Deep Purple

Deep Purple were formed in Hertford, England in 1968 with an inaugural lineup that featured guitarist Blackmore, vocalist Rod Evans, bassist Nick Simper, keyboardist Jon Lord, and drummer Ian Paice.

Initially dubbed Roundabout, the group was first assembled as a session band for ex-Searchers drummer Chris Curtis but quickly went their own way, touring Scandinavia before beginning work on their debut LP*, Shades of Deep Purple.*

The most pop-oriented release of their career, the album generated a Top Five American hit with its reading of Joe South's *"Hush"* but otherwise went unnoticed at home.

The Book of Taliesyn followed (in the U.S. only) in 1969, again cracking the U.S. Top 40 with a cover of Neil Diamond's *"Kentucky Woman."*

With their self-titled third LP, Deep Purple's ambitions grew; their songs reflected a new complexity and density as Lord's classically influenced keyboards assumed a much greater focus.

Soon after the album's release, their American label Tetragrammaton folded, and with the dismissal of Evans and Simper, the band started with fresh line up , recruiting singer Ian Gillan and bassist Roger Glover from the ranks of the pop group Episode Six.

### **Mark II (1969–1973):**

#### *Concerto for Group and Orchestra, In Rock, Fireball, Machine Head,* *Made in Japan* and *Who Do We Think We Are*

The revamped Deep Purple's first album, 1970's *Concerto for Group and Orchestra*, further sought to fuse rock and classical music. When the project, which was recorded with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, was poorly received, Blackmore took creative control of the band, steering it toward a heavier, guitar-dominated approach that took full advantage of Gillan's powerful vocals.

The gambit worked: 1970's Deep Purple *in Rock* which marked a shift towards a heavier and harder rock sound , heralded the beginning of the group's most creatively and commercially successful period. which contained the then-concert staples "*Speed King", "Into The Fire"* and *"Child in Time".*

At home, the album sold over a million copies, with the subsequent non-LP single *"Black Night"* falling just shy of topping the U.K. pop charts.

Released in 1971*, Fireball* was also a smash, scoring a hit with *"Strange Kind of Woman."*

Plans to record the follow-up at the Casino in Montreux, Switzerland, were derailed after the venue burned down during a live appearance by Frank Zappa, but the experience inspired Deep Purple's most enduring hit, the AOR staple "*Smoke on the Water."*

The song, featured on the multi-platinum classic Machine Head, reached the U.S. Top Five in mid-1972 and positioned Deep Purple among rock's elite; The band consolidated its status with the 1973 studio follow-up *Who Do We Think We Are* and the hit *"Woman from Tokyo."*

However, long-simmering creative differences between Blackmore and Gillan pushed the latter out of the group that same year, with Glover soon exiting as well.

### Mark III (1973–1975):

#### *Burn and Stormbringer*

Singer David Coverdale and bassist/singer Glenn Hughes were recruited for 1974's *Burn,* and Gillan formed a band bearing his own name.

Deep Purple Mark III's first album, *Burn*, released in February 1974, was highly successful, reaching No. 3 in the UK and No. 9 in the US, and was followed by another world tour

The title track *Burn* which opens the album and would open most concerts during the Mark III and IV eras, was a conscious effort by the band to embrace the progressive rock movement

After completing 1974's *Stormbringer*, Blackmore left Deep Purple to form Rainbow with vocalist Ronnie James Dio;

his replacement was ex-James Gang guitarist Tommy Bolin, who made his debut on *Come Taste the Band.*

### *Come Taste the Band*

The resulting album from Deep Purple Mark IV, *Come Taste the Band*, was released in October 1975, one month before Bolin's *Teaser* album. Despite mixed reviews and middling sales, the album revitalised the band once again, bringing a new, extreme funk edge to their hard rock sound

All the changes clearly took their toll, however, and following a farewell tour, the group dissolved in 1976.

Coverdale, meanwhile, went on to form Whitesnake, and Bolin died of a drug overdose later in the year.

### **Band split   (1976–1984)**

After the break-up, most of the members of Deep Purple went on to have considerable success in a number of other bands, including :

Rainbow (1975–1984, with Ritchie Blackmore and, from 1979, Roger Glover),

Whitesnake (1978–present, David Coverdale, Jon Lord until 1984 and Ian Paice from 1979–1982)

and Gillan (1978–1982, Ian Gillan).

Ian Gillan also joined Black Sabbath from the end of 1982 to the beginning of 1984 (Glenn Hughes would also join Sabbath for a short time later in the 1980s).

The now-defunct Deep Purple began to gain a type of mystical status, with fan-driven reissues and newly assembled live and compilation albums being released throughout the late 1970s and early 1980s

### **Mark II reunion (1984–1989):**

#### ***Perfect Strangers* and *The House of Blue Light***

The classic lineup of Blackmore, Gillan, Lord, Glover, and Paice reunited Deep Purple in 1984 for a new album, the platinum smash *Perfect Strangers* with title track hit and classic *Knocking On Your Back door*

*The House of Blue Light* followed three years later, but as past tensions resurfaced,

Gillan again exited in mid-1989.

Onetime Rainbow vocalist Joe Lynn Turner was recruited for 1990's *Slaves and Masters* before Gillan again rejoined to record *The Battle Rages On*..., an apt title as Blackmore quit the group midway through the supporting tour, temporarily replaced by Joe Satriani.

In 1994, Steve Morse took over the guitar slot (fresh from a stint from band Kansas), and the revitalized group returned to the studio for 1996's *Purpendicular*, which proved a success among the Purple faithful followers

Abandon followed in 1998, along with a 1999 orchestral performance released the following year as *Live at the Royal Albert Hall*.

Meanwhile, Blackmore kept himself busy after leaving the band by issuing a single album with his briefly resuscitated outfit Rainbow (*1998's Stranger in Us All*), before forming the Renaissance-inspired Blackmore's Night with fiancée/vocalist Candice Night.

### 21st Century

Despite continuing lineup upheavals, Deep Purple remained active well into the 21st century.

Keyboardist Lord departed the band in 2002 and issued several classical albums during the remainder of the decade; sadly, he died in 2012 after battling pancreatic cancer for nearly a year.

Lord's replacement in Deep Purple during the new millennium was Don Airey, and the band issued two surprisingly strong albums with the lineup of Gillan, Glover, Paice, Morse, and Airey:

2003's *Bananas* and 2005's *Rapture of the Deep.*

The late '90s and early 2000s also saw the release of many archival releases and collections preserving the band's enduring legacy

Surviving members of Deep Purple reunited for a tribute concert on April 4, 2014 at Royal Albert Hall; it marked the 45th anniversary of the debut of *Jon Lord's "Concerto for Group and Orchestra."*

The event was chronicled on film and on two albums, Celebrating Jon Lord: The Rock Legend and Celebrating Jon Lord: The Composer, which appeared in the fall of 2014

With a body of work spanning nearly seven decades, England's Deep Purple are bona fide classic rock royalty :

Smoke on the Water" remains one of the most recognizable and iconic guitar riffs in rock history.

They have sold over 100 million albums worldwide.

Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2016.

Received numerous awards and accolades for their contributions to music.

Along with Cream, Black Sabbath, and Led Zeppelin, they defined hard rock and early heavy metal.

### Discography

Here's a list of Deep Purple's studio albums in chronological order by release year:

1.     Shades of Deep Purple (1968)

2.     The Book of Taliesyn (1968)

3.     Deep Purple (1969) - Also known as "Deep Purple III"

4.     Deep Purple in Rock (1970)

5.     Fireball (1971)

6.     Machine Head (1972)

7.     Who Do We Think We Are (1973)

8.     Burn (1974)

9.     Stormbringer (1974)

10. Come Taste the Band (1975)

11. Perfect Strangers (1984)

12. The House of Blue Light (1987)

13. Slaves and Masters (1990)

14. The Battle Rages On... (1993)

15. Purpendicular (1996)

16. Abandon (1998)

17. Bananas (2003)

18. Rapture of the Deep (2005)

19. Now What?! (2013)

20. InFinite (2017)

21. Whoosh! (2020)