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Deep Purple

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The origins of Deep Purple may be traced to a former Searchers vocalist named Chris Curtis. In 1967 Curtis sought band financing from a London textile company boss and an advertising consultant—neither of whom possessed a shred of music business background. With their money, however, a band appeared under the name Roundabout the following year. The group included Jon Lord on keyboards and Ritchie Blackmore on guitar, along with founder Curtis and two others.

By all accounts, Roundabout was terrible. Everyone, save Lord and Blackmore, were immediately replaced—including founder Curtis. Ian Paice now sat behind the drum set, and Roger Glover played bass. The new group, calling itself Deep Purple, modeled themselves on a popular American band of the day called Vanilla Fudge. They debuted in Denmark in April of 1968.

Success took many weeks. In September of 1969 the band’s first single, a cover version of the American hit "Hush," reached Number Four on the U.S. singles

chart. A month later, Deep Purple’s first album, Shades of Deep Purple, reached Number 24 on the album chart, though it went unnoticed in England. Finally, in December, Purple solidified their status by reviving Neil Diamond’s "Kentucky Woman" to the joy of enough statesiders to land a Top 40 hit.

EMI Records signed Deep Purple in England during their first year of prominence, as did comedian Bill Cosby’s label Tetragrammaton in the U.S. Despite the first album’s success and the rapid issuance of two more discs in 1969, The Book of Taliesyn and Deep Purple, Cosby’s label folded. It was at this time that vocalist Ian Gillan joined the band. Also that year, a performance of keyboardist Lord’s work, recorded as Concerto for Group and Orchestra, featured Deep Purple ably backed by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra at London’s Albert Hall. With this album, Deep Purple finally appeared on their native charts—at U.K. Number 26. The album managed only Number 149 in the apparently less classically inclined U.S.

Singer Scored First as Jesus
1970 saw the release of Deep Purple in the Rock and the momentary departure of Ian Gillan, who left to play the title role in the stage musical Jesus Christ Superstar, to which his impassioned, often screaming, vocals were ideally suited. A studio recording of Superstar that appeared later in 1970 landed in the Number One spot on the U.S. album chart, a feat Deep Purple would never accomplish. The band’s 1971 offering, Fireball, however, hit the top spot in the U.K. for one week.

After a U.S. tour with the Faces, Deep Purple found themselves recording at Switzerland’s Montreux Casino. The band was horrified when the place burned down during a set by Frank Zappa’s Mothers of Invention. Quickly recovering, though, Purple made art out of life and wrote "Smoke on the Water," a chronicle of the catastrophe. Machine Head, the album featuring that song and another hit, "Highway Star," reached the U.S. Top Ten and topped the U.K. charts for three weeks in 1972, perhaps getting an extra push in Britain from a TV advertising campaign. Eventually the album sold over four million copies. A year later, a single version of "Smoke on the Water" was released; it hit U.S. Number Four, sold a million copies, and ensured its residency on "classic rock" radio in the decades to come.

In 1973Made in Japan, which reflected the group’s international appeal, began a worldwide chart climb. That year also saw the second departure of Gillan and that of bassist Roger Glover, a mainstay of the band since 1969. Industry scuttlebutt suggested that both left due to disputes with guitarist Blackmore. Gillan began a solo career. Nonetheless, the replacement personnel did not slow the Deep Purple juggernaut; their 1974 album, Burn, hit the Top Ten on both sides of the Atlantic.

15 Millon Records Sold by Mid-’70s
In a brief 1974 New Yorker article, a Warner Bros, publicity man representing Deep Purple crowed, "Twelve million album units. They sold twelve million album units last year." The flack added that the "Philharmonic thing made them a little classier than some." By this time the band had sold more than 15 million albums total, making them one of the most bankable bands of the early 1970s.

Of course, with success came imitators. In late 1974 an imposter posing as Ritchie Blackmore borrowed a Porsche in Iowa City, Iowa, and totaled it—this after having scammed free meals and shelter from various Deep Purple fans. And who were Purple’s fans? A study of rock fans in general, discussed in John Orman’s 1984 book The Politics of Rock, found that Deep Purple fans responded least well to the name of U.S. president Richard Nixon. On the other hand, these difficult-to-pigeonhole fans were also made most unhappy by the name of feminist Gloria Steinem. Purple fans also topped the study in hours per week spent listening to rock music, reporting an average of 32.5 hours, compared to the relatively paltry 20.2 hours absorbed by Led Zeppelin aficionados.

Much of the unique appeal of Deep Purple’s style of rock and roll has been attributed to the "call and response" guitar work of Lord and Blackmore, which Heavy Metal Thunder author Phillip Bashe traced to the trading and answering of phrases displayed in the technique of black gospel vocal groups. But one day in 1975 it became clear that Blackmore would no longer call or respond for Deep Purple; he quit the band to form a group called Rainbow with former Elf vocalist Ronnie James Dio (who would go on to replace Ozzy Osbourne in Black Sabbath). Dio shared Blackmore’s interest in medieval music, which the two began to explore in their songs.

The Deep Purple album Come Taste the Band appeared in early 1976, with Tommy Bolin securing a valuable guitar opportunity in Blackmore’s place. But six months later the band called it quits and went their musical ways. Bolin returned to the U.S. to form the Tommy Bolin Band but by year’s end had died of a heroin overdose in a Miami motel.

1980s Decline
While various older concert recordings and Deep Purple reissues emerged in the next few years, the band itself was effectively a memory. Attempting to fill the void, Rod Evans, who had been ejected from an early Purple incarnation, began a "bogus" American Deep Purple tour in 1980. Legal action by Blackmore and Glover put the kibosh on that. Blackmore’s name was again bandied about in 1980 when rumors began to circulate that, in a truly heavy metal move, he had purchased the house used in the filming of the supernatural thriller The Amityville Horror.

During the early 1980s the only Deep Purple alumnus to have much success seemed to be Gillan. His albums Glory Road and Future Shock hit U.K. Numbers Three and Four, respectively. These years were incredibly prolific for him, his efforts crowned by a Black Sabbath berth in 1983 when he joined that band for their final tour—one that featured three 26-foot-tall replicas of the mystical British ruin Stonehenge. (A similar incidence of stage excess was later parodied in the film This Is Spinal Tap.)

Gillan had little time to contemplate his post-Sabbath future; in 1984 Deep Purple reformed for a world tour. Dubbing themselves Deep Purple Mark II, the band issued Perfect Strangers. The record and tour promoting it grossed millions. Strangers and the band’s 1987 album, House of Blue Light, made the U.K. Top Ten and did well in the U.S., too—though controversy ensued on the House tour when Blackmore repeatedly refused to play "Smoke on the Water."

In 1989 Gillan once again quit Deep Purple, citing "musical differences." After this exit the singer engaged in a collaboration with Iron Maiden singer Bruce Dickinson. The two later joined other heavy metal performers to record an album benefitting Armenian earth-quake victims, the cuts including a version of "Smoke on the Water."

Deep Purple marched into the 1990s with Gillan replacement Joe Lynn Turner. The Boston Heraldwrote in 1991 that should scientists wish to understand why the dinosaurs disappeared, they need only attend a couple of Deep Purple concerts and observe these former rulers "wallowing in the muck and mire of their past glory." But dinosaurs did not rock. Perhaps if they had, they would still be with us—for, well into their third decade, Deep Purple appears to have staved off extinction.

Selected discography
Shades of Deep Purple, Tetragrammaton, 1968.
The Book of Taliesyn, Tetragrammaton, 1969.
Deep Purple, Tetragrammaton, 1969.
(With the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra) Concerto for Group and Orchestra, Warner Bros., 1970.
Machine Head,(includes "Smoke on the Water" and "Highway Star"), Warner Bros., 1972.
Come Taste the Band, Metal Blade, 1976.
Perfect Strangers, Mercury, 1984.
House of Blue Light, Mercury, 1987.
The Battle Rages On, Warner Bros., 1993.

Solo albums by Ian Gillan
Glory Road, Virgin, 1980.
Future Shock, Metal Blade, 1981.

Sources
Books
Bashe, Phillip, Heavy Metal Thunder, Doubleday, 1985.
Hardy, Phil, and Dave Laing, Encyclopedia of Rock, Schirmer Books, 1988.
Orman, John, The Politics of Rock, Nelson-Hall, 1984.
Rees, Dafydd, and Luke Crampton, Rock Movers & Shakers, ABC/CLIO, 1991.

The Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock & Roll, edited by Jon Pareles and Patricia Romanowski, Rolling Stone Press/Summit Books, 1983.

Periodicals
Boston Herald, April 15, 1991.
New Yorker, April 15, 1974.
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AMG AllMusic Guide: Pop Artists:

Deep Purple

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  • Genres: Rock

Biography

Deep Purple survived a seemingly endless series of lineup changes and a dramatic mid-career shift from grandiose progressive rock to ear-shattering heavy metal to emerge as a true institution of the British hard rock community; once credited in the Guinness Book of World Records as the globe's loudest band, their revolving-door roster launched the careers of performers including Ritchie Blackmore, David Coverdale, and Ian Gillan.

Deep Purple was formed in Hertford, England, in 1968, with an inaugural lineup that featured guitarist Blackmore, vocalist Rod Evans, bassist Nick Simper, keyboardist Jon Lord, and drummer Ian Paice. Initially dubbed Roundabout, the group was first assembled as a session band for ex-Searchers drummer Chris Curtis but quickly went their own way, touring Scandinavia before beginning work on their debut LP, Shades of Deep Purple. The most pop-oriented release of their career, the album generated a Top Five American hit with its reading of Joe South's "Hush" but otherwise went unnoticed at home. The Book of Taliesyn followed (in the U.S. only) in 1969, again cracking the U.S. Top 40 with a cover of Neil Diamond's "Kentucky Woman."

With their self-titled third LP, Deep Purple's ambitions grew, however; the songs reflecting a new complexity and density as Lord's classically influenced keyboards assumed a much greater focus. Soon after the album's release, their American label Tetragrammaton folded, and with the dismissals of Evans and Simper, the band started fresh, recruiting singer Ian Gillan and bassist Roger Glover from the ranks of the pop group Episode Six.

The revamped Deep Purple's first album, 1970's Concerto for Group and Orchestra, further sought to fuse rock and classical music. When the project, which was recorded with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, was poorly received, Blackmore took creative control of the band, steering it towards a heavier, guitar-dominated approach which took full advantage of Gillan's powerful vocals. The gambit worked; 1970's Deep Purple in Rock heralded the beginning of the group's most creatively and commercially successful period. At home, the album sold over a million copies, with the subsequent non-LP single "Black Night" falling just shy of topping the U.K. pop charts. Released in 1971, Fireball was also a smash, scoring a hit with "Strange Kind of Woman."

Plans to record the follow-up at the Casino in Montreux, Switzerland, were derailed after the venue burned down during a live appearance by Frank Zappa, but the experience inspired Deep Purple's most enduring hit, the AOR staple "Smoke on the Water." The song, featured on the multi-platinum classic Machine Head, reached the U.S. Top Five in mid-1972 and positioned Deep Purple among rock's elite; the band consolidated its status with the 1973 studio follow-up Who Do We Think We Are and the hit "Woman from Tokyo." However, long-simmering creative differences between Blackmore and Gillan pushed the latter out of the group that same year, with Glover soon exiting as well. Singer David Coverdale and bassist/singer Glenn Hughes were recruited for 1974's Burn, and Gillan meanwhile formed a band bearing his own name.

After completing 1974's Stormbringer, Blackmore left Deep Purple as well, to form Rainbow with vocalist Ronnie James Dio; his replacement was ex-James Gang guitarist Tommy Bolin, who made his debut on Come Taste the Band. All the changes clearly took their toll, however, and following a farewell tour, the group dissolved in 1976. Coverdale, meanwhile, went on to form Whitesnake, and Bolin died of a drug overdose later in the year.

The classic lineup of Blackmore, Gillan, Lord, Glover, and Paice reunited Deep Purple in 1984 for a new album, the platinum smash Perfect Strangers. The House of Blue Light followed three years later, but as past tensions resurfaced, Gillan again exited in mid-1989. Onetime Rainbow vocalist Joe Lynn Turner was recruited for 1990's Slaves and Masters before Gillan again rejoined to record The Battle Rages On..., an apt title as Blackmore quit the group midway through the supporting tour, to be temporarily replaced by Joe Satriani.

In 1994, Steve Morse took over the guitar slot (fresh from a stint in Kansas), and the revitalized group returned to the studio for 1996's Purpendicular, which proved a success among the Purple faithful. 1998's Abandon followed, as well as a 1999 orchestral performance released the following year as Live at the Royal Albert Hall. Deep Purple was given the box set treatment the same year with the four-disc set Shades: 1968-1998, which collected hits, demos, live takes, and unreleased tracks from throughout the years (touching upon all of Purple's different lineups).

The late '90s/early 2000s saw the release of several other archival releases and collections (Machine Head's 25th anniversary, Friends & Relatives, Rhino's The Very Best Of, and Days May Come and Days May Go: The 1975 California Rehearsals), as well as a slew of DVDs (Total Abandon: Live Australia 1999, In Concert with the London Symphony Orchestra, Bombay Calling, and New Live & Rare). Former member Blackmore also kept himself busy after leaving the band by issuing a single album with his briefly resuscitated outfit Rainbow (1998's Stranger in Us All), before forming the Renaissance-inspired Blackmore's Night with fiancée/vocalist Candice Night. Despite numerous lineup upheavals during their career, Deep Purple remained alive and well in the 21st century. ~ Jason Ankeny & Greg Prato, Rovi
Wikipedia on Answers.com:

Deep Purple

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This article is about the rock band. For the song, see Deep Purple (song). For their eponymous third album, see Deep Purple (album).
Deep Purple

L-R: Roger Glover, Ian Paice, Ian Gillan, Don Airey and Steve Morse in 2004.
Background information
Also known as Roundabout
Origin Hertford, England
Genres Hard rock, heavy metal, blues rock, progressive rock, psychedelic rock
Years active 1968–1976, 1984–present
Labels Tetragrammaton, Warner Bros., Polydor, BMG, EMI, Edel
Associated acts The Maze, Episode Six, Rainbow, Paice, Ashton & Lord, Whitesnake, Black Sabbath, Gillan & Glover, Hughes Turner Project, Living Loud
Website www.deeppurple.com
Members
Ian Paice
Ian Gillan
Roger Glover
Steve Morse
Don Airey
Past members
Former members

Deep Purple are an English rock band formed in Hertford in 1968.[1] Along with Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath, they are considered to be among the pioneers of heavy metal and modern hard rock, although some band members claimed that their music cannot be categorised as belonging to any one genre.[2][3][4][5] They were once listed by the Guinness Book of World Records as "the loudest pop group",[6] and have sold over 100 million albums worldwide,[7][8][9][10] including 7.5 million certified units in the United States.[11] Deep Purple were ranked #22 on VH1's Greatest Artists of Hard Rock programme.[12]

The band has gone through many line-up changes and an eight-year hiatus (1976–84). The 1968–76 line-ups are commonly labelled Mark I, II, III and IV.[13][14] Their second and most commercially successful line-up featured Ian Gillan (vocals), Roger Glover (bass), Jon Lord (keyboards), Ian Paice (drums), and Ritchie Blackmore (guitar). This line-up was active from 1969 to 1973, and was revived from 1984 to 1989, and again in 1993, before the rift between Blackmore and other members became unbridgeable. The current line-up (including guitarist Steve Morse) has been much more stable, although Lord's retirement in 2002 has left Paice as the only original member never to have left the band.


Contents

History

The beginning (1967–68)

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, to be called Roundabout. Curtis' vision was a "supergroup" where the band members would get on and off, like a musical roundabout. Impressed with the plan, Edwards agreed to finance the venture with two business partners: John Coletta and Ron Hire, all of Hire-Edwards-Coletta (HEC) Enterprises.[15]

The first recruit was the classically-trained Hammond organ player Jon Lord, who had most notably played with The Artwoods (led by Art Wood, brother of future Rolling Stones guitarist Ronnie Wood, and featuring Keef Hartley).[16] He was followed by guitarist Ritchie Blackmore, who was persuaded to return from Hamburg to audition for the new group. Blackmore was making a name for himself as a session guitarist, and had also been a member of Screaming Lord Sutch's The Savages. Curtis' erratic behaviour soon forced him out of his own project, but Lord and Blackmore were keen to continue, and carried on recruiting additional members.[17]

For the bass guitar, Lord suggested his old friend Nick Simper, with whom he had played in a band called The Flower Pot Men and their Garden (formerly known as The Ivy League) back in 1967. Simper's claims to fame (apart from Deep Purple) were that he had been in Johnny Kidd and The Pirates and the car crash that killed Kidd. He was also in a group called The Delta Five which played the same circuit as The Savages, and it was then that he had first met Blackmore.

Bobby Woodman was the initial choice for the drums, but during the auditions for a singer, Rod Evans of the Maze came in with his drummer, Ian Paice. Blackmore had seen Paice on tour with the Maze in Germany in 1966, and had been impressed by the 18-year old's drumming. While Woodman was out for cigarettes, Blackmore quickly arranged an audition for Paice. Both Paice and Evans won their respective jobs, and the lineup was complete.[18]

The band began in earnest in March 1968, rehearsing at Deeves Hall in South Mimms. After a brief tour of Denmark and Sweden that April, in which they were still billed as Roundabout, Blackmore suggested a new name: Deep Purple, named after his grandmother's favourite song.[17][19] The group had resolved to choose a name after everyone had posted one on a board in rehearsal. Second to Deep Purple was "Concrete God", which the band thought was too harsh to take on.[20][21]

Early years (1968–70)

Jon Lord in Hannover, Germany, 1970

In May 1968, the band hit the studio to record its first album, Shades of Deep Purple, which was released in July. The group had success in North America with a cover of Joe South's "Hush", and by October 1968, the song had reached number 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the US and number 2 on the Canadian RPM chart.[22][23] That same month, Deep Purple was booked to support Cream on their Goodbye tour.[22]

The band's second album, The Book of Taliesyn (including a cover of Neil Diamond's "Kentucky Woman"), was released in North America to coincide with the tour, reaching number 38 on the Billboard charts and number 21 on the RPM charts, although it would not be released in their home country until the following year. Early 1969 saw Deep Purple record their third album, simply titled Deep Purple. The album contained strings and woodwind on one track ("April"), showcasing Lord's classical antecedents such as Bach and Rimsky-Korsakov, and several other influences were in evidence, notably Vanilla Fudge. (Lord and Blackmore had even claimed the group wanted to be a "Vanilla Fudge clone".)[24] Not satisfied with the possibilities for singles off this album, the band also recorded a single called "Emmaretta", named for Emmaretta Marks, then a cast member of the musical Hair, whom Evans was trying to seduce. This would be the last recording by the original lineup.

Unfortunately, Deep Purple's troubled North American record label, Tetragrammaton, delayed production of the Deep Purple album until after the band's 1969 American tour ended. This, as well as lackluster promotion by the nearly-broke label, caused the album to sell poorly, finishing well out of the Billboard Top 100. Soon after the third album's eventual release, Tetragrammaton went out of business, leaving the band with no money and an uncertain future. (Tetragrammaton's assets were assumed by Warner Bros. Records, who would release Deep Purple's records in the US throughout the 1970s.) During the 1969 American tour, Lord and Blackmore met with Paice to discuss their desire to take the band in a heavier direction. Feeling that Evans and Simper would not fit well with a heavy rock style, both were fired that summer. Said Paice, "A change had to come. If they hadn't left, the band would have totally disintegrated."[18]

In search of a replacement vocalist, Blackmore set his sights on 19-year-old singer Terry Reid, who declined a similar opportunity to front the newly forming Led Zeppelin only a year earlier. Though he found the offer "flattering", Reid was still bound by the exclusive recording contract with his producer Mickie Most and more interested in his solo career.[25] Blackmore had no other choice but to look elsewhere.

The band hunted down singer Ian Gillan from Episode Six, a band that had released several singles in the UK without achieving their big break for commercial success. Gillan had at one time been approached by Nick Simper when Deep Purple was first forming, but Gillan had reportedly told Simper that Deep Purple would not go anywhere, while he felt Episode Six was poised to make it big.[26] Six's drummer Mick Underwood – an old comrade of Blackmore's from his Savages days – introduced the band to Gillan and bassist Roger Glover. This effectively killed Episode Six and gave Underwood a guilt complex that lasted nearly a decade, until Gillan recruited him for his new post-Purple band in the late 1970s. This created the Deep Purple Mark II line-up, whose first release was a Greenaway-Cook tune titled "Hallelujah", which flopped.

The band gained some much-needed publicity in September, 1969, 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.[22] Together with Five Bridges by The Nice, it was one of the first collaborations between a rock band and an orchestra. This live album, Concerto for Group and Orchestra was their first album which made chart success in the UK.[27] However, Gillan and Blackmore especially were less than happy at the band being tagged as "a group who played with orchestras" at the time; what they had in mind was to develop the band into a much tighter, hard-rocking style. Despite this, Lord wrote the Gemini Suite, another orchestra/group collaboration in the same vein, for the band in late 1970. Roger Glover later claimed Jon Lord had appeared like a leader of the band in the early years.[28]

Breakthrough and break-up (1970–76)

Ritchie Blackmore in Hannover, Germany, 1970

Shortly after the orchestral release, Deep Purple 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 (a name supported by the album's Mount Rushmore-inspired cover), which 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".[29] The interplay between Blackmore's guitar and Lord's distorted organ, coupled with Gillan's howling vocals and the rhythm section of Glover and Paice, now started to take on a unique identity that further separated the band from its earlier albums. Along with Led Zeppelin's Led Zeppelin II and Black Sabbath's Paranoid, In Rock codified the heavy metal genre.[3]

A second album, the creatively progressive Fireball, was issued in the summer of 1971. The title track "Fireball" was released as a single, as was "Strange Kind of Woman", not from the album but recorded during the same sessions (although it replaced "Demon's Eye" on the US version of the album).[30]
"Smoke on the Water"
A sample of "Smoke on the Water" from Machine Head (1972), which is recognized for its central theme, a four-note "blues scale" melody harmonised in parallel fourths.
Problems listening to this file? See media help.

Within weeks of Fireball's release, the band were 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 a show in Portsmouth, in answer to a journalist's question: "How do you go about writing songs?" Three months later, in December 1971, the band traveled to Switzerland to record Machine Head. The album was due to be recorded at a casino in Montreux, using the Rolling Stones Mobile Studio, but a fire during a Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention gig, caused by a man firing a flare gun into the ceiling, burned down the casino. This incident famously inspired the song "Smoke on the Water." The album was later recorded in a corridor at the nearby empty Grand Hotel.[31][32]

Continuing from where both previous albums left off, Machine Head has since become the band's most famous album. It reached #1 in the UK, #7 in the U.S., and included tracks that became live classics, such as "Highway Star", "Space Truckin'", "Lazy" and "Smoke on the Water", for which Deep Purple is most famous.[29][33] 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 the album was their seventh LP. Meanwhile, the band undertook four North America tours in 1972, and a Japan tour that led to a double-vinyl live release, Made in Japan. Originally intended as a Japan-only record, its worldwide release saw the double LP become an instant hit. It 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).

Ian Gillan and Roger Glover performing in Hannover, Germany, 1970

The classic Deep Purple Mark II line-up continued to work, and released the album Who Do We Think We Are (1973), featuring the hit single "Woman from Tokyo", but internal tensions and exhaustion were more noticeable than ever. In many ways, the band had become victims of their own success. Following the successes of Machine Head and Made in Japan, the addition of Who Do We Think We Are made them the top-selling artists of 1973 in the US.[34] Ian Gillan admitted in a 1984 interview that the band was pushed by management to complete the album on time and go on tour, although they badly needed a break.[35] The bad feelings culminated in Gillan, followed by Glover, quitting the band after their second tour of Japan in the summer of 1973 over tensions with Blackmore.

The band first hired Midlands bassist/vocalist Glenn Hughes, formerly of Trapeze. According to Ian Paice, Glover had told him and Lord that he wanted to leave the band a few months before his official resignation, so they had already started to drop in on Trapeze shows. After acquiring Hughes, they debated continuing as a four-piece band, with Hughes as both bassist and lead vocalist.[36][37] According to Hughes, he was persuaded to join under the guise that the band would be bringing in Paul Rodgers of Free as a co-lead vocalist, but by that time Rodgers had just started Bad Company.[38] Instead, auditions were held for lead vocal replacements. They settled on David Coverdale, an unknown singer from Saltburn in Northeast England, primarily because Blackmore liked his masculine, blues-tinged voice. [37]

Ian Gillan on stage in Clemson, South Carolina, US, 1972

This new line-up continued into 1974. The band played at the famous California Jam festival at Ontario Motor Speedway located in California on 6 April 1974. Attracting over 250,000[39] fans, the festival also included 1970s rock giants Black Sabbath, Eagles, Emerson, Lake & Palmer, Earth, Wind & Fire, Seals and Crofts, Rare Earth and Black Oak Arkansas. Portions of the show were telecast on ABC Television in the US, exposing the band to a wider audience. This lineup's first album, titled Burn, was a highly successful release (only the second album, after Machine Head, to crack the US Top 10), and was followed by another world tour. Hughes and Coverdale added vocal harmonies and elements of funk and blues, respectively, to the band's music, a sound that was even more apparent on the late 1974 release Stormbringer.[37] 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." However, Blackmore publicly disliked the album and the funky soul elements, even calling it "shoeshine music".[40][41][42] As a result, he left the band on 21 June 1975 to form his own band with Ronnie James Dio of Elf, called Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow, later shortened to Rainbow after one album.

With Blackmore's departure, Deep Purple was left to fill one of the biggest band member vacancies in rock music. In spite of this, the rest of the band refused to stop, and to the surprise of many long-time fans, actually announced a replacement for Blackmore: American Tommy Bolin. There are at least two versions about the recruitment of Bolin: Coverdale claims to have been the one who suggested auditioning Bolin.[43] "He walked in, thin as a rake, his hair coloured 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". But in an interview originally published by Melody Maker in June 1975, Bolin himself claimed that he came to the audition following a recommendation from Blackmore.[44] Bolin had been a member of many now-forgotten late-1960s bands – Denny & The Triumphs, American Standard, and Zephyr, which released three albums from 1969–72. Before Deep Purple, Bolin's best-known recordings were made as a session musician on Billy Cobham's 1973 jazz fusion album Spectrum, and as Joe Walsh's replacement on two James Gang albums: Bang (1973) and Miami (1974). He had also jammed with such luminaries as Dr. John, Albert King, The Good Rats, Moxy 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 October 1975. Despite mixed reviews, the collection revitalised the band once again, bringing a new, extreme funk edge to their hard rock sound.[45] Bolin's influence was crucial, and with encouragement from Hughes and Coverdale, the guitarist developed much of the material. Later, Bolin's personal problems with drugs began to manifest themselves, and after cancelled shows and below-par concert performances, the band was in danger.

Band split, solo projects (1976–84)

The end came on tour in Britain on 15 March 1976 at the Liverpool Empire Theatre.[46] 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 disband Deep Purple had been made some time before the last show by Lord and Paice (the last remaining original members), who hadn't told anyone else. The break-up was finally made public in July 1976.[47]

Later, Bolin had just finished recording his second solo album, Private Eyes, when, on 4 December 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 was multiple-drug intoxication. Bolin 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 1970s and early 1980s. In 1980, a touring version of the band surfaced with Rod Evans as the only member who had ever been in Deep Purple, eventually ending in successful legal action from the legitimate Deep Purple camp over unauthorised use of the name. Evans was ordered to pay damages of US$672,000 for using the band name without permission.[48]

Reunions and reformation (1984–94)

Deep Purple at the Cow Palace, San Francisco, California. 31 January 1985

In April 1984, eight years after the demise of Deep Purple, a full-scale (and legal) reunion took place with the "classic" early 1970s line-up of Gillan, Lord, Blackmore, Glover and Paice. The reformed band signed a worldwide deal with PolyGram, with Mercury Records releasing their albums in the United States, and Polydor Records in other countries. The album Perfect Strangers was recorded in Vermont and released in October 1984. A solid release, it sold extremely well (reaching #5 in the UK[29] and #17 on the Billboard 200 in the US[49]) and included the singles and concert staples "Knockin' At Your Back Door" and "Perfect Strangers". The reunion tour followed, starting in Australia and winding its way across the world to North America, then into Europe by the following summer. Financially, the tour was also a tremendous success. In the U.S., the 1985 tour out-grossed every other artist except Bruce Springsteen.[50] The UK homecoming saw the band perform a concert at Knebworth on 22 June 1985 (with main support from the Scorpions; also on the bill were UFO and Meat Loaf), where the weather was bad (torrential rain and 6" of mud) infront of 80,000 fans.[51] The gig was called the "Return Of The Knebworth Fayre".[52]

The Mark II line-up then released The House of Blue Light in 1987, which was followed by a world tour (interrupted after Blackmore broke a finger on stage while trying to catch his guitar after throwing it in the air) and another live album Nobody's Perfect (1988) which was culled from several shows on this tour, but still largely based on the by-now familiar Made in Japan set-list. In the UK a new version of "Hush" (with Gillan on lead vocals) was released to mark 20 years of the band. In 1989, Gillan was fired as his relations with Blackmore had again soured and their musical differences had diverged too far. Originally, the band intended to recruit Survivor frontman Jimi Jamison as Gillan's replacement, but this fell through due to complications with Jamison's record label.[53][54] Eventually, after auditioning several high-profile candidates, including Brian Howe (White Spirit, Ted Nugent, Bad Company), Doug Pinnick (King's X), Australians Jimmy Barnes (Cold Chisel) and John Farnham (Little River Band), Terry Brock (Strangeways, Giant) and Norman "Kal" Swann (Tytan, Lion, Bad Moon Rising),[55] former Rainbow vocalist Joe Lynn Turner was recruited into the band. This Mark V line-up recorded just one album, Slaves & Masters (1990) and toured in support. It achieved modest success and reached #87 on the Billboard Charts in the US,[56] but some fans criticized it as little more than a so-called "Deep Rainbow" album.

With the tour complete, Turner was forced out, as Lord, Paice and Glover (and the record company) wanted Gillan back in the fold for the 25th anniversary. Blackmore grudgingly relented, after requesting and eventually receiving 250,000 dollars in his bank account[57] and the classic line-up recorded The Battle Rages On. But Gillan reworked much of the existing material for the album. As a result, Blackmore became infuriated at what he considered non-melodic elements. During an otherwise stunningly successful European tour, Blackmore walked out in November 1993, never to return. Joe Satriani was drafted to complete the Japanese dates in December and stayed on for a European Summer tour in 1994. He was asked to join permanently, but his record contract commitments prevented this. The band unanimously chose Dixie Dregs/Kansas guitarist Steve Morse to become Blackmore's permanent successor.

Revival with Steve Morse (1994–present)

Deep Purple guitarist Steve Morse, 1999

Morse's arrival revitalised the band creatively, and in 1996 a new album titled Purpendicular was released, showing a wide variety of musical styles, though it never made chart success on Billboard 200 in the US.[56] The Mark VII line-up then released a new live album Live at The Olympia '96 in 1997. With a revamped set list to tour, Deep Purple enjoyed successful tours throughout the rest of the 1990s, releasing the harder-sounding Abandon in 1998, and touring with renewed enthusiasm. In 1999, Lord, with the help of a Dutch fan, who was also a musicologist and composer, Marco de Goeij, 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.[58] 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 Live at the Royal Albert Hall.[58] In early 2001, two similar concerts were performed in Tokyo and released as part of the box set The Soundboard Series.

Drummer Ian Paice (2006)

Much of the next few years was spent on the road touring. The group continued forward until 2002, when founding member Lord (who, along with 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). Lord left his Hammond organ to his replacement. Rock keyboard veteran Don Airey (Rainbow, Ozzy Osbourne, Black Sabbath, Whitesnake), who had helped Deep Purple out when Lord's knee was injured in 2001, joined the band. In 2003, Deep Purple released their first studio albums in five years (Bananas) and began touring in support of the album immediately. EMI records refused a contract extension with Deep Purple, possibly because of lower than expected sales. Actually In Concert with the London Symphony Orchestra sold more than Bananas.[59] Ian Gillan said, "Record sales have been steadily declining, but people are prepared to pay a lot for concert tickets."[60] In July 2005, the band played at the Live 8 concert in Park Place (Barrie, Ontario) and, in October of the same year, released their next album Rapture of the Deep. It was followed by the Rapture of the Deep tour. This Mark VIII line-up's two studio albums were produced by Michael Bradford, who is known as rap or pop musician.

In February 2007, Gillan asked fans not to buy a live album Come Hell or High Water being released by Sony BMG. This was a recording of their 1993 appearance at the NEC in Birmingham. Recordings of this show have previously been released without resistance from Gillan or any other members of the band, but he said: "It was one of the lowest points of my life – all of our lives, actually".[61]

Gillan hinted that the group may record their nineteenth studio album in February 2010,[62] to be followed by a supporting tour.[63] Steve Morse later revealed in an interview that the band would begin working on a new album in March. But there’s been still disagreement among the members about whether to make the new studio album. Roger Glover stated that it wouldn’t really make money anymore.[64] The current band's chief sound engineer on nine years of tours, Moray McMillin, died in September 2011, aged 57.[65]

In early 2011, David Coverdale and Glenn Hughes told VH1 they would like to reunite with former Deep Purple Mark III lineup for the right opportunity, such as a benefit concert.[66]

Band members

Main article: List of Deep Purple band members

Current members

Current members of Deep Purple with Russian president Dmitry Medvedev in 2011
Michael Bradford who produced Bananas and Rapture of the Deep

Former members

Timeline

World tours

Ian Paice in Hannover, Germany, 1970
Roger Glover, Steve Morse and Don Airey

Deep Purple are considered to be one of the hardest touring bands in the world.[67][68][69] From 1968 until today (with the exception of their 1976–1984 split) they continue to tour around the world. In 2007, the band received a special award for selling more than 150,000 tickets in France, with 40 dates in the country in 2007 alone.[70] Also in 2007, Deep Purple's Rapture of the Deep Tour was voted #6 concert tour of the year (in all music genres) by Planet Rock listeners.[71] The Rolling Stones' A Bigger Bang Tour was voted #5 and beat Purple's tour by only 1%. Deep Purple released a new live compilation DVD box, Around the World Live, in May 2008. In February 2008, the band made their first ever appearance in Moscow at the Kremlin[72] at the personal request of Dmitry Medvedev who at the time was considered a shoo-in for the seat of the Presidency of Russia. The band was part of the entertainment for the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 2009 in Liberec, Czech Republic.[73]

Discography

Main article: Deep Purple discography

References

Notes

  1. ^ Shades of Deep Purple album sleeve notes pp. 4–5.
  2. ^ Jeb Wright The Naked Truth: An Exclusive Interview with Deep Purple’s Ian Gillan Classic Rock Revisted
  3. ^ a b Wasler, Robert (1993). Running with the Devil: power, gender, and madness in heavy metal music p.10. Wesleyan University Press, 1993
  4. ^ Michael Campbell, James Brody (2008) ROCK AND ROLL: AN INTRODUCTION, p.213
  5. ^ Deep Purple Bio by Jason Ankeny & Greg Prato of Allmusic VH1
  6. ^ McWhirter, Ross (1975). Guinness Book of World Records (14 ed.). Sterling Pub. Co.. p. 242. ISBN 9780806900124. http://books.google.com/books?id=Rv26phaJLUAC&q=Deep+Purple+loudest+intitle:Guinness&dq=Deep+Purple+loudest+intitle:Guinness. 
  7. ^ "Deep Purple – Rapture Of The Deep". I Like Music article. http://www.ilikemusic.com/rock/Deep_Purple-1587. Retrieved 21 April 2007. 
  8. ^ Deep Purple | Events | Hallam FM Arena[dead link].
  9. ^ Artist Profile – Deep Purple EMI.
  10. ^ "DEEP PURPLE and Paid, Inc. Launch First VIP Fan Experience Concert Package Sales on www.DeepPurple.org". Paid, Inc.. October 17, 2007. http://www.marketwire.com/mw/release.do?id=781817. 
  11. ^ "RIAA Gold & Platinum database". http://www.riaa.com/goldandplatinumdata.php?resultpage=1&table=SEARCH_RESULTS&action=&title=&artist=deep%20purple&format=&debutLP=&category=&sex=&releaseDate=&requestNo=&type=&level=&label=&company=&certificationDate=&awardDescription=&catalogNo=&aSex=&rec_id=&charField=&gold=&platinum=&multiPlat=&level2=&certDate=&album=&id=&after=&before=&startMonth=1&endMonth=1&startYear=1958&endYear=2009&sort=Artist&perPage=25. Retrieved 2010-06-08. 
  12. ^ The Greatest: 100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock (40–21) at VH1.com.
  13. ^ Deep Purple reviews.
  14. ^ Deep Purple Mark I & Mark II.
  15. ^ Thompson, Dave (2004). Smoke on the Water: The Deep Purple Story. http://books.google.com/books?id=LzzCw6xs9roC&pg=PA27&dq=Hire-Edwards-Coletta+1967&hl=en&ei=rzM2Tf2nJ8-v4Qar7qz0Cg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CCkQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q&f=false. Retrieved 18 January 2011. 
  16. ^ Eder, Bruce. The Artwoods Allmusic. Retrieved 12 December 2011
  17. ^ a b Thompson, Dave. Chris Curtis Biography Allmusic. Retrieved 12 December 2011
  18. ^ a b Welch, Chris. "The Story of Deep Purple." In Deep Purple: HM Photo Book, copyright 1983, Omnibus Press.
  19. ^ Jerry Bloom (2006). Black Knight: Ritchie Blackmore. Omnibus Press 2008. http://books.google.com/books?id=FcKcrWE8aWgC&pg=PT163&dq=deep+purple+-+ritchie+blackmore+grandmother&hl=en&ei=iGjlTp7qL8i6hAf989XPAQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CDgQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=deep%20purple%20-%20ritchie%20blackmore%20grandmother&f=false. "Blackmore has stated; "It was a song my grandmother used to play on the piano."" 
  20. ^ Rock Formations: Categorical Answers to How Band Names Were Formed p.53. Cidermill Books. Retrieved 29 April 2011
  21. ^ Tyler, Kieron On The Roundabout With Deep Purple Retrieved 29 April 2011
  22. ^ a b c Miles, Barry (2009) The British Invasion: The Music, the Times, the Era p.264. Sterling Publishing Company, Inc., 2009
  23. ^ The RPM 100: Deep Purple Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 12 November 2011
  24. ^ "Ritchie Blackmore, Interviews". Thehighwaystar.com. http://www.thehighwaystar.com/interviews/blackmore/rb199102xx.html. Retrieved 7 November 2010. 
  25. ^ "Interview: Singer and guitarist Terry Reid". The Independent (London). 7 March 2007. http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/features/interview-singer-and-guitarist-terry-reid-455709.html. Retrieved 27 March 2010. 
  26. ^ Anasontzis, George. "Rockpages.gr interview with Nick Simper". Rockpages. http://www.rockpages.gr/detailspage.aspx?id=4459&type=1&lang=EN. Retrieved 25 August 2010. 
  27. ^ "Deep Purple UK chart stats". ChartStats.com. http://www.chartstats.com/artistinfo.php?id=680. Retrieved 2011-12-24. 
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  29. ^ a b c Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums. London: Guinness World Records Limited
  30. ^ Deep Purple: Fireball Allmusic. Retrieved 12 November 2011
  31. ^ (DVD) Classic Albums - Deep Purple - Machine Head, Eagle Rock Entertainment, 2002
  32. ^ Deep Purple release 'Machine Head' BBC. Retrieved 19 October 2011
  33. ^ Billboard - Machine Head Allmusic. Retrieved 12 November 2011
  34. ^ "RIAA Gold & Platinum database". http://www.riaa.com/goldandplatinumdata.php?resultpage=1&table=SEARCH_RESULTS&action=&title=&artist=deep%20purple&format=&debutLP=&category=&sex=&releaseDate=&requestNo=&type=&level=&label=&company=&certificationDate=&awardDescription=&catalogNo=&aSex=&rec_id=&charField=&gold=&platinum=&multiPlat=&level2=&certDate=&album=&id=&after=&before=&startMonth=1&endMonth=1&startYear=1958&endYear=2009&sort=Artist&perPage=25. Retrieved 19 February 2009. 
  35. ^ Deep Purple: The Interview. Interview picture disc, 1984, Mercury Records.
  36. ^ Liner notes for the 30th anniversary edition of Burn.
  37. ^ a b c "Van der Lee, Matthijs. ''Burn'' review at". Sputnikmusic.com. 15 October 2009. http://www.sputnikmusic.com/album.php?albumid=6690. Retrieved 7 November 2010. 
  38. ^ "The Glenn Hughes Interview". Vintage Rock.com. http://www.vintagerock.com/index.php?option=com_content&id=46. Retrieved 29 October 2011. 
  39. ^ "About Me". DonBranker.com. 1974-04-06. http://donbranker.com/?q=node/11. Retrieved 2011-10-23. 
  40. ^ "History" track on the "Deep Purple: History and Hits" DVD.
  41. ^ Mike Jefferson (April 1, 2009). "Deep Purple - Stormbringer". Coffeerooms on Music. http://www.coffeerooms.com/onmusic/2009/04/deep-purple-stormbringer.html. 
  42. ^ Steven Rosen (1975). "Ritchie Blackmore Interview". Guitar International. http://guitarinternational.com/2010/09/14/ritchie-blackmore-the-rainbow-interview/. 
  43. ^ liner notes in the Deep Purple 4-CD boxed set.
  44. ^ Deep Purple Appreciation Society (28 June 1975). "1975 Tommy Bolin interview". Deep-purple.net. http://www.deep-purple.net/interviews/tommy-bolin.htm. Retrieved 7 November 2010. 
  45. ^ Deep Purple Come Taste the Band: 35th Anniversary Edition Review, – BBC Music
  46. ^ Bloom, Jerry (2008) Black Knight: Ritchie Blackmore p.198. Omnibus Press, Retrieved 23 October 2011
  47. ^ Smoke on the Water: The Deep Purple Story p.191. Retrieved 23 October 2011
  48. ^ Hartmut Kreckel (1998). "ROD EVANS: The Dark Side of the Music Industry". Captain Beyond website. http://tinpan.fortunecity.com/aprilskies/65/dp1980.html. 
  49. ^ Deep Purple Essential Collection – Planet Rock.
  50. ^ "Jon Lord Interview at www.thehighwaystar.com". Thehighwaystar.com. 1968-02-12. http://www.thehighwaystar.com/interviews/lord/jl19890100.html. Retrieved 2011-10-23. 
  51. ^ Knebworth House - Rock Concerts KnebworthHouse.com. Retrieved 23 October 2011
  52. ^ Deep Purple - Knebworth 1985 DeepPurple.net. Retrieved 23 October 2011
  53. ^ "Interview: Jimi Jamison". aor.nu. http://www.aor.nu/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=70&Itemid=108. Retrieved 15 December 2010. 
  54. ^ "25 Years of Deep Purple The Battle Rages On...:Interview with Jon Lord". pictured within.com. http://www.picturedwithin.com/interviews/tbro_int.html. Retrieved 15 December 2010. 
  55. ^ Dave Thompson (2004). Smoke on the Water: The Deep Purple Story. p. 259. 
  56. ^ a b "Billboard album listings for Deep Purple". AllMusic.com. http://www.allmusic.com/artist/p4061/charts-awards. 
  57. ^ Ian Gillan Interview on Rockpages.gr.
  58. ^ a b Buckley, Peter (2003). The rough guide to rock. p.280. Rough Guides, Retrieved 23 October 2011
  59. ^ GARRY SHARPE-YOUNG (10 November 2005). "Roger Glover interview". Rockdetector. http://web.archive.org/web/20060209140852/http://www.rockdetector.com/interviews/artist,2377.sm?id=70. 
  60. ^ Mark Anstead (12 March 2009). "Deep Purple's Ian Gillan talks money". The Daily Telegraph. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/fameandfortune/4980681/Deep-Purples-Ian-Gillan-talks-money.html. 
  61. ^ BBC News Online – Deep Purple live album withdrawn.
  62. ^ Diamond Oz. "Deep Purple To Record New Album In February 2010 - in Metal News". Metal Underground.com. http://www.metalunderground.com/news/details.cfm?newsid=46354. Retrieved 7 November 2010. 
  63. ^ The Highway Star Tour Dates Retrieved 12 December 2011.
  64. ^ Matt Wardlaw (June 3, 2011). "Deep Purple’s Roger Glover Says Band Disagrees on the Importance of Recording New Albums". Contactmusic.com. http://ultimateclassicrock.com/deep-purple-new-album-disagreement/. 
  65. ^ Norman Lebrecht (September 21, 2011). "The man who balanced Deep Purple with the London Symphony Orchestra". Arts Journal. http://www.artsjournal.com/slippeddisc/2011/09/the-man-who-balanced-deep-purple-with-the-london-symphony-orchestra.html. 
  66. ^ "GLENN HUGHES Up For DEEP PURPLE Mk. III Reunion". blabbermouth.net. May 2, 2011. http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=157546. 
  67. ^ The Highway Star—Fall tour of Germany.
  68. ^ The Highway Star—Pisco Sour under Peruvian skies.
  69. ^ The Deep Purple Live Index.
  70. ^ Deep Purple, 2007 Tour Reviews.
  71. ^ results of the End Of Year Poll 2007. Retrieved 7 May 2010.
  72. ^ Gillan, Ian (17 February 2008). "Deep Purple perform for Russias future president". The Times (London). http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/music/article3381001.ece. Retrieved 1 May 2010. 
  73. ^ FIS Newsflash 215. 21 January 2009.

Bibliography

  • Deep Purple - The Illustrated Biography, Chris Charlesworth, Omnibus Press, 1983, ISBN 0-7119-0174-0
  • Smoke on the Water: The Deep Purple Story, Dave Thompson, ECW Press, 2004, ISBN 1-55022-618-5
  • The Complete Deep Purple, Michael Heatley, Reynolds & Hearn, 2005, ISBN 1-903111-99-4

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