solo record, and then he was doing dates with Bon Jovi. On his one day off, he came in and spent six hours working on the track. So I love him to death. He's the nicest guy. If it were me, I would've said, 'It's my one day off, I just can't.' Very gracious of him."