Ian Paice

Ian Paice is a drummer of the famous rock band Deep Purple. Ian neither had any formal education in music nor did anybody teach him for that matter. He learned to play drums by trying to imitate what he heard from drummers playing on the radio. Paice greatly admired drumming styles of jazz legends like Gene Krupa and Buddy Rich, and always dreamt of emulating them.
Paice was born on June 29, 1948, in Nottingham, England. His family later moved to Bicester in Oxfordshire. Ian got his first drum kit by age of 15. He practiced hard on drums, especially noting that being left handed, he needed to come of with techniques which would fit the right handed drum kits. Though Paice was playing for his father’s Dance band in the early 60s, the first professional band he played with was "Georgie and the Rave ons", a local group in Becester, which later came to be known as "The Shindigs". After a short stint with this group, Paice left it to join another group called M15, which later changed its name to The Maze. After a shot time with this group, Paice left and helped in forming Deep Purple in 1968. Deep Purple would later be one of the biggest rock bands in the world, especially during the 60s and the 70s. While at The Maze, Paice played along side Rod Evans, who was also a founding member of Deep Purple. The other members of the band were Jon Lord, session guitarist Ritchie Blackmore, and Nick Simper,
In 1969, Deep Purple was fully organized and ready to roll the dice. They would soon start dominating the charts with such hit albums like Deep Purple in Rock, Fireball, Machine Head and Who do we Think we Are, which were released in within a period of years, from 1970 to 1973. As time progressed, the band was a world wide phenomenon producing hit singles and albums frequently. Some of these albums included “Burn”, “Stormbringer”, “Come and Taste the Band” among others. Paice's drumming techniques have been showcased in many of their hit songs but the best example are 'Made in Japan' "The Mule" where he has done a 9 minute solo, "Child In Time", "Flight of the Rat" and the album 'Machine Head'.
Paice was called for studio recording by a number of artists who included Peter York, Elf, Green Bullfrog, Velvet Underground, Baby Face and many others. In the early 70s, he appeared on a live BBC concert along with Jon Lord. He also worked with Carmine Appice and formed the group Paice, Ashton and Lord. They were part of the project ‘First of the Big Bands’ and appeared on Live BBC sessions. This group toured around and recorded two albums. But in 1977, the group disbanded when they realized that their efforts didn’t bore as much fruit and expected. Nevertheless, the again came together in1979 for a number of gigs and projects.
From 1979 to 1982, Paice worked with Whitesnake group and they released 3 albums ‘Ready An’ Willing,’ ‘Come An’ Get it’, and ‘Saints An’ Sinners’. However, he wasn’t stationed in one band. He also played with Gary Moore, but in 1982, he settled down with the Gary Moore Band. At that time, Deep Purple was in hiatus and all the members were involved in various other projects. After two years of playing with Gary Moore, he got back to Deep Purple, which had again regrouped, and Paice took his rightful place behind the kit to drum the group to the next phase.
In the 90s, Paice was involved in a number of social activities besides music. He organized many clinics for music learners and music fans around the world, and attended charity programs at Oxford. In 1999, Ian made a guest appearance in Paul McCartney’s Run Devil Run, rock n’ roll album. He was also part of the Beatle’s promotional tour.
After Jon Lord left the group in 2002, Paice is now the oldest band member of Deep Purple. But even with the new and reformed Deep Purple, they have continued to release and recorded many hit albums and tours worldwide. Recently, Paice released a solo DVD with which he intends to attract drummers and fans alike with his master beats. Paice is also in the Drummers’ Hall of Fame.
freedrumlessons.com

Nicholas Simper

Nicholas Simper was born in Southall, London, on November 3, 1945. Nick joined his first school group The Renegades in 1960, using a guitar given to him by his father. On leaving school Nick joined The Delta Five and occasionally depped with Lord Sutch's Savages, where he met Ritchie Blackmore.
In search of a more powerful sound Nick put together Some Other Guys. His first professional gig was with Buddy Britten and The Regents, who later went mod and played as The Simon Raven Cult. Nick's next band in early 1966 was Cyrano and The Bergeracs, but after a couple of months he joined Johnny Kidd and The Pirates, cutting one single before Kidd was killed in a car crash (and Nick was injured).
Nick went into session work, before forming The New Pirates in late 1966 with whom he sang and played bass. He then worked in Billie Davis' backing group in the UK and Hamburg and met Ritchie Blackmore again. He also did a short season with Lord Sutch and then joined The Flowerpot Men where he played alongside Jon Lord.
When Lord got the backing to form Deep Purple Simper was invited to join. Nick was fired from Mk1 in July 1969 and after a short time with Marsha Hunt, formed Warhorse in 1970, cutting two albums for Vertigo. He also appeared on a live Lord Sutch album in 1971. Warhorse split in 1974. Nick then formed Dynamite, who cut one European single, and Fandango, cutting two albums with them in 1979 / 80.
Apart from a couple of singles in the early eighties, Nick started his own company, but still gigs at weekends in a blues band called The Good Old Boys.
deep-purple.net

Richard Hugh "Ritchie" Blackmore

Richard Hugh "Ritchie" Blackmore (born 14 April 1945) is a British guitarist and songwriter, known as one of the first guitarists to fuse classical music elements with blues rock. He began his professional career as a studio session musician and was subsequently a member of Deep Purple, after which Blackmore established a successful career fronting his own band Rainbow, and later progressed to the traditional folk rock project Blackmore's Night with his wife.

Blackmore was born at Allandale Nursing Home, Weston-super-Mare, Somerset, South West England, but moved to Heston, Middlesex (now Greater London) at the age of two. Although the surname Blackmore is thought to be of English origin, his father was of Welsh ancestry and his mother of English.He was 11 when his father bought his first guitar for him on certain conditions, including learning how to play properly, so he took classical guitar lessons for one year.
While at school he participated in sports including the javelin. Blackmore left school at age 15 and started work as an apprentice radio mechanic at nearby Heathrow Airport. He was given guitar lessons by Big Jim Sullivan.
1960s
In 1960 and 1961 he played with minor local bands, including the Jaywalkers.In 1963 he began to work as a session player for Joe Meek's music productions and performed in several bands. He was a member of the instrumental combo The Outlaws, and backed Heinz (playing on his top ten hit "Just Like Eddie"), and Glenda Collins, among others.
Blackmore joined the rock group Deep Purple in 1968 after receiving an invitation from organist Jon Lord. Purple's early sound leaned on psychedelia and progressive rock. This "Mark One" line-up featuring singer Rod Evans lasted until mid-1969 and produced three studio albums.
1970s
The second line-up's first studio album, In Rock (1970), signaled a transition in the band's sound from progressive rock to hard rock. This "Mark Two" line-up featuring singer Ian Gillan lasted until mid-1973, producing four studio albums.
The third line-up's new album was entitled Burn (1974), which featured blues singer, David Coverdale. This "Mark Three" line-up lasted until mid-1975 and produced two studio albums. Blackmore publicly expressed dislike for the funk and soul influences that Coverdale and bassist/vocalist Glenn Hughes injected into the band. Following the release of the album "Stormbringer", Blackmore, disappointed by the musical direction the group was taking, left Deep Purple. By this time, Blackmore had lost interest in playing the guitar, so he began to take cello lessons from Hugh McDowell of (ELO).
Blackmore originally planned to make a solo album, but instead in 1975 formed his own band, "Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow", later shortened to Rainbow. Featuring American vocalist Ronnie James Dio and his blues rock band Elf as studio session musicians, this first line-up never performed live. The band's debut album, Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow, was released in 1975. Rainbow was originally thought to be a one-off collaboration, but endured as an ongoing band project with a series of album releases and tours. Blackmore was impressed by Dio's relatively flexible style as a vocalist. Shortly after the first album was recorded, Blackmore recruited new backing musicians to record the second album Rising (1976), and the following live album, On Stage (1977). Rising was originally billed as "Blackmore's Rainbow" in the US. After the next studio album's release and supporting tour, Ronnie James Dio left Rainbow due to "creative differences" with Blackmore, who disliked Dio's signature 'Dungeons & Dragons' lyric style.
Blackmore continued with Rainbow, and in 1979 the band released a new album entitled Down To Earth, which featured R&B singer Graham Bonnet. The album marked the commercialization of the band's sound, and contained Rainbow's first chart successes, as the single "Since You Been Gone" (a cover of the Russ Ballard penned tune) became a smash hit. Bonnet left the band after this support tour.
1980s
The next album, Difficult to Cure (1981), introduced American vocalist Joe Lynn Turner. The instrumental title track from this album was an arrangement of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony with additional music. The music was consciously radio-targeted, in a more AOR style, resulting in some degree of alienation with many of their earlier fans. Rainbow's next studio album was Straight Between the Eyes (1982) and included the hit single "Stone Cold." It would be followed by the album Bent Out of Shape (1983), which featured the single "Street Of Dreams". In 1983 Blackmore was also nominated for a Grammy Award for his work on an instrumental ballad track, "Anybody There". Rainbow disbanded in 1984. A then-final Rainbow album, Finyl Vinyl, was patched together from live tracks and the "B" sides of various singles.
In 1984, Blackmore joined a reunion of the former Deep Purple "Mark Two" line-up and recorded new material. This reunion line-up lasted until 1989 and produced three studio albums.
1990s
The next line-up recorded one album entitled Slaves & Masters (1990), which featured former Rainbow vocalist Joe Lynn Turner. The album's style differed from the traditional Purple sound. Subsequently the "Mark Two" line-up reunited for a second time in late 1992 and produced one studio album. During its follow-up promotional tour, Blackmore again quit the band in November 1993.
Blackmore reformed Rainbow with new members in 1994. This Rainbow line-up, featuring Scottish singer Doogie White, lasted until 1997 and produced one album entitled Stranger in Us All in 1995. It was originally intended to be a solo album but due to the record company pressures the record was billed as Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow. A world tour including South America followed. "Stranger in Us All" is regarded as Blackmore's last hard rock album. Rainbow was disbanded once again after playing its final concert in 1997.
Over the years Rainbow went through many personnel changes with no two studio albums featuring the same line-up: Blackmore was the sole constant band member.
In 1997 Blackmore, with his girlfriend Candice Night as vocalist, formed the traditional folk rock duo Blackmore's Night. In 1995, they were already working on their debut album Shadow of the Moon (1997). Blackmore once described at the time their artistic characteristics as "Mike Oldfield plus Enya". Blackmore mostly utilized acoustic guitar, to back Night's delicate vocals. They recorded a mixture of original and cover materials. The band's musical style is inspired by Renaissance music and blends with Night's lyrics about medieval themes and fantasy. The second release, entitled Under a Violet Moon (1999) continued in the same folk-rock style, with Night's vocals remaining a prominent feature of the band's style.
2000s-current
In subsequent albums, particularly Fires at Midnight (2001), there was an increased incorporation of rock guitar into the music, whilst maintaining a folk rock direction. A live album, Past Times with Good Company was released in 2002. After the next studio album's release, an official compilation album Beyond the Sunset: The Romantic Collection was released in 2004, featuring music from the four studio albums. A Christmas-themed holiday album, Winter Carols was released in 2006. Through numerous personnel changes, the backing musicians have totaled about 25 persons. Possibly to concentrate on album production, they chose to avoid typically rock concert tour to perform, instead limiting their appearances to small theaters or 12th century castles. Their music is generally categorized as belonging to New age music.
Equipment and musical style
During the 1960s, Blackmore played a Gibson ES-335 but switched to a Fender Stratocaster in 1970. Since then, until he formed Blackmore's Night in 1997, he used Stratocasters almost exclusively. The middle pickup is screwed down and not used. Blackmore has also occasionally used a Fender Telecaster Thinline during recording sessions. He is also one of the first rock guitarists to have used a "scalloped" fretboard where the wood is filed and carved out into a shallow "U" shape between the frets.
In his soloing, Blackmore combines blues scales and phrasing with dominant minor scales and ideas from European classical music. While playing he would often put the pick in his mouth, playing with his fingers. He occasionally uses the diatonic scale, with rapidly changing tonality.
In the 1970s, Blackmore used a number of different Stratocasters; one of his main guitars was a Olympic white 1973 model with a rosewood fingerboard that was scalloped.[19] Blackmore added a strap lock to the headstock of this guitar as a conversation piece to annoy and confuse people.
His amplifiers were originally 200-Watt Marshall Major stacks which were modified by Marshall with an additional output stage (generated approximately 278W) to make them sound more like Blackmore's favourite Vox AC-30 amp cranked to full volume. Since 1994, he has used Engl valve amps.
Effects he used from 1970 to 1997, besides his usual tape echo, included a Hornby Skewes Treble Booster in the early days. Around late-1973, he experimented with an EMS Synthi Hi Fli guitar synthesizer. He sometimes used a wah-wah pedal and a variable control treble-booster for sustain, and Moog Taurus bass pedals were used in solo parts during concerts. He also had a modified Aiwa TP-1011 tape machine built to supply echo and delay effects; the tape deck was also used as a pre-amp. Other effects that Blackmore used were a Unicord Univibe, a Dallas Arbiter Fuzz Face and an Octave Divider.
In the mid-1980s he experimented with Roland guitar synthesizers. A Roland GR-700 was seen on stage as late as 1995-96, later replaced with the GR-50.
Blackmore has experimented with many different pickups in his Strats. In the early Rainbow era, they were still stock Fenders, later Dawk installed over wound, dipped, Fender pickups. He has also used Schecter F-500-Ts, Velvet Hammer "Red Rhodes", DiMarzio "HS-2", OBL "Black Label", Bill Lawrence L-450, XL-250 (bridge), L-250 (neck). He used Seymour Duncan Quarter Pound Flat SSL-4 for several years and since the late 80s he has used Lace Sensor (Gold) "noiseless" pickups.
Personal life
On 18 May 1964, Blackmore married Margit Volkmar (b. 3 January 1945) from Germany.[21] They lived in Hamburg during the late 1960s, Their son, Jürgen (b. 1964), played guitar in touring tribute band Over the Rainbow. Following their divorce, Blackmore married Bärbel, a German former dancer, in September 1969 until their divorce in early 1970s. As a result, he is a fluent speaker of German.
For tax reasons, he moved to the U.S.A. in 1974. Initially he lived in Oxnard, California with American opera singer Shoshana (real name Judith Feinstein) for one year. Shortly after Blackmore met Amy Rothman in 1978, he moved to Connecticut. He married Rothman on 16 May 1981, but they divorced in 1983. Soon after, he began a relationship with Tammi Williams . In early 1984 Blackmore met Williams in Chattanooga, Tennessee, where she was working as a hotel employee. In the same year, he purchased his first car because he had finally learned to drive a car at 39 years old.
Blackmore and then-fashion model Candice Night began living together in 1991. After being engaged for nearly fifteen years, the couple married in October 2008. Their daughter, Autumn was born on May 2010. Their second child, Rory was born on February 2012. Blackmore has a collection of approximately 2,000 CDs of Renaissance music.
In popular culture
Blackmore was ranked number 16 on Guitar World's "100 Greatest Metal Guitarists of All Time" in 2004,and number 50 in Rolling Stone magazine's list of the "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time" in 2011.
answers.com

Rod Evans

Rod Evans (born 19 January 1947 in Slough, Berkshire) is a former English singer and was a founding member of Deep Purple in 1968. He provided vocals for the group's first three albums, including the hit singles "Hush" and "Kentucky Woman". He was replaced by Ian Gillan in 1969.
Early career
Before joining Deep Purple, Evans played together with Ian Paice in The Maze, formerly MI5. He was also in a band called The Horizons in the mid 1960s.
He was a founding member of Deep Purple when they formed in Hertfordshire in 1968. The most recognised song recorded with Evans singing is "Hush", which reached #4 on the U.S. Billboard charts in October, 1968.
After recording three albums with the band, he was dismissed and replaced with Ian Gillan in 1969. After his departure, Deep Purple became a heavier outfit, as opposed to the more progressive and pop driven sound established with Evans.
Post-Deep Purple
After leaving Deep Purple, Rod recorded a solo single for Capitol, then went on to form Captain Beyond, along with former Johnny Winter drummer Bobby Caldwell, former Iron Butterfly bassist Lee Dorman and guitarist Larry "Rhino" Reinhardt, who also was part of the last incarnation of Iron Butterfly. This band proved to be very influential, but sales never reflected their musical achievements. Lack of commercial success ended the group after three albums.
Evans left Captain Beyond and the music business after their first two albums. He then became a director of respiratory therapy at a West American hospital until 1980.
Deep Purple reformation controversy
In 1980 he was approached by a management company which specialized in questionably-reformed bands with big names, and he began to tour under the Deep Purple name accompanied by unknown session musicians. The line up was Rod Evans (vocals), Tony Flynn (guitar), Tom de Rivera (bass), Geoff Emery (keyboards), and Dick Jurgens III (drums), son of famous big band leader Dick Henrey Jurgens.
After several shows ended in near riots, Evans was sued by the management of the real Deep Purple and they were awarded damages of $672,000. As a result of the lawsuit, Evans no longer receives royalties from the band's first three albums.
Later life
He has not appeared publicly since the court case and his current whereabouts are of considerable interest to fans of early Deep Purple. There have been considerable, unverified rumors that he entered the medical profession and was practising in the US city of San Francisco from the early 1980s onwards.
Reportedly he was contacted by Captain Beyond guitarist Larry "Rhino" Reinhardt to join the band for a reunion, but Evans wasn't interested in being part of the project. Reinhardt's death in January 2012 ended any chance of a full Captain Beyond reunion occurring.
answers.com

Tour Dates Deep Purple 2012

Deep Purple – you gotta experience them LIVE!

Wed. 10.24.12
Ekaterinburg, Russia
DIVS Arena

Sat. 10.27.12
St. Petersburg, Russia
Ice Palace

Sun. 10.28.12
Moscow, Russia
Olimpiski Arena

Tue. 10.30.12
Krasnodar, Russia
Arena

Fri. 11.02.12
Kiev, Ukraine
Palace of Sports

Thu. 11.08.12
Esch-sur-Alzette, Luxembourg
Rockhal

Fri. 11.09.12
Grenoble, France
Palais des Sports

Sun. 11.11.12
Nantes, France
Zenith

Mon. 11.12.12
Caen, France
Zenith

Tue. 11.13.12
Paris, France
Zenith

Thu. 11.15.12
Koln, Germany
Lanxess Arena

Fri. 11.16.12
Bremen,Germany
Halle 7

Sat. 11.17.12
Hannover, Germany
AWD Hall

Tue. 11.20.12
Kiel,Germany
Sparkassen Arena

Thu. 11.22.12
Frankfurt, Germany
Festhalle

Fri. 11.23.12
Oberhausen, Germany
Konigspilsner Arena

Sat. 11.24.12
Hamburg, Germany
O2 World

Mon. 11.26.12
Leipzig, Germany
Arena

Tue. 11.27.12
Berlin, Germany
O2 World

Thu. 11.29.12
Augsberg, Germany
Schwabenhalle

Fri. 11.30.12
Munchen
Olympiahalle

Sat. 12.01.12
Stuttgart, Germany
Schleyerhalle

Mon. 12.03.12
Brussels, Belgium
Zenith

Wed. 12.05.12
Clermont, France
Zenith

Thu. 12.06.12
Toulouse, France
Zenith

deeppurple.com

Photoarchive

Selection of photos of group of a collection of records

Group Deep Purple structure

Group Deep Purple structure
1  April 1968 - June 1969
Rod Evans                                    Vocals              
Ritchie Blackmore                      Guitar               
Nick Simper                                Bass-guitar
 Jon Lord                                       Keyboards        
Ian Pace                                        Drums

 2 June 1969 — 30 June 1973
Ian Gillan                                      Vocals     
Ritchie Blackmore                      Guitar               
Roger Glover                               Bass-guitar
Jon Lord                                        Keyboards
Ian Pace                                        Drums

3 October 1973 — on April 5 1975
David Coverdale                      Vocals     
Tommy Bolin                            Guitar               
Glenn Hughes                          Bass-guitar
Jon Lord                                    Keyboards
Ian Pace                                    Drums

4 1975 - March 1976 
David Coverdale                      Vocals
Tommy Bolin                            Guitar               
Glenn Hughes                          Bass-guitar
Jon Lord                                    Keyboards
Ian Pace                                    Drums

5 April 1984 - April 1989
Ian Gillan                                  Vocals
Ritchie Blackmore                   Guitar
Roger Glover                            Bass-guitar
Jon Lord                                    Keyboards
Ian Pace                                    Drums

6 autumn 1989 - autumn 1992
 Joe Lynn Turner                      Vocals
Ritchie Blackmore                   Guitar
Roger Glover                            Bass-guitar
Jon Lord                                    Keyboards
Ian Pace                                    Drums

7 autumn 1992 — 17 November 1993
Ian Gillan                                   Vocals
Ritchie Blackmore                   Guitar
Roger Glover                            Bass-guitar
Jon Lord                                    Keyboards
Ian Pace                                    Drums

8 2 December 1993 - July 1994
Ian Gillan                                  Vocals
 Joey Satriani                            Guitar
Roger Glover                            Bass-guitar
 Jon Lord                                   Keyboards
Ian Pace                                    Drums

9 November 1994 - February 2002
Ian Gillan                                  Vocals
Steve Morse                             Guitar
Roger Glover                            Bass-guitar
 Jon Lord                                   Keyboards
Ian Pace                                    Drums

10 March 2002      
Ian Gillan                                  Vocals
Steve Morse                            Guitar
Roger Glover                            Bass-guitar
Don Airey                                  Keyboards
Ian Pace                                    Drums

Rod Evans

Ian Gillan

Nick Simper  

 Jon Lord

Ian Pace

Ian Gillan

Roger Glover

David Coverdale

Tommy Bolin

                         Glenn Hughes                         

Joe Lynn Turner

Joey Satriani   

Steve Morse

Don Airey

Biography Jon Douglas Lord

Jon Douglas Lord was born in Leicester, England, on June 9, 1941. His first active contact with music was through the family piano, where he took classical music lessons from a very early age. As a teenager he strayed from the path after being subjected to the charms of jazz organ players such as Jimmy Smith and rock n roll piano-playing pioneers such as Jerry Lee Lewis.
At 19, a career in acting beckoned, in the shape of a grant from a leading drama school in London. That was the early sixties, and “Swinging London” was just around the corner. Jon began playing in jazz and rhythm and blues “combos” mainly in pub gigs. The first such band to be documented was the Bill Ashton Combo, a jazz group led by its eponymous, sax-playing leader. So much for thespian aspirations, then…
In 1963, Jon joined Red Blood and his Bluesicians and acquired his first electric organ. By the next year he occupied the keyboard spot in the seminal Artwoods, led by Art Wood, brother of future Rolling Stone Ronnie Wood. The Artwoods struggled for the next three years, releasing several singles and EPs and a now highly collectible album titled Art Gallery.
Lack of success led to the Artwoods splitting up, after failing a last attempt at cracking the charts under the alias St.Valentine’s Day Massacre. Ronnie Wood then recruited Jon, Twink and Kim Gardner for a short-lived endeavour named Santa Barbara Machine Head who recorded three instrumental tracks that only surfaced on a various artists’ compilation, the band having failed to secure a recording contract. Pop stardom (of sorts) was just around the corner.
The Flowerpot Men, a more or less manufactured pop vocal ensemble, had a psychedelic hit and needed a backing band to help them out on the road. They recruited Jon to complete a band consisting of, among others, bassist Nick Simper (future founder member of Deep Purple) and drummer Carlo Little. The Flowerpot Men’s backing band was called, appropriately enough in those pre-ironic times, The Garden.
Then came Chris Curtis and Deep Purple. Between 1968 and 1976 Purple was one of the world’s most popular and creative bands, with Jon occupying a pivotal role both in the studio and onstage, through every permutation of the band’s line up.
In between albums and tours, he found time for quite a bit of classically themed solo work, with albums such as The Gemini Suite and First of the Big Bands. When Purple split in 1976, he delivered his finest solo work to date in the shape of the Sarabande album.
Shortly after, Jon formed Paice Ashton Lord with Purple drummer Ian Paice and longtime friend and musical collaborator the late, great Tony Ashton. After one album, Malice in Wonderland, PAL split up and Jon went to Whitesnake. During Whitesnake’s down time, Jon guested on albums by Cozy Powell, Graham Bonnet and others, and released another excellent solo album, Before I Forget.
Then came Deep Purple’s reformation. Between 1984 and the present, Purple’s career has been a roller coaster ride of six studio albums, literally thousands of live concerts all over the world, five different line ups and album sales in excess of 150 million units.
Jon found time to write and record the highly personal ‘Pictured Within’ album and eventually retired from Deep Purple in 2002 to concentrate on his solo work, playing with Deep Purple for the last time in Ipswich, England, on 19th September 2002. That was a highly emotional night, one that signified a new chapter in the careers of both Deep Purple and Jon Lord.
“I’m going to have myself a long and vibrant solo career,” Jon said that night, and he’s set his sights on fulfilling that promise. Since then he’s dotted his energies across shows in Australia, Europe and Scandinavia, released one solo album and scored a number of new musical pieces.
 jonlord.org

About Deep Purple

Deep Purple has surrendered to the ‘Rapture’; now it’s your turn
By Jeff Miers
The first time I heard Deep Purple – or perhaps felt Deep Purple is a better way to describe the experience – it was the mid-70s. I was 8, and Ritchie Blackmore’s sinewy, sinister riffing on the “Made In Japan” version of “Child In Time,” coupled with Ian Gillan’s dramatic, gorgeous howling, Jon Lord’s ominous neo-classical Hammond organ, and the dynamic interplay of the Roger Glover-Ian Paice rhythm section, tore the top of my head off.
It was unlike anything else I’d ever heard. And it quite literally changed my life.
30 years later, I’m still hearing Deep Purple for the first time.
“Rapture of the Deep” is the spot-on moniker for the disc you hold in your hands, and I’ll stand on any classic rock radio programmer’s desk in my cowboy boots and scream it loud, proud and Gillan-esque; “This is the best Deep Purple album there is, dammit! Forget ‘Machine Head’ – that was then; this is most decidedly now!”
This is the fourth record created by the revamped and rejuvenated Purple following the umpteenth departure of the mercurial Mr. Blackmore. The guitarist – one of the most significant in British rock history - had ceased to be a contributing force and was in fact draining Purple of its collective spirit when his ship finally set sail for good, a bit over a decade back.
Blackmore's exit is, in a sense, where our story begins, for the surviving band members left to pick up the pieces in his violent wake – Gillan, Glover, Lord, Paice – agreed unanimously on only one six-stringer, the soon to be knighted Steve Morse. Hardly scraping the dregs from the bottom of the barrel with that choice, boys.
Morse accepted, writing commenced for what would become “Purpendicular,” on-stage work-outs were seized upon with relish, and the band breathed the heady air of rebirth. When “Purpendicular” was delivered, it astonished. Rather than going softly into the long goodnight of “classic rock” middle-age, Deep Purple had reinvented itself. It took no more than a cursory listen to the likes of “Ted the Mechanic,” "Loosen My Strings” and “Sometimes I Feel Like Screaming” to drive this point straight into the skull.
Morse brought a funkiness, a depth as guitarist and writer, an unparalleled fluidity as a soloist, a startling aptitude as foil to Lord, and an arsenal of influences – country, folk, jazz, what they’ve sadly labeled “fusion,” and an inherent understanding of blues-based riffs – that meshed effortlessly with the immaculate Glover-Paice sense of swing and Gillan’s seeming capacity to go anywhere at any time, full-throated and eyes ablaze.
”Purpendicular” was a celebration of both remembrance and reinvention. It at once acknowledged Purple’s estimable history and tradition, and a musical wanderlust not content to repeat the past. As such, it laid the template for a new Purple. And it all, it seems, was paving the way for the mighty metamorphosis that is “Rapture of the Deep.”
With Morse, Purple toured the world to accolades from the cognoscente. “Abandon” cemented the band’s on-stage prowess on record, and reminded us that Purple was, yes indeed, the heaviest of heavy rock bands. “Bananas,” the first record following Lord’s retirement from touring and his replacement by exquisite ivory-tinkler Don Airey, brought elements of pop to the table, grafted on some of “Purpendicular’s” ambition, and encapsulated the ensemble-riff power of “Abandon.” Tours behind both of these albums revealed this still-young band’s continued growth as a performing unit. By the end of the "Bananas" marathon, Airey had marked his apotheosis, from "replacement" to fully-integrated band-member.
”Rapture of the Deep” marks yet another new beginning, however. And it, more than any other record this side of “Perfect Strangers” and “Purpendicular,” offers a snapshot of the band transitioning into bold, uncharted territory. It’s as if all the pieces fit, not for the first time, of course, but in a manner that reveals a more pure portrait of just what this band is capable of. The whole transcends the sum of its parts, which is fitting for a record that seems to be, in a very real sense, about transcendence.
”As we all know, it’s hard to breathe/When something spiritual has taken place/We don’t know how, we don’t know why/We’ve been transported to a state of grace,” sings Gillan during the album’s title track, and this verse can be seen as indicative of the over-arching ethos behind “Rapture of the Deep.” Lyrically, it speaks of a spirit not content with the status quo in terms of interpersonal, social and political relationships, and this irreverent yearning is matched by the searching nature of the music itself, which also refuses to be ordinary.
The album opens with “Money Talks,” a hook-heavy rocker with several twists in its tale, most notably Gillan’s harmony vocals during the chorus, his uber-hip sing-speak during the verses – recalling both “Fireball’s” “No One Came” and his own “No Laughing In Heaven” – and the manner in which the tune flirts with an Eastern modality before erupting into a searing Morse solo. “Wrong Man” slaps the listener in the face straight out of the gate with a strutting riff that can’t miss, as Glover and Paice exploit the pocket for all it’s worth, and Gillan kicks against the pricks in the voice of a character whose greatest crime seems to be having been in the wrong place at the wrong time. Both of these – like their siblings on “Rapture,” elegant and refined rockers steeped in blues and chomping at the bit, with names like “Back To Back,” “Girls Like That” and the hit single in waiting “Don’t Let Go” – are brilliant Purple tunes, estuaries from a river that never seems to run too dry. Ah, but the surprises… they’re many and varied here, and they elevate “Rapture” toward the rapturous upper echelons of the Purple canon.
“Before Time Began” takes the form of a threatening march, an abscess dying to burst. Paice offers a dark subterranean shuffle, as the band lays down a series of melancholic chords, and Gillan, in a voice drenched in pathos, bemoans a world in which “Every day of my life I discover/Someone murdering my sisters and brothers/In the name of some god or another.” No mere political polemic, this, however; Gillan’s touch is too light, and he’s a master of “leaving things out,” so that his lyric is suggestive, rather than mere vitriol. “All of those bad ideas became the law/And we’ve forgotten what we’re looking for.” Indeed.
And again, the Purple engine room is in full overdrive mode here, as an expansive call-and-response between Morse and Airey - who has made replacing Lord look easy, when we all know it is in fact far from it; Airey has made his mark on Purple, to be sure, by respecting what came before him and having the fortitude and chops to take it all somewhere new and exciting - leaves one feeling breathless and vulnerable. This is “progressive rock” in the most positive sense of that much-maligned term.
The centerpiece of “Rapture” also happens to be one of the finest tunes in the band’s history – no small claim, that. “Clearly Quite Absurd” is clearly quite sublime; a piece with a melody that simply hurts to listen to, in the way that first love is painful because it’s ephemeral and fleeting. Thankfully, your disc player has a “repeat” button, so this is a love that will never abandon you.
Gillan sings of escaping the snares of the mundane and commonplace, the accepted reality which deadens us to the potential one above and beyond it. Again, harmony vocals – Beatle-esque ones, in this instance – help set the mood, and an ascending chord progression led by Morse spreads its arms heavenward, eventually settling into a circular pattern that becomes one of the more moving codas not just in Purple history, but, yep, in the history of heavy rock itself.
This is Deep Purple, 2005 version. Intense, fearless, full of fire, and wit, and passion. Marked by serious virtuosity, but never a slave to it. Still finding new meaning in a medium they all but single-handedly created. Grab ahold of this, and don’t let go.
deeppurple.com

To John Lorda's light memory it is devoted

To John Lorda's light memory it is devoted

 
'We're as valid as anything by Beethoven," declared Jon Lord of his band, Deep Purple, in an interview with the New Musical Express in 1973. Lord, who has died aged 71 after suffering from pancreatic cancer, was not merely adopting a rebellious stance. An accomplished classical composer as well as rock musician, he believed with some justification that his group's music was as profound in structure and as significant in cultural impact as any work from the symphonic canon. At the time, Deep Purple were among the world's biggest rock bands, having built an enormous fanbase on the strength of their classically influenced songs, which lent further weight to Lord's statement.
Born in Leicester, Lord studied classical piano from the age of five. In his teens, the then-new rock'n'roll and R&B movements made a deep impression on him, in particular the music recorded by blues pianists and organists such as Jimmy McGriff and Jerry Lee Lewis. The contemporary combination of Hammond B3 and C3 organs with Leslie speakers appealed to him, and this became an instrumental setup that remained integral to Lord's signature keyboard style for the rest of his career.
In 1959, he moved to London to pursue acting, which he studied at the Central School of Speech and Drama. He played the piano and Hammond organ in clubs to pay the bills, initially with a jazz band called the Bill Ashton Combo and then with Red Bludd's Bluesicians, featuring the vocalist Art Wood. While recording occasional sessions (he contributed keyboards to the Kinks' 1964 hit You Really Got Me), Lord pursued pop success in the Art Wood Combo, who later renamed themselves the Artwoods and appeared on TV. I Take What I Want was the group's only charting single.
Lord discovered his trademark sound when he formed Santa Barbara Machine Head, which also featured Wood's brother and future Rolling Stone, Ronnie Wood. The key to this group's success was its powerful, organ- and guitar-driven formula, which pointed at the future musical recipe of Deep Purple, and also the meeting of Lord and the bassist Nick Simper. The duo were the backbone of Deep Purple, who formed when the businessman and manager Tony Edwards invested in the new group and auditioned the cream of London's young talent – the guitarist Ritchie Blackmore, the singer Rod Evans and the drummer Ian Paice among them. This quintet formed Purple's first lineup in 1968.
Deep Purple spent the following eight years on a path that took them around the world on several occasions, playing the world's largest stadiums and issuing a series of classic LPs – In Rock (1970), Fireball (1971), Machine Head (1972) and Burn (1974) among them. Personnel came and went, but Lord and Paice remained constant members until the group's dissolution amid a haze of drug addiction and exhaustion in 1976.
Of the great British rock bands of the 70s, only Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath and the Stones were able to operate on as grand a scale: unlike any of those groups, Deep Purple took regular time out to indulge in classical projects initiated and directed by Lord. The most notable of these was the live Concerto for Group and Orchestra, recorded at the Royal Albert Hall in 1969.
It was this equal passion for rock bombast and classical finesse that made Lord such an unusual musician. During Deep Purple's glory days, he often infused the songs with classical influences, as in the song April from the group's eponymous album in 1969. His organ playing, which often counterpointed Blackmore's virtuoso lead guitar, was unique and often copied.
After the split, Lord formed a group with the rock singer Tony Ashton and Deep Purple's ex-drummer Paice entitled Paice, Ashton & Lord. They released one album, Malice in Wonderland, in 1977. He then joined Whitesnake, the band formed by Deep Purple's last lead singer, David Coverdale. This group, not to be confused with the 1980s reincarnation that played stadium rock and met with huge success, was an earthy, blues-rock band in which Lord's organ playing was an essential element. His stint in Whitesnake ended when he rejoined a reformed lineup of Deep Purple in 1984 alongside Blackmore, Paice, the singer Ian Gillan and the bassist Roger Glover.
Many solo projects and collaborations came during and between Lord's membership of these bands, including Before I Forget (1982), which featured classical piano music; a commission to compose the soundtrack of Central Television's 1984 series The Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady; and guest spots on albums by rock luminaries such as Lord's Oxfordshire neighbour George Harrison and Pink Floyd's David Gilmour.
Eighteen more years of recording and tours followed before Lord felt he had had enough of life on the road. In a letter to his bandmates in 2002, he requested that Deep Purple take a year off. When this request was declined, he amicably left the group. Solo projects followed, including a collaboration in 2004 with sometime Abba singer Anni-Frid Lyngstad, and the formation of a blues band, Hoochie Coochie Men, three years later. In 2010, Lord was made an honorary fellow of Stevenson College, Edinburgh, and the following year he was awarded an honorary doctorate of music by the University of Leicester.
guardian.co.

Deep Purple and John Lord

I want to devote the blog to legendary group Deep Purple and to John Lord.The Literal translation of the name of group (is dark-purple)."Deep Purple" it is taken from the song name - to a favourite song of grandmother Ritchi Blekmora. This plate has been written down still by Bingom of Crosby before war. The final decision to be called "Deep Purple" has ripened during the Scandinavian tours. The first plate "Shades Of Deep Purple" ("Shades crimson") has been written down all for 2 days on Saturday and Sunday on May, 11-12th. And on 13th of May on Monday sound producer Derek Lourens has created record and a matrix tape was ready.

Last month on July, 16th, the keyboard player of group John Lord has died. It is irreplaceable loss in the music world. Lately, on a state of health, it could not act, but always was soul of group! Its compositions gave to group the colour and singularity of sounding. My site is devoted to John Lorda's light memory.