|
Deep Purple Bio
Formed: 1968 in Hertford,
England
Group Members: Tommy Bolin, Ian Gillan, Steve
Morse, Joe Satriani, Ritchie Blackmore, Roger Glover, Glenn Hughes, Jon
Lord, David Coverdale, Rod Evans, Ian
Paice, Nick Simper, Joe Lynn
Turner
Genres: Rock
Styles: British Metal, Arena Rock, Heavy Metal,
British Invasion, Hard Rock
Deep Purple survived a seemingly endless series of lineup
changes and a dramatic mid-career shift from grandiose progressive rock
to ear-shattering heavy metal to emerge as a true institution of the
British hard rock community; once credited in the Guinness Book of World
Records as the globe's loudest band, their revolving-door roster
launched the careers of performers including Ritchie Blackmore, David
Coverdale, and Ian Gillan. Deep Purple was formed in Hertford, England
in 1968, with an inaugural lineup that featured guitarist Blackmore,
vocalist Rod Evans, bassist
Nick Simper, keyboardist
Jon Lord, and
drummer Ian Paice. Initially dubbed Roundabout, the group was first
assembled as a session band for ex-Searchers drummer
Chris Curtis but
quickly went their own way, touring Scandinavia before beginning work on
their debut LP, Shades of Deep Purple. The most pop-oriented release of
their career, the album generated a Top Five American hit with its
reading of Joe South's "Hush" but otherwise went unnoticed at
home. The Book of Taliesyn followed (in the U.S. only) in 1969, again
cracking the U.S. Top 40 with a cover of Neil
Diamond's "Kentucky
Woman." With their self-titled third LP, Deep Purple's ambitions
grew, however; the songs reflecting a new complexity and density as
Lord's classically influenced keyboards assumed a much greater focus.
Soon after the album's release, their American label Tetragrammaton
folded, and with the dismissals of Evans and Simper, the band started
fresh, recruiting singer Ian Gillan and bassist
Roger Glover from the
ranks of the pop group Episode Six. The revamped Deep Purple's first
album, 1970's Concerto for Group and Orchestra, further sought to fuse
rock and classical
music. When the project, which was recorded with the
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, was poorly received, Blackmore took
creative control of the
band, steering it towards a heavier,
guitar-dominated approach which took full advantage of Gillan's powerful
vocals. The gambit worked; 1970's Deep Purple in Rock heralded the
beginning of the group's most creatively and commercially successful
period. At home, the album sold over a million copies, with the
subsequent non-LP single "Black Night" falling just shy of
topping the U.K. pop charts. 1971's 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-1973 and
positioned Deep Purple among rock's elite; the band consolidated its
status with the 1973 studio follow-up Who Do We Think We Are and the hit
"Woman from Tokyo." However, long-simmering creative
differences between Blackmore and Gillan pushed the latter out of the
group that same year, with Glover soon exiting as well; singer David
Coverdale and bassist/singer
Glenn Hughes were recruited for 1974's
Burn, and Gillan meanwhile formed a band bearing his own name. After
completing 1974's Stormbringer, Blackmore left Deep Purple to form
Rainbow with vocalist Ronnie James Dio; his replacement was ex-James
Gang guitarist Tommy Bolin, who made his debut on Come Taste the Band.
All the changes clearly took their toll, however, and following a
farewell tour the group dissolved in 1976, with Coverdale going on to
form Whitesnake; Bolin died of a drug overdose later in the year. The
classic lineup of Blackmore, Gillan, Lord, Glover and Paice reunited
Deep Purple in 1984 for a new album, the platinum smash Perfect
Strangers; The House of Blue Light followed three years later, but as
past tensions resurfaced, Gillan again exited in mid-1989. Onetime
Rainbow vocalist Joe Lynn Turner was recruited for 1990's Slaves and
Masters before Gillan again rejoined to record The Battle Rages On... -
an apt title as Blackmore quit the group midway through the supporting
tour, to be temporarily replaced by Joe
Satriani. In 1994, Steve Morse
took over the guitar slot, fresh from a stint in Kansas; the revitalized
group returned to the studio for 1996's Purpendicular, which proved a
success among the Purple faithful. 1998's Abandon followed, as well as a
1999 orchestral performance released the following year as Live at the
Royal Albert Hall. Purple was given the 'box set treatment' the same
year with the 4-disc set 'Shades: 1968-1998,' which collected hits,
demos, live takes, and unreleased tracks from throughout the years
(touching upon all of Purple's different line-up's). The
late-90's/early-00's saw the release of several other archival releases
and collections ('Machine Head 25th Anniversary,' 'Friends &
Relatives,' Rhino's 'The Very Best of,' and 'Days May Come and Days May
Go: The 1975 California Rehearsals'), as well as a slew of DVD's ('Total
Abandon: Live Australia 1999,' 'In Concert with the London Symphony
Orchestra,' 'Bombay Calling,' and 'New Live & Rare'). Former member
Blackmore also kept himself busy after leaving the band by issuing a
single album with his briefly resuscitated outfit Rainbow (98's
'Stranger in Us All'), before forming the Renaissance-inspired
Blackmore's Night with fiancé/vocalist Candice Night. Despite
numerous line-up upheavals during their career, Deep Purple remains
alive and well in the 21st century. |
Deep Purple Bio
Deep Purple
The Group Deep Purple
Deep Purple Albums
Deep Purple "Burn" |
