Deep Purple

Deep Purple is viewed as one of the world’s hardest and loudest touring bands. The English rock band has earned themselves a reputable title of being the pacesetters for the modernized hard rock and the thick, massive sound of the heavy metal genre.

Though their band started as a progressive and psychedelic pop band with their singles Kentucky Woman and Hush, their sound later evolved into aggressive hard rock. Their style remains a blend of the following genres:

• Arena Rock
• British Metal
• Hard Rock
• Heavy metal

Despite the band’s constant line-up changes, there have been independent line-ups that have made commercial success for the band and themselves. They consist of the following:

• Roger David Glover
• Ian Paice
• Richard Hugh Blackmore (Ritchie Blackmore)
• Ian Gillan
• David Coverdale
• Steve J. Morse
• Roderic Evans
• Glenn Hughes
• John Douglas Lord 

The most recent line-up for the band includes:

• Ian Paice
• Roger Glover
• Ian Gillian
• Steve Morse
• Donald Smith Airey

History of Deep Purple

Deep Purple was formed in Hertford, Hertfordshire after a year’s history of relocations, resignations, auditions, and referrals. The band’s first line-up consisted of these musicians:

• John Douglas (Jon Lord)
• Ritchie Blackmore
• Ian Paice
• Roderic Evans
• Nicholas John Simper (Nick Simper)

And they initially referred to themselves as Roundabout.

The group began touring before releasing their debut album and changed their name during that period to Deep Purple. Their maiden album, Shades of Deep Purple was recorded in May 1968 and released in July that year.

They recorded a cover of Joe South’s popular song Hush, attaining top spots in the Billboard and Canadian charts. They released their second chart sweeping album The Book of Taliesyn in October 1968.

At this point, the band had signed with a North American label known as Tetragrammaton. The deal ended shortly after the label reportedly caused the group commercial and financial damages.

Rod Evans and Nick Simper were replaced in 1969 after their style of play could not match the heavy rock style the group was evolving into.

Roger Glover was hired in their stead. The new line-up released Hallelujah and gained even more publicity.

In December of 1971, the band traveled to Switzerland to record their next album at a casino studio, Montreux Casino. The recording sessions were however interrupted when the casino was burnt during a Mothers of Invention concert.

The fire incident inspired their song Smoke on the Water which was recorded at a theatre called The Pavillion. The album Machine Head was later recorded at the Grand Hotel de Territet and released in March 1972. 

The line-up changed again during the touring season and they released an album Who Do We Think We Are.

Soon after, the band began to face some issues resulting in Roger Glover’s dismissal. Ian Gillan quit the band right after that album was completed. Glenn Hughes was recruited as a replacement.

Together the group toured in 1974 and performed at the Madison Square Garden on March 13. They were the headline performers for the 1974 California Jam Festival at Ontario Motor Speedway.  

Burn left the band after a confrontation on 21^st June 1975 to pursue a solo career. Thomas Richard Bolin was hired. The group released the album Come Taste the Band in October 1975.

While the band was still enjoying commercial success, certain interpersonal issues seemed inevitable, resulting in their disbandment in 1976.

Rod Evans embarked on a solo tour using the band’s name without their permission. For this, he got slammed with a lawsuit and was fined $672,000 for damages.

The band reunited in 1984, eight years after their breakup, and embarked on several tours in America and Europe. Gillan was fired in 1989 and with another line-up, they released an album Slaves and Masters in 1990 which ranked No. 45 in the UK and 85 on the Billboard chart.

Their newest recruit, Joe Lyn Turner was with them through this tour and their album release until he was fired in 1993.

From 1994 to the 2003s, Deep Purple released two albums and recreated Jon Lord’s Concerto for Group and Orchestra album.

By July 2005 they had released another album titled Rapture of the Deep.

Achievements of Deep Purple

This group has sold over 100 million albums worldwide. Their songs have been ranked on many eminent awards and charts such as Billboard on several occasions.

During the 2008 World Music Awards, they were honored with the Legend Award.

They were ranked No.22 on VH1’s Greatest Artists of Hard Rock and No. 5 on Planet Rocks’ list of the Most Influential Bands Ever. 

In 2011, they became the recipients of the Innovator Award during the Classic Rock Awards.

The commercially successful line-up consisting of Glenn, Robert, John, Paice, Gillan, Blackmore, Rod and Coverdale had their Rock N’ Roll Hall of Fame induction in 2016. They were named among the top-selling artist  list in 1973 in the US.

In 2019, the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors awarded them with an Ivor Novello Award for International Achievement.

Brief Conclusion

Deep Purple has strived to avoid being tagged a “once upon a time” band, despite their erratic line-up over the years. From 2005 till the time of this writing, the band has been consistently performing live shows and releasing albums.

Notable among their recent releases is the hit song “Throw My Bones”. They temporarily held off on performances and concerts due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but keep finding ways to stay alive in the minds of music lovers worldwide.

Top Deep Purple Songs

Deep Purple

• “Above and Beyond”
• “All I Got Is You”
• “All the Time in the World”
• “Anya”
• “Anyone’s Daughter”
• “Aviator”
• “Bad Attitude”
• “Black Night”
• “Burn”
• “Call of the Wild”
• “Child in Time”
• “Fire in the Basement”
• “Fireball”
• “Gettin’ Tighter”
•  “Hallelujah”
• “Haunted”
• “Help!”
• “Emmaretta”
• “Highway Star”
• “Hush”
• “Johnny’s Band”
• “Kentucky Woman”
• “King of Dreams”
• “Knocking at Your Back Door”
• “Lady Double Dealer”
• “Lazy”
• “Love Conquers All”
• “Man Alive”
• “Might Just Take Your Life”
• “Never Before”
• “Nobody’s Home”
• “Nothing at All”
• “Out of Hand”
• “Perfect Strangers”
• “River Deep – Mountain High”
• “Smoke on the Water”
• “Sometimes I Feel Like Screaming”
• “Speed King”
• “Stormbringer”
• “Strange Kind of Woman”
• “Super Trouper”
• “The Battle Rages On”
• “Throw My Bones”
• “Time For Bedlam”
• “Time to Kill”
• “Vincent Price”
• “Woman from Tokyo”
• “You Can’t Do It Right”
• “You Keep on Moving”