Deep Purple
Encyclopedia
Deep Purple are an English rock
band formed in Hertford
in 1968. 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 believe that their music cannot be categorised as belonging to any one genre. They were once listed by the Guinness Book of World Records
as "the loudest pop group"
, and have sold over 100 million albums worldwide. Deep Purple were ranked #22 on VH1
's Greatest Artists of Hard Rock programme.
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. Their second and most commercially successful line-up featured Ian Gillan
(vocals), Jon Lord
(keyboards), Roger Glover
(bass), 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.
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.
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
). 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 behavior soon forced him out of his own project, but HEC Enterprises as well as Lord and Blackmore were keen to carry on.
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.
Top English drummer 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 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.
The band began in earnest in March of 1968, rehearsing at Deeves Hall in South Mimms
. After a brief tour of Denmark that April, Blackmore suggested a new name: Deep Purple
, named after his grandmother's favourite song. 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.
, 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. That same month, Deep Purple was booked to support Cream
on their Goodbye tour.
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
. (Blackmore and Lord had even claimed the group wanted to be a "Vanilla Fudge clone".) 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. Thus, the album sold poorly, finishing well out of the Billboard Top 100. Soon after this 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, Blackmore and Lord 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."
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. 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. 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
. Together with Five Bridges
by The Nice
, it was one of the first collaborations between a rock band and an orchestra. However, Blackmore and Gillan especially were less than happy at the group 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.
(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
". 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.
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).
Within weeks of Fireballs 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.
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. 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).
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. 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. 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. 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
. Instead, auditions were held for lead vocal replacements. Two primary candidates surfaced: Angus Cameron McKinlay, a Scotsman; and David Coverdale
, an unknown singer from Saltburn
in Northeast England. They settled on Coverdale, primarily because Blackmore liked his masculine, blues-tinged voice, and Angus was eliminated.
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 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
. 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 voiced unhappiness with the album and the direction Deep Purple had taken, stating simply, "I don't like funky soul music." 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. "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. 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. 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.
. 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.
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.
, 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 and #17 on the Billboard 200
in the US) 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
. 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. The gig was called the "Return Of The Knebworth Fayre".
The 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
. 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
), former Rainbow vocalist Joe Lynn Turner
was recruited into the band. This line-up recorded just one album, Slaves & Masters
(1990) and toured in support, though some fans derided 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 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.
Morse's arrival revitalised the band creatively, and in 1996 a new album titled Purpendicular
was released, showing a wide variety of musical styles. The 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 success 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. 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
. In early 2001, two similar concerts were performed in Tokyo and released as part of the box set The Soundboard Series
.
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 album in five years (Bananas
) and began touring in support of the album immediately. 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
.
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".
Gillan hinted that the group may record their nineteenth studio album in February 2010, to be followed by a supporting tour. Steve Morse later revealed in an interview that the band would begin working on a new album in March.
The band's chief sound engineer on nine years of tours, Moray McMillin, died in September 2011, aged 57.
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. 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 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.
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
band formed in Hertford
Hertford
Hertford is the county town of Hertfordshire, England, and is also a civil parish in the East Hertfordshire district of the county. Forming a civil parish, the 2001 census put the population of Hertford at about 24,180. Recent estimates are that it is now around 28,000...
in 1968. Along with Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin were an English rock band, active in the late 1960s and throughout the 1970s. Formed in 1968, they consisted of guitarist Jimmy Page, singer Robert Plant, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham...
and Black Sabbath
Black Sabbath
Black Sabbath are an English heavy metal band, formed in Aston, Birmingham in 1969 by Ozzy Osbourne , Tony Iommi , Geezer Butler , and Bill Ward . The band has since experienced multiple line-up changes, with Tony Iommi the only constant presence in the band through the years. A total of 22...
, they are considered to be among the pioneers of heavy metal
Heavy metal music
Heavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the Midlands of the United Kingdom and the United States...
and modern hard rock
Hard rock
Hard rock is a loosely defined genre of rock music which has its earliest roots in mid-1960s garage rock, blues rock and psychedelic rock...
, although some band members believe that their music cannot be categorised as belonging to any one genre. They were once listed by the Guinness Book of World Records
Guinness World Records
Guinness World Records, known until 2000 as The Guinness Book of Records , is a reference book published annually, containing a collection of world records, both human achievements and the extremes of the natural world...
as "the loudest pop group"
Loudest band in the world
The loudest band in the world is a subject of some dispute in musical circles. Many bands have claimed to be the loudest, measuring this in various ways including with decibel meters at concerts and by engineering analysis of the CDs on which their albums are published.-Parodies:The notion of...
, and have sold over 100 million albums worldwide. Deep Purple were ranked #22 on VH1
VH1
VH1 or Vh1 is an American cable television network based in New York City. Launched on January 1, 1985 in the old space of Turner Broadcasting's short-lived Cable Music Channel, the original purpose of the channel was to build on the success of MTV by playing music videos, but targeting a slightly...
's Greatest Artists of Hard Rock programme.
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. Their second and most commercially successful line-up featured Ian Gillan
Ian Gillan
Ian Gillan is an English rock music vocalist and songwriter, best known as the lead singer and lyricist for Deep Purple. During his career Gillan also fronted his own band, had a year-long stint as the vocalist for Black Sabbath, and sang the role of Jesus in the original recording of Andrew Lloyd...
(vocals), Jon Lord
Jon Lord
Jonathan Douglas "Jon" Lord is an English composer, pianist and Hammond organ player.Jon Lord, also known as 'Hammond Lord', is a classically trained piano player. He is recognised for his Hammond organ blues-rock sound and for his pioneering work in fusing rock and classical or baroque forms...
(keyboards), Roger Glover
Roger Glover
Roger David Glover is a Welsh bassist, songwriter, and record producer. Glover is best known as the bassist and lyricist for the hard rock band, Deep Purple.-Early career:...
(bass), Ian Paice
Ian Paice
Ian Anderson Paice is an English musician, best known as the drummer of the English rock band Deep Purple. As of Jon Lord's departure in 2002, he is the only founding member of the band who never stopped performing with the group, and the only member to appear on every album the band has...
(drums) and Ritchie Blackmore
Ritchie Blackmore
Richard Hugh "Ritchie" Blackmore is an English guitarist and songwriter, who was known as one of the first guitarists to fuse Classical music elements with rock. He fronted his own band Rainbow after leaving Deep Purple where he was unhappy because his favourite musical style wasn't adequately...
(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
Steve Morse
Steven J. "Steve" Morse is an American guitarist and composer, best known for his work in the hard rock band Deep Purple since 1994. He began his career to form the unique styled instrumental rock band Dixie Dregs in the 1970. Morse's musical inspiration comes from country, funk, jazz fusion, and...
) 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.
Pre-Deep Purple years (1967–68)
In 1967, former SearchersThe Searchers (band)
The Searchers are an English beat group, who emerged as part of the 1960s Merseybeat scene along with The Beatles, The Fourmost, The Merseybeats, The Swinging Blue Jeans, and Gerry & The Pacemakers....
drummer Chris Curtis
Chris Curtis
Chris Curtis was an English drummer and singer with the 1960s pop band, The Searchers. He originated the concept behind Deep Purple and formed the band in its original incarnation of 'Roundabout'.-Early years:...
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
John Coletta
John Coletta was English music manager and music producer. He managed Deep Purple, Whitesnake and Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow,...
and Ron Hire, all of Hire-Edwards-Coletta (HEC) Enterprises.
The first recruit was the classically-trained Hammond organ
Hammond organ
The Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond in 1934 and manufactured by the Hammond Organ Company. While the Hammond organ was originally sold to churches as a lower-cost alternative to the wind-driven pipe organ, in the 1960s and 1970s it became a standard keyboard...
player Jon Lord
Jon Lord
Jonathan Douglas "Jon" Lord is an English composer, pianist and Hammond organ player.Jon Lord, also known as 'Hammond Lord', is a classically trained piano player. He is recognised for his Hammond organ blues-rock sound and for his pioneering work in fusing rock and classical or baroque forms...
, who had most notably played with The Artwoods (led by Art Wood
Art Wood
Arthur "Art" Wood was a British blues, pop and rock singer, who led The Artwoods in the 1960s and subsequently became a graphic artist. He was the brother of Ronnie Wood of The Rolling Stones.-Life:...
, brother of future Rolling Stones guitarist Ronnie Wood, and featuring Keef Hartley
Keef Hartley
Keef Hartley was an English drummer and bandleader. He fronted the Keef Hartley Band, and played at Woodstock. Hartley was later a member of Dog Soldier, and variously worked with Rory Storm, The Artwoods and John Mayall.-Biography:Hartley was born in Preston, Lancashire, England...
). He was followed by guitarist Ritchie Blackmore
Ritchie Blackmore
Richard Hugh "Ritchie" Blackmore is an English guitarist and songwriter, who was known as one of the first guitarists to fuse Classical music elements with rock. He fronted his own band Rainbow after leaving Deep Purple where he was unhappy because his favourite musical style wasn't adequately...
, who was persuaded to return from Hamburg
Hamburg
-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...
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
Screaming Lord Sutch
David Edward Sutch , also known as "Screaming Lord Sutch, 3rd Earl of Harrow", or simply "Screaming Lord Sutch", was a musician from the United Kingdom...
's The Savages. Curtis' erratic behavior soon forced him out of his own project, but HEC Enterprises as well as Lord and Blackmore were keen to carry on.
For the bass guitar, Lord suggested his old friend Nick Simper
Nick Simper
Nicholas John Simper is a bass guitarist, best known as a founding member of Deep Purple.-Biography:...
, with whom he had played in a band called The Flower Pot Men and their Garden (formerly known as The Ivy League
The Ivy League (band)
The Ivy League are an English vocal trio, created in 1964, who enjoyed two Top 10 hit singles in the UK Singles Chart in 1965. The group's sound was characterised by rich, three-part vocal harmonies.-Career:...
) back in 1967. Simper's claims to fame (apart from Deep Purple) were that he had been in Johnny Kidd and The Pirates
Johnny Kidd and the Pirates
Johnny Kidd & The Pirates were an English rock 'n' roll group led by singer/songwriter Johnny Kidd. They scored numerous hit songs from the late 1950s to the early 1960s, including the rock & roll classics 'Shakin' All Over' and 'Please Don't Touch', but their influence far outshines their chart...
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.
Top English drummer Bobby Woodman was the initial choice for the drums, but during the auditions for a singer, Rod Evans
Rod Evans
Rod Evans is a former English singer and was a founding member of Deep Purple in 1968. He provided vocals for the group's first three albums, including the hit singles "Hush" and "Kentucky Woman". He was replaced by Ian Gillan in 1969.-Early career:Before joining Deep Purple, Evans played together...
of the Maze
Maze (band)
Maze a soul / quiet storm band, also known alternately as Maze featuring Frankie Beverly and Frankie Beverly and Maze, was established in San Francisco, California in the early 1970s.-Career:...
came in with his drummer, Ian Paice
Ian Paice
Ian Anderson Paice is an English musician, best known as the drummer of the English rock band Deep Purple. As of Jon Lord's departure in 2002, he is the only founding member of the band who never stopped performing with the group, and the only member to appear on every album the band has...
. Blackmore had seen Paice 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.
The band began in earnest in March of 1968, rehearsing at Deeves Hall in South Mimms
South Mimms
South Mimms, sometimes spelt South Mymms, is a village and civil parish forming part of the Hertsmere district of Hertfordshire County Council in the East of England although geographically and historically is in the County of Middlesex.-History:...
. After a brief tour of Denmark that April, Blackmore suggested a new name: Deep Purple
Deep Purple (song)
"Deep Purple" was the biggest hit written by pianist Peter DeRose, who broadcast, 1923 to 1939, with May Singhi as "The Sweethearts of the Air" on the NBC radio network. "Deep Purple" was published in 1933 as a piano composition. The following year, Paul Whiteman had it scored for his suave "big...
, named after his grandmother's favourite song. 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.
Breakthrough (1968–70)
In May 1968, the band hit the studio to record its first album, Shades of Deep PurpleShades of Deep Purple
Shades of Deep Purple is the debut album by English hard rock band Deep Purple, released in 1968 on Parlophone in the United Kingdom and Tetragrammaton in the United States....
, which was released in July. The group had success in North America with a cover of Joe South
Joe South
Joe South is a multi-talented American singer-songwriter and guitarist.-Career:...
's "Hush", and by October 1968, the song had reached number 4 on the Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
in the US and number 2 on the Canadian RPM
RPM (magazine)
RPM was a Canadian music industry publication that featured song and album charts for Canada. The publication was founded by Walt Grealis in February 1964, supported through its existence by record label owner Stan Klees. RPM ceased publication in November 2000.RPM stood for "Records, Promotion,...
chart. That same month, Deep Purple was booked to support Cream
Cream (band)
Cream were a 1960s British rock supergroup consisting of bassist/vocalist Jack Bruce, guitarist/vocalist Eric Clapton, and drummer Ginger Baker...
on their Goodbye tour.
The band's second album, The Book of Taliesyn
The Book of Taliesyn
- Side two :- Bonus tracks on the CD re-issue :- Personnel :* Rod Evans - lead vocals* Ritchie Blackmore - guitar* Nick Simper - bass, backing vocals* Jon Lord - Hammond organ, keyboards, backing vocals, string arrangements on "Anthem"* Ian Paice - drums...
(including a cover of Neil Diamond
Neil Diamond
Neil Leslie Diamond is an American singer-songwriter with a career spanning over five decades from the 1960s until the present....
's "Kentucky Woman
Kentucky Woman
"Kentucky Woman" is a 1967 song written and originally recorded by Neil Diamond. Another well-known version is the 1968 recording by Deep Purple....
"), was released in North America to coincide with the tour, reaching number 38 on the Billboard charts and number 21 on the RPM
RPM (magazine)
RPM was a Canadian music industry publication that featured song and album charts for Canada. The publication was founded by Walt Grealis in February 1964, supported through its existence by record label owner Stan Klees. RPM ceased publication in November 2000.RPM stood for "Records, Promotion,...
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
Deep Purple (album)
Deep Purple, also referred to as Deep Purple III, is the third studio album by English rock band Deep Purple, released in 1969 on Harvest Records in the UK and on Tetragrammaton in the US...
. The album contained strings and woodwind on one track ("April"), showcasing Lord's classical antecedents such as Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach was a German composer, organist, harpsichordist, violist, and violinist whose sacred and secular works for choir, orchestra, and solo instruments drew together the strands of the Baroque period and brought it to its ultimate maturity...
and Rimsky-Korsakov
Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov
Nikolai Andreyevich Rimsky-Korsakov was a Russian composer, and a member of the group of composers known as The Five.The Five, also known as The Mighty Handful or The Mighty Coterie, refers to a circle of composers who met in Saint Petersburg, Russia, in the years 1856–1870: Mily Balakirev , César...
, and several other influences were in evidence, notably Vanilla Fudge
Vanilla Fudge
Vanilla Fudge is an American rock band. The band's original lineup – vocalist/organist Mark Stein, bassist/vocalist Tim Bogert, lead guitarist/vocalist Vince Martell, and drummer/vocalist Carmine Appice – recorded five albums during the years 1966–69, before disbanding in 1970...
. (Blackmore and Lord had even claimed the group wanted to be a "Vanilla Fudge clone".) 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
Hair (musical)
Hair: The American Tribal Love-Rock Musical is a rock musical with a book and lyrics by James Rado and Gerome Ragni and music by Galt MacDermot. A product of the hippie counter-culture and sexual revolution of the 1960s, several of its songs became anthems of the anti-Vietnam War peace movement...
, 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. Thus, the album sold poorly, finishing well out of the Billboard Top 100. Soon after this 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
Warner Bros. Records
Warner Bros. Records Inc. is an American record label. It was the foundation label of the present-day Warner Music Group, and now operates as a wholly owned subsidiary of that corporation. It maintains a close relationship with its former parent, Warner Bros. Pictures, although the two companies...
, who would release Deep Purple's records in the US throughout the 1970s.) During the 1969 American tour, Blackmore and Lord 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."
In search of a replacement vocalist, Blackmore set his sights on 19-year-old singer Terry Reid
Terry Reid
Terry Reid is an English rock vocalist and guitarist. He has performed with high profile musicians, as a supporting act, a session musician, and sideman.- History :...
, who declined a similar opportunity to front the newly forming Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin were an English rock band, active in the late 1960s and throughout the 1970s. Formed in 1968, they consisted of guitarist Jimmy Page, singer Robert Plant, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham...
only a year earlier. Though he found the offer "flattering", Reid was still bound by the exclusive recording contract with his producer Mickie Most
Mickie Most
Mickie Most was an English record producer, with a string of hit singles with acts such as The Animals, Arrows, Herman's Hermits, Donovan, Suzi Quatro and the Jeff Beck Group often issued on his own RAK Records label....
and more interested in his solo career. Blackmore had no other choice but to look elsewhere.
The band hunted down singer Ian Gillan
Ian Gillan
Ian Gillan is an English rock music vocalist and songwriter, best known as the lead singer and lyricist for Deep Purple. During his career Gillan also fronted his own band, had a year-long stint as the vocalist for Black Sabbath, and sang the role of Jesus in the original recording of Andrew Lloyd...
from Episode Six
Episode Six
Episode Six was a British vocal pop-rock group during the mid 1960s. The band was not well known, but foreshadowed the arrival of Deep Purple in late 1960s...
, 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. Six's drummer Mick Underwood
Mick Underwood
Mick Underwood is a British drummer best known for his work with Episode Six, Quatermass and Gillan. First playing drums at the age of 14, he was a professional musician by the time he left school...
– an old comrade of Blackmore's from his Savages days – introduced the band to Gillan and bassist Roger Glover
Roger Glover
Roger David Glover is a Welsh bassist, songwriter, and record producer. Glover is best known as the bassist and lyricist for the hard rock band, Deep Purple.-Early career:...
. 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
Roger Greenaway
Roger Greenaway , is a popular English songwriter, best known for his collaborations with Roger Cook.-Career:...
-Cook
Roger Cook (songwriter)
Roger Cook is an English songwriter who has written many hits for other recording artists. He has also had a successful recording career in his own right.-Early life:Cook was born in Fishponds, Bristol, England...
tune titled "Hallelujah", which flopped.
The band gained some much-needed publicity in September, 1969, with the Concerto for Group and Orchestra
Concerto for Group and Orchestra
The Concerto for Group and Orchestra is a concerto composed by Jon Lord, with lyrics written by Ian Gillan. It was first performed by Deep Purple and The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Malcolm Arnold on 24 September 1969 and released on vinyl in December 1969. The release was the first...
, a three-movement epic composed by Lord as a solo project and performed by the band at the Royal Albert Hall
Royal Albert Hall
The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall situated on the northern edge of the South Kensington area, in the City of Westminster, London, England, best known for holding the annual summer Proms concerts since 1941....
with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra is a British orchestra based in London. It tours widely, and is sometimes referred to as "Britain's national orchestra"...
, conducted by Malcolm Arnold
Malcolm Arnold
Sir Malcolm Henry Arnold, CBE was an English composer and symphonist.Malcolm Arnold began his career playing trumpet professionally, but by age thirty his life was devoted to composition. He was ranked with Benjamin Britten as one of the most sought-after composers in Britain...
. Together with Five Bridges
Five Bridges
The Five Bridges Suite is a modern piece of music, written in the 1960s, combining classical music and jazz. Written about the UK city of Newcastle upon Tyne, it was released as an album by The Nice which achieved the number two position in the UK album charts...
by The Nice
The Nice
The Nice were an English progressive rock band from the 1960s, known for their blend of rock, jazz and classical music. Their debut album, The Thoughts of Emerlist Davjack was released in 1967 to immediate acclaim. It is often considered the first progressive rock album...
, it was one of the first collaborations between a rock band and an orchestra. However, Blackmore and Gillan especially were less than happy at the group 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
Gemini Suite Live
Gemini Suite Live is a recording of Jon Lord's classical/rock piece featuring the whole of Deep Purple Mk 2, recorded live during this one and only live performance in 1970...
, another orchestra/group collaboration in the same vein, for the band in late 1970.
Popularity and break-up (1970–76)
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 RockDeep Purple in Rock
Deep Purple in Rock is an album by English rock band Deep Purple, released in June 1970. It was their fourth studio album and the first with the classic Mk II lineup. Rod Evans and Nick Simper had been fired in June 1969 and were replaced by Ian Gillan and Roger Glover, respectively...
(a name supported by the album's Mount Rushmore
Mount Rushmore
Mount Rushmore National Memorial is a sculpture carved into the granite face of Mount Rushmore near Keystone, South Dakota, in the United States...
-inspired cover), which contained the then-concert staples "Speed King
Speed King
"Speed King" is a song by British hard rock band Deep Purple from their 1970 album Deep Purple in Rock. The song is one of the loudest from the album, and featured some of the band's greatest amount of improvisation in a studio recorded song, on both the original version and later live versions...
", "Into The Fire" and "Child in Time
Child in Time
"Child in Time" is a song by British hard rock band Deep Purple. Featured on their 1970 album Deep Purple in Rock, the song is 10 minutes and 18 seconds long.-History and characteristics:...
". The band also issued the UK Top Ten single "Black Night
Black Night
"Black Night" is a song by British hard rock band Deep Purple, first released as a single in June 1970 and later included on the 25th Year Anniversary version of their 1970 album, In Rock. The song became a hit following its release, peaking at #2 on UK charts, and to this day remains Deep Purple's...
". 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
Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin were an English rock band, active in the late 1960s and throughout the 1970s. Formed in 1968, they consisted of guitarist Jimmy Page, singer Robert Plant, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham...
's Led Zeppelin II
Led Zeppelin II
The finished tracks reflect the raw, evolving sound of the band and their ability as live performers. The album has been noted for featuring a further development of the lyrical themes established by Robert Plant on Led Zeppelin's debut album, creating a work which would become more widely...
and Black Sabbath
Black Sabbath
Black Sabbath are an English heavy metal band, formed in Aston, Birmingham in 1969 by Ozzy Osbourne , Tony Iommi , Geezer Butler , and Bill Ward . The band has since experienced multiple line-up changes, with Tony Iommi the only constant presence in the band through the years. A total of 22...
's Paranoid
Paranoid (album)
Paranoid is the second studio album by English heavy metal band Black Sabbath. Released in September 1970, the album was the only one by the band to top the UK Albums Chart, and as a result is commonly identified as the band's magnum opus...
, In Rock codified the heavy metal
Heavy metal music
Heavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the Midlands of the United Kingdom and the United States...
genre.
A second album, the creatively progressive Fireball
Fireball (album)
-Side two:-Bonus tracks on the 25th anniversary CD re-issue:-side one:-Side two:-Personnel:* Ian Gillan - vocals* Ritchie Blackmore - guitar* Roger Glover - bass* Jon Lord - keyboards, Hammond organ* Ian Paice - drums-Additional personnel:...
, was issued in the summer of 1971. The title track "Fireball
Fireball (song)
"Fireball" is the opening song of the album of the same name by the English hard rock band Deep Purple. It was Deep Purple's second single release in 1971....
" was released as a single, as was "Strange Kind of Woman
Strange Kind of Woman
Strange Kind of Woman is a song by British rock band Deep Purple that was originally released as a follow up single after "Black Night" in early 1971. The song also became a hit, peaking at #8 on UK charts, and later appeared on the re-release of their 1971 album Fireball...
", not from the album but recorded during the same sessions (although it replaced "Demon's Eye" on the US version of the album).
Within weeks of Fireballs 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
Machine Head (album)
Machine Head is the sixth studio album released by the English rock band Deep Purple. It was recorded through December 1971 in Montreux, Switzerland, and released in March 1972....
. The album was due to be recorded at a casino in Montreux
Montreux
Montreux is a municipality in the district of Riviera-Pays-d'Enhaut in the canton of Vaud in Switzerland.It is located on Lake Geneva at the foot of the Alps and has a population, , of and nearly 90,000 in the agglomeration.- History :...
, using the Rolling Stones Mobile Studio
Rolling Stones Mobile Studio
The Rolling Stones Mobile Studio is a mobile recording studio owned by the musical group the Rolling Stones. Numerous bands and artists have recorded music using it, including Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, Lou Reed, Bob Marley, Horslips, Fleetwood Mac, Bad Company, Status Quo, Iron Maiden, Mola Mola...
, but a fire during a Frank Zappa
Frank Zappa
Frank Vincent Zappa was an American composer, singer-songwriter, electric guitarist, record producer and film director. In a career spanning more than 30 years, Zappa wrote rock, jazz, orchestral and musique concrète works. He also directed feature-length films and music videos, and designed...
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
Smoke on the Water
"Smoke on the Water" is a song by the British hard rock band Deep Purple. It was first released on their 1972 album Machine Head. In 2004, the song was ranked number 426 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest songs of all time, and in March 2005, Q magazine placed "Smoke on the Water"...
." The album was later recorded in a corridor at the nearby empty Grand Hotel.
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'
Space Truckin'
"Space Truckin" is a song by British hard rock band Deep Purple. It is the seventh and final track on the Machine Head album. Its lyrics talk of space travel and it showcases the vocal abilities of singer Ian Gillan and powerful drumming of Ian Paice...
", "Lazy
Lazy (Deep Purple song)
"Lazy" is a song by British hard rock band Deep Purple from their 1972 album Machine Head. A live performance of the song can be found on the album Made in Japan, released later the same year....
" and "Smoke on the Water", for which Deep Purple is most famous. 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
Made in Japan (album)
Made in Japan is a double live album by English rock band Deep Purple, recorded during their first tour of Japan in August 1972. It was originally released in December 1972, with a U.S...
. 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).
The classic Deep Purple Mark II line-up continued to work, and released the album Who Do We Think We Are
Who Do We Think We Are
-Side two:-Bonus tracks on the Remastered edition CD re-issue:-Personnel:* Ian Gillan - vocals, harmonica* Ritchie Blackmore - guitar* Roger Glover - bass* Jon Lord - keyboards* Ian Paice - drums-Additional personnel:* Produced by Deep Purple...
(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. 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. 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
Trapeze (band)
Trapeze were an English rock band formed in March 1969, by vocalist John Jones and guitarist/keyboardist Terry Rowley , with guitarist Mel Galley, singer/bassist Glenn Hughes, and drummer Dave Holland...
. 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. According to Hughes, he was persuaded to join under the guise that the band would be bringing in Paul Rodgers
Paul Rodgers
Paul Bernard Rodgers is an English rock singer-songwriter, best known for his success in the 1970s as a member of Free and Bad Company. After stints in two less successful bands in the 1980s and early 1990s, The Firm and The Law, he became a solo artist. He has recently toured and recorded with...
of Free
Free (band)
Free were an English rock band, formed in London in 1968, best known for their 1970 signature song "All Right Now". They disbanded in 1973 and lead singer Paul Rodgers went on to become a frontman of the band Bad Company along with Simon Kirke on drums; lead guitarist Paul Kossoff died from a...
as a co-lead vocalist, but by that time Rodgers had just started Bad Company
Bad Company
Bad Company were an English rock supergroup founded in 1973, consisting of two former Free band members — singer Paul Rodgers and drummer Simon Kirke — as well as Mott the Hoople guitarist Mick Ralphs and King Crimson bassist Boz Burrell. Peter Grant, who, in years prior, was a key component of...
. Instead, auditions were held for lead vocal replacements. Two primary candidates surfaced: Angus Cameron McKinlay, a Scotsman; and David Coverdale
David Coverdale
David 'Jack' Coverdale is an English rock singer, most famous for his work with the his own hard rock band Whitesnake which achieved massive commercial success.-Early life:...
, an unknown singer from Saltburn
Saltburn-by-the-Sea
Saltburn-by-the-Sea is a seaside resort in the unitary authority of Redcar and Cleveland and the ceremonial county of North Yorkshire, England. The town is around east of Middlesbrough, and had a population of 5,912 at the 2001 Census.-Old Saltburn:...
in Northeast England. They settled on Coverdale, primarily because Blackmore liked his masculine, blues-tinged voice, and Angus was eliminated.
This new line-up continued into 1974. The band played at the famous California Jam
California Jam
California Jam, also known as Cal Jam, was a rock music festival concert held at the Ontario Motor Speedway in Ontario, California on April 6, 1974. It was produced by ABC Entertainment, Sandy Feldman, Don Branker and Leonard Stogel...
festival at Ontario Motor Speedway
Ontario Motor Speedway
The Ontario Motor Speedway, located in Ontario, California, east of Los Angeles, was the first and only automobile racing facility built to accommodate major races sanctioned by all of the four dominant racing sanctioning bodies: IndyCar Series and USAC for open-wheel oval car races; NASCAR for a ...
located in California
Ontario, California
Ontario is a city located in San Bernardino County, California, United States, 35 miles east of downtown Los Angeles. Located in the western part of the Inland Empire region, it lies just east of the Los Angeles county line and is part of the Greater Los Angeles Area...
on 6 April 1974. Attracting over 250,000 fans, the festival also included 1970s rock giants Black Sabbath
Black Sabbath
Black Sabbath are an English heavy metal band, formed in Aston, Birmingham in 1969 by Ozzy Osbourne , Tony Iommi , Geezer Butler , and Bill Ward . The band has since experienced multiple line-up changes, with Tony Iommi the only constant presence in the band through the years. A total of 22...
, Eagles, Emerson, Lake & Palmer
Emerson, Lake & Palmer
Emerson, Lake & Palmer, also known as ELP, are an English progressive rock supergroup. They found success in the 1970s and sold over forty million albums and headlined large stadium concerts. The band consists of Keith Emerson , Greg Lake and Carl Palmer...
, Earth, Wind & Fire
Earth, Wind & Fire
Earth, Wind & Fire is an American soul and R&B band formed in Chicago, Illinois, in 1969 by Verdine and Maurice White. Also known as EWF, the band has won six Grammy Awards and four American Music Awards. They have been inducted into both the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Vocal Group Hall of...
, Seals and Crofts
Seals and Crofts
Seals and Crofts is a band made up of Jim Seals and Dash Crofts . The soft rock duo was one of the most successful musical acts of the 1970s. They are best known for their hits "Summer Breeze" and "Diamond Girl"...
, Rare Earth
Rare Earth (band)
Rare Earth is an American rock band affiliated with Motown's Rare Earth record label , who prospered in 1970-1972. Although not the first white band signed to Motown, Rare Earth was the first big hit-making act signed by Motown that consisted only of white members...
and Black Oak Arkansas
Black Oak Arkansas
Black Oak Arkansas is an American Southern rock band named after the band's hometown of Black Oak, Arkansas. The band reached the height of its fame in the 1970s with ten charting albums released in that decade...
. Portions of the show were telecast on ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
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
Stormbringer (album)
-Side Two:-35th anniversary bonus tracks:-Personnel:* David Coverdale - lead vocals* Ritchie Blackmore - guitar* Glenn Hughes - bass, vocals* Jon Lord - organ, keyboards* Ian Paice - drums-Additional personnel:...
. 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 voiced unhappiness with the album and the direction Deep Purple had taken, stating simply, "I don't like funky soul music." As a result, he left the band on 21 June 1975 to form his own band with Ronnie James Dio
Ronnie James Dio
Ronald James Padavona , better known as Ronnie James Dio, was an American heavy metal vocalist and songwriter. He performed with, amongst others, Elf, Rainbow, Black Sabbath, Heaven & Hell, and his own band Dio, which means God in Italian. Other musical projects include the collective fundraiser...
of Elf
Elf (band)
Elf was a rock band founded in 1967 by the late singer and bassist Ronnie James Dio, keyboardist Doug Thaler, drummer Gary Driscoll, and guitarists Nick Pantas and David Feinstein . The band was originally called The Electric Elves, but was shortened to The Elves and finally Elf in mid-1970...
, called Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow, later shortened to Rainbow
Rainbow (band)
Rainbow were an English rock band, controlled by guitarist Ritchie Blackmore from 1975 to 1984 and 1994 to 1997. It was originally established with American rock band Elf's members, though over the years Rainbow went through many line-up changes with no two studio albums featuring the same line-up...
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
Tommy Bolin
Thomas Richard "Tommy" Bolin was an American-born guitarist who played with Zephyr , The James Gang , and Deep Purple , in addition to doing solo work...
. There are at least two versions about the recruitment of Bolin: Coverdale claims to have been the one who suggested auditioning Bolin. "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. Bolin had been a member of many now-forgotten late-1960s bands – Denny & The Triumphs, American Standard, and Zephyr
Zephyr (band)
Zephyr was a blues-based hard rock band formed in 1969 in Boulder, Colorado by guitarist Tommy Bolin, keyboardist John Faris, David Givens on bass guitar, Robbie Chamberlin on drums and Candy Givens on vocals. Although the charismatic performances by Candy Givens were originally the focal point for...
, which released three albums from 1969–72. Before Deep Purple, Bolin's best-known recordings were made as a session musician on Billy Cobham
Billy Cobham
William C. Cobham is a Panamanian American jazz drummer, composer and bandleader, who has called Switzerland home since the late 1970s....
's 1973 jazz fusion
Jazz fusion
Jazz fusion is a musical fusion genre that developed from mixing funk and R&B rhythms and the amplification and electronic effects of rock, complex time signatures derived from non-Western music and extended, typically instrumental compositions with a jazz approach to lengthy group improvisations,...
album Spectrum, and as Joe Walsh
Joe Walsh
Joseph Fidler "Joe" Walsh is an American musician, songwriter, record producer, and actor. He has been a member of three commercially successful bands, the James Gang, Barnstorm, and the Eagles, and has experienced notable success as a solo artist and prolific session musician, especially with B.B...
's replacement on two James Gang
James Gang
The James Gang was a rock band formed in Cleveland, Ohio in 1966. Though the band was not a huge commercial success, except in the Northeast Ohio area, the fame garnered by guitarist Joe Walsh has since made the group more notable.- History :...
albums: Bang
Bang (James Gang album)
Bang is the sixth studio album by James Gang, released in 1973. This is the first James Gang album featuring lead guitarist Tommy Bolin after Domenic Troiano left the band.-Reception:...
(1973) and Miami (1974). He had also jammed with such luminaries as Dr. John, Albert King, The Good Rats
The Good Rats
The Good Rats are a rock band from Long Island, New York. Their music mixes elements of rock with blues and pop. Although they have had some success both nationally and internationally, it's on their native Long Island that they have always been best known....
, Moxy and Alphonse Mouzon
Alphonse Mouzon
Alphonse Mouzon is a well-known jazz-fusion drummer and percussionist, and the Chairman/CEO of Tenacious Records. He also composes, arranges and produces, as well as acts...
, 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
Come Taste the Band
Come Taste the Band is the tenth studio album by the English rock band Deep Purple originally released in October 1975. The album was co-produced and engineered by the band and longtime associate Martin Birch...
, 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
Hard rock
Hard rock is a loosely defined genre of rock music which has its earliest roots in mid-1960s garage rock, blues rock and psychedelic rock...
sound. 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, side projects (1976–84)
The end came on tour in Britain on 15 March 1976 at the Liverpool Empire TheatreLiverpool Empire Theatre
Liverpool Empire Theatre is located on the corner of Lime Street and London Road in Liverpool, Merseyside, England. The theatre is the second to be built on the site, and was opened in 1925. It has the largest two-tier auditorium in Britain and can seat 2,350 people...
. 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.
Later, Bolin had just finished recording his second solo album, Private Eyes
Private Eyes (Tommy Bolin album)
Private Eyes is the second solo album by guitarist Tommy Bolin. This was Bolin's last album, as he died of a drug overdose while on the promotional tour, opening for Jeff Beck.- Track listing :#"Bustin' Out for Rosey" - 4:24...
, when, on 4 December 1976, tragedy struck. In Miami, during a tour supporting Jeff Beck
Jeff Beck
Geoffrey Arnold "Jeff" Beck is an English rock guitarist. He is one of three noted guitarists to have played with The Yardbirds...
, 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
Rainbow (band)
Rainbow were an English rock band, controlled by guitarist Ritchie Blackmore from 1975 to 1984 and 1994 to 1997. It was originally established with American rock band Elf's members, though over the years Rainbow went through many line-up changes with no two studio albums featuring the same line-up...
, Whitesnake
Whitesnake
Whitesnake are an English rock band, founded in 1978 by David Coverdale after his departure from his previous band, Deep Purple. The band's early material has been compared by critics to Deep Purple, but by the mid 1980s they had moved to a more commercial hard rock style...
, Black Sabbath
Black Sabbath
Black Sabbath are an English heavy metal band, formed in Aston, Birmingham in 1969 by Ozzy Osbourne , Tony Iommi , Geezer Butler , and Bill Ward . The band has since experienced multiple line-up changes, with Tony Iommi the only constant presence in the band through the years. A total of 22...
and Gillan
Gillan
Gillan was a rock band formed in 1978 by Deep Purple singer Ian Gillan.-History:In 1978 Ian Gillan had become dissatisfied with the jazz fusion style of his band called the Ian Gillan Band and dissolved it, retaining only keyboard player Colin Towns, and formed a new band entitled 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.
Reunions and break-ups (1984–94)
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 Blackmore, Gillan, Glover, Lord and Paice. The reformed band signed a worldwide deal with PolyGramPolyGram
PolyGram was the name of the major label recording company started by Philips from as a holding company for its music interests in 1945. In 1999 it was sold to Seagram and merged into Universal Music Group.-Hollandsche Decca Distributie , 1929-1950:...
, with Mercury Records
Mercury Records
Mercury Records is a record label operating as a standalone company in the UK and as part of the Island Def Jam Motown Music Group in the US; both are subsidiaries of Universal Music Group. There is also a Mercury Records in Australia, which is a local artist and repertoire division of Universal...
releasing their albums in the United States, and Polydor Records
Polydor Records
Polydor is a record label owned by Universal Music Group, headquartered in the United Kingdom.-Beginnings:Polydor was originally an independent branch of the Deutsche Grammophon Gesellschaft. Its name was first used as an export label in 1924, the British and German branches of the Gramophone...
in other countries. The album Perfect Strangers
Perfect Strangers (album)
Perfect Strangers is the eleventh studio album by Deep Purple, released in October 1984. It represents the first album recorded by the reformed, the most successful and popular, 'Mark II' line-up....
was recorded in Vermont and released in October 1984. A solid release, it sold extremely well (reaching #5 in the UK and #17 on the Billboard 200
Billboard 200
The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...
in the US) and included the singles and concert staples "Knockin' At Your Back Door" and "Perfect Strangers
Perfect Strangers (Deep Purple song)
"Perfect Strangers" is a song by the British hard rock band Deep Purple. It is the title track of their 1984 album Perfect Strangers.The words tell of the sorrow of remaining "perfect strangers" after the end of a relationship. It is one of the few Deep Purple songs not to feature a guitar or organ...
". 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
Bruce Springsteen
Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen , nicknamed "The Boss," is an American singer-songwriter who records and tours with the E Street Band...
. The UK homecoming saw the band perform a concert at Knebworth
Concerts at Knebworth House
The grounds of Knebworth House near the village of Knebworth in Hertfordshire, England has become a major venue for open air rock and pop concerts since 1974 when The Allman Brothers Band attracted 60,000 at the first large concert held at the venue....
on 22 June 1985 (with main support from the Scorpions
Scorpions (band)
Scorpions are a heavy metal/hard rock band from Hannover, Germany, formed in 1965 by guitarist Rudolf Schenker, who is the band's only constant member. They are known for their 1980s rock anthem "Rock You Like a Hurricane" and many singles, such as "No One Like You", "Send Me an Angel", "Still...
; also on the bill were UFO
UFO (band)
UFO are an English heavy metal and hard rock band, who were formed in 1969. UFO became a transitional group between early hard rock and heavy metal and the New Wave of British Heavy Metal...
and Meat Loaf
Meat Loaf
Michael Lee Aday , better known by his stage name, Meat Loaf, is an American hard rock musician and actor...
), where the weather was bad (torrential rain and 6" of mud) infront of 80,000 fans. The gig was called the "Return Of The Knebworth Fayre".
The line-up then released The House of Blue Light
The House of Blue Light
The House of Blue Light is the twelfth studio album by Deep Purple, released in 1987. It is the second recording by the re-formed Mark II lineup....
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
Survivor (band)
Survivor is an American rock band formed in Chicago in 1978. The band achieved its greatest success in the 1980s with its AOR sound, which garnered many charting singles, especially in the United States. The band is best known for its double platinum-certified 1982 hit "Eye of the Tiger", the theme...
frontman Jimi Jamison
Jimi Jamison
Jimmy Wayne "Jimi" Jamison is a rock vocalist and songwriter, best known as the lead singer for the band Survivor from 1984–1989 and 2000-2006.- Further biography :...
as Gillan's replacement, but this fell through due to complications with Jamison's record label
Scotti Brothers Records
Scotti Brothers Records was a California-based record label founded by Tony and Ben Scotti in 1974. Their first success was releasing albums from teen pop star Leif Garrett. They later helped launch the careers of Felony, Survivor, and "Weird Al" Yankovic...
. Eventually, after auditioning several high-profile candidates, including Brian Howe
Brian Howe (singer)
Brian Anthony Howe is an English rock singer and songwriter, best known for replacing Paul Rodgers as the lead vocalist of Bad Company. Howe's career was jump-started in 1983 when Ted Nugent recruited him to handle lead vocals for his Penetrator album and front its subsequent world tour.-Early...
(White Spirit
White Spirit (band)
White Spirit was a hard rock band from Hartlepool, England, best remembered for guitarist Janick Gers who went on to play with Ian Gillan, Bruce Dickinson, and ultimately, Iron Maiden...
, Ted Nugent
Ted Nugent
Theodore Anthony "Ted" Nugent is an American guitarist, musician, singer, author, reserve police officer, and activist. From Detroit, Michigan, he originally gained fame as the lead guitarist of The Amboy Dukes, before embarking on a lengthy solo career...
, Bad Company
Bad Company
Bad Company were an English rock supergroup founded in 1973, consisting of two former Free band members — singer Paul Rodgers and drummer Simon Kirke — as well as Mott the Hoople guitarist Mick Ralphs and King Crimson bassist Boz Burrell. Peter Grant, who, in years prior, was a key component of...
), Doug Pinnick
Doug Pinnick
Doug Pinnick sometimes stylised as dUg Pinnick or simply dUg is an American musician best known as the bass guitarist, songwriter, and co-lead vocalist for the hard rock/progressive metal band King's X. He has fourteen albums with King's X, four solo albums, and numerous side projects and guest...
(King's X
King's X
King's X is an American hard rock band that combines progressive metal, funk and soul with vocal arrangements influenced by gospel, blues, and British Invasion rock groups. The band's lyrics are largely based on the members' struggles with religion and self-acceptance...
), Australians Jimmy Barnes
Jimmy Barnes
James Dixon Swan , better known as Jimmy Barnes, is a Scottish-born Australian rock singer-songwriter. His father Jim Swan was a prizefighter and his older brother John Swan is also a rock singer. It was actually John who had encouraged and taught Jim how to sing as he wasn't really interested at...
(Cold Chisel
Cold Chisel
Cold Chisel is a rock band that originated in Adelaide, Australia. It is one of the most acclaimed Australian rock bands of all time, with a string of hits throughout the 1970s and 1980s and huge sales that continue to this day, although its success and acclaim was almost completely restricted to...
) and John Farnham
John Farnham
John Peter Farnham, AO, formerly billed as Johnny Farnham , is an English-born Australian pop singer. He was a teen pop idol from 1964 to 1979, and has since forged a career as an adult contemporary singer. His career has mostly been as a solo artist although he briefly replaced Glenn Shorrock as...
(Little River Band
Little River Band
Little River Band is an Australian rock band, formed in Melbourne in early 1975.The group chose the name after passing a road sign leading to the Victorian township of Little River, near Geelong, on the way to a performance. Little River Band enjoyed sustained commercial success in not only...
), Terry Brock (Strangeways, Giant
Giant (band)
Giant is an American melodic hard rock band that was formed in 1987.The band consisted of founding members Dann Huff and Alan Pasqua , and had Dann's brother David Huff on drums and Mike Brignardello on bass....
) and Norman "Kal" Swann (Tytan
Tytan (band)
-History:Tytan was a British heavy metal band formed at the height of the New Wave Of British Heavy Metal in the fall of 1981 by the former Angel Witch rhythm section, bassist Kevin Riddles and drummer Dave Dufort , Scottish vocalist Norman 'Kal' Swan, and guitarists Steve Gibbs and Stuart Adams...
, Lion
Lion (band)
Lion were an English-American rock band, best known for their theme song from the 1986 animated movie The Transformers: The Movie.A hard rock quartet, Lion were formed in Los Angeles in 1983 after ex-Tytan vocalist Kal Swan and former Lone Star guitarist Tony Smith relocated from Great Britain...
, Bad Moon Rising
Bad Moon Rising (band)
Bad Moon Rising were a rock band that rose to superstar status in Japan with a series of hard rock albums led by Scottish born vocalist Kal Swan and guitarist Doug Aldrich....
), former Rainbow vocalist Joe Lynn Turner
Joe Lynn Turner
Joe Lynn Turner , is an American rock singer, known for his works with Rainbow, Yngwie Malmsteen's Rising Force, Deep Purple. From the late 1990s, he continued to perform in a large number of solo albums and other studio projects...
was recruited into the band. This line-up recorded just one album, Slaves & Masters
Slaves & Masters
Slaves and Masters is the thirteenth studio album by Deep Purple, and was released in 1990. This is the band's only album to feature singer Joe Lynn Turner, who joined the previous year .Before hiring Turner, the band had considered singer Jimi Jamison of Survivor, but other obligations made him...
(1990) and toured in support, though some fans derided 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 and the classic line-up recorded The Battle Rages On
The Battle Rages On
The Battle Rages On... is the 14th studio album by Deep Purple, released in 1993. It is the last album recorded with the band's classic Mk II line-up reunited for a second time . Since Ian Gillan returned to the band in late 1992, he reworked much of material already existing for the album...
. 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
Joe Satriani
Joseph "Joe" Satriani is an American instrumental rock guitarist and multi-instrumentalist, with multiple Grammy Award nominations...
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
Dixie Dregs
The Dixie Dregs are an American band formed in the 1970s. Their mostly instrumental music fuses jazz, southern rock, bluegrass and classical forms in an often unique style.-Formation and early years:...
/Kansas
Kansas (band)
Kansas is an American rock band that became popular in the 1970s initially on Album-Oriented Rock charts, and later with hit singles such as "Carry On Wayward Son" and "Dust in the Wind"...
guitarist Steve Morse
Steve Morse
Steven J. "Steve" Morse is an American guitarist and composer, best known for his work in the hard rock band Deep Purple since 1994. He began his career to form the unique styled instrumental rock band Dixie Dregs in the 1970. Morse's musical inspiration comes from country, funk, jazz fusion, and...
to become Blackmore's permanent successor.
Revival with Steve Morse (1994–present)
Purpendicular
Purpendicular is the fifteenth studio album by English rock band, Deep Purple. Released in 1996, it is their first album with Steve Morse, guitarist of Dixie Dregs. It was recorded at Greg Rike Productions, Orlando, Florida, February to October 1995 and engineered by Darren Schneider and Keith...
was released, showing a wide variety of musical styles. The line-up then released a new live album Live at The Olympia '96
Live at the Olympia '96
"Live at the Olympia '96" is a live double album by British hard rock band Deep Purple. It was recorded at the Olympia in Paris on June 17, 1996 during the Purpendicular tour and released in 1997....
in 1997. With a revamped set list to tour, Deep Purple enjoyed success throughout the rest of the 1990s, releasing the harder-sounding Abandon
Abandon (album)
Abandon is the sixteenth studio album by Deep Purple released in 1998.The album title is actually a pun from Ian Gillan – "A Band On" – and the album was followed by the "A Band On Tour". Uniquely for a Deep Purple studio album, it features a reworking of a previously recorded song...
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
Marco de Goeij
Marco de Goeij is a Dutch composer, known for having reconstructed the lost musical score for the Deep Purple song Concerto for Group and Orchestra..Nowadays Marco de Goeij lives in Gouda and is involved in composing for bellplays....
,
painstakingly recreated the Concerto for Group and Orchestra
Concerto for Group and Orchestra
The Concerto for Group and Orchestra is a concerto composed by Jon Lord, with lyrics written by Ian Gillan. It was first performed by Deep Purple and The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Malcolm Arnold on 24 September 1969 and released on vinyl in December 1969. The release was the first...
, the original score having been lost. It was once again performed at the Royal Albert Hall
Royal Albert Hall
The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall situated on the northern edge of the South Kensington area, in the City of Westminster, London, England, best known for holding the annual summer Proms concerts since 1941....
in September 1999, this time with the London Symphony Orchestra
London Symphony Orchestra
The London Symphony Orchestra is a major orchestra of the United Kingdom, as well as one of the best-known orchestras in the world. Since 1982, the LSO has been based in London's Barbican Centre.-History:...
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 Live at the Royal Albert Hall
Live at the Royal Albert Hall (Deep Purple album)
Live at the Royal Albert Hall is a live album by British hard rock band Deep Purple, recorded on September 25 and September 26, 1999 at the Royal Albert Hall in London with the London Symphony Orchestra, and released on February 8, 2000 on Spitfire records.The album was a project started in 1999 by...
. In early 2001, two similar concerts were performed in Tokyo and released as part of the box set The Soundboard Series
The Soundboard Series
The Soundboard Series is a live box set recorded and released by the band Deep Purple in 2001. The set contains six double CDs featuring recordings from six different concerts...
.
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
Hammond organ
The Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond in 1934 and manufactured by the Hammond Organ Company. While the Hammond organ was originally sold to churches as a lower-cost alternative to the wind-driven pipe organ, in the 1960s and 1970s it became a standard keyboard...
to his replacement. Rock keyboard veteran Don Airey
Don Airey
Donald Airey has been the keyboardist in the rock band Deep Purple since 2002, succeeding Jon Lord...
(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 album in five years (Bananas
Bananas (album)
Bananas is the 17th studio album by English rock band Deep Purple, released on October 7, 2003. It includes "Contact Lost", a short, slow instrumental about the Columbia astronauts, written by guitarist Steve Morse when he heard the sad news of the crash....
) and began touring in support of the album immediately. In July 2005, the band played at the Live 8
Live 8
Live 8 was a string of benefit concerts that took place on 2 July 2005, in the G8 states and in South Africa. They were timed to precede the G8 Conference and summit held at the Gleneagles Hotel in Auchterarder, Scotland from 6–8 July 2005; they also coincided with the 20th anniversary of Live Aid...
concert in Park Place
Park Place (Ontario)
Park Place is a former park located at Highway 400 off Mapleview Drive East in the south end of Barrie, Ontario, Canada....
(Barrie, Ontario
Barrie, Ontario
Barrie is a city in Southern Ontario, Canada, located on the western shore of Lake Simcoe, approximately 90 km north of Toronto. Although located in Simcoe County, the city is politically independent...
) and, in October of the same year, released their next album Rapture of the Deep
Rapture of the Deep
Rapture of the Deep is the 18th studio album by English hard rock band Deep Purple, released in November 2005. It is currently the band's most recent studio album....
. It was followed by the Rapture of the Deep tour
Rapture of the Deep tour
The Rapture of the Deep Tour is an ongoing worldwide concert tour by British hard rock band Deep Purple. It takes place in support of their 2005 studio album Rapture of the Deep. It is supposed to be one of the most successful and long-lasting tour the band has ever done...
.
In February 2007, Gillan asked fans not to buy a live album Come Hell or High Water
Come Hell or High Water
Come Hell or High Water is a CD and DVD by the hard rock group Deep Purple. It was recorded on October 16, 1993 in "Hans-Martin-Schleyer-Halle" in Stuttgart, Germany and in Birmingham on November 9....
being released by Sony BMG. This was a recording of their 1993 appearance at the NEC in Birmingham
National Exhibition Centre
The National Exhibition Centre is an exhibition centre in Birmingham, England. It is near junction 6 of the M42 motorway, and is adjacent to Birmingham International Airport and Birmingham International railway station. It has 20 interconnected halls, set in grounds of 628 acres making it the...
. 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".
Gillan hinted that the group may record their nineteenth studio album in February 2010, to be followed by a supporting tour. Steve Morse later revealed in an interview that the band would begin working on a new album in March.
The band's chief sound engineer on nine years of tours, Moray McMillin, died in September 2011, aged 57.
Current members
- Ian PaiceIan PaiceIan Anderson Paice is an English musician, best known as the drummer of the English rock band Deep Purple. As of Jon Lord's departure in 2002, he is the only founding member of the band who never stopped performing with the group, and the only member to appear on every album the band has...
– drums, percussion (1968–1976, 1984–present) - Roger GloverRoger GloverRoger David Glover is a Welsh bassist, songwriter, and record producer. Glover is best known as the bassist and lyricist for the hard rock band, Deep Purple.-Early career:...
– bass (1969–1973, 1984–present) - Ian GillanIan GillanIan Gillan is an English rock music vocalist and songwriter, best known as the lead singer and lyricist for Deep Purple. During his career Gillan also fronted his own band, had a year-long stint as the vocalist for Black Sabbath, and sang the role of Jesus in the original recording of Andrew Lloyd...
– lead vocals, harmonicaHarmonicaThe harmonica, also called harp, French harp, blues harp, and mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used primarily in blues and American folk music, jazz, country, and rock and roll. It is played by blowing air into it or drawing air out by placing lips over individual holes or multiple holes...
, congas (1969–1973, 1984–1989, 1992–present) - Steve MorseSteve MorseSteven J. "Steve" Morse is an American guitarist and composer, best known for his work in the hard rock band Deep Purple since 1994. He began his career to form the unique styled instrumental rock band Dixie Dregs in the 1970. Morse's musical inspiration comes from country, funk, jazz fusion, and...
– guitar (1994–present) - Don AireyDon AireyDonald Airey has been the keyboardist in the rock band Deep Purple since 2002, succeeding Jon Lord...
– keyboards, organOrgan (music)The organ , is a keyboard instrument of one or more divisions, each played with its own keyboard operated either with the hands or with the feet. The organ is a relatively old musical instrument in the Western musical tradition, dating from the time of Ctesibius of Alexandria who is credited with...
(2001–present)
Former members
- Jon LordJon LordJonathan Douglas "Jon" Lord is an English composer, pianist and Hammond organ player.Jon Lord, also known as 'Hammond Lord', is a classically trained piano player. He is recognised for his Hammond organ blues-rock sound and for his pioneering work in fusing rock and classical or baroque forms...
– keyboards, organOrgan (music)The organ , is a keyboard instrument of one or more divisions, each played with its own keyboard operated either with the hands or with the feet. The organ is a relatively old musical instrument in the Western musical tradition, dating from the time of Ctesibius of Alexandria who is credited with...
, backing vocals (1968–1976, 1984–2002) - Ritchie BlackmoreRitchie BlackmoreRichard Hugh "Ritchie" Blackmore is an English guitarist and songwriter, who was known as one of the first guitarists to fuse Classical music elements with rock. He fronted his own band Rainbow after leaving Deep Purple where he was unhappy because his favourite musical style wasn't adequately...
– guitar (1968–1975, 1984–1993) - Rod EvansRod EvansRod Evans is a former English singer and was a founding member of Deep Purple in 1968. He provided vocals for the group's first three albums, including the hit singles "Hush" and "Kentucky Woman". He was replaced by Ian Gillan in 1969.-Early career:Before joining Deep Purple, Evans played together...
– lead vocals (1968–1969) - Nick SimperNick SimperNicholas John Simper is a bass guitarist, best known as a founding member of Deep Purple.-Biography:...
– bass, backing vocals (1968–1969) - David CoverdaleDavid CoverdaleDavid 'Jack' Coverdale is an English rock singer, most famous for his work with the his own hard rock band Whitesnake which achieved massive commercial success.-Early life:...
– lead vocals (1973–1976) - Glenn Hughes – bass, vocals (1973–1976)
- Tommy BolinTommy BolinThomas Richard "Tommy" Bolin was an American-born guitarist who played with Zephyr , The James Gang , and Deep Purple , in addition to doing solo work...
– guitar, vocals (1975–1976) - Joe Lynn TurnerJoe Lynn TurnerJoe Lynn Turner , is an American rock singer, known for his works with Rainbow, Yngwie Malmsteen's Rising Force, Deep Purple. From the late 1990s, he continued to perform in a large number of solo albums and other studio projects...
– lead vocals (1989–1991) - Joe SatrianiJoe SatrianiJoseph "Joe" Satriani is an American instrumental rock guitarist and multi-instrumentalist, with multiple Grammy Award nominations...
– guitar (1993–1994)
World tours
Deep Purple are considered to be one of the hardest touring bands in the world. 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.Also in 2007, Deep Purple's Rapture of the Deep Tour
Rapture of the Deep tour
The Rapture of the Deep Tour is an ongoing worldwide concert tour by British hard rock band Deep Purple. It takes place in support of their 2005 studio album Rapture of the Deep. It is supposed to be one of the most successful and long-lasting tour the band has ever done...
was voted #6 concert tour of the year (in all music genres) by Planet Rock listeners. The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones are an English rock band, formed in London in April 1962 by Brian Jones , Ian Stewart , Mick Jagger , and Keith Richards . Bassist Bill Wyman and drummer Charlie Watts completed the early line-up...
' A Bigger Bang Tour
A Bigger Bang Tour
A Bigger Bang Tour was a worldwide concert tour by The Rolling Stones which took place between August 2005 and August 2007, in support of their album A Bigger Bang...
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 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
Liberec
Liberec is a city in the Czech Republic. Located on the Lusatian Neisse and surrounded by the Jizera Mountains and Ještěd-Kozákov Ridge, it is the fifth-largest city in the Czech Republic....
, Czech Republic.
- Deep Purple Debut TourDeep Purple Debut TourDeep Purple Debut Tour is the first tour by British hard rock band Deep Purple which took place in Europe, specifically in Scandinavian countries....
, 1968 - Shades of Deep Purple TourShades of Deep Purple TourThe Shades of Deep Purple Tour was a short tour by British hard rock band Deep Purple to support their debut album Shades of Deep Purple. The tour lasted over one month and included only eight dates...
, 1968 - The Book of Taliesyn TourThe Book of Taliesyn TourThe Book of Taliesyn Tour was a concert tour by British hard rock band Deep Purple. The tour promoted the band's second studio album in four months, The Book of Taliesyn. The band played only North American and European legs.-History:...
, 1968 - Deep Purple European TourDeep Purple European TourThe Deep Purple European Tour was a year-long successful concert tour by British Hard Rock band Deep Purple, lasting from July 1969 until June 1970. The band played mostly UK shows, also covering Germany, Switzerland, Denmark, Holland, and Belgium. It was the first tour to feature the classic Deep...
, (pre-tour for In RockDeep Purple in RockDeep Purple in Rock is an album by English rock band Deep Purple, released in June 1970. It was their fourth studio album and the first with the classic Mk II lineup. Rod Evans and Nick Simper had been fired in June 1969 and were replaced by Ian Gillan and Roger Glover, respectively...
) 1969–1970 - In Rock World TourIn Rock World TourThe In Rock World Tour was a successful worldwide concert tour by British hard rock group Deep Purple. The tour began in July 1970, after the release of their album In Rock, and lasted 15 months, until September 1971...
– 1970–1971 - Fireball World Tour, 1971–1972
- Machine Head World Tour, 1972–1973
- Deep Purple European Tour 1974
- Burn World Tour, 1974
- Stormbringer World Tour, 1974–1975
- Come Taste The Band World Tour, 1975–1976
- Perfect Strangers World Tour, aka Reunion Tour 1984–1985
- The House of Blue Light World Tour, 1987–1988
- Slaves and Masters World Tour, 1991
- Deep Purple 25 Years Anniversary World Tour, aka The Battle Rages on Tour, 1993
- Deep Purple and Joe Satriani Tour, 1993–1994
- Deep Purple Secret Mexican TourDeep Purple Secret Mexican TourDeep Purple Secret Mexican Tour was a small warm-up tour of British Hard Rock band Deep Purple with new guitarist Steve Morse and consisted of two shows in Mexico and one show in the USA-Tour pre-history:...
(short warm-up tour with Steve MorseSteve MorseSteven J. "Steve" Morse is an American guitarist and composer, best known for his work in the hard rock band Deep Purple since 1994. He began his career to form the unique styled instrumental rock band Dixie Dregs in the 1970. Morse's musical inspiration comes from country, funk, jazz fusion, and...
) - Deep Purple Secret USA TourDeep Purple Secret USA TourDeep Purple Secret USA Tour was a small warm-up tour of British hard rock band Deep Purple with new guitarist Steve Morse and included only 2 shows in the USA.-Tour pre-history:...
1994–1995 - Deep Purple Asian & African Tour 1995
- Purpendicular World Tour, 1996–1997
- A Band on World Tour, 1998–1999
- Concerto World Tour, 2000–2001
- Deep Purple World Tour, 2001–2003
- Bananas World Tour, 2003–2005
- Rapture of the Deep World Tour, 2006–2011
- Deep Purple: The Songs That Built Rock TourDeep Purple: The Songs That Built Rock TourDeep Purple: The Songs That Built Rock Tour is a current world tour by British hard rock band Deep Purple. Along with the band, it will feature a 38-piece orchestra. It will be the first time Deep Purple will tour North America in four years...
2011 - 2012