Deep Purple

There's barely a budding guitarist anywhere in the world who hasn't taken a crack at the Ritchie Blackmore guitar lick that opens Deep Purple's "Smoke on the Water." That moment of glory was just 30 seconds' worth of Deep Purple's half-century career as one of England's definitive hard rock (with a foot in progressive rock) bands. Formed in 1968, they originally had a foot in psychedelia as well: Their first single "Hush," a slightly trippy version of the Joe South song, hit the US Top Ten; the follow-up single of Neil Diamond's "Kentucky Woman" charted as well. From the start, the sound was largely defined by the interplay of Blackmore's guitar and Jon Lord's classically-influenced keyboards. Original singer Rod Evans and bassist Nick Simper dropped out soon afterward, replaced by Ian Gillan and Roger Glover. Though Purple would see many personnel changes, this lineup, with Ian Paice on drums, would remain the definitive one. With this improved lineup, Purple joined Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath at the forefront of a new school of heavy rock. They also evinced some higher ambitions courtesy of Lord, whose album-length Concerto for Rock Band and Orchestra introduced the lineup in 1969. But more basic, piledriving rock would become Purple's calling card-especially on the 1972 album Machine Head which included "Smoke on the Water" (whose lyric told the story of the band's memorable gig in Switzerland where the venue was set on fire by "some stupid with a flare gun" during headliner Frank Zappa's set). Touring behind that album Purple recorded the live Made in Japan, showing off their instrumental firepower, with only seven songs on four sides. Intra-band squabbles led to Gillan and Glover being sacked at the height of Purple's popularity; the band brought in bassist Glenn Hughes and future Whitesnake singer David Coverdale as their replacements. They maintained their popularity for a time, via the strong 1974 album Burn. Then Blackmore also left, to be replaced by the gifted but heroin-addicted Tommy Bolin, and the band struggled through a tour before breaking up in 1976. For the next eight years the only band activity was a short-lived "Deep Purple" fronted by the long-missing Rod Evans, who got sued for touring under that name. The full Machine Head lineup reunited in 1984, once again coming out with a blaze of glory: The well-received Perfect Strangers proved that their vintage sound could still work in the MTV era. But once again they fell prey to in-fighting: Gillan was fired again, briefly replaced by Joe Lynn Turner (from Blackmore's spinoff band Rainbow). Then he returned and Blackmore stomped off. Guitar star Joe Satriani stepped in briefly, then Dixie Dregs leader Steve Morse got the nod. Though Morse's fusion style seemed an unlikely fit, he wound up revitalizing the band on the 1996 album Purpendicular. The new lineup proved remarkably stable, changing only when Lord died in 2012. Deep Purple made the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2016, with further squabbles as Blackmore got disinvited by the current band. 2017 brought the album Infinite-- their second with veteran Alice Cooper producer Bob Ezrin-and a tour billed as "The Long Goodbye."