Ian Gillan and disliked live albums in general. He tended to go into the studio after the rest of the band had recorded and finished the backing tracks, particularly for "Who Do We Think We Are", to lay down his vocals separately. He had been continually at loggerheads with Blackmore, disagreeing about music regularly, which culminated in Gillan writing "Smooth Dancer" about him. While on tour in Dayton, Ohio, he sat down and wrote a resignation letter to the band's managers, stating he intended to leave the band, effective from 30 June 1973. After his departure from Deep Purple, Gillan retired from
Ian Gillan with Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber, he recorded his entire vocal contributions in three hours. He was subsequently offered the lead role in the 1973 film adaptation. Gillan demanded to not only be paid £250,000 for his role in the movie, but also insisted, without the consent of his manager, that the entire band be paid because filming would conflict with a scheduled tour. The producers declined, instead casting Ted Neeley in the Jesus role, and Gillan continued on in the band. After 1971, particularly after the release of "Fireball", Gillan started to become disillusioned with the workload of the