Deep Purple
The story begins with Screamin' Lord Sutch. More a joke than a Rocker, Sutch did have one significant attribute. His guitarist was future Deep Purple founder Ritchie Blackmore. Meanwhile, Maze, with Rod Evans (vocals) and Ian Paice (drums) were flaying about. Jon Lord (organ) and Nick Simper (bass) of the Flowerpot Men were not doing well either. The five decided to join forces. Deep Purple made their first appearance on April 20th, 1968 in a place called Tastrup, Denmark. At the time they called themselves Roundabout.
Early Deep Purple could be described as a combination covers band and experimental Rock. The covers included "Hush," a major hit, "River Deep, Mountain High" (Ike & Tina Turner)," "Help!" (Beatles) and "We Can Work It Out" (Beatles again). Neil Diamond commented that Deep Purple's version of his "Kentucky Woman" wasn't even the same song. As songwriters Deep Purple still had a bit to go.
Even though they'd had some fairly successful tours, nothing major had happened. Changes were in order. Evans and Simper were ousted and replaced by Ian Gillan and Roger Glover. "Space Truckin'," "Smoke On The Water" and "My Woman From Tokyo" came from this line up. They were writing all their own material and Rockin' harder than ever.
There's an old Blues song with the line "if it weren't for bad luck I'd have no luck at all." This could have been Deep Purple's theme. They recorded "Deep Purple In Rock" and "Fireball." Both LPs were reasonably successful. They didn't do as well as they should have because the band cancelled two tours due to illness. The next album was scheduled to be recorded at a swank club/hotel in Montreaux, Switzerland. But upon their arrival the building they were going to use burned down so they were forced to lay down tracks in the hallway of an old abandoned hotel. "Smoke On The Water" documents the creation of the "Machine Head" album which was Deep Purple's creative and commercial highpoint. Studio album "Who Do We Think We Are" and the incredible live set "Made In Japan" extended Deep Purple's popularity. But that's when the group began to disintegrate.
 Deep Purple |
Glover walked away to be a record producer. Gillan quit, citing exhaustion. They were replaced by lesser lights. Then Blackmore, not liking the direction Deep Purple was going, especially with new vocalist David Coverdale, left to form Rainbow. That led to the group's recruitment of ex-James Gang member Tommy Bolin. Eventually, the thing just ran out of juice. Paice and Lord briefly joined Coverdale's Whitesnake.
A decade after the group's most popular line-up splintered they reunited for the "Perfect Strangers" LP and tour. Three years later "House Of Blue Lights" was released. That project derailed Blackmore's association with the group. With former Dixie Dregs and Kansas guitarist Steve Morse, Deep Purple (now on a small labels since they were no longer able to command the audience major labels crave) released "Purpendicular in '96. "Abandoned' came out in '98. Another change came when Lord retired and Don Airey took over on keyboards. Airey, formerly of Rainbow, worked with Ozzy Osbourne and was a highly regarded session musician. "Bananas," in '03, was Airey's first effort with the group. Somebody must have been buying these albums because Deep Purple returned, yet again, two years later, with the dismal "Rapture Of The Deep.
Deep Purple's early work shows a group with developing songwriting skills, padding their albums with impressionistic covers. Of the three early albums "Book of Taliesyn," the second, has the most going for it ("Kentucky Woman," "The Shield" and the instrumental "Hard Road." From "Deep Purple," "The Bird Has Flown" featuring Blackmore's wah-wah guitar is the killer track. "Purple Passages" takes songs from these early albums but it doesn't include "The Bird Has Flown."
Sitting around stoned, the idea of mixing Deep Purple with the Royal Philharmonic might seem "cool." "Concerto For Group and Orchestra" proves it isn't. Recovering from this judgment error, "In Rock" and "Fireball" are solid proto-Metal albums. Now they were on a roll. Released in '72, the incredible "Machine Head" LP has the 12-bar Rocker "Lazy," the riff slashing "Space Truckin'," the blasting "Highway Star" and the undeniable "Smoke On The Water." A weaker but still impressive "Who Do We Think We Are" came next. This set includes the magnificent "Woman From Tokyo." The live "Made In Japan" has passion and unbridled enthusiasm. With lots of solos and Gillan's wailing vocals, this album contains the definitive version of "Smoke On The Water." Two albums, "Burn" and "Stormbringer" are unexceptional as replacement players fail to measure up. Deep Purple without Gillan and Glover is a step down but Deep Purple absent Blackmore is unacceptable as "Come Taste The Band" feebly illustrates.
Since their "reunion" in '84 Deep Purple has released "Perfect Strangers," "House Of Blue Light," "Purpendicular," "Abandoned," "Bananas and '05 release "Rapture Of The Deep." Of these albums, the first, "Perfect Strangers" with the hit "Knockin' On Your Back Door" is easily the best. "House Of Blue Light" is a pale imitation but it comes off better than Morse's rocky start on "Purpendicular." Rather than drifting into oblivion Deep Purple rebounds with "Abandoned." "Bananas" raises the question "Is this really Deep Purple?" Yeah, Gillan is here and Morse has logged more time with the group than Bolin but he's still not in Blackmore's league. Now Lord has left, so the instrumental linchpins are totally gone. The Blackmore/Lord combination was stunning. Morse and Airey are good musicians but their approach seems more workman-like than innovative. This Deep Purple remnant is usually competent but any comparison with the band's glory days is a joke.
"Rapture Of The Deep" crosses the line. Why are they still recording? You'd think this edition of Deep Purple would be happy wandering the world, collecting big checks, playing "Smoke On The Water" or "Highway Star" to adoring fans. But no. On this effort Deep Purple sounds less like a pale shadow of its once glorious self and more like some third-rate Kansas. Considering Kansas was third-rate to begin with, that's pretty bad! Opening track "Money Talks" tries for some of the old magic but ends up sounding forced and clumsy. The title track is forgettable while "Clearly Quite Absurd" is an embarrassing ballad. "Wrong Man" is not half-bad but it's overshadowed by the dross.
For a concise overview of Deep Purple's grandeur there are a couple options. "When We Rock We Rock & When We Roll We Roll" and "The Very Best Of Deep Purple" culls the best from Deep Purple's lengthy career.