Deep Purple

SecondBass

New member
I can not believe that there is no thread under this forum about Deep Purple. If ever there was a band that covered Symphonic and Heavy Metal then it it was the Purps. Concerto for Band and Orchestra and the concert with the London Symphony Orchestra should mean that they deserve more than just a thread.

Even listening to a few old tracks from 'In Rock', specifically "Child in Time" and "Speed King" show that they were Symphonic even without the orchestra, mostly due to Jon Lord of course.
 
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doctortornface

New member
Dont know that I would call Deep Purple metal,more hard rock.Fireball gets my vote as their best work,simply because of the drum intro to the actual track Fireball.Brilliant.Stormbringer from a later period is the business to.
 

toejamfootball

New member
Yeah I dont know, People call Zeppelin Metal so I call Purple Metal.. (But it dosnt really matter to me either way I like it :p)

The Fathers daughter song is great also. Funny theme for a song.

Plus I love the Organ in Deep Purple.
 

rojo

(Ret)
I thoroughly revel in Jon Lord's playing of the Hammond B3 organ, in particular on the track Lazy from Machine Head. Also enjoy Highway Star, Space Truckin'. Plus Child in Time. And probably others that I can't remember right now...

Smoke on the Water has become a cliché, but it's still pretty cool...
 
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Andrew Roussak

New member
My favourite DP's track of their 70es ' period was BURN. Though they surely had a huge amount of other great songs . After reunion in 80es - Knocking At Your Back Door, and one more later track I admire is Sometimes I Feel Like Screaming. Jon Lord - his version of Bach's Toccata & Fugue D-moll is one of my favourite classical remakes.
 

Art Rock

Sr. Regulator
Staff member
Sr. Regulator
Good band. Predictably, Child in time is my favourite, although even that did not make the cut for my 600+ favourite songs. Yesterday I heard their concerto for band and orchestra for the first time. Hm.
 

Deeru Piotr

New member
I love the Concerto for group and orchestra and I love Made in Japan but my favourites are the second lp named the Book of Talyesin and the third one named just Deep Purple, take a listen to April last track from this lp
by the way the symphonic (or whatever you call it) influence may come from Jon Lord but to me the true genius in Deep Purple is Ritchie Blackmore, what a guitar player!
 

zaog

New member
I love the Concerto for group and orchestra and I love Made in Japan but my favourites are the second lp named the Book of Talyesin and the third one named just Deep Purple, take a listen to April last track from this lp

I agree...
I also like the song "Mistreated", especially the live version in Made in Europe. :grin:
 

methodistgirl

New member
Smoke on the water

The songs I like by Deep Purple is Smoke on the water and Kentucky
woman. Those are my favorites.:grin:
 

AlderonFrederic

New member
As most of the people, I like Smoke on the Water, and also FireBall album. But this is the band that actually practically avoid making unlistenable songs. Like you just spend a good decade for listening to Till Lindemann, and then Pyssy comes out....like "what the hack, men!?!". And I really positive on that never happened to Deep Purple
 

John Watt

Member
We were standing around outside the Barclay Hotel in Welland, Ontario, waiting for the matinee to start.
There were four of us all set to jam on a Saturday afternoon because friends of ours were doing the six-nighter.
We had a radio on FM and the Toronto DJ started doing an interview with Deep Purple.
They said they had just come from a concert in Montreal, their first gig in North America,
and were waiting to go over the border for a six-nighter in a Buffalo bar.
"Deep Purple in Rock" had just come out and we all really got into it.

When the DJ asked where all their equipment was, they said it was in storage at a mall.
The DJ said he knew that mall, and said why don't you let people in for your rehearsal.
They talked about it, called the mall, and said okay, they'll put on a show later in the afternoon,
saying they would charge $4 per person. We looked around and decided to go, one of us having a car.
We started asking people going into the bar for some coin, saying we needed gas money to see Deep Purple.
That happened fast, everyone saying that would be a good one.

We got there early, and saw mall employees putting out some risers, like the Board of Education uses,
four by eight sheets of varnished plywood with frames about six inches tall.
Some long-haired guys started moving the equipment out, setting it all up, maybe 200 people there.
We were sitting in the middle of the stage about twenty feet out. Everyone left the stage.
And then they walked out again, this time wearing purple satin shirts with black pants and boots.
Ian Gillan started talking about coming to Canada, talking about Deep Purple in Rock,
and thanked everyone for coming out to make it more of a concert than a rehearsal.

They were great. Ritchie Blackmore had a lot of moves and even did a back-flip off his Marshall,
the two roadies going behind his Marshall stack to hold it.
He would hold his guitar up like a sword and flamenco dance across the stage.
He'd go up to the front row and throw his guitar at someone, letting the neck slide down his hands,
and grab the head-stock and swing it around, making some people shout out loud.

John Lord would take a knife and stick it between the keys to hold notes down,
and then he would start looking at Ritchie like he was doing something wrong.
Ritchie would be making moves like he was interfering with his playing,
and John threw a knife at him and it stuck into the side of the organ.
They kept that routine going, really putting your head through.

After a while the lights went out, almost a total blackness.
And then a spotlight was shining down on Ian Gillan, dressed in a white robe with a wreath in his hair,
holding a small gold harp on his shoulder. He started singing "Sweet Child in Time". Incredible!
Ritchie was leaning back on his arp with his eyes shut, not playing, the heel of his boot resting up on the bottom cabinet.
Just as Ian Gillian was singing as much as he could, Ritchie pushed himself up into the air forward and started the lead solo.
The guitar sounded very smooth, not really feeding back but melting into your head, loud but harmonizing with the organ.

Ian Paice was as good a drummer as you could hope for, and then he did a drum solo that got everyone going again.
After the drum solo Ian Gillan came up to the mike and said they were going to do a new song they were working on,
saying it might be on their next album, hoping we liked it. That's when they started "Smoke on the Water".
Wow, that's all I can say, wow. That riff might sound too easy now but it was very heavy and groovy back then.

Overall, I'd say Speed King was a combination of the best of how they played harmonies and solos together,
but that's not fair of me to pick out one song when the show kept going, always something to surprise you.

I played maybe eight Deep Purple songs in a few bands. They went through changes with members,
and the music changed, getting into some mild funk like "Sail Away".
Jimi Hendrix and Ritchie Blackmore were the first two guitarists to use a Stratocaster and Marshall stack onstage,
and Ritchie advertised himself as playing straight into his amplifier, not using any effects.
"Stormbringer" is the first song where he used an effect, a Doctor Q that cost $29.95 in Ontario.
That was a small Electro Harmonix box that plugged into your amp and your guitar cord went into it,
supposed to be an automatic wah-wah. It has a nice, almost liquid sound to it, not like a Crybaby.

I thought Deep Purple were a very intelligent hard rock band.
Their lyrics were about the times, seeing "Sweet Child in Time" as being about the Vietnam war.
Ian Gillan was very talkative and came off as being your friend, letting you in about the band.
But I have to admit, it took about two years before they were getting too wasted,
not looking good, not putting on a show any more, and starting to insult each other in interviews.

Deep Purple really set the template for hard rock, what bass riffs and sounds worked in arenas.
The one band that came out of it as former members was Whitesnake, setting new production values for guitars.
Ritchie kept his thing going with Ritchie Blackmores' Rainbow, but he was just a let-down sideshow by then.
Ingwie Malmsteen talked about going to visit him at his house in one interview.
He described how the front door was left open and the wind was blowing in,
with leaves piling up in corners and blowing around the rooms,
where he found Ritchie huddled in a corner with his guitar, looking scared when he saw him.
Ingwies' band was basically a Deep Purple clone without the vocals,
and his guitar playing had some Bach riffs to it, a nice progression of Deep Purple style.

Ian Gillan came to Welland when a friend of his was singing a jazz gig at the downtown park stage,
and I really wanted to come and see if I could meet him, but I wasn't in Welland at the time.
If it wasn't in the newspapers I wouldn't have believed it.
When they fired Ritchie Blackmore I wished I could have auditioned,
thinking they could use someone who could play Ritchie and use Jimi sounds with an r'n'b influence.
"You Fool No-one", "Burn", "Lazy", they were great songs to do when all the harmonies came together.
Most bar bands, if they could pull off a Deep Purple did "Highway Star", but I never did.

Typing all of this makes me feel like hammering on and pulling off the G string at the third fret, repeatedly,
and use the tremolo arm to dive-bomb with it.
 

Florestan

New member
Deep Purple was one of my favorite rock bands ever and still rates highly, but my new favorite has done a cover of Highway Star:
 

John Watt

Member
When Highway Star first came out a lot of bar bands started playing it.
I never did, not being a motor-head and thinking it was too hard rock.
Stryper is doing almost a note for note version, following along with it all the way.
The guitar has more distortion than Ritchie, but that's only natural for the new millennium.
Ian Gillan had a softer sound with a little more tone to his voice, and he could shout and scream,
but that's what's making me want to decide which one I like better, more about the vocals.
I don't know if I'm hearing studio trickery or there are two guitars, but I like that better.

Oh! I survived the ending, not bad, even if the artwork is a little too scary.
Deep Purple, despite setting a template for hard rock with their new technology and style,
always had a relaxed and friendly quality onstage, thinking of Ian Gillan almost as much for his conversation.
That's the dividing line for me between hard rock and heavy metal, is the demonic quality heavy metal has.
I'm not seeing Stryper as heavy metal, but then this is just a cover, not hearing any originals.

This is just more old man talk, but when I say Deep Purple set a template for hard rock,
that's not just about songs but the way the bass used notes with the drums to be very loud with definition.
This video shows the beginnings of Deep Purple, playing on a roof a year before the Beatles did it.
It wasn't long before the singer, drummer and bass player were gone,
when Jon Lord and Ritchie Blackmore started putting together the Deep Purple of their dreams.
This might start off too slow, but when a sample of the next Deep Purple kicks in you'll know it.



 
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John Watt

Member
It looks like I'm still into the Purple after what, fifty-one years.
Just to show you more of where I'm coming from with Deep Purple,
here's a video of one of their first hit singles and a show I went to watch at a friends.
Did you ever think you'd see Ritchie giving his guitar to Hugh Hefner?

 

John Watt

Member
Okay! I had to look around for a long time, getting to the bottom of the YouTube page, yeah...
trying to find this video I heard over two years ago.
This band represents my favorite contemporary version of a Deep Purple song.
That's because this is where I'm at, walking around with a beater Strat and a portable BOSS amp strapped on,
getting paid to play live as a strolling troubadour.
Look at these guys, out there in the light of day playing for a street, or family, audience,
when it never was like that with Deep Purple.
A year after their version of "Help" came out, they recorded a live concert with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.
Eventually, Ian Gillian did a duet with Luciano Pavaroti during one of his concerts.
They got a little funky and went through a lot of band members, Deep Purple being a big business.
And fifty years later, Ian Gillan was back touring and putting out a new Deep Purple album.

I don't see any extension cords on the sidewalk, thinking these guys are battery powered.
This was recorded in Santiago, Chile. I'm wondering who rode his bike to the gig.
For a Deep Purple song, these guys are very very good.


 
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Florestan

New member
When Highway Star first came out a lot of bar bands started playing it.
I never did, not being a motor-head and thinking it was too hard rock.
Stryper is doing almost a note for note version, following along with it all the way.
The guitar has more distortion than Ritchie, but that's only natural for the new millennium.
Ian Gillan had a softer sound with a little more tone to his voice, and he could shout and scream,
but that's what's making me want to decide which one I like better, more about the vocals.
I don't know if I'm hearing studio trickery or there are two guitars, but I like that better.

Stryper has always used two guitars. As for covers, yes Highway Star is done very close to the original, but here is a very different cover of Earth Wind and Fire's Shining Star :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YHHzn6tpnv8

I'm not seeing Stryper as heavy metal, but then this is just a cover, not hearing any originals.
This is more into the metal end of things:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=duEBraRtteo

Even more with Michael Sweet (Stryper front man) and Todd Kearns (Slash):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I31Sw_654rg

Now for Deep Purple, here is a song that I always loved and the radio NEVER played. Love the opening riff on this on.
 
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John Watt

Member
Florestan! You got me going on a musical journey here.
I bought "Deep Purple in Rock" after I saw their public rehearsal in Toronto.
The bass player in the only hard rock trio I ever had lent me his "Burn" and "Stormbringer" albums,
where we got more Deep Purple songs to do. Of all those songs, I still sing "Sail Away" to myself.
In a previous comment, when I said Deep Purple got funky, that was about "Sail Away".

If I heard "Never Before" I forgot, but as soon as I started listening,
I could hear the beginnings of Deep Purple funk, reminding me of "Sail Away".
That's when I went to get the YouTube link to that, sad to say it's just got an album graphic.
I looked at other lives ones by former members, but they weren't good enough.

Deep Purples' "Sail Away" had a synthesizer solo we all thought was lame,
and that instrumental passage ended with some over-dubbed guitars, leading back to the vocals.
Considering the heavy bass and drums, I would let my guitar start feeding back after the vocals,
and then we'd start riffing off like there was no tomorrow, easy to do in E minor.

If I remember Stryper at all, it's from seeing them in Rolling Stone and guitar magazines,
never having an album or seeing them live around here.
They come from the era when a lot of American bands didn't want to cross the border in to Canada,
so you might be seeing them as a band in a way I never could.
If American bands weren't playing live in Canada, they wouldn't get their music on the radio here,
unless it was an American owned station, and as a bar band we listened to local stuff,
just what people wanted to hear.
Deep Purple is very popular here, Canada always being their biggest sales market and for tours.

Right away, I'm thinking Stryper must be more of a band than I would imagine,
if they're doing Earth, Wind and Fires' "Shining Star", and they pull it off very nicely.
You can only say "Shining Star" is an r'n'b or funk based song,
so it didn't surprise me that "The Valley" had a slow, for hard rock, funky groove,
almost like "Sail Away" and "Never Before".
That was a nice video, a lot of artistic imagery, and they really are out in a desert,
maybe even Death Valley. Stryper wasn't afraid to get their message out,
at a time when a lot of people found it difficult to get past the hard rock vocals to hear the words,
especially if it was anything to do with being a Christian.

I've been saying hard rock because that's how I'm hearing them,
but "Bizarre", with the front man coming out with his own band is more heavy metal.
That's more about the drumming than changing the guitar style.
One of the comments says he's 54 years old here, looking and sounding very good,
so he must be following his own message in real life, something that gets my respect.

I don't know what it is,
but seeing a grown man with long hair all dressed in leather,
hopping backwards with his feet together and arms held up,
always got to me, just one of those stage moves that grabbed your attention.
That's another thing I liked, seeing the band moving around and having a good time.

I listened to "Burn" and was thinking, wow, we used to do that... I sang it... wow...
Considering what the new burn is in Ontario, legalized marijuana,
maybe I could slow it down and give it a slower burn,
where she's giving you some heat that isn't burning down your entire landscape.


 

John Watt

Member
I think this video doesn't need any of my comments.
Just the fact that it's here as new music says it all.
I gotta say the guitars do look ordinary without the stripes.


 
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