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 performing to pursue various unsuccessful business ventures. These included a £300,000 investment in a hotel near Oxford. A second was the Mantis Motor Cycles project, which suffered from the collapse of the British motorcycle industry in the mid-1970s, culminating in Gillan being forced to file for liquidation. A more successful opportunity, however, came with his investment in Kingsway Studios in 1974, This led to a live performance at the Butterfly Ball on 16 October 1974, replacing Ronnie James Dio at the last minute. In 1975, Gillan formed the Ian Gillan Band with guitarist Ray Fenwick, keyboardist Mike Moran, quickly replaced