Deep Purple biography of the group. Deep Ash's dirty secret

PIONEERS OF HEAVY METAL – DEEP PURPLE

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

Their path was as winding as Ritchie Blackmore's guitar strums and Jon Lord's organ parts.

Each of the participants deserves a 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 1966, when the drummer of one of the Liverpool bands, Chris Curtis, decided to create his own band, Roundabout. Fate brought him together with Jon Lord, who was already known in narrow circles and was known as an excellent organist. By the way, it turned out that he had a wonderful guy in mind who simply does miracles with a guitar. This musician turned out to be Ritchie Blackmore, who at that time was playing in the Three Musketeers band in Hamburg. He was immediately called from Germany and offered a place on the team.

But suddenly the initiator of the project itself, Chris Curtis, disappears, thereby drawing a heavy cross on his career and putting the nascent group at risk. Drugs were rumored to be involved in his disappearance.

Jon Lord took over the case. Thanks to him, Ian Pace appeared in the group, impressing everyone with his ability to hammer the drums, knocking incredible shots out of them. The vocalist's place was then taken by Rod Evans, Pace's comrade in the former group. Nick Simper became the bass player.

Everything is deep purple for them

At Blackmore's suggestion, the group was named , and with this lineup the team recorded three albums, the first of which was released in 1968. The song “Deep Purple” by Nino Tempo and April Stevens was Ritchie Blackmore’s grandmother’s favorite composition, so the musicians didn’t think twice about it and took it as the basis for the band’s name, without attaching any special meaning. As it turned out, the same name was given to the brand of drug LCD, which was sold in the USA at that time. But vocalist Ian Gillan swears and claims that the band members never took drugs, but preferred whiskey and soda.

Bathing in rock

Success had to wait several years. The group was popular only in America, but in its homeland it hardly attracted any attention. interest among 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 band could cope with such bad luck, but Mick Underwood, a famous drummer and longtime friend of Ritchie Blackmore, came to the rescue. It was he who recommended Ian Gillan to him, who “screamed wonderfully in a high voice.” Ian, in turn, brought his friend, bass player Roger Glover.

In June 1970 new line-up The group released the album “Deep Purple in Rock”, which was a huge success and finally brought the “dark purple” into the echelon of the most popular rockers of the century. The undisputed success of the record was the composition “Child in Time”. It is still considered one of the group's best songs. This album remained at the top of the charts for a year. The band spent the entire next year traveling, but they also found time to record a new album, “Fireball.”

Smoke from Deep Purple

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

Roger Glover even dreamed of this fire and smoke spreading over Lake Geneva. He woke up in horror and said the phrase “smoke on the water.” This became the title and line from the chorus of the song. Despite the difficult conditions in which the album was created, the record was clearly a success, becoming a calling card for many years.

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 purples”. 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 burst into applause. Such concerts were unusual for, because they were used to in Europe and America, spectators constantly shout something, jump up from their seats and rush to the stage.

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

California show

But, as often happens, relations in the group became so tense that Ian Gillan and Ritchie Blackmore found it difficult to get along with each other. As a result, Ian and Roger left the team, and the “dark purple” were again left with nothing. Replacing a vocalist of this caliber turned out 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 position of bass guitarist was filled by Glenn Hughes. In 1974, the renewed group recorded a new album called “Burn”.

To try out new compositions in public, the group decided to take part in the famous California Jam concert in the Los Angeles area. He gathered an audience of approximately 400 thousand people and in the world of music is considered a unique event. Until sunset, Blackmore refused to go on stage and the local sheriff even threatened to arrest him, but finally the sun set and the action began. During the performance, Ritchie Blackmore tore his guitar, damaged the camera of a TV channel cameraman and caused such an explosion at the end that he barely survived.

Revival of Deep Purple

The following records were successful, but, unfortunately, did not demonstrate anything new. The group quietly exhausted itself. As the years passed, fans began to think that the once beloved was history, but finally in 1984, the “dark purple” were revived with their “golden” lineup.

A world tour was soon organized and in every city along the route, concert tickets sold out in the blink of an eye. It was not only a matter of old merits, the virtuosity of the participants The groups were not at all lost.

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 to Richie’s advantage, because he brought his longtime friend Joe Lynn Turner into the team. The album “Slaves & Masters” was recorded with a new vocalist in 1990.

Clash of the Titans

The band's 25th anniversary 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 named “The Battle Rages On...” (“The Battle Continues”).

The battle of characters did not stop either. The buried hatchet has been unearthed 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 concerts with him, and soon Blackmore’s place was taken by Steve Morse, a talented American guitarist. The team still held the hard rock banner high, as demonstrated by 1996's Purpendicular and Abandon, released two years later.

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 had previously worked with Richie and Roger in the 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 to it, but few people liked the name.

Unfortunately, after 10 years of successful solo creativity 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, this is why the band should exist, and not at all for the production of studio albums. The latest collection was the 19th album “Now What?!”, released for the 45th anniversary of the “dark purple”.

After such an eloquent album title, the question should follow: “What’s next?” And time will tell - whether we will see a reunion at least once again, and whether the musicians will have time to amaze their fans with something else. In the meantime, they are one of the few whose concerts grandfathers go to with their grandchildren and equally enjoy the music.

When asked: “Where are you going?”, they answer surprisingly logically: “Only forward. We do not stand still and are constantly working on ourselves, on new sounds. And we are still so nervous before every concert that it sends shivers down our spines.”

DATA

While on tour in Australia in 1999, a teleconference was organized on one of the television programs. The band members performed in sync with several hundred professional guitarists and fans of “Smoke on the Water.”

Interestingly, Ian Pace was a member of all the group's lineups, but never became its leader. The personal lives of musicians are also closely connected. Keyboardist Jon Lord and drummer Ian Paice married twin sisters Vicky and Jackie Gibbs.

Music lovers of the countries of the former Soviet Union, despite the “ iron curtain", found ways to get acquainted with the group's work. In the Russian language, an amazing euphemism “deeply violet” even appeared, that is, “completely indifferent and far from the topic of discussion.”

Updated: November 20, 2017 by: Elena

"Chris Curtis, with the blessing of London businessman Tony Edwards, started the Roundabout project. In his opinion, it was supposed to be something like a supergroup, only with a regularly changing lineup (hence the “carousel” name). Chris was the first to sign his neighbor into the business at the rented apartment of The Artwoods keyboardist Jon Lord. The second person Curtis had in mind was the young guitarist Ritchie Blackmore, who was not too lazy to fly to the audition from Hamburg. At that point, the mission of the “seeker” drummer was completed, and in the acidic fumes he jumped off the created one. "Carousel" for them. Meanwhile, Lord and Blackmore wanted to continue the work they had begun and took on the task of resolving the personnel issue on their own. John invited old acquaintance Nick Simper to play bass, and the microphone and drums were given to members of "Maze" Rod Evans and Ian Pace. There was a question about renaming the group, 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 headed into the studio and in just a couple of days recorded the album "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 USA "Deep Purple" managed to attract attention thanks to the composition "Hush", which they removed from Billy Joe Royal's repertoire.

Based on the current situation, the second full-length was released overseas first, and only the 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. As last time, the main focus was on covers, and the leader of the program was Neil Diamond's composition "Kentucky Woman", which was included in the Billboard Top 40 list. The third disc with the modest title "Deep Purple" remained underestimated, although in fact on it the team reached the pinnacle of their progressive stage of creativity, as evidenced by the monumental epic "April" and the beautiful Donovan cover of "Lalena". Meanwhile, changes were brewing in the team, and under pressure from the remaining members, Simper and Evans left the lineup.

Blackmore wanted to get Terry Reed as vocalist, 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 also borrowed from the same ensemble, and thus the famous Mark II was born. The debut of the classic lineup was the team’s performance, initiated by John (who was the main energizer of the group at that time), with symphony orchestra. The attempt to combine rock with classics caused conflicting responses, and if anyone became famous for this project, it was Lord himself. Other musicians (especially Blackmore) were fed up with the keyboard player's leadership, and at Richie's insistence, the band began playing hard guitar-based hard rock with powerful organ tabs and aggressive vocal delivery. The change in style brought “Deep Purple” to the forefront of the world stage, and the first signs of triumph were the album “In Rock” and the single “Black Night” that was not included in it. Confused England placed the full-length film in fourth place in the ratings, but the very next time the “ashes” found themselves at the very top of the island chart with the program “Fireball”. The culmination of the group’s creative success was the masterpiece album “Machine Head”, which, in addition to concert favorites such as “Highway Star”, “Space Truckin””, “Lazy”, gave birth to perhaps the loudest imperishable hard rock “Smoke On The Water”. A role model for subsequent generations The rockers were also inspired by the double live album "Made In Japan", but by the time the also quite successful studio work "Who Do We Think We Are" was released, relations in the team had gone wrong.

Gillan and Blackmore clashed more than others, and in the end it ended with the resignation of the vocalist. Glover left next, 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 through an advertisement (at that time a clothing salesman). The infusion of fresh forces colored 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”. It must be said that the newcomers quickly got used to the team, and on the album "Stormbringer" the usual hard rock was greatly replaced by funk and soul. Feeling that he was no longer the absolute master of the position in the group, Blackmore abandoned his colleagues and went 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 advanced their songwriting, but the album "Come Taste The Band" came out relatively lackluster. 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, on Gillan’s initiative, the classic line-up got back together and recorded the disc “Perfect Strangers”. The fans, yearning for the “purple” creativity, greedily snapped up the album, as a result of which the record was a good success both in terms of circulation and chart positions. The accompanying world tour also took place on high level, but during the recording of “The House Of Blue Light” the relationship between Blackmore and Gillan worsened again. After the second resignation of the lead singer, John took his place. Don Airey, who took over the keyboard baton, tried his best to replace his colleague, but he still did not reach Lord’s level. One way or another, the fans received the 2003 album quite warmly, although “Bananas” was heavily criticized for its pop title and cover. “Rapture Of The Deep”, released a couple of years later, was received similarly, but then studio work was abandoned for a long time. Only in 2012 did Deep Purple begin work on a new album, and in the spring of next year, produced by the legendary Bob Ezrin, “Now What?!” went on sale.

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

Many are wondering where the first Deep Purple vocalist Rod Evans disappeared to. We regularly see participants of deeply purple teams, both canonical and passing ones, at the races in the Russian outback from year to year. But we finally lost the vocalist of the first line-up, who occupies an unshakable third place after Mk II and Mk III, Rod Evans, from the radar. Few purplomaniacs know the unpleasant story about the fake composition of Deep People in 1980, just before the grand reunion Perfect Strangers, which they tried to erase from the group’s history.

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 hard facts goes like this.

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

Rod Evans was one of the founders of Deep People when the group was still rising to the heights of rock 'n' roll stardom in 1968-69. After recording the first three albums Shades Of Deep Purple, The Book Of Taliesyn And Deep Purple, Rod, together with the band's bassist Nick Simper, left the ensemble and went for a better life 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 the groups Iron Butterfly and Johnny Winter. Having released two releases: the self-titled 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 the director of the respiratory therapy department.

Rod Evans - Hard To Be Without You

Until 1980, when a lively manager contacted him with an obsession to reform Deep Purple, which had disbanded by that time. Just before this, his company had already tried to cut down the money by creating a new Steppenwolf along with original members Goldie McJohn and Nick Saint Nicholas, but John Kay intervened in time and revoked the rights to this name.

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

From May to September 1980, the "renewed" Deep People performed several concerts in Mexico, the United States and Canada before their activities were stopped by the lawyers of the "old" Deep People's management. As it turned out, Rod Evans was the only one in charge of this group, while the rest of the group were simply hired musicians. And therefore it was Rod Evans who was the only one on whom the entire machine of justice fell.

It is noteworthy that the famous William Morris agency from Los Angeles bought this project, paid for the concert tour and even offered a contract to record an album on the Warner Curb Records label (a sub-label of Warner Brothers). Several songs were even recorded for the album, which was scheduled for release in November 1980. These recordings were lost, only the names of a couple of tracks were preserved: 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 reached this day.

Deep Purple (bogus) - Smoke on the water

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

Deep Purple in Quebec. Corbeau takes over the show.

Caption under the photo: ex-guitarist Ritchie Blackmore will be notified of the appearance of a group that discredits his name!

Tuesday, August 12, 1 p.m.: Having learned that all tickets for the show were sold out, the age limit had been lowered 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 thousand people.

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

7 pm: I was allowed to go and meet “within the walls of the venue” with the concert organizer Robert Boulet and the band’s roadie. They gave me such long-awaited clarity - the group consisted of the first Deep Purple vocalist Rod Evans (from the time of the hit Hush). After his involvement with the band Captain Beyond, he decided to relaunch the ship in February 1980 with Tony Flynn (ex-Steppenwolf) on lead guitar, Geoff Emery (ex-Steppenwolf and Iron Butterfly) on 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.

Opening act, Corbeau band. 15 minutes past nine: The band takes the stage and puts on a great show. Guitarist Jean Millaire is especially good. Vocalist Marho and her two backing vocalists are also good. The audience responded great.

New Deep Purple: After a long break, the “new Deep Purple” with Rod Evans starts at 11 tonight. The reactions are different, conversations begin that the poster is a deception. From the very beginning, there are problems with the sound on Highway Star. The vocalist's microphone works 1 time out of ten. The guitarist is a true caricature of Blackmore in terms of his playing and appearance. The drummer has more sparkle than he knocks out of the cymbals, the organist seems to miss his mother. The band continues with “Might Just Take Your Life” from the Burn album. The next thing is from the time Evans was in the lineup. There is only one thing in the setlist and it is instrumental. The guitarist gives a long solo that is completely cliche. He's replaced by a keyboard player with the worst organ solo I've heard in 10 years. At that moment, Lorde must have been overcome with syncopation. “Space Truckin” is also instrumental, as the microphones are still not working. The drum solo elicits disapproving grunts 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 don't want to see them, they will be forced to leave the hall. They played for 30 minutes or 90 as per the contract. They start flying onto the stage various items. 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 won't be any more of them. I set off towards Montreal with twenty-five young people in a completely shocked state. Quebecers are waiting for an explanation from the promoters. Eric Jean, a frustrated reader, returns to Lac Saint-Jean.

Result: COMPLETE DISAPPOINTMENT.

Yves Monast, 1980

Corbeau - Ailleurs "Live" 81

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

In addition to the above fines, Rod Evans lost his rights to royalties from the sales of Deep Purple's first three albums.

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

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

“The show is disgusting, they aren’t worth a penny.”
(Robert Boulet, organizer of a concert in Quebec, 1980)

“This will be a new step, since we need to change the music itself. This is something more than we want to do. What we're going to record is going to be 60 percent Deep Pop and 40 percent something 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 it will be a turn towards heavy metal."
(Rod Evans, Conecte magazine interview, June 1980, about a proposed new Deep Purple album)

“(We got the rights to Deep Purple) completely legally. I was the founding vocalist in the band and when I decided to start a new band with guitarist Tony Flynn, we saw a great name thrown around and decided to go with 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 that a band has to stoop so low and perform under someone else’s name. It's like some guys putting together a band and calling it Led Zeppelin."
(Ritchie Blackmore, Rolling Stone, 1980)

“We didn't actually try to contact Ritchie. Regardless of whether Ritchie gives his blessing or not, I don’t care, just like he has my blessing to create Rainbow. I mean, if he doesn't like it, I'm sorry, but we're trying."
(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 part of it. But we look younger. All original members are now between 35 and 43 years old. The group has been in hibernation for several years, but has now re-emerged."
(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 suddenly everything went wrong? I can only blame Rod for being stupid. He should have known that he wouldn't leave so easily with a fake Deep People. After all, he did everything publicly."

“Rod Evans, the band's lead singer, has the rights to the name. There are no prohibitions, no prohibitory decrees, no demands for cash contributions. Deep People will have to prove that they are Deep People. It will be confusing to put the names of the participants on the poster. This is not cheating. The breakup of Deep People has not been announced. There was a constant rotation of participants in the group. The group performs all Deep People's hits."
(Bob Ringe, Group Agent, 1980)

“We didn’t get that 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 of employment... Rod was definitely in on this with some very bad people !”
(Ian Pace, 1996, quoted from Captain Beyond fan site Harmut Krekel)

“Could you imagine that something like this could happen?” - Jon Lord says with a laugh. “These guys actually played at the Long Beach arena as Deep People. They played "Smoke on the Water" and all we know about that concert is how they were kicked off the stage. Just imagine what could 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 be like, "Yeah, I saw them last year in Long Beach and they're not the same." The name Deep People means a lot to all rock and roll fans and I would like to see that reputation continue."
(Jon Lord, Hit Parader magazine, February 1981)

"Rod called in 1980, I wasn't home, and he asked my wife to call him back, which I, in the wisdom of my foresight, did not."
(Nick Simper, 2010)

“Not only Rod was sued, there was an entire organization behind the fake Deep People, which was largely responsible; it was they who were responsible for most of the payment of this “huge pile of money.” As for money, what price would you set for your reputation and for the right not to sell something fraudulently to the public? And you should also know that these people were repeatedly pointed out that they were breaking the law, but they continued to do so. Taking them to court was the last resort against these people. I was not at all happy about the fact that I had to speak in court against a person with whom I had previously worked. But the one who steals my wallet is only stealing money, and the one who steals my good name is stealing everything I have.”
(Jon Lord, 1998, quoted from Captain Beyond fan site Harmut Krekel)

Deep Purple are a British rock band formed in February 1968 in Hartford, England. She is considered one of the most prominent and influential in hard rock of the 70s. Music critics consider Deep Purple to be 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” line-up of Deep Purple (in particular, guitarist Ritchie Blackmore, keyboardist Jon Lord, drummer Ian Paice) are considered virtuoso instrumentalists. Their albums have sold more than 100 million copies worldwide.

The first line-up of Deep Purple (Evans, Lord, Blackmore, Simper, Pace)

Over more than 40 years of the group’s history, its composition has changed several times, with a total of 14 people performing in the group at different times. Drummer Ian Paice is the only musician who has participated in all Deep Purple lineups.

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

The Mark 2 line-up (Gillan, Blackmore, Glover, Lord, Pace) is considered the “classic” line-up of Deep Purple, since it was with this line-up that the group gained worldwide fame and recorded the hard rock classics In Rock, Fireball and Machine Head. Subsequently, this lineup assembled twice more and recorded a total of 7 studio albums out of 19 that the group has released to date.

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

Meanwhile, Warner Bros. released Live In Concert in the US - a recording with the London Philharmonic Orchestra - and called the group to America to perform at the Hollywood Bowl. After several more shows in California, Arizona and Texas, on August 9, Deep Purple found themselves involved in yet another conflict: this time on stage at the National Jazz Festival in Plumpton. Ritchie Blackmore, not wanting to give up his time on the program to latecomers Yes, staged a mini-arson on the stage and caused a fire, which is why the group was fined and received virtually nothing for their performance. The band spent the rest of August and early September touring Scandinavia.

The album In Rock was released in September 1970; it rose to number 4 in the UK Albums Chart and remained in the top thirty lists for more than a year (in the US it only rose to number 143). Management was unable to select a single from the album's material, and the group went to the studio to urgently record something. Created almost spontaneously, “Black Night” secured Deep Purple second place in the UK Singles Chart and became the band’s calling card for some time.

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

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

Deep Purple agreed with the Rolling Stones to use their Mobile studio, which was supposed to be located near the Casino concert hall. On the day of the band's arrival, during a performance by Frank Zappa and The Mothers of Invention (where members of Deep Purple also went), a fire occurred caused by a shot from a flare gun sent by someone in the audience into the ceiling. The building burned down, and the group rented the empty Grand Hotel, where they completed work on the record. Following fresh tracks, one of the group’s most famous songs, “Smoke On The Water,” was created. According to legend, Gillan scribbled the text on a napkin while looking out of a window at the surface of a 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, rose to number one in Britain and sold 3 million copies in the United States, where the single Smoke On The Water entered the top five on Billboard.

In July 1972, Deep Purple flew to Rome to record their next studio album (later released under the title 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 due to the aggravated contradictions between Blackmore and Gillan. On August 9, studio work was interrupted, and Deep Purple went to Japan. Recordings of concerts held here were included in the album Made in Japan.

“The idea of ​​a live album is to get all the instruments to sound as natural as possible, with the energy from the audience being able to bring something out of the band that they could never create 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, the total circulation of Deep Purple records was announced the most popular group world, beating Led Zeppelin and the Rolling Stones.

Deep Purple. 2004

Deep Purple(Deep Ash) are a British rock band formed in February 1968 (first under the name Roundabout) in Hartford, England, and are considered one of the most notable and influential heavy music bands of the 1970s.

Music critics call Deep Purple among the founders of hard rock and highly appreciate their contribution to the development of progressive rock and heavy metal. The musicians of the “classic” line-up of Deep Purple (in particular, guitarist Ritchie Blackmore, keyboardist Jon Lord, drummer Ian Paice) are considered virtuoso instrumentalists.

History of Deep Purple

Background

The initiator of the creation of the group and the author of the original concept was drummer Chris Curtis, who left The Searchers in 1966 and intended to resume his career. In 1967, he invited entrepreneur Tony Edwards to the position of manager, who at that time was working in the West End in his own family agency Alice Edwards Holdings Ltd, but was also involved in the music business, helping the singer Ayshea, later the presenter of the television show " Lift Off"). At the moment when Curtis was considering plans for his return, keyboardist Jon Lord also found himself at a crossroads: he had just left the rhythm and blues group The Artwoods, assembled by Art Wood (Ron's brother) and entered the touring composition The Flowerpot Men, a group created solely to promote the hit "Let's Go To San Francisco".

At a party with the famous “talent scout” Vicky Wickham, Lord accidentally met Curtis, and he became interested in the project of a new group, the members of which would come and go “like a carousel”: hence the name Roundabout. Soon, however, it turned out that Curtis lives in his own “acid” world. Before leaving the project, which would have included George Robins, the former Cryin Shames bassist, as the third member, Curtis said he had "...a fantastic English guitarist who lives in Hamburg" in mind for Roundabout.

Guitarist Ritchie Blackmore, despite his young age, had by this time managed to play with such musicians as Gene Vincent, Mike Dee And The Jaywalkers, Screamin' Lord Satch, The Outlaws (studio group of producer Joe Meek) and Neil Christian and the Crusaders - thanks to whom and ended up in Germany (where he founded his own band, The Three Musketeers). The first attempt to attract Blackmore to Roundabout coincided with the disappearance of Curtis (who then turned up in Liverpool) and was unsuccessful, but Edwards (with his checkbook) persisted, and soon - in December 1967 - the guitarist again flew in from Hamburg for an audition. Jon Lord:

Richie came to my apartment with an acoustic guitar and we immediately wrote And The Address and Mandrake Root. We had a wonderful evening. It immediately became clear that he wouldn’t tolerate fools around him, but that’s what I liked. He looked gloomy, but that's how he always was.

Soon the group included Dave Curtiss (ex-Dave Curtiss & the Tremors) and drummer Bobby Woodman, who was living in France at that time, who in the 1950s, under the pseudonym Bobby Clarke, played in Vince Taylor's Playboys group, as well as with Marty Wilde in Wildcats. “Richie saw Woodman in Johnny Hallyday’s band and was amazed that he used two kick drums in his kit,” recalled Jon Lord.

After Curtiss left, Lord and Blackmore resumed their search for a bass player. “The choice fell on Nick Simper simply because he was also in The Flowerpot Men,” Lord recalled. “Also, he had a thing for lace shirts, which Richie liked.” Richie generally paid more attention to the external side of the matter.” Simper (who also played in Johnny Kidd & The New Pirates), by his own admission, did not take the offer seriously until he learned that Woodman, whom he idolized, was involved in the new group. But once the quartet began rehearsing at Deeves Hall, a large farm in south Hertfordshire, it became clear that it was the drummer who stood out from the crowd. big picture. The parting was not easy, because everyone had an excellent personal relationship with him.

At the same time, the search for a vocalist continued: the group, among others, listened to Rod Stewart, who, according to Simper’s recollections, “was terrible,” and even tried to lure Mike Harrison from Spooky Tooth, who, as Blackmore recalls, “didn’t want to hear about it.” Terry Reed, who had contractual obligations, also refused. At some point, Blackmore decided to return to Hamburg, but Lord and Simper persuaded him to stay - at least for the duration of rehearsals in Denmark, where Lord was already well known. After Woodman's departure, 22-year-old vocalist Rod Evans and drummer Ian Paice joined the band: both had previously played in The MI5 (a group that later released two singles in 1967 under the name The Maze). With a new line-up, under a new name but still under the leadership of manager Edwards, the quintet conducted a short tour of Denmark.

All group members agreed in advance that the name needed to be changed.

Here at Deaves Hall we've put together a list of possible options. Almost chose Orpheus. Concrete God - this seemed very radical to us. Sugarlump was also on the list. And one morning a new option appeared there - Deep Purple. After intense negotiations, it turned out that Richie had brought it in. For the reason that it was his grandmother's favorite song. - Jon Lord

Deep Purple: style and image

At first, the band members did not have a clear idea of ​​what direction they would choose, but gradually Vanilla Fudge became their main role model. Jon Lord was blown away by the band's concert at the Speakeasy club and spent the entire evening talking with vocalist and organist Mark Stein, asking about technique and tricks. Tony Edwards, by his own admission, did not understand at all the music that the group was beginning to create, but he believed in the flair and taste of his charges.

Deep Purple's stage show was designed with Blackmore the showman in mind (Nick Simper later said that he spent a lot of time in front of the mirror next to Ritchie, repeating his pirouettes). Jon Lord:

Richie impressed me with his tricks from the very first days. He looked fabulous, almost like a ballet dancer. It was the school of the mid-60s: a guitar behind the head... just like Joe Brown!..

The band members dressed in the Mr Fish boutique of Tony Edwards, at his own expense. “These clothes looked very beautiful, but after about forty minutes they began to unravel at the seams... For a while we liked ourselves terribly, but from the outside we looked like terrible dudes,” said Lord.

Deep Purple: 1968-1969

First opportunity to speak to large audience introduced herself to the group in April 1968 in Denmark. This was familiar territory for Lorde (he had played here the year before with the band St Valentine's Day Massacre), and Denmark was also away from the big rock scene, which suited the musicians. "We decided to start out as Roundabout and, if that didn't work, become Deep Purple," Lord recalled. According to another version (by Nick Simper), the name changed on board the ferry: “Tony Edwards naturally called us Roundabout. But then a reporter suddenly came up to us and asked what our name was, and Richie answered: Deep Purple.”

The band held their first concert as Roundabout, but the Flowerpot Men and Artwoods were mentioned on the posters. Deep Purple tried to make a strong impression on the public and, as Simper recalls, they were “a stunning success.” Pace was the only one who had dark memories of this tour: “We went from Harwich to Esberg by sea. We needed a permit to work in the country, and we didn’t have the papers in perfect order. From the port they took me straight to the police station in a police car with bars. I thought: good start! When I returned, I stank of dog.”

Deep Purple: Success in the USA

All of the material on Shades of Deep Purple's debut album was created in two days, during a nearly continuous 48-hour studio session at the ancient Highley Manor (Balcombe, England) under the direction of producer Derek Lawrence, whom Blackmore knew from working together with John Meek.

In June 1968, Parlophone Records released the group's first single, “Hush,” a composition by American country singer Joe South. However, the group took as a basis the version of Billy Joe Royal, with which the group was only familiar at that moment. The idea to use "Hush" as the opening release belonged to Jon Lord and Nick Simper (the thing was very popular in London clubs), and it was arranged by Blackmore. In the US, the single rose to number 4, and was extremely popular in California. Lord believes that this was partly due to a lucky coincidence: in those days, a variety of “acid” called “Deep Purple” became widespread in this state. The single was not successful in Britain, but here the group made their radio debut on John Peel's Top Gear: their performance made a strong impression on the public and specialists. The album itself did not enter the charts here, but rose to #24 on the Billboard 200.

The band constructed their second album, The Book of Taliesyn, according to the original formula, pinning their main hopes on cover versions. "Kentucky Woman" and "River Deep - Mountain High" were moderate successes (#28 and 53 respectively), but were enough to propel the record onto the Billboard 200 (#54). The very fact that the album, released in the US in October 1968, appeared in England only 9 months later (and without any support from the record company), indicated that EMI had lost interest in the group. “In the USA we immediately became interested big business. In Britain, EMI, those stupid old guys, didn't do anything for us,” recalled Simper.

Deep Purple spent almost the entire second half of 1968 in America: here, through producer Derek Lawrence, they signed a contract with the Tetragrammaton Records label, financed by comedian Bill Cosby. Already on the second day of the group's stay in the United States, one of Cosby's friends, Hugh Hefner, invited Deep Purple to his Playboy Club. The band's performance on Playboy After Dark remains one of the most curious moments in its history, especially the episode where Ritchie Blackmore "teach" the show's host to play the guitar. Even stranger was the band's appearance on The Dating Game, where Lord was one of the losers and was very upset (because the girl who rejected him "... was so beautiful").

New direction for Deep Purple

Deep Purple returned home for the New Year and (after such venues as Los Angeles' Inglewood Forum) were unpleasantly surprised to learn that they were invited to perform, for example, at the Students' Union of Goldmeath College in south London. Both the self-esteem of the group members and their relationships have changed. Nick Simper:

Ritchie was particularly annoyed by the fact that Evans and Lord had put their own thing on the b-side and made some money from the sale of the single. Richie complained to me: Rod Evans just wrote the lyrics! To which I answered him: Any idiot can compose a guitar riff, but you try to write meaningful lyrics!.. He didn’t like it at all

The group spent March, April and May 1969 in the USA, but before returning to America they managed to record the third Deep Purple album, which marked the group's transition to heavier and more complex rock music. Meanwhile, by the time it was released in Britain (a few months later), the band had already changed their line-up. In May, Blackmore, Lord and Paice met secretly in New York, where they decided to change the singer, which was informed by second manager John Coletta, who accompanied the group on the trip. “Rod and Nick have reached their limit in the band. Rod had excellent ballad vocals, but his limitations were becoming increasingly apparent. Nick was a great bass player, but his eyes were on the past, not the future,” Pace recalled.

In addition, Evans fell in love with an American woman and suddenly wanted to become an actor. According to Simper, "... Rock and roll lost all meaning for him. His stage performances became weaker and weaker"Meanwhile, the rest of the participants developed rapidly, and the sound became tougher day by day. Deep Purple gave their last concert of the American tour in the first part of Cream. After them, the headliners were driven off the stage by the audience whistling.

Deep Purple: Gillan and Glover

In June, upon returning from America, Deep Purple began recording a new single, "Hallelujah". By this time, Blackmore (thanks to drummer Mick Underwood, an acquaintance from his participation in The Outlaws) had discovered the (virtually unknown in Britain, but of interest to specialists) band Episode Six, which performed pop-rock in the spirit of The Beach Boys, but had an unusually strong vocalist. Blackmore brought Lorde to their concert, and he was also amazed at the power and expressiveness of Ian Gillan's voice.

The latter agreed to move to Deep Purple, but - in order to demonstrate his own compositions - he brought Episode Six bassist Roger Glover with him to the studio, with whom he had already formed a strong songwriting duo. Gillan recalled that when he met Deep Purple, he was struck first of all by the intelligence of Jon Lord, from whom he expected much worse. Glover (who always dressed and acted very simply) was intimidated by the gloominess of the members of Deep Purple, who "... wore black and looked very mysterious." Glover took part in the recording of Hallelujah, to his amazement, he immediately received an invitation to join the lineup, and the next day, after much hesitation, he accepted.

It is noteworthy that while the single was being recorded, Evans and Simper did not know that their fate was sealed. The remaining three secretly rehearsed with the new vocalist and bassist at London's Hanwell Community Center during the day, and played gigs with Evans and Simper in the evenings.

For Purple this was the normal modus operandi. It was customary here: if a problem arises, the main thing is for everyone to remain silent about it, relying on management. It was assumed that if you are a professional, then you should give up basic human decency in advance. I was very ashamed of the way Nicky and Rod were treated. - Roger Glover

The old Deep Purple lineup gave their last concert in Cardiff on July 4, 1969. Evans and Simper were given three months' salary, and in addition were allowed to take amplifiers and equipment with them. Simper won another 10 thousand pounds through the court, but lost the right to further deductions. Evans was satisfied with little and, as a result, over the next eight years he received 15 thousand pounds annually from the sale of old records. A conflict arose between the managers of Episode Six and Deep Purple, which was settled out of court through compensation in the amount of 3 thousand pounds.

Deep Purple: 1969-1972

Remaining virtually unknown in Britain, Deep Purple gradually lost their commercial potential in America. Unexpectedly for everyone, Lord proposed a new, highly attractive idea to the group's management.

The idea of ​​creating a piece that could be performed by a rock band with a symphony orchestra came to me back at The Artwoods. I was inspired by Dave Brubeck's album Brubeck Plays Bernstein Plays Brubeck. Richie was all for it. Shortly after Ian and Roger arrived, Tony Edwards suddenly asked me: “Remember when you told me about your idea? I hope it was serious? Well, I’ve rented Albert Hall and the London Philharmonic Orchestra for September 24th.” I came - first in horror, then in wild delight. I had about three months left to work on, and I started it right away. - Jon Lord

The publishers of Deep Purple brought in Oscar-winning composer Malcolm Arnold to collaborate: he was supposed to provide general supervision over the progress of the work, and then stand at the conductor’s stand. Arnold's unconditional support for a project that many considered dubious ultimately ensured its success.

The group's management found sponsors in the person of The newspapers Daily Express and British Lion Films, which filmed the event. Gillan and Glover were nervous: three months after joining the group, they were taken to the most prestigious concert venue in the country. " John was very patient with us, None of us understood music notation, so our papers were full of comments like: "wait for that stupid tune, then look at Malcolm and count to four"," Glover recalled.

The album Concerto for Group and Orchestra (performed by Deep Purple and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra), recorded live at the Royal Albert Hall on September 24, 1969, was released (in the US) three months later. It gave the band some press buzz and entered the UK charts (#26). Subsequently, music critics noted the influences of Dmitry Tiomkin, Franz Voxman, Rachmaninov, Sibelius and Mahler, the energy of Blackmore's guitar parts, but at the same time the protractedness of the symphonic inserts.

After the release of the album, despondency reigned among the band's musicians. The sudden fame that befell the Lord Author (as K. Tyler notes in his biography) infuriated Ritchie. Gillan in this sense agreed with the latter. "P The routers tormented us with questions like: Where is the orchestra? One even said: I can’t guarantee you a symphony, but I can invite you to a brass band.", the vocalist recalled. Moreover, Lord himself realized that the appearance of Gillan and Glover opened up opportunities for the group in a completely different area. By this time, Ritchie Blackmore had become the central figure in the ensemble, having developed a unique method of playing with “random noise” (by manipulating the amplifier) ​​and calling on his colleagues to follow the path of Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath.

It became clear that Glover's lush, rich sound was becoming the anchor of the new sound, and that Gillan's dramatic, extravagant vocals were a perfect fit for Blackmore's radical new direction. A new style the group worked through 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). With a complete lack of financial support from overseas, Deep Purple were forced to rely only on earnings from concerts.

Global success of Deep Purple

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

Meanwhile, Warner Bros. released Live In Concert in the US - a recording with the London Philharmonic Orchestra - and called the group to America to perform at the Hollywood Bowl. After several more shows in California, Arizona and Texas, Deep Purple found themselves embroiled in yet another controversy on August 9, this time on stage at the National Jazz Festival in Plumpton. Ritchie Blackmore, not wanting to give up his time on the program to latecomers Yes, set a mini-arson on the stage and caused a fire, which is why the group was fined and received practically nothing for their performance. The band spent the rest of August and early September touring Scandinavia.

The album In Rock was released in September 1970; it rose to #4 on the UK Albums Chart and remained in the top thirty for over a year (only rising to #143 in the US). Management failed to select a single for the album's material, and the group went into the studio to urgently record something. Created almost spontaneously, “Black Night” secured Deep Purple 2nd place in the UK Singles Chart and became the band’s calling card for some time.

In December 1970, a rock opera written by Andrew Lloyd Webber with a libretto by Tim Rice, Jesus Christ Superstar, was released and became a world classic. The title role in the original (studio) version of the album was performed by Ian Gillan. In 1973, the film “Jesus Christ Superstar” was released, which was distinguished from the original by the arrangements and vocals of Ted Neeley in the role of Jesus. Gillan was working in Deep Purple at the time, and was unable to appear in films.

At the beginning of 1971, the group began work on the next album, without stopping concerts, which is why the recording lasted for six months and was completed in June. During the tour, Roger Glover's health deteriorated. Subsequently, it turned out that his stomach problems had a psychological basis: it was the first symptom of severe touring stress, which soon affected all members of the team.

The album Fireball was released in July in Britain (rising to the top of the charts here) and in October in the USA (#32 Billboard 200). The group carried out an American tour, and ended the British part of the tour with a grand show at London's Albert Hall, where the invited parents of the musicians were seated in the royal box. By this time, Blackmore, having given free rein to his own eccentricity, had become a “state within a state” in Deep Purple. " If Richie wants to play a 150 bar solo, he'll play it and no one can stop him.", Gillan said in an interview with Melody Maker in September 1971.

Deep Purple's American tour, which began in October 1971, was canceled due to Gillan's illness (he contracted hepatitis). Two months later, the vocalist reunited with the remaining members in Montreux, Switzerland to work on a new album. Deep Purple agreed with the Rolling Stones to use their Mobile studio, which was supposed to be located near the Casino concert hall. On the day of the band's arrival, during a performance by Frank Zappa and The Mothers Of Invention (where members of Deep Purple also went), a fire broke out caused by a rocket sent into the ceiling by someone in the audience. The building burned down, and the group rented the empty Grand Hotel, where they completed work on the record. Following fresh tracks, one of the group’s most famous songs, “Smoke On The Water,” was created.

According to legend, Gillan scribbled the text on a napkin, looking out of a window at the surface of a lake shrouded in smoke, and the title was suggested by Roger Glover, to whom these 4 words allegedly appeared in a dream.

The Machine Head album was released in March 1972, rose to number 1 in Britain and sold 3 million copies in the United States, where the single Smoke On The Water entered the top five on Billboard.

In July 1972, Deep Purple flew to Rome to record their next studio album (later released under the title 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 due to the aggravated contradictions between Blackmore and Gillan. On August 9, studio work was interrupted, and Deep Purple went to Japan. Recordings of concerts held here were included on the album Made in Japan (#16 UK, #6 US): released in December 1972, it is retrospectively considered one of the best live albums of all time, along with Live At Leeds The Who and Get Yer Ya- Ya's Out (Rolling Stones).

Jon Lord recalled:

Made in Japan. I remember that time well, the group was at the peak of its power. This double album is the embodiment of our principles at that time. The Japanese asked us: “Please release a live album.” We told them: “We don’t record live performers, we don’t like them.” They told us: “Well, please.” Finally, we agreed, except that we asked for special tapes: we didn’t want the album to be released outside of Japan. The album cost us 3 thousand dollars. It sounded great, and we asked Warner Bros., “Would you like that?” They told us: “No, concert acts are no longer rated.” Then they finally released it, and within two weeks the album went platinum.- John Lalena. "Modern Keyboard". Interview with Jon Lord.

“The idea of ​​a live album is to get all the instruments to sound as natural as possible, with the energy from the audience being able to bring something out of the band that they could never create 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, in terms of total record sales, Deep Purple were declared the most popular group in the world, surpassing Led Zeppelin and the Rolling Stones.

Deep Purple: Gillan and Glover's departure

During the autumn American tour, tired and disappointed with the state of affairs in the group, Gillan decided to leave, which he announced in a letter to London management. Edwards and Coletta persuaded the vocalist to wait a while, and he (now in Germany, at the same Rolling Stones Mobile studio) together with the band completed work on the album. By this time, he no longer spoke to Blackmore and traveled separately from the other participants, avoiding air travel. Who Do We Think We Are (so named because Italians, outraged by the noise levels on the farm where the album was recorded, asked a recurring question: "Who do they think they are?") was a commercial success (#5 UK, #15 USA), but disappointed both the band members and music critics, who noted only two tracks here: the satirical and journalistic “Mary Long” and “Woman From Tokyo”, a song that became popular at concerts and was released as a single in the USA (#60, Billboard Hot 100).

In December, when Made in Japan entered the charts, managers met with Jon Lord and Roger Glover and asked them to make every effort to keep the band together. They convinced Ian Paice and Ritchie Blackmore, who had already conceived their own project, to stay, but Blackmore set a condition for the management: the inevitable dismissal of Glover. The latter, noticing that his colleagues began to shun him, demanded an explanation from Tony Edwards, and he (in June 1973) admitted: Blackmore required his departure. An angry Glover immediately submitted his resignation. After Deep Purple's last concert together in Osaka, Japan, on June 29, 1973, Blackmore, passing Glover on the stairs, simply said over his shoulder: “ Nothing personal: business is business" Glover took this trouble seriously and did not leave the house for the next three months, partly due to worsening stomach problems.

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

Deep Purple: 1973-1974

In June 1973, the three remaining members Deep Purple invited vocalist David Coverdale (who by that time was working in a fashion boutique) and singing bassist Glenn Hughes (ex-Trapeze). Burn was released in February 1974: the album marked triumphant return group, but at the same time a change in style: Coverdale's deep, richly nuanced vocals and Hughes' high vocals gave a new rhythm and blues flavor to the music of Deep Purple, only in the title track demonstrating loyalty to the traditions of classic hard rock.

Stormbringer was released in November 1974 (#6 UK, #20 US). The title track, as well as "Lady Double Dealer", "The Gypsy" and "Soldier Of Fortune" became popular on the radio, but overall the material was weaker - largely because Blackmore (as he himself later admitted) did not approve of the hobby the rest of the “white soul” musicians, saving the best ideas for Rainbow, where he left in 1975.

(1975-1976)

Ritchie Blackmore's replacement was found in Tommy Bolin, an American jazz-rock guitarist known for his masterful use of the Echoplex echo machine and the characteristic "luscious" sound of the Fuzz pedal. According to one version (set out in the appendix to the 4-volume box set), the musician was recommended by David Coverdale. Additionally, in an interview with Melody Maker in June 1975 (published on the Deep Purple Appreciation Society website), Bolin spoke about meeting Blackmore and his recommendations to the group.

Bolin, who played early in his career with Denny & The Triumphs and American Standard, gained fame in the jazz community through his participation in Zephyr. Famous drummer Billy Cobham invited him to New York, where Bolin gave concerts and recorded with such jazz legends as Ian Hammer, Alphonse Mouzon, and Jeremy Stig. Bolin gained popularity thanks to Cobham's album Spectrum (1973), performed solo, and later joined The James Gang (albums Bang (1973) and Miami (1974)).

On Deep Purple's new album, Come Taste the Band (released in the United States in November 1975), Bolin's influence was decisive: he co-wrote most of the material with Hughes and Coverdale. "Gettin' Tighter" became a popular concert hit, symbolizing the new musical direction the band were taking. The band performed a series of successful concerts in the New World, but in the UK faced dissatisfaction with the traditional audience for a new guitarist whose playing style was different from what was expected. Tommy Bolin's problems with drugs. The concert in March 1976 in Liverpool was almost canceled.

There were two camps in the group: in the first there were Hughes and Bolin, who preferred improvisations in a jazz and dance vein, in the other - Coverdale, Lord and Pace, who later became part of the group Whitesnake, whose music was more focused on the charts. After the concert in Liverpool, the latter decided to stop the existence of Deep Purple. The breakup was officially announced only in July.

Deep Purple: 1976-1984

On December 4, 1976, shortly after finishing work on his second solo album (Private Eyes) in Miami, guitarist Tommy Bolin died of an alcohol and drug overdose. He was 25 years old; jazz authorities like Jeremy Stig predicted a great future for him. Ritchie Blackmore continued to perform with Rainbow. After a series of heavy albums with mystical lyrics from vocalist Ronnie James Dio, he hired Roger Glover as a producer and released a number of commercially successful albums.

Ian Gillan created his own band, with whom he toured in many parts of the world. He later joined Black Sabbath, with whom he released the album Born Again (1983), replacing former Rainbow vocalist Ronnie James Dio in the group. (It is curious that Tony Iommi initially offered this job to David Coverdale, but he refused.) The rest of the musicians actively collaborated: the first solo albums of David Coverdale's Whitesnake were produced by Roger Glover (who played in Rainbow from 1978 to 1984), and then into the full-fledged Whitesnake Jon Lord (who stayed with the group until 1984) and a year later Ian Paice (who stayed there until 1982) arrived, and Rainbow drummer Cozy Powell, who was on excellent terms with Tony Iommi, also appeared there.

Deep Purple: Reunion

In 1980 and 1982, Deep Purple were offered a single tour, but they refused. But in 1984 the group gathered again.

The idea of ​​reviving Deep Purple was not new. Back in 1980, various people - businessmen, managers, representatives of record companies tried to bring us together. Then we were offered five million dollars for one concert, but we refused. I didn’t want to start a career again because of money. Money is certainly a necessary thing in life, but it is not where happiness lies. One man is responsible for our current reunion - Ian Gillan. It was entirely his idea. Back in 1983, he came to me and Ritchie Blackmore, offering to form Deep Purple. But we were just starting to record the new Rainbow album and therefore refused. However, he did not calm down and at the beginning of 1984 he again called on us to unite. This time we agreed. - Roger Glover

On April 27, the London Evening Standard newspaper was the first to report sensational news about the revival of Deep Purple.

The musicians gathered to work on a new album in May 1984 at the Lorge mansion in Vermont, where Rainbow's album "Bent Out Of Shape" was recorded. The majority of the music was composed by Blackmore. Gillan and Glover wrote the lyrics. Recording began in another place - in the town of Stowe (Vermont), where the musicians moved on July 6, and four days later work began, which continued (with interruptions) until August 26. They worked slowly, not forgetting about rest, often organizing football competitions.= On September 1, mixing of the album began in Munich's Tennessee Tonstudio. The producer was Roger Glover. Initially they wanted to call the album “The Sound Of Music”, but on September 20 they changed it to Perfect Strangers (“Complete Strangers”).

Perfect Strangers was mixed in early October and released on November 16th, peaking at No. 5 in the UK and No. 17 in the US.

Since the start of the tour fell in the winter, it was decided to start the tour from Australia. In Britain the group gave only one concert - at the Knebworth festival. In total, the revived group played about 100 concerts.

But after the release of The House of Blue Light (1987), it became clear that the union would not last long.

Gillan, who released the single “South Africa” with Bernie Marsden back in the summer of 1988, continued to work on the side. From musicians groups The Quest, Rage and Export, he assembled a band and, calling it Garth Rockett and the Moonshiners, gave his debut concert at the Southport Floral Hall in early February. In early April, after finishing his tour with the Moonshiners, Ian Gillan returned to the United States.

Deep Purple: Slaves and Masters

The conflict between Gillan and the rest of the group continued to escalate. " I think Ian didn't like what we were doing. At that time he did not write anything, often did not come to rehearsals", said Jon Lord. But he was increasingly seen drunk. One day he stumbled almost naked into Blackmore's room and fell asleep there. Another time, he publicly spoke obscenely at Bruce Payne. In addition, he was delaying the start of recording a new album, scheduled for release in early 1990.

Finally, on May 14, 1989, Gillan again went on a tour of clubs in England with the group Garth Rockett and the Moonshiners. In his absence, the rest of the band decided to fire their vocalist. Even Glover, who usually supported Gillan, advocated expulsion:

Gillan has a very strong personality and can't stand it when things don't go his way. He could work with me, because he was ready to compromise, but with the rest of Deep Purple, and mainly with Richie, he always found it difficult to work. This was a conflict of strong personalities, and it had to be stopped. We decided that Ian should go. And it’s not true that it was Richie who kicked Gillan out, because this painful decision was made by everyone, guided by only one thing - the interests of the group. - Roger Glover

To replace Gillan, Blackmore suggested Joe Lynn Turner, who had previously sung in Rainbow. Turner had recently left Yngwie Malmsteen's group and was free from contracts. Turner's first auditions for Deep Purple went well, but Glover, Pace and Lord were not happy with this candidacy. An advertisement in the newspaper also did not bring any results. News appeared in the press that Deep Purple had recruited: Terry Brock from Strangeways, Brian Howe from Bad Company, Jimmy Jameson from Survivor. Managers denied these rumors. “...We still couldn't decide who would be the vocalist of the group. We were simply drowning in oceans of tapes with recordings of candidates, but none of this suited us. Almost 100% of applicants unsuccessfully tried to copy the manner and voice of Robert Plant, but we needed something completely different,” said Roger Glover. Then Blackmore suggested returning to Turner's candidacy. By replacing Gillan, he, in his own words, “realized the dream of his whole life.”

Recording of the new album began in January 1990 at the Greg Rike Productions studio (Orlando). Final recording and mixing took place at Sountec Studios and Power Station in New York. Turner's arrival was not officially announced. For the first time in front of the public, Joe appeared in the lineup football team next to Pace, Glover and Blackmore in a match against the WDIZ radio team from Orlando. On March 27, the European branch of BMG organized a press conference in Monte Carlo at which Turner was introduced. Four new songs from the group were played for the press, including “Hey Joe.”

The recording was mostly finished by August. On October 8, a single with the songs “King Of Dreams” / “Fire In The Basement” was released, and on October 16, a presentation of the album called Slaves and Masters took place in Hamburg. The name, as Roger Glover explained, the disc received from two 24-track tape recorders used during recording. One of them was called “Master” (main or leader), and the other was called “Slave” (slave). The album went on sale on November 5, 1990 and received mixed reviews. Blackmore was very pleased with the record, but music critics felt it sounded more like the Rainbow album.

Almost simultaneously with the release of this album, the German branch of BMG released a record with the soundtrack to Willie Boner's film "Fire, Ice And Dynamite", where Deep Purple performed the song of the same name. Notably, this song does not feature Jon Lord. Instead, Glover performed the keyboard parts.

The first concert of the Slaves And Masters tour in Tel Aviv was canceled after Saddam Hussein ordered a missile attack on the Israeli capital. The tour began on February 4, 1991 in the city of Ostrava in Czechoslovakia. Local climbers helped install lighting equipment and speakers in the sports palace. In March, the single “Love Conquers All/Slow Down Sister” was released. The tour ended with two concerts in Tel Aviv on September 28 and 29.

Deep Purple: The Battle Rages On

On November 7, 1991, the group gathered in Orlando to work on their next album. At first, the musicians, encouraged by the warm welcome during the tour, were full of enthusiasm. But soon the enthusiasm faded. For the Christmas holidays, the musicians went home, gathering again in January.

Meanwhile, tension was growing in the group between Turner and the rest of the members. According to Glover, Turner tried to turn Deep Purple into an ordinary American heavy metal band:

Joe would come to the studio and say: maybe we can do something in the style of Motley Crue? Or he criticized what we recorded, saying: “Well, you give! They haven’t played like that in America for a long time,” as if he had no idea what style Deep Purple work in.

The recording of the album was delayed. The advance paid by the record company has come to an end, and the recording of the album is only halfway done. The record company demanded Turner's dismissal and Gillan's return to the group, threatening not to release the album. Ritchie Blackmore, who had previously treated Turner with respect, understood that he could not sing in Deep Purple. One day Blackmore approached Jon Lord and said: “ We have a problem. Be sincere, you’re not happy?” Lord replied that he was quite satisfied with the instrumental part of the recorded compositions, but “something is still wrong" Then Blackmore asked: " And what is this problem called?».

And what should I have said? I replied, “The name of this problem is Joe, isn’t it?” I knew Richie meant him. Moreover, this really was a problem. Blackmore said that he wouldn't want to be the one who kicks another musician out of the band again, that he doesn't want to be the "bad guy", Joe has a gorgeous voice, he's a great singer, but he's not the singer for Deep Purple - he's a pop singer. rock vocalist. He wanted to be a pop star, causing girls to faint just by appearing on stage.

Since the beginning of 1992, negotiations have been ongoing between the record company and Gillan, the result of which should have been the return of the latter to the group. However, Blackmore was against Gillan's return and proposed the candidacy of a certain American. However, other band members, and primarily Roger Glover, were not happy with this option. Glover flew to England, where Gillan lived, hoping that if Gillan sang well, Blackmore would change his mind. Glover and Gillan spent three days in the studio. Three songs were recorded - “Solitaire”, “Time To Kill” and one more, which was later rejected. Lord and Pace were very pleased with these recordings. Ritchie Blackmore was forced to agree to return to Gillan's group because record company in case of non-release of the album, it would require the return of the advance, and the musicians would have to sell their property in order to pay it off. Ritchie Blackmore:

Ian is deeply unpleasant to me with his antics and bad behavior. Therefore, we do not communicate with him on a personal level. I know it's very difficult for me too, but Ian is a real psycho. On the other hand, he is the greatest vocalist in hard rock. On stage he is what he should be. He brings a fresh spirit to modern rock. On stage we complement each other perfectly, I can be myself and not copy, for example, Stevie Vai. But when we are off stage, we are far from each other. It has always been this way. Joe has always been my friend. He's a good singer, but we need Ian. He is a completely different type of person - “Mr. Rock and Roll”. When Joe appeared on stage, I immediately found myself thinking that Deep Purple was turning into Foreigner. For what? He started copying David Lee Roth and completely lost his personality. I tried to convince him, but this is a dead number.

Work continued at New York's Bearsville Studios and Red Rooster Studios (Berkeley, California). On July 17, 1993, The Battle Rages On finally hit stores. In the UK, the disc rose to 21st place, but failed in the US, not rising above 192nd place.

The start of a world tour in support of the album was scheduled for September. But the first three concerts of the “The Battle Rages On” tour (in Istanbul, Athens and Thessaloniki) were cancelled. After their arrival in Europe, on September 21 the group held a rehearsal in Austria, and on the 23rd they played a training concert near Rome (without spectators). The tour opened with a performance in the Roman hall “Palaghiaccio”. Next came Germany, France, Switzerland, Austria. The concerts were a success. In Nuremberg, however, during the performance of “Lazy,” Blackmore’s amplifier caught fire, and the concert had to end without guitar solos. Two concerts in Spain had to be cancelled: October 23 in Barcelona due to extreme fatigue of the band members and the 24th in San Sebastian due to Glover's illness.

On October 30, a rather unsuccessful concert took place in Prague. According to eyewitnesses, Blackmore spent more time behind the amplifiers with Candice Knight than on stage. Gillan had problems with his voice. Blackmore was furious: he ended up tearing the Japanese visa out of his passport and throwing it in the manager's face, declaring that he was leaving the group at the end of the European tour. Everyone was shocked. The band then performed on November 5th in Manchester, and on November 7th in Brixton.

On November 12, 1993, the departure of Ritchie Blackmore was officially announced for the first time in Copenhagen. The shows in Stockholm and Oslo were sold out. The last performance of the Deep Purple star lineup took place on November 17, 1993 in Helsinki. The planned performance at the Olympic Stadium in Moscow was cancelled. Jon Lord:

For many years we believed that Deep Purple couldn't exist without Ritchie Blackmore. He convinced us otherwise. He left the band during the 1993 world tour, when we were supposed to play 8 sold out shows in Japan. And he made Ian Gillan responsible for it. He said Ian couldn't sing.<…>Richie wanted to make us something like Rainbow - he rejected our ideas and only wanted to play what he liked.

Deep Purple: Joe Satriani and Steve Morse

Concerts in Japan were scheduled to begin on December 2, with 85,000 tickets sold for six concerts. The cancellation of concerts threatened to pay huge penalties. The Japanese promoter presented a list of guitarists who could replace Blackmore without causing mass discontent among ticket holders. The only real candidate on this list was Joe Satriani. “When they called me and asked me to join Deep Purple, I asked for two days to think about it. But an hour later he called Bruce Payne back and gave his consent. Honestly, I was afraid that in those two days they would find someone else,” he recalled. “Roger Glover was the first one to invite me to the group. He spends all his energy and ideas on the group - he is the best organizer, always in a good mood and with a sense of humor. Yes, they all did everything possible to make me feel at home among friends,” Satriani later said.

When Blackmore's departure was announced, about 1,200 people returned tickets. Nevertheless, the concerts were sold out. Ritchie Blackmore said about the new guitarist: "I'm glad it's not Yngwie Malmsteen or someone like him." Initially, it was planned that Joe would only be in the group during the tour of Japan, but in the summer of 1994 the group toured Europe, and Satriani was offered a place in the permanent line-up of the group, but he was forced to refuse due to contractual obligations.

According to Roger Glover, the 4 remaining members of Deep Purple independently compiled lists of guitarists they would like to see in the band. Only one name appeared on all four lists: Steve Morse. Steve agreed, and at the end of 1994, 3 test concerts were held in Mexico and Texas, after which Steve officially became permanent participant Deep Purple. He recorded the stylistically diverse Purpendicular and the more hard-rocking Abandon (1998).

In 1999, Jon Lord restored the lost sheet music for the Concerto for Group and Orchestra; the work was performed again at the Royal Albert Hall in September 1999, this time with the London Symphony Orchestra and conductor Paul Mann. In 2000, the album In Concert with the London Symphony Orchestra was released. In the spring of 2001, two similar concerts were held in Tokyo and released as part of The Soundboard Series box set.

Deep Purple since 2002

In 2002, Jon Lord announced his intention to pursue solo projects, and Don Airey, who had previously collaborated with many artists and also played with Blackmore and Glover in Rainbow, took his place. A year later, the new line-up released their first in five years. studio album Bananas (which received excellent reviews from the press and was criticized for its name alone) and immediately went on tour. In July 2005, they performed at Park Place (Barrie, Ontario) as part of the Live 8 festival, and in October of the same year they released Rapture of the Deep, followed by the Rapture of the Deep tour.

In February 2007, Ian Gillan appealed to fans not to buy the live album released by Sony BMG. The recording, made at Birmingham's National Exhibition Center (NEC), has already been released as bootlegs. Gillan called this concert one of the worst of his life.

In early 2008, Gazprom invited Deep Purple to perform at a special concert dedicated to the company's 15th anniversary - as a thank you to Dmitry Medvedev, a longtime fan of the band (who has all of its albums in his personal collection), who left his post as chairman of the board of directors after the presidential elections . The concert took place on February 11, 2008 at the State Kremlin Palace. The group performed 7 songs and was warmly received by 6 thousand spectators, which was evidence (as the London Times put it) of “a demonstration of harmony in Anglo-Russian relations that is rare these days.”

On September 8, 2008, with a concert at the Roman Amphitheater (Israel, Caesarea), Deep Purple began their next tour, during which they gave 4 concerts in Ukraine and 7 in Russia (one, at the Nizhny Novgorod Sports Palace, did not take place). The group completed the tour with concerts on October 27, 2008 at the Olympic Palace (Moscow) and October 28 at the Ice Palace in St. Petersburg.

On May 21, the group’s second concert took place in Vladivostok, where they took the stage at the Fesco-Hall concert complex, then on May 22, a concert took place in Khabarovsk at the Platinum Arena club. On June 12, 2010, the Rock over the Volga festival took place in Samara with the participation of Deep Purple.