The most complete biography of Deep Purple. Rock Encyclopedia

In June, after returning from America, Deep Purple started recording a new single, Hallelujah. By this time, Ritchie Blackmore (thanks to drummer Mick Underwood, familiar from The Outlaws) had discovered (virtually unknown in Britain, but of interest to specialists) Episode Six, performing pop rock in the spirit of The Beach Boys, but having unusually strong vocalist. Ritchie Blackmore brought Jon Lord to their concert, and he was also amazed at the power and expressiveness of Ian Gillan's voice (Ian Gillan). The latter agreed to go to Deep Purple, but - to demonstrate his own compositions - he brought Episode bassist to the studio with him Six by Roger Glover, with whom he has already formed a strong duo.

Ian Gillan recalled that when he met Deep Purple, he was struck primarily by the intelligence of Jon Lord, from whom he expected much worse. Roger Glover (who always dressed and behaved very simply), on the contrary, was frightened by the gloominess of the Deep Purple members, who “… wore black and looked very mysterious.” Roger Glover took part in the recording of Hallelujah, to his amazement, immediately received an invitation to join the line-up, and accepted it the next day after much hesitation.

It is noteworthy that while the single was being recorded, Rod Evans and Nick Simper did not know that their fate was sealed. The other three secretly rehearsed with the new vocalist and bassist during the day at London's Hanwell Community, and played shows in the evenings with Rod Evans and Nick Simper. “It was a normal modus operandi for Deep Purple,” Roger Glover later recalled. - Here it was accepted as follows: if a problem arises, the main thing is to keep everyone silent about it, relying on management. It was assumed that if you are a professional, then you should part with elementary human decency in advance. I was very ashamed of what they did to Nick Simper and Rod Evans."

The old line-up of Deep Purple gave their last concert in Cardiff on July 4, 1969. Rod Evans and Nick Simper were given a three-month salary, and were also allowed to take amplifiers and equipment with them. Nick Simper sued another £10,000 through the courts, but forfeited the right to further deductions. Rod Evans was satisfied with little and as a result, over the next eight years, received annually 15 thousand pounds from the sale of old records, and later in 1972 founded the Captain Beyond team. Between the managers of Episode Six and Deep Purple, a conflict arose, settled out of court, through compensation in the amount of 3 thousand pounds.

Remaining virtually unknown in Britain, Deep Purple gradually lost commercial potential in America as well. To everyone's surprise, Jon Lord proposed a new, highly attractive idea to the band's management.

Jon Lord: "The idea of ​​creating a work that could be performed by a rock band with a symphony orchestra, I came up with The Artwoods. Dave Brubeck's album Brubeck Plays Bernstein Plays Brubeck prompted me to do it" Ritchie Blackmore was all for it. Shortly after the arrival of Ian Paice and Roger Glover, Tony Edwards suddenly asked me: “Remember, you told me about your idea? I hope it was serious? Well, here it is: I rented Albert -Hall and the London Philharmonic Orchestra (The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra) - on September 24. "I came - first horrified, then wildly delighted. There were about three months left to work, and I immediately started it"

The publishers of Deep Purple brought in composer Malcolm Arnold (Malcolm Arnold), an Oscar winner: he had to carry out overall supervision of the progress of the work, and then stand at the conductor's stand. Malcolm Arnold's unconditional support for the project, which many considered dubious, ultimately ensured success. The group's management found sponsors in the face of The Daily Express and the British Lion Films film company, which filmed this event. Ian Gillan and Roger Glover were nervous: after three months after joining the group, they were taken to the most prestigious concert venue countries.

“John was very patient with us,” recalled Roger Glover. - None of us understood musical notation, so our papers were full of remarks like: "you wait for that stupid tune, then you look at Malcolm Arnold" and count to four.

The album "Concerto For Group and Orchestra" (performed by Deep Purple and The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra), recorded in concert at the Royal Albert Hall on September 24, 1969, was released (in the US) three months later. He provided the group with a buzz in the press (which was required) and hit the British charts. But gloom reigned among the musicians. The sudden fame that hit Jon Lord "a-author" infuriated Ritchie Blackmore. Ian Gillan in this sense was in solidarity with the latter.

“Promoters tormented us with questions like: Where is the orchestra? he recalled. “One even said: I don’t guarantee you a symphony, but I can invite a brass band.” Moreover, Jon Lord himself realized that the appearance of Ian Gillan and Roger Glover opens up opportunities for the band in a completely different area. By this time, Ritchie Blackmore had become the central figure in the ensemble, developing a peculiar method of playing with "random noise" (by manipulating the amplifier) ​​and urging his colleagues to follow the path of Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath. It became clear that the juicy, rich sound of Roger Glover "a becomes the" anchor "of the new sound, and that the dramatic, extravagant vocals of Ian Gillan "a perfectly fit the new radical development path proposed by Ritchie Blackmore".

The group worked out a new style in the course of continuous concert activity: the Tetragrammaton company (which financed films and experienced one failure after another) by this time was on the verge of bankruptcy (its debts by February 1970 amounted to more than two million dollars). At total absence financial support from across the ocean, Deep Purple were forced to rely only on earnings from concerts.

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, Ritchie Blackmore categorically stated: only the most exciting and dramatic will be included in the new album. The requirement, with which everyone agreed, became the leitmotif of the work. Work on the album 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 Brothers. released "Live in Concert" in the US - a recording with the 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-arson attack on the stage 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.

"In Rock" was released in September 1970, was a huge success on both sides of the ocean, was immediately declared a "classic" and lasted more than a year in the first album "thirty" in Britain. True, the management did not find any hint of a single in the material presented, and the group was sent to the studio urgently to come up with something. Created almost spontaneously, Black Night provided the band with their first big chart success, climbing to No. 2 in the UK and becoming their calling card for many years to come.

In December 1970, a rock opera was released, written by Andrew Lloyd Webber (Andrew Lloyd Webber) to a libretto by Tim Rice - "Jesus Christ Superstar (Jesus Christ Superstar)" which became a world classic. The title role in this work was performed by Ian Gillan. In 1973, the movie muvie "Jesus Christ Superstar (Video - "Jesus Christ Superstar")" was released, which differed from the original arrangements and vocals by Ted Neeley as Jesus ("Jesus"). Ian Gillan at that time was working with might and main in Deep Purple, and never became a cinematic Christ.

In early 1971, the band began work on the next album, while not stopping concerts, because of which the recording stretched for six months and was completed in June. During the tour, Roger Glover's health worsened. Subsequently, it turned out that his stomach problems were psychologically motivated: this was the first symptom of severe touring stress, which soon struck all members of the team.

"Fireball" was released in July in the UK (climbing to the top of the charts here) 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. By this time, Ritchie Blackmore, having given free rein to his own eccentricity, had become a "state within a state" in Deep Purple. "If Ritchie Blackmore wants to play a 150-bar solo, he'll play it and nobody can stop him," Ian Gillan told Melody Maker in September 1971.

The American tour, which began in October 1971, was canceled due to Ian Gillan's illness (he contracted hepatitis). Two months later, the vocalist reunited with the rest of the members in Montreux, Switzerland to work on the new album "Machine Head". Deep Purple agreed with The Rolling Stones about using 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), there was a fire caused by a rocket 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 band's most famous songs, Smoke On The Water, was created.

Claude Nobs, director of the Montreux festival, mentioned in the song Smoke On The Water (“Funky Claude was running in and out…” - According to legend, Ian Gillan sketched the lyrics on a napkin while looking out of the window at the surface of the lake shrouded in smoke, and the title suggested Roger Glover, who had these 4 words as if they were in a dream.(Machine Head was released in March 1972, climbed to number 1 in Britain and sold 3 million copies in the US, where the single Smoke On The Water entered top five on 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 Ritchie Blackmore and Ian Gillan.

On August 9, studio work was interrupted and Deep Purple headed to Japan. Recordings of concerts played here are included in "Made In Japan": released in December 1972, in retrospect it is considered one of the best live albums of all time, along with "Live At Leeds" (The Who) and "Get Yer Ya-ya's Out" (The Rolling Stones).

"The idea of ​​a live album is to make all the instruments sound as natural as possible while being energetically fed from the audience, which is able to draw something from the band that it could never have been able to create in the studio," said Ritchie Blackmore. "In 1972, Deep Purple went on tour five times in America, and the sixth tour was interrupted due to Ritchie Blackmore's illness. By the end of the year, Deep Purple were declared the most popular band in the world in terms of total circulation of records, beating Led Zeppelin and The Rolling Stones .

During the autumn American tour, tired and disappointed with the state of affairs in the group, Ian Gillan decided to leave, which he announced in a letter to the London management. Tony Edwards and John Coletta persuaded the vocalist to wait, and he (now in Germany, at the same studio of The Rolling Stones Mobile) together with the band completed work on the album. By this time, he was no longer talking to Ritchie Blackmore and traveled separately from the rest of the participants, avoiding air travel.

The album "Who Do We Think We Are" (so named because the Italians, outraged by the level of noise on the farm where the album was recorded, asked the repeated question: "Who do they even take themselves for?") disappointed musicians and critics, although it contained strong things - the "stadium" anthem Woman From Tokyo and the satirical-journalistic Mary LongMary Long, which ridiculed Mary Whitehouse and Lord Longford, two then guardians of morality.

In December, when "Made In Japan" entered the charts, the managers met with Jon Lord and Roger Glover and asked them to do their best to keep the band alive. They convinced Ian Paice and Ritchie Blackmore to stay, who had already conceived their own project, but Ritchie Blackmore set a condition for the management: the indispensable dismissal of Roger Glover. The latter, noticing that his colleagues began to shun him, demanded an explanation from Tony Edwards , and he (in June 1973) admitted that Ritchie Blackmore demanded his departure. An angry Roger Glover immediately filed for resignation.

After the last joint Deep Purple concert in Osaka, Japan, on June 29, 1973, Ritchie Blackmore, passing by Roger Glover on the stairs, only threw over his shoulder: “Nothing personal: business is business.” Roger Glover took this trouble hard and in For the next three months, he did not leave the house, partly because of worsening stomach problems.

Ian Gillan left Deep Purple at the same time as Roger Glover and moved away from music for a while, going into the motorcycle business. He returned to the stage three years later with the Ian Gillan Band. After his recovery, Roger Glover concentrated on producing.

The English group "Deep Purple" ("Bright Purple") was formed in 1968. Original line-up: Ritchie Blackmore (b. 1945, guitar), Jon Lord (b. 1941, keyboards), Ian Paice (b. 1948, drums), Nick Simper (b. 1945, bass) guitar) and Rod Evans (b. 1947, vocals).
Two former members of the German-based Roundabout band, guitarist Ritchie Blackmore and educated organist Jon Lord, returned to their native London in 1968 and there assembled a line-up that was destined to become one of the three legends hard rock. The triumvirate "Led Zeppelin" - "Black Sabbath" - "Deep Purple" and to this day is considered an unsurpassed phenomenon in the history of world rock music!!! At first, however, "Deep Purple" were focused on a very commercial pump-rock, and that's probably why their first three albums were known only in the US. In the meantime, the "turning" discs "Led Zeppelin-2" (1969) and "Black Sabbath" (1970) were released, announcing the birth of a new style to the world. A powerful wave of enthusiasm and interest in hard rock made Blackmore think about future fate groups. As a result of his reflections, the singer and bassist of the original line-up were replaced (Ian Gillan, vocals, b. 1945 and Roger Glover, bass guitar, b. 1945 - both from the "6th episode" group) and sharply the manner of performance has been changed in the direction of "heavier" sound.

"In the Rock" (1970) - the album that became the third "swallow" of powerful hard rock in world rock music - went on sale in October 1970 and repeated the success of the groups "LZ" and "BS" in the international market. The original concept of the sound, built on the fusion of heavy guitar riffs with "a la baroque" organ parts, lifted "Deep Purple" to the very top of popularity and led to a host of followers and imitators. After "In Rock", the no less powerful and attractive programs "Meteor" (1971) and "Machine Head" (1972) followed, which, in turn, also shocked the world with the originality of the performers' thinking and the unpredictability of the development of musical themes. .
The recession was outlined in the program "Who are we?" (1973): commercial notes appear here for the first time, and the arrangements of the songs are no longer so refined. This was enough for friends Gillan and Glover to leave the group, as, according to Gillan, the creative atmosphere in the group disappeared. Indeed, in 1974, Deep Purple spent even less time working in the studio, traveling a lot, playing football. New musicians - singer David Coverdale (b. 1951) and singing bass guitarist Glenn Hughes (b. 1952) - did not bring any innovative ideas with them, and with the release of the disc "Petrel" it became clear that the former the heights of "Deep Purple" in the updated composition can no longer be reached.
Lead composer Blackmore complained that his opinion was no longer listened to, and as a result, without further claims to copyright (which, by right, in most cases belonged to him), in early 1975 he left the team. He organized new project"Rainbow". By that time solo career Gillan started, and Roger Glover was mainly engaged in producing activities (in those years he led "Nazareth"). In fact, "Deep Purple" were left without leaders, and critics predicted that this "ship", which was left without a "captain", would soon collapse. And so it happened. American guitarist Tommy Bolin failed to become a worthy replacement for Blackmore; "things" from the 1975 album ("Come Taste The Band"), written by him in collaboration with Coverdale, turned out to be nothing more than a parody of the "old" style of the group, and soon Yon Lord announced the breakup.
For the next eight years, the Deep Purple group did not exist. Successfully worked with "Rainbow" Ritchie Blackmore, performed a little less powerfully with his group Ian Gillan, formed "Whitesnake" David Coverdale. The idea to revive the "Deep Purple" sample of 1970 belongs to Blackmore and Gillan: they came to it independently of each other, and in 1984 the album "Perfect Strangers" was released. More than three million copies were sold and it seemed that they would never part again. However, the next album appeared only two and a half years later ("The House Of Blue Light", 1987), and although it turned out great, a year later Gillan left Deep Purple again and returned to solo activities.
In the USSR, the company "Melody" released two albums "Deep Purple": a collection best songs 1970-1972 and the Blue Light House program disc (1987).
Ian Gillan visited the USSR on tour in the spring of 1990.
Group Producers: Roger Glover, Martin Burch.
Recording studios: Abbey Road (London); Musicland (Munich), etc.
Sound engineers: Martin Burch, Nick Blagona, Angelo Arcuri.
The albums were released under the flags of the firms "EMI", "Harvest", "Purple" and "Polydor".
The new Deep Purple singer in 1990 was Blackmore's "old" Rainbow colleague Joe Lynn Turner.

Whether Richie gives his approval to this project or not, I don't give a damn.
Rod Evans, August 1980

Many are wondering where the original Deep Purple vocalist Rod Evans has gone. We regularly see members of deep purple, both canonical and passing lineups, on combs in the Russian outback from year to year. But the vocalist of the first line-up, who occupies an unshakable third place after Mk II and Mk III, Rod Evans, we completely lost from the radar. Few purveyors know the hard-hitting story of Deep People's fake 1980 line-up, just before the big reunion. Perfect Strangers, which they tried to erase from the history of the group.

Fake Deep Purple. From left to right: Dick Jurgens (drums) - Tony Flynn (guitars) - Tom De Rivera (bass) - Geoff Emery (keyboards) - Rod Evans (vocals)

The official story in dry facts goes like this.

Rod Evans / Jon Lord / Ritchie Blackmore
Nick Simper / Ian Paice

Rod Evans was one of the founding members of Deep People when the band was still rising to the heights of rock and roll glory in 1968-69. After recording the first three albums Shades Of Deep Purple, The Book Of Taliesyn And deep purple, Rod, together band bassist Nick Simper left the ensemble and went for a better share in the USA, where in 1971 he released a solo single Hard To Be Without You / You Can´t Love A Child Like A Woman after which he decided to take part in the new American band Captain Beyond, founded by members of Iron Butterfly and Johnny Winter. Having released two releases: the eponymous Captain Beyond in 1972 and Sufficentley Breathless in 1973, but without achieving commercial success, the group broke up. Rod decided to give up music, returned to his studies as a doctor and even became director of the respiratory therapy department.

Rod Evans

Until 1980, when a glib manager contacted him with an obsession with reforming Deep Purple, which had collapsed by that time. Just before that, his company had already tried to cut the babos off easy by creating a new Steppenwolf along with original members Goldie McJohn and Nick St. Nicholas, but John Kay intervened in time and revoked the rights to the title.

Captain Beyond - I Can't Feel Nothin' (Live '71)

From May to September 1980, the "renewed" Deep People played several shows in Mexico, the United States, and Canada before being shut down by the "old" Deep People's management lawyers. As it turned out, Rod Evans was the only person in charge of this group, while the rest of the group were just hired musicians. And that's why it was Rod Evans who was the only one who fell on the whole machine of justice.

It is noteworthy that the famous agency William Morris from Los Angeles bought into this project, paid for the concert tour and even offered a contract to record the album with Warner Curb Records (a sub-label of Warner Brothers). For the record, which was scheduled for release in November 1980, several things were even recorded. These recordings were lost, only the names of a couple of tracks survived: Blood Blister and Brum Doogie.

The group's show in Mexico City was captured for posterity by Mexican television, but only a fragment with Smoke On The Water has come down to our days.

Deep Purple (bogus)

Reviews of the group's performances were, to put it mildly, not very good. Pyrotechnics, sequins, chainsaws, lasers, sound problems, performance problems, total failure. The group was booed, and some concerts ended in a pogrom.

Deep Purple in Quebec. Corbeau takes over the show.

Caption: ex-guitarist Ritchie Blackmore will be notified of the appearance of a band that defames his name!

Tuesday, August 12, 1:00 p.m.: Having learned that all the tickets for the show were sold, the age limit dropped from fourteen to twelve, still without tickets, I decided to leave Montreal and move towards the Capitol Theater. The concert hall was located in old Quebec and could accommodate one and a half to a thousand people.

Quebec, 5 pm: Fortunately, the theater is only 8 minutes walk from the station building. Some people have already asked for an extra ticket. Depending on their luck, it cost them $15, $20, $25, and even $50 for a ticket with an initial cost of $9.5 to $12.5. At that moment, no one knew who from the old line-up would play that evening.

7:00 pm: I was allowed to go and "within the walls" to meet the concert organizer Robert Boulet and the band's roadie. They gave me the much-awaited clarity - the group consisted of the first Deep Purple vocalist Rod Evans (from the time of the Hush hit). After his involvement with Captain Beyond, he decided to restart the ship in February 1980 with Tony Flynn (ex-Steppenwolf) on lead guitar, Jeff Emery (ex-Steppenwolf and Iron Butterfly), keyboards and backing vocals, Dick Jurgens (ex-Association) on drums and Tom de Riviera, bass and backing vocals. After the show, they go on tour in the US, then Japan and finally Europe. The new album is scheduled for release in October.

Warm up, Corbeau band. 15 minutes past ten: The band takes the stage and puts on a great show. The guitarist Jean Miller is especially good. Vocalist Marho and her two backing vocalists are also good. The audience reacted very well.

New Deep Purple: After a long hiatus, "new Deep Purple" with Rod Evans starts at 11pm. The reaction is different, conversations begin that the poster is a hoax. From the very beginning, there were problems with the sound on "Highway Star". The vocalist's microphone works 1 time out of ten. The guitarist is a real caricature of Blackmore in terms of his playing and appearance. There's more glitter in the drummer than it knocks out of the cymbals, the organist seems to miss his mother. The band continues with "Might Just Take Your Life" from Burn. The next thing from the time Evans was in the lineup. This piece is the only one in the setlist and it is instrumental. The guitarist delivers a long solo full of cliches. He is replaced by a keyboard player with the worst organ solo I've heard in the last 10 years. At that moment, Lorda must have gone through syncope. "Space Truckin" is also instrumental as the mics are still not working. The drum solo elicits a disapproving hum from the audience. On the fifth track, "Woman From Tokyo", you can finally hear some vocals. But this is the last thing. The guitarist states that if we do not want to see them, they will be forced to leave the hall. They played 30 minutes or 90 minutes according to the contract. Various objects begin to fly onto the stage. The audience is outraged and demands a refund. One guy decides to set fire to the sweater he bought at the entrance for $7. The police arrive at the concert and evacuate everyone present.

In conclusion: This is "Bummer 80", I hope there will be no more of them. I went towards Montreal with twenty or five young people in a state of total shock. The people of Quebec are waiting for an explanation from the promoters. Eric Jean, a frustrated reader, returns to Lac Saint-Jean.

Conclusion: TOTAL DISAPPOINTMENT.

Yves Monast, 1980

Corbeau-Ailleurs "Live" 81

On October 3, 1980, Rod Evans and company were ordered to pay $168,000 in legal fees and $504,000 in fines. After that, Rod disappeared from the music business and no longer communicated with reporters.

In addition to the above fines, Rod Evans forfeited royalties from the sales of the first three Deep Purple albums.

But this is a story for the newspapers. And here is the story in the words of those involved.

"...and here's another one from our album Burn"
(Rod Evans presenting 'Might Just Take Your Life', Quebec, August 12, 1980)

"The show is disgusting, they don't cost a penny"
(Robert Boulet, Quebec concert organizer, 1980)

“This will be a new stage, as we need to change the music itself. This is more than what we want to do. What we're going to record will be 60 percent Deep People and 40 percent new. We don't want to repeat what the Who did on Tommy. This is a completely different concept. We want to write songs in our own style. And of course we will change the sound in accordance with the technologies used now, such as Polymoog (polyphonic analog synthesizer) and other studio effects, but, without any doubt, this will be a turn towards heavy metal.
(Rod Evans, interview with Conecte magazine, June 1980, about a proposed new album Deep purple)

“(We got the rights to Deep Purple) completely legally. I was the founding vocalist in the band and when I decided to create new group with guitarist Tony Flynn, we saw a great name thrown in and decided to use it. Before that, we talked to Ritchie Blackmore from Rainbow and the guys from Whitesnake. And they agreed."
(Rod Evans, Sonido magazine, June 1980)

“I think it's disgusting when a band has to stoop so low and perform under a false name. It's like some guys gonna put together a band and call it Led Zeppelin."
(Ritchie Blackmore, Rolling Stone magazine, 1980)

“We didn't really try to contact Ritchie. Whether Ritchie gives his blessing or not, I don't care, just like he does my blessing to make Rainbow. I mean, if he doesn't like it, I'm sorry, but we try."
(Rod Evans, Sounds magazine, August 1980)

“The group owns the federal trademark for all activities as Deep Purple. These two guys (R. Blackmore and R. Glover) who play Rainbow want it back. They see a successful project and want to be a part of it. But we look younger. All original members are now between 35 and 43 years old. The band has been dormant for a few years now but has now resurfaced."
(Ronald K., Los Angeles Promoter, 1980)

“Of course he (Rod) was not so naive, he thought: I’ll try and see what happens, but try to imagine what you yourself would say if everything suddenly went wrong? I can only blame Rod for stupidity. He should have guessed that he wouldn't walk away so easily with a fake Deep People. After all, he did everything in public."

“Rod Evans, the band's vocalist, owns the rights to the name. There are no prohibitions, no restraining decrees, no cash demands. Deep People will have to prove that they are Deep People. It will be confusing to list the names of the participants on the poster. This is not cheating. Deep People's breakup has not been announced. There was a constant rotation of participants in the group. The band plays all Deep People's hits."
(Bob Ringe, band agent, 1980)

“We didn’t get this money, it all went to the lawyers who got involved in this lawsuit… The only chance to stop this group was to sue Rod, since he was the only one receiving the money, the rest were working under a contract for hire… Rod was definitely involved in this along with some very bad people !"
(Ian Pace, 1996, quoted from Harmut Krekel's Captain Beyond fan site)

"Did you imagine that something like this could happen?" Jon Lord says with a laugh. “Those guys really played in the Long Beach arena under the name Deep People. They played "Smoke on the Water" and all we know about this gig is how they got kicked off the stage. Just imagine what would have happened if we hadn't stopped this fiasco? The next month there would be thirty bands called Led Zeppelin and another fifty called The Beatles. And the most unpleasant thing in this story is the damage to our reputation. If we decided to get back together and go on tour, people would say about us "yes, I saw them last year in Long Beach and they are not the same." The Deep People name means a lot to all rock 'n' roll fans and I would like to see that reputation continue."
(Jon Lord, Hit Parader magazine, February 1981)

“Rod called in 1980, I was not at home, and he asked my wife to call him back, which I, in wise foresight, did not.”
(Nick Simper, 2010)

“Not only Rhoda was sued, behind the fake Deep People was whole organization, which was more responsible, it was she who was entrusted with most of the payment of this "huge pile of money." In terms of money, what price would you yourself charge for your reputation and for the right not to sell something to the public in a fraudulent way? And you should also know that these people were repeatedly pointed out to be breaking the law, but they continued to do so. Suing them was the last measure of influence on these people. I was not happy at all that I had to testify in court against a man with whom I had previously worked. But whoever steals my wallet is only stealing money, and whoever steals my good name is stealing everything I have.”
(Jon Lord, 1998, quoted from Harmut Krekel's Captain Beyond fan site)

60s of XX century became especially important for rock music, because it was at this time that such bands as the Rolling Stones, The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd were born. And a special place was taken by Deep Purple - the legendary rock band of "dark purple tones". She has taken a special place on the stage. The most important thing to say about Deep Purple is that their discography is too diverse to be unambiguous. The path of the musicians was winding and covered with thorns, which were very difficult to overcome.

general information

What is known about the Deep Purple team today? The band's discography is full of surprises, so each album deserves special attention due to its special uniqueness. Many remember the band precisely because of the guitar solos of Ritchie Blackmore and the organ parts of Jon Lord, and they think that this is where the potential of Deep Purple ends. Music gives this a complete refutation, because even after the departure of the leaders, the team did not break up and recorded several discs. Together, the group was able to achieve resounding success on the world stage and earn the status of "the cult rock band of all time."

From "Carousel" to "dark purple"

The history of the formation of the collective contains a chain of some inexplicable events, without which there would be no Deep Purple. The discography does not contain records of the founder of the group. The explanation for this is this: in 1966, drummer Chris Curtis wanted to create a band called "Roundabout" (Roundabout), in which the members would change each other, resembling a carousel. He later met the organist Jon Lord, who had good playing experience and was also incredibly talented.

At Lord's invitation, Ritchie Blackmore, an experienced guitarist who came from Germany, joined the band. Chris Curtis himself soon disappeared, thereby putting an end to his musical career, and leaving the band members to their own devices. Only 2 years later, the musicians were able to release their first album. That was the start of Deep Purple's career. The complete discography dates back to 1968.

Discography for all times

Here are the first songs:

• Shades of Deep Purple (1968). The group was then managed by Jon Lord. With his submission, drummer Ian Pace, vocalist Rod Evans and bass guitarist Nick Simper were invited to the band.
• The Book of Taliesyn (1968). The composition of the group remained unchanged. The title of the album comes from "The Book of Taliesin".
• Deep Purple (April) (1969). It was difficult to call this record weak, but she never managed to achieve success in her homeland. It was low popularity that contributed to the split, which is why Evans and Simper were fired from the group.
• Deep Purple In Rock (1970). The group was rehabilitated, and the famous drummer of that time, Mick Underwood, helped her in this. With Ritchie Blackmore, they were old friends. On the advice of Underwood, the "dark purple" sounded " high voice”, Ian Gillan became the new vocalist. Bass player Roger Glover also joined them. The success of the album was overwhelming, Deep Purple entered the ranks popular rock bands that time.
• Fireball (1971). Throughout 1971, the group gave many concerts in different cities, their concerts became in demand.
• Machine Head (1972). The musicians were inspired to create this album by a trip to Switzerland.
• Who Do We Think We Are (1973). The last album of the 70s, recorded by the "golden composition".
• Burn (1974). As a result of the discord, Ian Gillan and Roger Glover left the band. It was not easy to replace such skillful musicians, but soon David Coverdale became the new vocalist, and Glenn Hughes took the place of the bass player. This composition was recorded a new album.
• Stormbringer (1974). After the recording of Burn and before the band's reunion in 1984, only two albums were recorded.
• Come Taste The Band (1975). Tommy Bolin, who replaced Ritchie Blackmore, participated in the recording of this disc. These albums did not bring the group the former popularity, and in 1976 the band announced the breakup. But only in order to be reborn again in 1984 with a "golden line-up": Gillan and Glover returned to the group.
• Perfect Strangers (1984). The new album of the revived Deep Purple was enthusiastically received by fans.
• The House of Blue Light (1987). After recording a new triumphal record, Ian Gillan left the group again. Then Ritchie Blackmore invited Joe Lynn Turner, the famous vocalist.
• Slaves & Masters (1990). The album was recorded by a new line-up, with Joe Lynn Turner.
• The Battle Rages On… (1993). The record was recorded for the band's 25th anniversary. The recording was attended by Ian Gillan, who by that time again decided to return to the team.
• Purpendicular (1996). The still popular group now performed with a new line-up. Having lost interest in the team, Ritchie Blackmore left Deep Purple, and Steve Morse came in his place.
• Abandon (1998). Last album recorded with Jon Lord. In 2002, he decided to perform solo and left the group.

The new generation of Deep Purple

Collections of the 2000s:

• Bananas (2003). The departed Lord was replaced on keyboards by Don Airey, who also plays current composition groups. Bananas is the first album recorded with his participation. The record was warmly received by the public, the fans did not like only the name of the album. Alas, Jon Lord successfully soloed with his work for only 10 years. Unfortunately, oncology put an end to his life and work. However, what he did over the years lives on in Deep Purple. Discography in early XXI century was replenished with two albums, invariably popular.
• Rapture of the Deep (2005) and Now What?! (2013). This anniversary album was released for the band's 45th anniversary. Today, Deep Purple tours constantly, and in 2017 they organized a three-year world tour, which should end in 2020.
• Infinite (2017). The last, 20th album in a row is called "Infinity".

After "infinity" what remains Deep Purple? Discography includes 20 studio albums. And yet, even the members of the group themselves do not know what will happen next. In any case, they intend to move only forward, to infinity.