Deep Purple Brief Biography

Deep Purple, along with Led Zeppelin, were heavy metal/heavy rock pioneers in the late 1960s. British group Deep Purple grew out of several '60s bands, including The Flowerpot Men (the group that had the 1967 hit at the height of flower power, 'Let's Go To San Francisco', and included organist Jon Lord and bassist Nick Simper), and the slightly later group, Roundabout (which featured guitarist Ritchie Blackmore and Lord). Blackmore, Lord, and Simper joined forces in 1968, augmented by Rod Evans (vocals) and Ian Paice (drums), to form the first incarnation of Deep Purple.

An instant success, Deep Purple saw their single 'Hush' reach number four in the US in '68, which was a year heavy rock really came to the fore, with Led Zeppelin being formed that year, and also being the year of The Beatles 'Helter Skelter' and Iron Butterfly's 'In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida'. Deep Purple themselves, were a support act on Cream's last tour, all of their first few albums were well received, and, on the eponymous 1969 'Deep Purple' album, the band employed a symphony orchestra on some of the tracks.

The line-up was about to change, however, with former Episode Six members Ian Gillan and Roger Glover replacing Evans on vocals, and Simper on bass, respectively.

Around this time, Deep Purple, like a number of bands of the late '60s, were becoming more expansive musically, and, with their new line-up, their Jon Lord inspired classical meets rock album, 'Concerto For Group And Orchestra', was performed at the lofty surroundings of the Royal Albert Hall, with Malcolm Arnold conducting the London Philharmonic Orchestra. Thus, Deep Purple had proved, early on in their careers, that they had more finesse than most of the heavy rock bands which were to emerge in the 1970s and 1980s. Deep Purple never really liked being labelled heavy rock anyway, and, like Led Zeppelin, their music was just as powerful as any heavy rock band around you'd care to name, but these two giants of British rock were also a damn sight more versatile, too.

Deep Purple's success continued unabated until the mid-'70s, by which time they had built up a reputation as one of the big three of heavy rock bands - the others being Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath. In the early '70s Deep Purple produced their two most famous songs, 'Black Night' (though as a single not going down too well in the US, chartwise) and (with, pretty much unquestionably, the most famous opening guitar riff on any heavy rock song) 'Smoke On The Water'.

A turbulent couple of years for Deep Purple occurred from 1973 onwards, with both Gillan and Glover leaving the group, and being replaced by vocalist David Coverdale (relatively unknown up to that point), and Trapeze bassist Glenn Hughes. They made their first appearances on the 1974 album, 'Burn', which continued the run of successful Deep Purple albums. Coverdale and Hughes also continued the Deep Purple tradition of embracing different forms of music, and were bringing in funk and soul, especially on the group's next album, 'Stormbringer'. Blackmore, however, did not like the direction Deep Purple were taking, and left to form Rainbow.

Ritchie Blackmore's departure proved to be a crushing blow for the group, and they had really reached their zenith, so there was only one way to go now. The tragic American guitarist Tommy Bolin was brought in, but never really did himself justice due to drug problems, problems which were maybe exacerbated by the high expectations of having to replace one of rock's best guitarists. 'Come Taste The Band', from 1975, was Purple's last album before their reformation in 1984.

Former members of Deep Purple were to find success with Rainbow, Whitesnake, and Gillan - a rare occurrence of the remnants of a top rock band being successful thrice over.

In April, 1984, the most revered line-up of Deep Purple - Gillan, Blackmore, Lord, Paice, and Glover - got together again to record a new album, 'Perfect Strangers', and play a world tour, both of which were successful. Things were quite rosy until Gillan was fired in 1989, and replaced by ex-Rainbow frontman Joe Lynn Turner. It wasn't long before Gillan returned again, but tensions had always run high between Blackmore and Gillan, and this time Blackmore left, to be replaced by Joe Satriani in 1994. Then when Satriani preferred to concentrate on his solo career, Steve Morse stepped in, later in '94.

Deep Purple have gained respect in latter years for such albums as 'Purpendicular', and even revisited the Royal Albert Hall, to perform 'Concerto For Group And Orchestra' again, in 1999. This time with the London Symphony Orchestra. When Jon Lord quit the band to take things a bit easier, in 2002, he was replaced by Don Airey, who had good credentials, having played with Rainbow and Whitesnake.

Now up to Mk VIII, Deep Purple, with stalwarts Gillan, Glover, and Paice still in the band, made a resounding impression at the Canadian leg of Live 8, and are true rock 'n' roll survivors - being the longest lasting of all the major heavy rock groups...though whisper it - as they're not keen on being called heavy rock, of course!

- Paul Rance/booksmusicfilmstv.com.

Deep Purple DVDs available from booksmusicfilmstv.com - in association with Amazon

Deep Purple Amazon.co.uk DVDs

Deep Purple - Concerto For Group And Orchestra [1969]

Deep Purple - In Concert With The London Symphony Orchestra [2000]

Deep Purple Amazon.com DVDs