Group "Deep Purple" (Deep Purple). The most complete biography of Deep Purple

" Chris Curtis, with the blessing of London businessman Tony Edwards, started the Roundabout project. In his opinion, it should have been something like a supergroup, only with a regularly changing line-up (hence the "carousel" name). Chris was the first to sign his neighbor's business according to the rented apartment of "The Artwoods" keyboardist Jon Lord... The second thing Curtis had in mind was the young guitarist Ritchie Blackmore, who was not too lazy to fly in to audition from Hamburg. On that, the mission of the "searcher" drummer was over, and in acid fumes he jumped off with the created meanwhile, Lord and Blackmore wished to continue the work they had begun and took up the independent solution of the personnel issue. John invited an old acquaintance Nick Simper to the bass, and the microphone and drums were given to people from Maze, Rod Evans and Ian Paice. In parallel, he got up the question of renaming the band, and from several options, the musicians settled on the Blackmore version of "Deep Purple" (that was the name of the guitarist's grandmother's favorite song). Having dealt with the formalities, in May 1968 the quintet went to the studio and in just a couple of days recorded the disc "Shades Of Deep Purple". The team did not yet have a clear course, but one of the guidelines for it was the American band "Vanilla Fudge". Although the disc went unnoticed at home, in the US "Deep Purple" managed to attract attention thanks to the composition "Hush", which they removed from the repertoire of Billy Joe Royal.

Based on the current situation, the second full-length film was first released overseas, and only on next year "The Book Of Taliesyn" appeared in British stores. The album, like the first-born, had a progressive touch with quotes from the classics, but in places it still sounded heavier. Like last time, the main bet was made on covers, and Neil's composition became the leader of the program Diamond's "Kentucky Woman", included in the "Billboard Top 40" list. The third disc with a modest name "Deep Purple" remained underestimated, although in fact on it the team reached the top of their progressive stage of creativity, as evidenced by at least the monumental epic "April "and the most beautiful Donovanovsky cover of "Lalena". Meanwhile, changes were brewing in the team, and under pressure from the rest of the members, Simper and Evans left the line-up.

For the post of vocalist, Blackmore wanted to get Terry Reed, but he preferred to do solo career, and then the lead singer of "Episode Six" Ian Gillan was invited to the microphone. Bass player Roger Glover was borrowed from the same ensemble, and thus the famous Mark II was born. The debut of the classic line-up was the performance of the team with a symphony orchestra on the initiative of John (who was the main energizer of the group at that time). An attempt to cross rock with classics caused conflicting responses, and if anyone became famous for this project, it was Lord himself. Other musicians (especially Blackmore) got stuck with the leadership of the keyboardist, and at the insistence of Ritchie, the band began to play hard guitar hard rock with powerful organ tabs and aggressive vocal delivery. The change in style brought "Deep Purple" to the forefront of the world scene, and the first swallows of triumph were the album "In Rock" and the single "Black Night" that was not included in it. Confused England took the feature to fourth place in the ranking, but the next time the "ashes" found themselves at the very top of the island chart with the "Fireball" program. Climax creative success group became a masterpiece album "Machine Head", which, in addition to concert favorites such as "Highway Star", "Space Truckin", "Lazy", perhaps the loudest imperishable hard rock "Smoke On The Water". A role model for subsequent generations of rockers was also double live album "Made In Japan", but by the time the rather successful studio work "Who Do We Think We Are" was released, relations in the band went wrong.

More than others, Gillan and Blackmore clashed, and in the end the matter ended in the resignation of the vocalist. Glover also left, and all power was concentrated in the hands of the guitarist. Roger was replaced by singing bassist Glenn Hughes, and the main microphone went to David Coverdale, who was found on the ad (at that time a clothing seller). The infusion of fresh energy tinted the music of "Deep Purple" in blues and funk tones, and on the disc "Burn" only the track of the same name fit the style of "In Rock" and "Machine Head". I must say, the newcomers quickly got used to the team, and on the album "Stormbringer" the usual hard rock was strongly pushed aside by funk and soul. Feeling that he was no longer the absolute master of the position in the group, Blackmore left his colleagues and left to create "Rainbow".

The blow was strong, but the desire to make money on the promoted trade mark "DP" turned out to be stronger, and American guitarist Tommy Bolin was invited to replace Richie. For his sake, Coverdale and Hughes even moved up in songwriting, but the album "Come Taste The Band" came out relatively dull. At concerts, the public also did not want to recognize the new guitarist, and during the ill-fated British tour, the decision was made to disband the group. For about ten years, the musicians were engaged in other projects, but in 1984, at the initiative of Gillan, the classic line-up got together again and recorded the Perfect Strangers disc. Yearning for "purple" creativity, fans greedily snapped up the album, as a result of which the record was a good success both in terms of circulation and chart positions. An accompanying world tour also took place on high level, but during the recording of "The House Of Blue Light" relations between Blackmore and Gillan escalated again. After the second resignation of the soloist, his place went to John. Don Airey, who took over the keyboard baton, tried his best to replace his colleague, but he still did not reach the level of the Lord. One way or another, but the 2003 record was received by fans quite warmly, although "Bananas" got a lot for the pop title and cover. Rapture Of The Deep, released a couple of years later, was similarly received, but then the studio affairs were abandoned for a long time. Only in 2012 "Deep Purple" began work on a new album, and in the spring of next year, produced by the legendary Bob Ezrin "Now What?!" went on sale.

deep purple - British rock band, formed in February 1968 in Hartford, England. She is considered one of the most notable and influential hard rock artists of the 70s. Music critics consider Deep Purple one of the founders of hard rock and highly appreciate their contribution to the development of progressive rock and heavy metal. The musicians of the "classic" composition of Deep Purple (in particular, guitarist Ritchie Blackmore, keyboardist Jon Lord, drummer Ian Pace) are considered virtuoso instrumentalists. Over 100 million copies of their albums have been sold worldwide.

First line-up of Deep Purple (Evans, Lord, Blackmore, Simper, Paice)

For more than 40 years of the history of the group, its composition has changed several times, in total different time There were 14 people in the group. Drummer Ian Paice is the only musician to have been featured on all of Deep Purple's lineups.

Deep Purple lineups are usually numbered Mark X (MkX for short), where X is the number of the lineup. There are two different ways numbering - chronological and personal. The first gives two lineups more due to the fact that in 1984 and 1992 the band returned to the Mark 2 lineup. Due to this uncertainty, the band's fans often refer to lineups by the names of the members who were replaced.

The Mark 2 line-up (Gillan, Blackmore, Glover, Lord, Paice) is considered a "classic" Deep Purple line-up, since it was in this line-up that the group acquired worldwide fame and recorded hard rock classics In Rock, Fireball and Machine Head. Subsequently, this line-up met twice more and recorded a total of 7 studio albums of the 19 released by the band to date.

The full potential of the new line-up was realized at the end of 1969, when Deep Purple began recording a new album. As soon as the group gathered in the studio, Blackmore categorically stated: in new album only the most exciting and dramatic will enter. The requirement, with which everyone agreed, became the leitmotif of the work. Work on Deep Purple In Rock lasted from September 1969 to April 1970. The release of the album was delayed for several months, until the bankrupt Tetragrammaton was bought out by Warner Brothers, which automatically inherited the Deep Purple contract.

Meanwhile, Warner Bros. released in the US Live In Concert - recording with London Philharmonic Orchestra- and called the band to America to perform at the Hollywood Bowl. After a few more shows in California, Arizona and Texas on August 9, Deep Purple found themselves in another conflict: this time on the stage of the National jazz festival in Plumpton. Ritchie Blackmore, not wanting to give up his time on the program to Yes's latecomers, staged a mini stage arson and caused a fire, which resulted in the band being fined and getting virtually nothing for their performance. The rest of August and the beginning of September the band spent on tour in Scandinavia.

The album In Rock was released in September 1970; it climbed to number 4 on the UK Albums Chart and stayed in the top thirty lists for over a year (in the US, rising only to number 143). Management was unable to select a single from the album's material, and the band went into the studio to record something urgently. Created almost spontaneously, "Black Night" landed Deep Purple at No. 2 on the UK Singles Chart and became for some time calling card groups.

In December 1970, a rock opera written by Andrew Lloyd Webber based on a libretto by Tim Rice, "Jesus Christ Superstar", was released, which became a world classic. Ian Gillan performed the title part in the original (studio) version of the album. In 1973, the film "Jesus Christ Superstar" was released, which was distinguished from the original by the arrangements and vocals of Ted Neeley (born Ted Neeley) in the role of Jesus.

Fireball was released in July in the UK and in October in the US. The group held an American tour, and the British part of the tour ended with a grand show at London's Albert Hall, where the invited parents of the musicians were accommodated in the royal box.

Deep Purple agreed with the Rolling Stones to use their mobile studio Mobile, which was supposed to be located near the concert hall "Casino". On the day of the band's arrival, during a performance by Frank Zappa and The Mothers of Invention (where the members of Deep Purple also went), a fire broke out caused by a shot from a rocket launcher sent by someone from the audience into the ceiling. The building burned down, and the band rented an empty Grand Hotel, where they completed work on the record. In fresh footsteps, one of the most famous songs band, "Smoke On The Water". According to legend, Gillan sketched the text on a napkin while looking out of the window at the surface of the lake, shrouded in smoke, and the title was suggested by Roger Glover, who allegedly dreamed nightmare and he, waking up, repeated "smoke on the water, smoke on the water."

The Machine Head album was released in March 1972, climbed to number one in the UK and sold 3 million copies in the US, where the single Smoke On The Water entered the top five on the Billboard.

In July 1972, Deep Purple flew to Rome to record their next studio album (subsequently titled Who Do We Think We Are). All members of the group were morally and psychologically exhausted, the work took place in a nervous atmosphere - also because of the aggravated contradictions between Blackmore and Gillan. On August 9, studio work was interrupted and Deep Purple headed to Japan. Recordings of the concerts held here were included in the Made in Japan album.

"The idea of ​​a live album is to make all the instruments sound as natural as possible, with the energy from the audience, which is able to pull something out of the band that it could never have created in the studio," Blackmore said.

In 1972, Deep Purple went on tour to America five times, and the sixth tour was interrupted due to Blackmore's illness. By the end of the year, according to the total circulation of Deep Purple records, the most popular group world, beating Led Zeppelin and the Rolling Stones.

deep purple. 2004

HEAVY METAL PIONEERS - DEEP PURPLE

In the history of heavy music, there are very few bands that can be put on a par with the rock legends that painted the world in dark purple tones.

Their path was tortuous, like the guitar picks of Ritchie Blackmore and the organ parts of Jon Lord.

Each member deserves separate story, but it was together that they became iconic figures of rock.

On the carousel

The history of this glorious band goes back to the distant 1966, when the drummer of one of Liverpool groups Chris Curtis decided to form his own band Roundabout ("Carousel"). Fate brought him together with John Lord, who was already known in narrow circles and was known as an excellent organist. By the way, it turned out that he has a wonderful guy in mind who simply does miracles with a guitar. This musician turned out to be Ritchie Blackmore, who at the time was playing with the Three Musketeers in Hamburg. He was immediately called from Germany and offered a place in the team.

But suddenly the initiator of the project itself, Chris Curtis, disappears, thereby drawing a fat cross on his career and endangering the nascent group. According to rumors, drugs were involved in his disappearance.

Jon Lord took over. Thanks to him, Ian Pace appeared in the group, striking everyone with his ability to thrash the drums, knocking out incredible fractions from them. The place of the vocalist was then taken by Rod Evans, Pace's comrade former group. Bassist is Nick Simper.

I'm all deep purple

At the suggestion of Blackmore, the group was named, and in this line-up the team recorded three albums, the first of which was released already in 1968. The song "Deep Purple" by Nino Tempo and April Stevens was Ritchie Blackmore's grandmother's favorite song, so the musicians did not philosophize for a long time and took it as the basis for the band's name, without putting any special meaning into it. As it turned out, the brand of the drug LCD, which was sold in the United States at that time, was called in exactly the same way. But vocalist Ian Gillan swears and claims that the band members never used drugs, but preferred whiskey and soda.

Bathed in rock

Success had to wait for several years. The group was popular only in America, but at home it almost did not cause interest in music lovers. This caused a split in the team. Evans and Simper had to be "fired", despite their professionalism and the path they had traveled together.

Not every group could cope with such bad luck, but Mick Underwood, a famous drummer and longtime friend of Ritchie Blackmore, arrived in time to the rescue. It was he who recommended Ian Gillan to him, who "screamed wonderfully high voice". Ian, in turn, brought his friend, bass player Roger Glover.

In June 1970 new composition band released the album "Deep Purple in Rock", which had crazy success and finally brought the "dark purple" to the echelon of the most popular rockers of the century. The indisputable success of the disc was the composition "Child in Time". She is still considered one of the best songs groups. This album held the top positions of the charts for a year. The whole next year the team spent on the road, but there was time to record a new disc, Fireball.

Smoke by Deep Purple

A few months later, the musicians went to Switzerland to record their next album Machine Head. At first, they wanted to make it on the Rolling Stones' mobile studio, in concert hall, where Frank Zappa's performances ended. During one of the concerts, a fire broke out, which inspired the musicians to new ideas. It is about this fire that the composition “Smoke on the Water” tells, which later became an international hit.

Roger Glover even dreamed of this fire and the smoke spreading over Lake Geneva. He woke up in horror and said the phrase "smoke on the water." It was she who became the name and line from the chorus of the song. Despite the difficult conditions in which the album was created, the disc was clearly a success, becoming a long years business card.

Made in Japan

On the wave of success, the team went on tour to Japan, subsequently releasing an equally successful collection of concert music "Made in Japan", which went platinum.

The Japanese public made an amazing impression on the "dark purple". During the performance of the songs, the Japanese sat almost motionless and listened attentively to the musicians. But after the end of the song, they exploded with applause. Such concerts were unusual for, because they were used to in Europe and America, the audience is constantly shouting something, jumping up from their seats and rushing to the stage.

During the performances, Ritchie Blackmore was a real showman. His parties were always witty and full of surprises. Other musicians did not lag behind, demonstrating mastery and excellent collective cohesion.

california show

But, as is often the case, relations in the group heated up so much that Ian Gillan and Ritchie Blackmore could hardly get along with each other. As a result, Ian and Roger left the team, and the "dark purple" again left with nothing. Replacing a vocalist of this caliber proved to be a big challenge. However, as you know, a holy place is never empty and the new performer in the group was David Coverdale, who had previously worked as an ordinary salesman in a clothing store. The bass player was filled by Glenn Hughes. In 1974, the renewed group recorded a new album called "Burn".

In order to try out fresh compositions in public, the group decided to participate in famous concert"California Jam" in the vicinity of Los Angeles. He drew an audience of approximately 400 thousand people and in the world of music is considered a unique event. Before sunset, Blackmore refused to go on stage and the local sheriff even threatened to arrest him, but finally the sun went down and the action began. During the performance, Ritchie Blackmore tore the guitar, ruined the camera of the TV channel operator and made such an explosion in the finale that he himself barely survived.

The resurgence of Deep Purple

The following records were successful, but, unfortunately, did not show anything new. The group imperceptibly exhausted itself. Years passed, and fans began to think that the once beloved had become history, but finally, in 1984, the “dark purple” revived in their “golden” composition.

Soon a world tour was organized and in every city along their route, concert tickets were sold out in the blink of an eye. It was not only the old merits, the virtuosity of the participants The groups didn't miss a beat.

Second album new era- "The House of Blue Light" - was released in 1987 and continued the chain of undoubted victories. But after another showdown with Blackmore, Ian Gillan broke away from the group again. This turn of events was in the hands of Richie, because he brought his old friend Joe Lynn Turner to the team. With a new vocalist, the album "Slaves & Masters" was recorded in 1990.

Clash of the Titans

The 25th anniversary of the band was just around the corner, and after a short break, vocalist Ian Gillan returned to his native land, and the anniversary album released in 1993 was symbolically called "The Battle Rages On ..." ("The battle continues").

The battle of characters also did not stop. The buried hatchet was retrieved by Ritchie Blackmore. Despite the ongoing tour, Richie left the team, which by that time had ceased to interest him. The musicians invited Joe Satriani to finalize the concerts with him, and soon Blackmore's place was taken by Steve Morse, a talented American guitarist. The band still held the hard rock banner high, as 1996's Purpendicular and Abandon released two years later proved.

Already in the new millennium, keyboardist Jon Lord announced to the band members that he would like to devote himself to solo projects and left the team. He was replaced by Don Airey, who previously worked with Richie and Roger in Rainbow group. A year later in Once again The updated line-up released the first album in five years, Bananas. Surprisingly, the press and critics responded wonderfully about him, only few people liked the name.

Unfortunately, after 10 years of successful solo work Jon Lord died of cancer.

Old robbers

In the 2000s, the group, despite the advanced age of the participants, continued touring. According to the musicians, for the sake of this the collective should exist, and not at all. for the production of studio albums. The latest compilation became the 19th album "Now What ?!", released for the 45th anniversary of the "dark purple".

Such an eloquent album title should be followed by the question: "What's next?" Time will tell whether we will see a reunion at least once, and whether the musicians will have time to impress their fans with something else. In the meantime, they are one of the few whose grandfathers go to concerts with their grandchildren and equally get high on music.

When asked: “Where are you going?”, they surprisingly logically answer “Only forward. We do not stand still and are constantly working on ourselves, on a new sound. And we are still nervous before each concert so that goosebumps run up our backs.

DATA

On tour in Australia in 1999, a teleconference was organized on one of the TV programs. The band members performed "Smoke on the Water" in sync with several hundred professional and amateur guitarists.

Interestingly, Ian Pace was a member of all the members of the group, but never became its leader. Closely connected is the personal life of musicians. Keyboardist Jon Lord and drummer Ian Pace married twin sisters Vicki and Jackie Gibbs.

Music lovers of the countries of the former Soviet Union, regardless of " iron curtain”, found ways to get acquainted with the work of the group. The Russian language even has an amazing euphemism “deep violet”, that is, “completely indifferent and far from the topic of discussion.”

Updated: April 9, 2019 by: Elena

The fathers of hard rock, the British "Deep Purlpe" - a world famous band with half a century of history. The only group in its genre, in whose classical line-up three virtuoso musicians worked at once. More than one thousand guitarists rubbed their fingers into the blood for attempts to repeat their musical improvisations.

It all started when ex-The Searchers drummer Chris Curtis came up with the concept new group. The composition of the participants had to constantly change and therefore the project was called “Roundabout”. However, Chris was soon offered to leave the group: the guy was seriously addicted to LSD. Finally, he advised to take in the composition of the young guitarist Ritchie Blackmore, who lived at that time in Hamburg.

The band was later joined by bassist Dave Curtiss and drummer Bobby Woodman. After the departure of Curtiss, the choice fell on Nick Simpler. According to manager Jon Lord, a weighty argument was common love Simpler and Blackmore to lace shirts. Soon Woodman left the band and was replaced by Ian Pates. Pates was followed by vocalist Rod Evans. Both musicians previously played in the group "MI5". Members of the group changed and supplemented several times. The classic line-up included Ian Gillan, Ian Paice, Roger Glover, Steve Morse and Don Airey.

The band's first major performance was in Denmark in April 1968 under the name "Roundabout". After the group finally takes the name "Deep Purple". The group's debut album "Shades of Deep Purple" was recorded in the spring of 1968 in 48 hours and hit #24 on the Billboard 200. The single "Hush", released a little later, was in the top streaming in the US.

Deep Purple moved to its classic sound with the 1968 album April. Also, in search of a new sound, the band recorded an album with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, which provoked a stir in the media. The group achieves worldwide popularity with the album “In Rock” in 1970.

Deep Purple's immortal hit "Smoke on the water" was created on the 1971 American tour. A fan fired off a flare gun during Frank Zappa's performance at The Monsters of Inventions. The building caught fire, smoke filled everything around, and a song was written on the fresh tracks. The composition was included in the album "Machine Head" in 1972, which became three times platinum. In the same year, the album “Made in Japan” consisting only of live recordings was released.

The disagreements in the group, growing every year, lead to scandals and constant changes in the line-up. July 3, 1976 the group announces the breakup. Members of the group create their own projects, but in 1984 is going again. The most ambitious album after the band's reunion is Slaves and Masters in 1990.

In the future, the group records albums with less intensity and is engaged in concert activities. In 1996, fans of hard rock meet the first concert of "deeps" in Moscow. For the domestic audience, the group performs rock variations on the theme of Mussorgsky's cycle "Pictures at an Exhibition". After that, "Deep Purple" performed in Russia more than once. In April 2016, Deep Purple were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Facts about Deep Purple:

Rod Stewart auditioned for the position of vocalist in the first line-up of the group and, according to Nick Simper, "was just terrible";

The name "Deep Purple" was suggested by Ritchie Blackmore. According to him, that was the name of his grandmother's favorite song;

During the existence of the group, about 10 line-ups have changed in it. The line-ups of the group are officially designated as Mark I-X, where the number of the line-up is indicated by a Roman numeral. In all compositions of “Deep Purple” only drummer Ian Paice participated;

Ian Gillan performed the title role in the rock opera "Jesus Christ Superstar";

"Deep Purple" is the favorite band of Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev.

Star Trek Deep Purple:

The peak of Deep Purple's fame came in the seventies of the last century, but it is still loved and appreciated, because the team stood at the origins modern rock. In the winter of 1968, Jon Lord, organist and jazz fan, Ritchie Blackmore, with preschool age not parting with the guitar and talented drummer Jan Pace came up with a project under titled Deep Purple.

As a vocalist, they invited Rod Evans, who has a delightful ballad voice, and Nick Simper on bass guitar. In this composition, the team released the disc "The Shades of Deep Purple", which produced the effect of an exploding bomb in the United States - the Americans took the British team with a bang, and he immediately entered the top five. Success pursued the next two albums - The Book of Taliesyn" and "Deep Purple".

The number of fans of the group grew inexorably, the team held two grandiose tours of the cities of the United States. Only here at home Foggy Albion he was stubbornly ignored. Then Lord, Blackmore and Pace resorted to drastic changes: Deep Purple left Evans and Simper, who, according to their comrades, had reached their limit and did not want to develop further. Their place was taken by bass guitarist and keyboardist Roger Glover and vocalist and lyricist Ian Gillan. In this composition, Deep Purple appeared on the stage of London's Albert Hall along with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.

Sounded then "Concert for a rock band and symphony orchestra”, written by Jon Lord, rallied around the team of fans of rock and classics. And in 1970, another album saw the light - "Deep Purple in Rock". It was a completely new product: powerful vocals and heavy riffs, high volume and serious drums. Now you will not surprise anyone with this - any "metal" band uses such techniques. But in those years, Deep Purple stirred up the whole world.

Then the team went on a European tour, Lord was invited to write the music for the film, and Gillan was invited to perform the main part in the greatest rock opera of all time - "Jesus Christ Superstar". But after a couple of years, the fighting spirit of the group began to decline. First, Glover and Gillan left the team, then Blackmore left. They were replaced by other artists, and a year later the magnificent Deep Purple ceased to exist.

And only in 1986 Lord, Blackmore, Pace, Gillan and Glover came together again and released the disc "The House of Blue Light", which included greatest hits groups.