|
Deep Purple -The Loudest Band From UK
Deep
Purple
1969,
Jon
Lord,
Ian
Paice,
Ian
Gillan,
Ritchie
Blackmore
and
Roger
Glover.
Background
information
Origin
England
London,
England
Genre(s)Hard
rock
Heavy
metal
Years
active:1968–1976;
1984–Present
Label(s):Edel
Associated
acts
Rainbow,
Whitesnake,
Gillan,
Blackmore's
Night,
Tommy
Bolin,
Episode
Six,
Screaming
Lord
Sutch
Website:deep-purple.com
Members
Ian
Gillan
Steve
Morse
Roger
Glover
Don
Airey
Ian
Paice
Former
members
Ritchie
Blackmore
Jon
Lord
David
Coverdale
Glenn
Hughes
Rod
Evans
Tommy
Bolin
(deceased)
Joe
Lynn
Turner
Joe
Satriani
Nick
Simper
Deep
Purple
are
an
English
hard
rock
band
formed
in
London,
England
in
1968
(see
1968
in
music).
Along
with
Led
Zeppelin
and
Black
Sabbath,
they
are
considered
to
be
one
of
the
pioneer
contributors
to
the
heavy
metal
and
the
hard
rock
genres.
(1964–1967)
Pre-Deep
Purple
years
The
band
Episode
Six
released
several
singles
in
the
UK
during
the
mid-sixties.
It
featured
Ian
Gillan
on
vocals,
Graham
Dimmock
on
guitar,
Roger
Glover
on
bass,
Tony
Lander
on
guitar,
Sheila
Carter
on
keyboards,
and
Harvey
Shields
on
the
drums.
Despite
extensive
touring,
they
never
had
their
big
break.
In
1967,
a
band
called
The
Flower
Pot
Men
and
their
Garden
was
formed,
formerly
known
as
The
Ivy
League.
It
was
concentrated
on
a
trio
of
singers.
The
new
name
was
clearly
derived
from
the
children's
show
The
Flowerpot
Men,
with
the
obvious
psychedelic-era
puns
on
flower
power
and
"pot".
The
band's
most
popular
song
was
"Let's
Go
To
San
Francisco."
Some
listeners
assumed
that
the
song
was
a
parody
of
Scott
McKenzie's
"If
You're
Going
to
San
Francisco,"
but
the
band
has
denied
this.
It
featured
Tony
Burrows,
Neil
Landon,
Robin
Shaw,
and
Pete
Nelson
on
vocals,
Ged
Peck
on
guitar,
Nick
Simper
on
bass,
Jon
Lord
on
organ,
and
Carlo
Little
on
drums.
Jon
Lord
had
formerly
played
in
The
Artwoods,
Nick
Simper
had
been
with
Johnny
Kidd
&
The
Pirates
and
Screaming
Lord
Sutch's
The
Savages,
where
he
also
played
with
guitarist
Ritchie
Blackmore.
In
1967,
former
Searchers
drummer
Chris
Curtis
contacted
London
businessman
Tony
Edwards
in
the
hope
that
he
would
manage
a
new
group
he
was
putting
together.
Curtis'
idea
was
that
the
members
of
the
group
would
get
on
and
off
a
musical
roundabout,
and
suitably
impressed,
Edwards
agreed
to
finance
the
venture
with
two
business
partners:
John
Coletta
and
Ron
Hire
(Hire-Edwards-Coletta
–
HEC
Enterprises).
Curtis
then
set
about
building
up
the
group,
to
be
known
as
Roundabout.
His
first
encounter
was
with
Hammond
organ
player
Jon
Lord;
then
he
persuaded
session
guitarist
Ritchie
Blackmore
to
return
from
Hamburg,
Germany,
to
audition
for
the
new
group.
Curtis
himself,
however,
soon
dropped
out,
but
HEC
Enterprises,
as
well
as
Lord
and
Blackmore,
were
keen
that
the
project
should
continue,
so
firstly
bassist
Nick
Simper,
then
finally
vocalist
Rod
Evans
and
drummer
Ian
Paice
(both
of
whom
were
from
the
group
The
Maze),
were
recruited.
After
their
first
few
gigs
on
a
brief
tour
of
Denmark
in
the
spring
of
1968,
the
band
agreed
on
a
new
name
suggested
by
Ritchie,
taken
from
a
song
composed
by
Peter
De
Rose,
Deep
Purple
which
was
his
grandmother's
favourite
song.
In
October
1968,
the
group
had
tremendous
success
in
the
US
(but
not
the
UK)
with
a
cover
of
Joe
South's
"Hush,"
taken
from
their
debut
album
Shades
of
Deep
Purple,
and
they
were
booked
to
support
Cream
on
their
Goodbye
tour.
However
they
were
soon
kicked
off
the
tour,
allegedly
because
they
were
upstaging
the
headlining
act.
The
band's
second
album,
The
Book
of
Taliesyn,
was
released
in
the
United
States
to
coincide
with
this
tour,
although
it
would
not
be
released
in
their
home
country
until
the
following
year.
1969
saw
the
release
of
their
third
album,
Deep
Purple,
which
contained
strings
and
woodwind
on
one
track
(April).
After
these
three
albums
and
extensive
touring
in
the
States,
Rod
Evans
and
Nick
Simper
were
unceremoniously
sacked,
and
replaced
by
vocalist
Ian
Gillan
and
bassist
Roger
Glover
both
ex-Episode
Six.
This
would
create
the
quintessential
Deep
Purple
"Mark
2"
lineup.
Initially,
this
version
of
the
band
released
a
great
single
probably
influenced
by
the
then-popular
stage
musical
"Hair",
a
cover
of
a
Greenaway-Cook
tune
titled
"Hallelujah",
which
flopped.
The
band
gained
some
much-needed
publicity
with
the
Concerto
for
Group
and
Orchestra,
a
three-movement
epic
composed
by
Lord
as
a
solo
project
and
performed
by
the
band
at
the
Royal
Albert
Hall
with
the
Royal
Philharmonic
Orchestra,
conducted
by
Malcolm
Arnold.
Together
with
Five
Bridges
by
The
Nice,
it
was
one
of
the
first
collaborations
between
a
rock
band
and
an
orchestra,
although
at
the
time,
certain
members
of
Purple
(Blackmore
and
Gillan
especially)
were
less
than
happy
at
the
group
being
tagged
as
"a
group
who
played
with
orchestras"
when
actually
what
they
had
in
mind
was
to
develop
the
band
into
a
much
tighter,
hard-rocking
style.
[edit]
(1970–1976)
At
top
of
the
world
and
breakup
Shortly
after
the
orchestral
release,
the
band
began
a
hectic
touring
and
recording
schedule
that
was
to
see
little
respite
for
the
next
three
years.
Their
first
studio
album
of
this
period,
released
in
mid-1970,
was
In
Rock
and
contained
the
then
concert
staples
"Speed
King",
"Into
The
Fire",
and
"Child
in
Time".
The
band
also
issued
the
UK
Top
Ten
single
"Black
Night".
Blackmore's
and
Lord's
guitar-keyboard
interplay
coupled
with
Ian
Gillan's
howling
vocals
and
the
solid
rhythm
section
of
Glover
and
Paice,
now
started
to
take
on
a
unique
identity
and
become
instantly
recognizable
to
rock
fans
throughtout
Europe.
A
second
album,
the
slightly
more
mellow
and
progressive
Fireball
(a
favourite
of
Gillan's
but
not
of
Blackmore's),
was
issued
in
the
summer
of
1971,
including
a
number
of
enduring
tracks
such
as
"Fireball",
"Demon's
Eye",
"Fools",
and
"No
One
Came".
The
band
also
scored
another
UK
chart
hit
with
"Strange
Kind
Of
Woman".
Together
with
Led
Zeppelin
and
Black
Sabbath,
Purple
were
laying
the
groundwork
for
what
is
now
called
heavy
metal
music,
although
at
the
time,
the
phrase
was
still
wholly
unknown.
Within
weeks
of
Fireball's
release,
the
band
was
already
performing
songs
planned
for
the
next
album.
One
song
(which
later
became
Highway
Star)
was
performed
at
the
first
gig
of
the
Fireball
tour,
having
been
written
on
the
bus
to
the
show
in
answer
to
a
journalist's
question:
"How
do
you
go
about
writing
songs?"
Three
months
later,
in
December
1971,
the
band
found
itself
in
Switzerland
to
record
Machine
Head.
The
album
was
due
to
be
recorded
at
a
casino
in
Montreux,
using
the
Rolling
Stones
Mobile
Studio,
but
after
a
supposedly
accidental
fire
during
a
Frank
Zappa
and
the
Mothers
of
Invention
gig
burned
down
the
casino
the
album
was
actually
recorded
at
the
nearby
Grand
Hotel,
empty
for
the
winter.
This
incident
famously
inspiring
the
song
"Smoke
on
the
Water".
Gillan
believes
that
he
witnessed
a
man
fire
a
flare
gun
into
the
ceiling
during
the
concert,
prompting
Zappa
to
comment:
"I
see
Arthur
Brown
is
here
tonight."
Continuing
from
where
both
previous
albums
left
off,
Machine
Head
has
since
become
one
the
band's
most
famous
albums,
including
tracks
like
"Highway
Star",
"Space
Truckin'",
"Lazy",
"Pictures
Of
Home",
and
"Smoke
on
the
Water".
Deep
Purple
continued
to
tour
and
record
at
a
rate
that
would
be
rare
thirty
years
on:
when
Machine
Head
was
recorded,
the
group
had
only
been
together
three
and
a
half
years,
yet
it
was
their
seventh
LP.
Meanwhile
the
band
undertook
four
US
tours
in
1972,
not
to
mention
the
August
tour
of
Japan
that
led
to
a
double-vinyl
live
release,
Made
in
Japan.
This
remains
one
of
rock
music's
most
popular
and
highest
selling
live
concert
recordings
(although
at
the
time
it
was
perhaps
seen
as
less
important,
as
only
Glover
and
Paice
turned
up
to
mix
it).
The
classic
Purple
Mk
2
line-up
continued
to
work
hard
and
record
into
1973,
releasing
the
album
Who
Do
We
Think
We
Are
(1973),
featuring
the
hit
single
"Woman
from
Tokyo",
as
well
as
"Mary
Long",
"Smooth
Dancer",
and
"Rat
Bat
Blue",
but
tensions
and
exhaustion
were
more
noticeable
than
ever.
The
bad
feelings
culminated
in
Ian
Gillan
quitting
the
band
after
their
second
tour
of
Japan
in
the
summer
of
1973,
and
Roger
Glover
being
pushed
out
with
him.
Their
replacements
were
an
unknown
singer
from
Redcar
in
Northern
England,
David
Coverdale,
and
Midlands
bassist/vocalist
Glenn
Hughes,
formerly
of
Trapeze.
This
new
line-up
continued
into
1974
with
the
a
more
heavy
blues-rock
album
Burn,
another
highly
successful
release,
which
contained
the
concert
staples
"Might
Just
Take
Your
Life",
"You
Fool
No
One",
and
"Mistreated".
Hughes
and
Coverdale
added
both
harmonies
and
a
more
funky
R&B/soul
element
to
the
band's
music,
a
sound
that
was
even
more
apparent
on
the
late
1974
release
Stormbringer.
Besides
the
title
track,
the
album
had
a
number
of
songs
that
received
much
radio
play,
such
as
"Lady
Double
Dealer",
"The
Gypsy",
and
"Soldier
Of
Fortune".
Yet
Blackmore
was
not
happy
with
the
results,
and
as
a
result
left
the
band
in
1975
to
form
his
own
band
with
Ronnie
James
Dio
and
Elf,
called
Rainbow.
With
Blackmore's
departure,
Deep
Purple
was
left
to
fill
one
of
the
biggest
vacancies
in
rock
music.
In
spite
of
this,
the
rest
of
the
band
refused
to
go
down
without
a
fight,
and
to
the
surprise
of
many
long-time
fans
actually
announced
a
replacement
for
the
"irreplaceable"
Man
in
Black;
American
Tommy
Bolin.
It
was
Coverdale
who
had
suggested
auditioning
Bolin.
"He
walked
in,
thin
as
a
rake,
his
hair
colored
green,
yellow,
and
blue
with
feathers
in
it.
Slinking
along
beside
him
was
this
stunning
Hawaiian
girl
in
a
crochet
dress
with
nothing
on
underneath.
He
plugged
into
four
Marshall
100-watt
stacks
and
.
.
."
The
job
was
his.
Bolin
had
been
a
member
of
many
now-forgotten
mid-60s
bands
-
Denny
&
The
Triumphs,
American
Standard,
and
Zephyr,
which
released
three
albums
from
'69-72.
Before
Purple,
Bolin's
best-known
recordings
were
made
as
a
gun-for-hire
on
Billy
Cobham's
1973
jazz
fusion
album,
Spectrum,
and
on
The
James
Gang's
"Bang"
(1973)
and
"Miami"
(1974).
He
had
also
jammed
with
such
luminaries
as
Dr.
John,
Albert
King,
and
Alphonse
Mouzon
and
was
busy
working
on
his
first
solo
album,
Teaser,
when
he
accepted
the
invitation
to
join
Deep
Purple.
The
resulting
album,
Come
Taste
the
Band,
was
released
in
the
US
in
October
1975.
Despite
mixed
reviews,
the
collection
revitalized
the
band
once
again,
bringing
a
new,
extreme
funk
edge
to
their
hard
rock
sound,
which
contained
the
concert
staples
"Gettin'
Tighter",
"You
Keep
On
Moving",
and
"Drifter".
Bolin's
influence
was
crucial,
and
with
encouragement
from
Glenn
Hughes
and
David
Coverdale,
the
guitarist
came
up
with
much
of
the
material.
Later,
Bolin's
personal
problems
with
drugs
began
to
manifest
themselves,
and
after
problems
with
cancelled
shows
and
below-par
concert
performances,
the
writing
was
on
the
wall
for
the
band.
(1976–1984)
Band
split
and
side
projects
The
end
came
on
tour
in
Britain
in
March
1976
at
the
Liverpool
Empire
Theatre.
David
Coverdale
reportedly
walked
off
in
tears
and
handed
in
his
resignation,
to
which
he
was
allegedly
told
there
was
no
band
left
to
quit.
The
decision
to
pull
the
plug
on
Purple
had
been
made
some
time
before
the
last
show
by
Lord
and
Paice
(the
last
surviving
original
members),
who
hadn't
told
anyone
else.
The
break-up
was
finally
made
public
in
July
1976.
Later,
Bolin
had
just
finished
recording
his
second
solo
album,
Private
Eyes,
when,
on
December
4,
1976,
tragedy
struck.
In
Miami,
during
a
tour
supporting
Jeff
Beck,
Bolin
was
found
unconscious
by
his
girlfriend.
Unable
to
wake
him,
she
hurriedly
called
paramedics,
but
it
was
too
late.
The
official
cause
of
death:
multiple-drug
intoxication.
He
was
25
years
old.
After
the
break-up
most
of
the
past
and
present
members
of
Deep
Purple
went
on
to
have
considerable
success
in
a
number
of
other
bands,
including
Rainbow,
Whitesnake,
Black
Sabbath
and
Gillan.
There
were,
however,
a
number
of
promoter-led
attempts
to
get
the
band
to
reform,
especially
with
the
revival
of
the
hard
rock
market
in
the
late
70s/early
80s.
(1984–1994)
Reunions
and
breakups
In
1980,
Rod
Evans,
along
with
a
group
of
unknown
musicians,
toured
under
the
banner
of
Deep
Purple.
As
he
was
the
only
original
member,
and
one
little
known
to
most
fans,
this
band
was
instantly
derided
by
press
and
fans
as
a
fraud.
The
lineup
performed
concerts
in
Mexico
and
the
USA
before
legal
action
was
taken
to
deny
them
the
use
of
the
name.
In
retrospect,
however
tenuous
the
connection
this
band
had
to
the
name
"Deep
Purple",
it
at
least
kept
the
name
alive
and
in
the
media,
albeit
briefly.
More
information
on
this
"fake"
Deep
Purple
is
available
here
and
here.
However,
in
April
1984,
eight
years
after
the
demise
of
Deep
Purple,
a
full-scale
(and
legal)
reunion
happened.
It
was
announced
on
BBC
radio's
The
Friday
Rock
Show
that
the
"classic"
early
70s
line-up
of
Blackmore,
Gillan,
Glover,
Lord,
and
Paice
was
reforming
and
recording
new
material.
The
band
signed
a
deal
with
Polydor
in
Europe
and
Mercury
in
North
America.
The
album
Perfect
Strangers
was
released
in
October
1984.
A
solid
release,
it
sold
extremely
well,
and
included
"Knockin'
At
Your
Back
Door",
"Under
The
Gun",
"Gypsy's
Kiss",
and
the
concert
staple
"Perfect
Strangers"
-
a
track
that
owed
more
than
a
little
to
Led
Zeppelin's
"Kashmir".
The
reunion
tour
followed,
starting
in
Australia
and
wending
its
way
across
the
world
into
Europe
by
the
following
summer.
Financially,
the
tour
was
also
a
tremendous
success.
The
UK
homecoming
proved
limited,
as
they
elected
to
play
just
a
single
festival
show
at
Knebworth
(with
main
support
from
the
Scorpions).
The
weather
was
famously
bad
but
80,000
turned
up
anyway.
The
line-up
then
recorded
and
toured
The
House
of
Blue
Light
in
1986,
creating
a
number
of
modern
era
classics
("Bad
Attitude",
"The
Unwritten
Law",
"Dead
Or
Alive",
and
"Hard
Lovin'
Woman").
This
was
followed
by
another
live
album
Nobody's
Perfect
(1988)
which
was
culled
from
several
shows
on
this
tour.
In
the
UK
a
new
version
of
"Hush"
was
released
to
mark
20
years
of
the
band.
In
1989,
Ian
Gillan
was
fired
from
the
band,
as
his
relations
with
Blackmore
had
again
soured,
and
their
musical
differences
had
widened
too
far.
Gillan's
replacement
was
former
Rainbow
vocalist
Joe
Lynn
Turner.
This
line
up
recorded
just
one
album,
Slaves
&
Masters
(1990)
and
toured
in
support.
It
is
one
of
Blackmore's
favourite
Purple
albums,
though
some
fans
regard
it
as
little
more
than
a
Rainbow
album.
Despite
the
renewed
excellence
of
the
band
during
this
period,
many
hard-core
fans
were
unhappy
with
Turner,
preferring
Gillan.
With
the
tour
done,
Turner
was
forced
out,
as
Lord,
Paice
and
Glover
wanted
Gillan
back
in
the
fold.
Blackmore
relented
and
the
classic
line-up
recorded
The
Battle
Rages
On
in
1993,
which
included
the
songs
"Anya",
"Solitaire",
"Ramshackle
Man",
and
"The
Battle
Rages
On".
During
an
artistically
successful
European
tour
during
the
fall
of
1993,
tensions
between
Gillan
and
Blackmore
came
to
a
head
yet
again.
Blackmore
walked
out
in
November
1993,
never
to
return.
Joe
Satriani
was
drafted
in,
so
the
live
dates
(in
Japan)
in
December
could
be
completed.
Satriani
stayed
on
for
a
European
Summer
tour
in
1994,
and
he
was
asked
to
stay
permanently,
but
his
record
contract
commitments
prevented
this.
The
band
unanimously
chose
Dixie
Dregs
guitarist
Steve
Morse
to
become
Blackmore's
permanent
successor.
[edit]
(1994–present)
Revival
with
Steve
Morse
Roger
Glover
and
Steve
Morse
jamming
during
the
intro
to
Highway
Star
Roger
Glover
and
Steve
Morse
jamming
during
the
intro
to
Highway
Star
Steve
Morse's
arrival
revitalised
the
band.
In
1996
the
critically
acclaimed
Purpendicular
was
released.
Deep
Purple
enjoyed
success
throughout
the
rest
of
the
1990s,
releasing
the
harder-sounding
Abandon
in
1998,
and
touring
with
renewed
enthusiasm.
In
1999,
Jon
Lord,
with
the
help
of
a
fan
who
was
also
a
musicologist
and
composer,
painstakingly
recreated
the
Concerto
for
Group
and
Orchestra;
the
original
score
having
been
lost.
It
was
once
again
performed
at
the
Royal
Albert
Hall
in
September
1999,
this
time
with
the
London
Symphony
Orchestra
conducted
by
Paul
Mann.
The
concert
also
featured
songs
from
each
member's
solo
careers,
as
well
as
a
short
Deep
Purple
set,
and
the
occasion
was
commemorated
on
the
2000
album
In
Concert
with
the
London
Symphony
Orchestra.
Much
of
the
next
few
years
was
spent
on
the
road
touring.
The
group
continued
forward
until
2002,
when
founding
member
Jon
Lord
(who,
along
with
Ian
Paice,
was
the
only
member
to
be
in
all
incarnations
of
the
band)
announced
his
amicable
retirement
from
the
band
to
pursue
personal
projects
(especially
orchestral
work).
Rock
keyboard
veteran
Don
Airey
(Rainbow/Ozzy
Osbourne),
who
had
helped
Deep
Purple
out
when
Lord
was
injured
in
2001,
joined
the
band.
In
2003,
Deep
Purple
released
their
first
studio
album
in
five
years,
the
highly
praised
(but
controversially
titled)
Bananas,
and
began
touring
in
support
of
the
album
immediately.
In
July
2005
the
band
played
at
the
Live
8
concert
in
Park
Place
(Ontario)
and,
in
October
of
the
same
year,
released
their
next
album
Rapture
of
the
Deep.
Although
recorded
in
just
a
few
weeks,
this
was
considered
to
be
their
most
progressive
and
adventurous
work
for
many
years
and
was
followed
by
the
Rapture
of
the
Deep
tour.
Deep
Purple
continues
to
actively
carry
on
in
the
studio
and
around
the
globe
today.
 
|
|
