DEEP PURPLE

"Sweet child in time
You'll see the line
The line that's drawn between
Good and bad"

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

“C+”

Main Decade: 70's

Main Eras:

Psychedelia (1966-1969)

Hard Rock (1968-???)

 

Key Members:

Ritchie Blackmore, Guitar

Ian Gillian, Vocalist

Jon Lord, Keyboards

Ian Paice, Drums

Roger Glover, Bass

 

Key Songs:

Smoke On The Water, Child In Time, Highway Star, Fireball, Lazy, Hush, Lalena, Black Night, And The Address, The Mule, Speed King, Bloodsucker, Wrink That Neck, Burn, Black Night, April, Hard Lovin’ Man, Space Truckin’, Woman From Tokyo, Shield, Bird Has Flown, Mandrake Root, Fight of the Rat, When Blind Man Cries

 

I consider Deep Purple to be one of the best Rock bands on the planet. At the time, they were magnificent, a juggernaut that steamrolled everything in its path and had at least the same status and popularity as Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath. Unfortunately, with the passage of time, they have been somewhat overshadowed by these two bands, one considered the best in Hard Rock and the other, the father of Metal. Deep Purple should be somewhere between these two bands, combining power with elegance, technique, and the tremendous speed of Blackmore and Lord's solos.

 

Generally, along with Zeppelin and Sabbath, they are considered co-founders of Metal, although I already clarified that, in my opinion, the first two lean more towards Hard Rock. The truth is that these three giants have quite a few things in common: incredibly powerful riffs, distorted guitars, screaming vocalists, deep, independent bass lines that create tremendous support for the guitar, and Dantean drums… The truth is that, although the sound of Black Sabbath and Deep Purple became heavier and heavier over time, in their early days, along with Led Zeppelin, they were considered Metal. WTF? At one point, these three bands were called Heavy Metal to differentiate them from the true Hard Rock sound, like Hendrix, The Who, or the Rolling Stones at times. Over time, Metal evolved into Thrash or Death Metal, and nowadays the term Metal doesn't seem appropriate for Led Zeppelin or Deep Purple. However, their influence on Heavy Metal, especially Iommi with his incredibly dense riffs and Blackmore with his lightning speed, is undeniable.

Among Deep Purple's problems is the length of their songs. Having a virtuoso guitarist and keyboardist meant they had to include not only a long and dazzling guitar solo, but also make room for Jon Lord to shine on the keyboards. This made many songs too long. Not boring, but it seems that on albums with only seven or eight tracks, they could have included more high-quality material.

 

Deep Purple formed in 1967, at the height of the hippie movement, when Chris Curtis, former drummer of the Searchers, decided to form a new band, which he called Roundabout. The first to join was a keyboardist named Jon Lord, very skilled on the Hammond organ. They then recruited Ritchie Blackmore, a session musician who was auditioning for another band and called him urgently, almost as a formality to secure his services. On bass, Lord brought in a friend named Nick Simper, with whom he had already played in another band. The first drummer was Bobby Woodman, but at the vocalist auditions, Rod Evans, from a group called The Maze, arrived accompanied by his drummer, Ian Pace. Pace sat on the bench playing around, with no intention of staying, but he impressed Blackmore so much that they both stayed to complete the group.

 

The band had great chemistry and immediately went on tour. Nobody liked the group's name, Roundabout, so at a concert they put up a board and everyone suggested a name. The most popular choice was Concrete God, a follow-up to Deep Purple, suggested by Blackmore, after an old song his grandmother liked.

 

In October 1968, the band released a hit single with "Hush," a cover of Joe South's song, which helped their debut album of the same year, Shades of Deep Purple, achieve moderate success. The album is a bit weak, with several lengthy covers because they didn't yet have much solid original material, and it leans more towards psychedelia, with Lord's keyboards taking center stage over Blackmore's guitar.

 

Then came The Book of Taliesyn, somewhat following the path of Shades. It was less successful than their debut. In 1969, they released their self-titled third album, a significant step forward in their sound, the best album of the Mark I or original lineup. Blackmore's playing became more prominent and technical, while Lord added classical passages by Bach. The band's songwriting was much more mature, with the beautiful ballad "Lalena," and the rockers had more structure. The album was a success in both the USA and England, but the American record label that distributed it, Tetragrammaton, went bankrupt, leaving them penniless. They returned to England with their tails between their legs and recorded the single "Emmaretta," which Rod Evans intended to use to seduce Emmaretta Evans, the actress from the musical Hair. This was the final straw, and both Rod Evans and Nic Simper were fired.

 

The drummer from Episode Six, a friend of Ritchie's, encouraged them not to break up the band and recommended a then-unknown young man, former vocalist of Episode Six, named Ian Gillan, and their current bassist, Roger Glover. Ian Gillan's powerful voice would become as distinctive a trademark as Blackmore's guitar or Lord's keyboards.

The first thing they recorded with the Mark II guitar (with Ian Gillan on vocals and Roger Glover on bass) was the album Concerto for Group and Orchestra, a complex suite composed by Lord, recorded by the band with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra at the Royal Albert Hall. It was one of the first experimental collaborations between a rock band and a symphony orchestra. However, Gillan and Blackmore weren't entirely happy with the result, nor with being pigeonholed as a symphonic or progressive rock group. They wanted ROOOOOOOOOCK! And that's what they got with their next album, aptly titled In Rock. On this album, they finally achieved the cohesion as a band and the sound they desired, supported by Ian's powerful voice. "Speed ​​King," "Into the Fire," and the exquisite ballad "Child in Time" became instant classics. The combination of Blackmore and Lord's solos and riffs, Gillan's powerful vocals, and the solid rhythm section made this one of the best rock albums in history, and Deep Purple finally rose to fame and began headlining shows.

 

Fireball was slightly inferior, a bit more progressive and complex, but mostly retained the strengths of In Rock, particularly "Highway Star," one of the band's best songs. Although not a masterpiece like In Rock, it's still a very strong and highly recommended album. In 1971, they went to Switzerland to record their seventh album (7 in 3 years!!!). It was in Montreux that the famous incident occurred, at a Frank Zappa concert, when a fan threw a flare and set the ceiling on fire. The incident inspired "Smoke in the Water," which wasn't originally intended for the album, but they added it at the last minute as "filler," unaware that it would become their most famous song. Machine Head would be another masterpiece that would propel them to legendary status, a true masterclass in hard rock and virtuosity, with the band at their peak, taking them to the level already enjoyed by Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath. Its success was such that it forced them to embark on a massive and exhaustive tour throughout 1972, where they recorded Live in Japan, one of the best live concerts ever recorded.

 

In 1973, the group released Who Do We Think We Are, where internal divisions and a decline in their sound were already evident. Ian Gillan would later say he was exhausted, but the record label pressured them to finish another album and start another tour because they were the best-selling group of 1973. After the tour, both Gillan and Glover would have a falling out with Ritchie and quit the group, bringing an end to Deep Purple's most glorious era.

For what would become the Mark III lineup, they hired Glenn Hughes on bass and a very young David Coverdale, who hadn't yet fully developed his vocal technique. They released the album *Burn* in '74 and later *Sormbringer*, which showcased funkier and more commercial sounds thanks to the new members. Ritchie was furious, saying he wasn't in a band to play funk. On June 21, 1975, he left Deep Purple to form Rainbow with Ronnie James Dio. Tommy Bolin replaced Blackmore on guitar. The group would release one more album with the Mark IV lineup, but on the 1976 tour, Bolin was found dead from an overdose, and the band broke up.

 

In the 80s they reformed and underwent numerous lineup changes (even Joe Satriani was once the official guitarist for Deep Purple!!!), but frankly, apart from Slaves and Masters, they didn't release anything particularly interesting after that, so we're going to focus on their first period, up to 1976. Currently, only Ian Paice remains from the founding lineup.

 

Deep Purple was a truly great band, the pinnacle of Rock & Roll, the definition of brilliant and inspired musical performance. The legacy of this band will never fade… Ladies and gentlemen, Deep Purple!!!

​

​

By Corvan

Ago/2/2011

​​​​​​

​