Deep Purple

Keep in mind that Deep Purple was split up from 1977 - 1983. Earth Wind & Fire was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2000, and into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 2003. In 2003, Deep Purple released their first studio album in five years, the highly prasied Bananas, and began toruing in support of the album immediately. The albums first single is "Show Me the Way", featuring Raphael Saadiq [1] (http://www.philipbailey.com/). The group continued forward until 2002, when founding member Jon Lord (who, along with Ian Paice, was the only member to be in all incarnations of the band) announced he was leaving the band to pursue personal projects (especially orchestral work). Rock keyboard veteran Don Airey (Rainbow/Whitesnake, etc.), who had helped Purple out when Lord was injured in 2001, joined the band. A new album, Illuminated, is scheduled for release in 2005. Most of this period was spent on the road via constant touring. In the summer of 2004, Earth, Wind & Fire signed an exlusive record deal with Sanctuary Urban Records Group, owned by Matthew Knowles, father and manager of pop star Beyoncé.

The revitalized band enjoyed success throughout the rest of the 1990s, releasing the critically acclaimed Purpendicular in 1996, and Abandon in 1998. The Promise received good reveiws upon its release, and was first issued in the United States and Japan; it was issued in Europe in early 2004. The band auditioned guitarists, and Steve Morse of Dixie Dregs impressed them enough to get the gig. Maurice White released two new Earth, Wind & Fire albums on his own label, Kalimba Records, in 2002: Live In Rio, a live album from a 1980 tour, and The Promise, the band's first all-new studio album in six years. Joe Satriani was drafted in, so the live dates (in Japan) could be completed. Satriani was asked to join full time, but declined. Five years later, Maurice White was diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease. Blackmore walked out, never to return and leaving the band in a fix. In 1993, saxonphonist Don Myrick was fatally shot by the Los Angeles Police Department in a case of mistaken identity.

During the support tour in mid-1994, tensions between Gillan and Blackmore came to a head yet again. The band continued to periodically release new albums, including 1990's Heritage and 1993's Millennium in 1993. Blackmore relented and the classic lineup recorded The Battle Rages On in 1993. A 1987 Earth, Wind & Fire reunion was a mild success, but the band was never able to return to the kind of success they had achieved in the 1970s. With the tour done, Turner was forced to go as Jon Lord and Ian Paice realised they needed Gillan back in the fold. White disbanded Earth, Wind & Fire in 1983 after Electric Universe was released to poor sales and reviews. This line up recorded just one album,Slaves and Masters (1990), and toured in support of it. Two years later, the band released the critically acclaimed I Am with the mainstream ballad "After The Love Is Gone". After the releases of Faces (1980) and Raise! (1981), which featured the popular single "Let's Groove", the band's success started to wane.

His replacement was former Rainbow vocalist Joe Lynn Turner. Earth Wind & Fire released Spirit in 1976; and had hits with singles such as "Getaway" and "Imagine." In 1977, the group released another classic album, All 'N All, featuring songs such as "I Write A Song", "Serpentine Fire", "Love's Holiday", and the pop hit "Fantasy." Not long after its release, producer and songwriter Charles Stepney died of a heart attack. In 1989, Ian Gillan quit the band again, as his relations with Blackmore soured. New studio hits such as "Sing A Song" and "Can't Hide Love" were also included. While in the UK a new version of "Hush" was released to mark 20 years of the band. Also in 1975, Earth, Wind & Fire released Gratitude, a live album which featured performances of singles from previous albums such as "Sun Goddess" with jazz legend Ramsey Lewis, "Shining Star", and the quiet storm classic "Reasons". The line-up recorded and toured The House of Blue Light in 1987 though to lower sales, a live album Nobody's Perfect (1988) was culled from US shows on this tour. Though the film was not a success, the song "Shining Star" became a huge mainstream hit and launched the band's career.

The weather was famously bad but 80,000 turned up anyway. Earth, Wind & Fire's true breakthrough, however, came in the form of the soundtrack to That's the Way of the World in 1975. The UK homecoming proved mixed as they elected to play just a single festival show (with main support from The Scorpions). The Head to the Sky album (1973) was a moderate success, but 1974's Open Our Eyes was a major hit. It was a tremendous success. At this time, Claves, Lawsm and Bautista left the band, and Andrew Woolfolk, Al McKay, and Johnny Graham were added to the lineup. The album Perfect Strangers was released in October 1984 and the tour followed, starting in New Zealand and winding its way across the world into Europe by the following summer. The new line-up was signed to CBS Records by Clive Davis and released Last Days and Time without much success.

It was announced on BBC radio's The Friday Rock Show that the "classic" early 70s lineup of Blackmore, Gillan, Glover, Lord, and Paice was reforming and were recording new material. The band signed a deal with Polydor in Europe and Mercury in North America. In 1972, White dissolved the line-up (minus himself and brother Verdine White), and added Jessica Cleaves (vocals),Ronnie Laws (flute, saxophone), Larry Dunn (keyboard), Ralph Johnson (percussion) and Philip Bailey (vocals, formerly of Friends & Love). Then in April 1984, 8 years after the demise of Deep Purple, it happened. However, neither album was commercially successful. Subsequently, most of the past members of Deep Purple would go on to have considerable success in a number of bands including Rainbow (band), Whitesnake and Gillan, while there were a number of promoter-led attempts to get the band to reform especially with the revival of the hard rock market in the late 70s/early 80s. Their self-titled debut album, Earth, Wind & Fire, was released in 1970 to great critical acclaim, as was The Need of Love (1971). As a result, Deep Purple broke up. White moved his band to Los Angeles, California and changed its name to "Earth, Wind & Fire".

After a particularly traumatic tour to promote Come Taste the Band, Tommy Bolin died of a heroin overdose. After spending time as a member of the Ramsey Lewis Trio, he formed a band called The Salty Peppers and signed to Capitol Records, releasing a regionally successful single called "La La Time". He had a drug habit - heroin, which made matters all the worse. Bandleader Maurice White began his recording career as a session drummer, working for Chess Records. Bolin himself turned out not to be ready for the job of filling Blackmore's shoes, suffering hostility from some crowds while turning in peformances of highly variable quality. Led by Maurice White, they are best known for their hits of the 1970s, among them "After the Love is Gone", "Reasons", and "Shining Star". However the subsequent album, 1976's Come Taste the Band, for all its quality, proved unpopular with die-hard fans and didn't attract any new ones. Earth, Wind & Fire is a legendary American funk band, formed in Chicago in 1969.

On the face of it Bolin was just what the doctor ordered. The gap was filled by the prodigiously talented Tommy Bolin who had established himself as a vivid imaginative guitarist with acts such as Zephyr, James Gang and Billy Cobham. With Blackmore's departure, Deep Purple was left to fill one of the biggest vacancies in rock. Blackmore was not happy with the results, and after the release of the Made in Europe (taken from shows on the Stormbringer tour), the founding member left Deep Purple in 1975.

Hughes and Coverdale added a funky R&B/soul sound to the band's heavy metal elements, a sound that was even more apparent on the 1975 release Stormbringer. This new line-up continued seamlesly into 1974 with the album Burn, another highly successful Purple album. The classic lineup continued up through the album Who Do We Think We Are? (1973) at which point both Gillan and Glover left. They were replaced by an unknown singer named David Coverdale and Glenn Hughes on bass and vocals. During this period, Deep Purple became one of the most popular hard rock acts in the world, releasing the highly influential and successful albums Deep Purple in Rock, Fireball, and Machine Head (the latter featuring their most famous song, "Smoke on the Water"), and the live album Made in Japan.

Their heaviness was only rivaled by newcomers Black Sabbath. However, shortly after the release, the band shocked the music world by creating extremely heavy, hard rock music, and thus becoming a pioneer in the world of heavy metal. It is widely known as the first successful collaboration between a rock band and an orchestra. Initially, this lineup released a landmak album in Concerto for Group and Orchestra a three-part movement written by Lord and performed with the London Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Malcom Arnold.

After three albums and extensive touring in the States, it was the inclusion of vocalist Ian Gillan (who replaced Evans) and bassist Roger Glover (who replaced Simper) that created the essential Deep Purple line-up. The group had tremendous success in the US with its cover of Joe South's "Hush," taken from their acclaimed debut album Shades of Deep Purple In 1969, two more successful albums followed (The Book of Taleisyn and Deep Purple, the latter of which contained a symphony orchstra on some tracks). The new band was named Deep Purple. The two joined forces with vocalist Rod Evans, bassist Nick Simper and drummer Ian Paice.

After only a month of rehearsals, Blackmore and Lord split from the group. In 1968, the group Roundabout formed, consisting of Ritchie Blackmore on guitar, Jon Lord on hammond organ, Chris Curtis on vocals, Dave Curtis on bass and Bobby Woodman on drums. A year later, these bands formed the nucleus of the early and later lineups of Deep Purple, providing Nick Simper and Jon Lord as founding members and Ian Gillan and Roger Glover as later constants. It featured Tony Burrows, Neil Landon, Robin Shaw, and Pete Nelson on vocals, Ged Stone on guitar, Nick Simper on bass, Jon Lord on organ, and Carol Little on drums.

The band's most popular song was "Let's Go To San Francisco." Some listeners assumed that the song was a parody of Scott McKenzie's "If You're Going to San Francisco," but the band have denied this. The new name was clearly derived from the children's show The Flowerpot Men, with the obvious psychedelic-era puns on flower power and "pot" (cannabis). Two years later, a band called The Flowerpot Men and their Garden was formed, formerly known as The Ivy League. It was concentrated on a trio of singers. It featured Ian Gillan on vocals, Graham Dimmock on guitar, Roger Glover on bass, Tony Lander on guitar, Sheila Dimmock on keyboards, and Harvey Shields on the drums.

In May 1965, a band called Episode Six became popular on the British music scene and became particularly popular in the mid-sixties. Some incarnations of Deep Purple have brought aspects of jazz to a rock context due to their frequent use of their songs as vehicles for extended and sophisticated solos. The group has frequently changed styles and lineups over the years, but has always included virtuoso players in its ranks and placed a high priority on musicianship. Despite their association with the sub-genre, Deep Purple has never been purely a heavy metal band, though many later heavy metal bands cite their influence.

They were one of the first and most famous hard rock bands, and are considered pioneers of heavy metal. Thus the title Deep Purple was ready for an ironic revival in 1968, by a British rock group. The song remained a traditional pop favorite, recast in 1957 as a doo wop classic by The Dominoes with vocals by Eugene Mumford and was recorded in 1976 by Donny and Marie Osmond, with Marie intoning the balmy lyrics during the break. The song is a sentimental air, not a jazz tune; it was a favorite with Babe Ruth, played at his big birthday parties by Peter de Rose for a decade.

Now it became a huge hit, reaching #1 on the charts. and the Larry Clinton Orchestra recorded it, with a vocal by Bea Wain. "Deep Purple" became so popular in sheet music sales that somewhat purple lyrics were provided for it in 1939 by Mitchell Parish:. The following year, Paul Whiteman had it scored for his suave "big band" orchestra that was "making a lady out of jazz" in Whiteman's phrase.

"Deep Purple" was published in 1933 as a piano composition. "Deep Purple" was the biggest hit written by pianist Peter De Rose (1900—1953), who broadcast, 1923 to 1939, with May Singhi as "The Sweethearts of the Air" on the NBC radio network. 1977 "New Live and Rare EP" #31 UK. 1973 "Smoke on the Water" #21 UK (1977 release), #3 US.

1972 "Never Before" #35 UK. 1971 "Fireball" #15 UK. 1971 "Strange Kind of Woman" #8 UK. 1970 "Black Night" #2 UK.

1968 "Kentucky Woman" #38 US. 1968 "Hush" #4 US. Bananas, August 2003. 30: Very Best of Deep Purple, October 1998; #39 UK.

Abandon, May 1998. Purpendicular, February 1996. The Battle Rages on..., July 1993; #21 UK, #192 US. Slaves & Masters, 1990; #87 US.

Nobody's Perfect (live), July 1988; #38 UK, #105 US. The House of Blue Light, January 1987; #10 UK, #34 US. Perfect Strangers, November 1984; #5 UK, #17 US. Deep Purple Live in London, (recorded in 1974) September 1982; #23 UK.

Deep Purple In Concert, (recorded throughout 1970-1972) December 1980; #30 UK. When We Rock, We Rock, and When We Roll, We Roll (compilation), 1980. Deepest Purple: The Very Best of Deep Purple (compilation), July 1980; #1 UK, #148 US. The Mark II Purple Singles (compilation), April 1979; #24 UK.

Made in Europe, November 1976; #12 UK, #148 US. Come Taste the Band, October 1975; #19 UK, #43 US. 24 Carat Purple (compilation), July 1975; #14 UK. Stormbringer, December 1974; #6 UK, #20 US.

Burn, February 1974; #3 UK, #9 US. Who Do We Think We Are, February 1973; #4 UK, #15 US. Made in Japan, December 1972; #16 UK, #6 US. Machine Head, March 1972; #1 UK, #7 US.

Fireball, September 1971; #1 UK, #32 US. Deep Purple in Rock, June 1970; #4 UK, #143 US. Concerto for Group and Orchestra, December 1969; #26 UK, #149 US. Deep Purple, November 1969; #162 US.

The Book of Taliesyn, December 1968; #54 US. Shades of Deep Purple, September 1968; #24 US. Joe Lynn Turner - vocals (1990 - 1991). Glenn Hughes - bass + vocals (1974 - 1976).

Tommy Bolin - guitar (1975 -1976). David Coverdale - vocals (1974 - 1976). Jon Lord - keyboards (1968 - 2002). Ian Paice - drums (1968 - present).

Ritchie Blackmore - guitar (1968 - 1975, 1984 - 1994). Nick Simper - bass (1968-1969). Rod Evans - vocals (1968-1969). Ian Paice - drums (1968 - present).

Don Airey - keyboards (2002 - present). Roger Glover - bass (1969 - 1973, 1984 - present). Steve Morse - guitar (1994 - present). Ian Gillan - vocals (1969 - 1973, 1984 - 1989, 1992 - present).

Peter de Rose (http://nfo.net/cal/td2.html). Peter de Rose (http://www.songwritershalloffame.org/exhibit_bio.asp?exhibitId=257).