Deep Purple
99 articles
Free articles
Breakfast of Champions: Deep Purple's Machine Head
Review by Metal Mike Saunders, Circular, 29 May 1972
IF YOU'RE OVER 20, you needn’t read on. Unless, of course, you want to hear why Deep Purple are a good group – just like ...
Deep Purple: Empire Pool, Wembley
Live Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 20 March 1976
THIS REVIEW SHOULD have been written in the white heat of anger after seeing Deep Purple play at the Empire Pool, Wembley, on Friday night. ...
Audio interviews
Deep Purple's Ritchie Blackmore (1973)
Interview by Jim Esposito, Rock's Backpages audio, 17 June 1973
Take the limo to Purple's West Palm Beach Arena show! Listen to Ritchie badmouth his bandmates! The rancour, the hatred, the splits, and the imminent departure of Ian Gillan and others!
File format: mp3; file size: 63.2mb, interview length: 1h 08' 58" sound quality: ***
Deep Purple's Ritchie Blackmore (1974)
Interview by Jim Esposito, Rock's Backpages audio, 10 March 1974
The Purple axe-wielder on the relationships within the band; recording latest album Burn in Montreux; finding David Coverdale and Glenn Hughes... and what the new chaps bring to the band.
File format: mp3; file size: 18.8mb, interview length: 20' 29" sound quality: ***
Interview by Mat Snow, Rock's Backpages audio, Fall 1990
Paice and Lord talk about the early days of Purple, up until the first departure of... Ian Gillan, who talks about both the first and second versions of Purple, but mostly about how much he hates Ritchie Blackmore!
Ian Paice & Jon Lord: File format: mp3; file size: 86mb, interview length: 1h 33' 54" sound quality: *** Ian Gillan: File format: mp3; file size: 64.4mb, interview length: 1h 10' 23" sound quality: * (phoner)
Interview by Mat Snow, Rock's Backpages audio, Fall 1990
Bassman Glover on his musical roots, and the early days; Blackmore on Ian Gillan and more...
Roger Glover: File format: mp3; file size: 75.1mb, interview length: 1h 22' 03" sound quality: ** Ritchie Blackmore: File format: mp3; file size: 69mb, interview length: 1h 15' 24" sound quality: **
List of articles in the library
Deep Purple: Shades Of Deep Purple (Parlophone)
Review by Miles, International Times, 4 October 1968
Rod Evans (voc); Jon Lord (voc, org); Nic Simper (bass gtr); Ritchie Blackmore (lead gtr); Ian Paice (drms). ...
Deep Purple: A tour with the Rolling Stones?
Profile and Interview by Derek Boltwood, Record Mirror, 25 January 1969
AND WHILE the rain falls in Britain, Deep Purple look out of their windows in America and the sun is shining a spotlight upon them ...
Deep Purple, John Mayall's Bluesbreakers, Sanpaku: Rose Palace, Pasadena CA
Live Review by John Mendelssohn, Los Angeles Times, 24 April 1969
Rock Shows Held at Pasadena Rose Palace ...
Deep Purple with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra: Royal Albert Hall, London
Live Review by Mark Williams, International Times, 10 October 1969
THE ALBERT Hall Concert on Wednesday September 24th, featuring Deep Purple in concert with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, was possibly the most important musical event ...
The Nice: Tear Gas, Stones and Broken Heads...
Live Review by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 18 October 1969
A NICE WEEKEND BY RICHARD WILLIAMS! ...
Deep Purple: In Live Concert At The Royal Albert Hall (Harvest)
Review by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 20 December 1969
THIS IS A live recording of the widely reported concert which took place recently when Deep Purple joined Malcolm Arnold and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra ...
Deep Purple: Lyceum Ballroom, London
Live Review by Roy Carr, New Musical Express, 11 July 1970
Deep Purple at riotous best ...
Rock Album Solved Deep Purple Rift
Report and Interview by Richard Green, New Musical Express, 22 August 1970
RECORDING AN album of rock did Deep Purple a lot more good than most people realize. It solved a lot of personal problems that arose ...
Deep Purple: The Smashing-Up Bit Is Valid!
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 26 September 1970
WHEN DEEP PURPLE smashed up their equipment on a TV show recently, here were howls of protest throughout the land. A flood of complaints hit ...
Single Success Puzzles Deep Purple
Interview by Richard Green, New Musical Express, 26 September 1970
3 months to make chart, but now, by leaping 15 places it's the week's fastest climber ...
Deep Purple: Rock Is Where We're At
Interview by Keith Altham, Record Mirror, 3 October 1970
ORGANIST JON Lord asserts triumphantly that with Deep Purple In Rock the group have finally found their true musical identities following their early 'success' as ...
Deep Purple: An Interview with Jon Lord
Interview by uncredited writer, Beat Instrumental, November 1970
DEEP Purple, since their formation from the debris of the Artwoods, Lord Sutch and others have become increasingly recognized as one of the most progressive ...
Various, Drum Bash: Bumpers Club, London
Live Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 20 March 1971
DEAFENING fun! That was the all-star drum conversation held at London's Bumpers Club last week. ...
Deep Purple: commercial without compromise
Interview by Richard Green, New Musical Express, 27 March 1971
FOR DEEP Purple fans the end of an era is approaching. After late April or May, familiar numbers like 'Speed King', 'Child In Time' and ...
Deep Purple: A compromise in five parts
Interview by Richard Green, New Musical Express, 24 April 1971
RICHIE BLACKMORE talks to RICHARD GREEN ...
Interview by Keith Altham, Record Mirror, 1 May 1971
THE CRY most likely from the touchline as Deep Purple rocket on from standing ovation to standing ovation in the next few weeks is "bring ...
Deep Purple: Roundhouse, London
Live Review by Richard Green, New Musical Express, 8 May 1971
THIS COULD easily be a review consisting entirely of superlatives, but it wouldn't be so easy to understand unless you were actually at the Roundhouse ...
Deep Purple: The Roundhouse, London
Live Review by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 8 May 1971
ALTHOUGH it wasn't one of Deep Purple's best nights on Friday, it was certainly one of the best nights of the Camden Festival with London's ...
Deep Purple Celebrate Year In LP Chart
Interview by Richard Green, New Musical Express, 19 June 1971
"I'M VERY proud of In Rock. We knew it was going to sell because we'd done six months of concerts and we knew it would ...
Iceland Gives Deep Purple (and our Richard Green) a Hot Reception!
Report by Richard Green, New Musical Express, 26 June 1971
There may be snow on peaks but there's fire down below! ...
Interview by Richard Green, Hit Parader, July 1971
POP SNOBBERY. According to Ian Gillan, of Deep Purple, it's when groups get so selective in their attitude towards work that they cut their dates ...
Deep Purple: "The Stones Are Out Of Date" — Ian
Interview by Keith Altham, Record Mirror, 10 July 1971
DEEP PURPLE are the band who made it in spite of the critics, the press and most of the mass media and, for that alone, ...
Profile and Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 11 September 1971
OFTEN ABUSED BY critics and disc jockeys, Deep Purple have won through during the past two years to become one of this country's top groups. ...
Deep Purple: Too Much Work — But It's Not For The Money
Interview by Richard Green, New Musical Express, 11 September 1971
RICHARD GREEN talks to DEEP PURPLE'S RITCHIE BLACKMORE ...
Deep Purple, Bullet: Guildhall, Portsmouth
Live Review by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 18 September 1971
Purple patch ...
Deep Purple: Guildhall, Portsmouth
Live Review by Richard Green, New Musical Express, 18 September 1971
LITTLE DID the capacity crowd at Portsmouth Guildhall on Monday night know just how new Deep Purple's opening number 'Highway Star' really was. On the ...
Essay by Metal Mike Saunders, New Haven Rock Press, January 1972
TIME AGAIN for one of those legendary matchups, a method which has in the past answered such immortal questions as: Could Eric Clapton shut down ...
Deep Purple: Orchid Ballroom, Purley
Live Review by Roy Carr, New Musical Express, 4 March 1972
FORGET ABOUT chart placing and record sales for just one moment. The true testing point of any big group is its drawing capacity at the ...
Deep Purple: Machine Head (Purple Records, TPSA 7504, £2.40)
Review by Andrew Tyler, Disc and Music Echo, 1 April 1972
Just a flash of inspired Purple ...
Deep Purple: Machine Head (Purple)
Review by Richard Green, New Musical Express, 1 April 1972
Purple: what we've got is a lot ...
Deep Purple: Victims Of Their Own Fame
Interview by Keith Altham, New Musical Express, 8 April 1972
DEEP PURPLE'S new album Machine Head comes to you courtesy of the Rolling Stones' redoubtable studio manager Ian Stewart who saved their famous mobile recording ...
Review by Metal Mike Saunders, Phonograph Record, May 1972
I was pretty pleased with the new Deep Purple album when it first came in the mail, since it was a good heavy metal album ...
Review by Jim Esposito, Zoo World, 15 June 1972
2013 NOTE: When Machine Head shipped in '72 it was just another album, the latest release by an up-and-coming heavy metal band, stuck in the ...
Deep Purple: Machine Head (Warner Brothers 2607)
Review by Jon Tiven, Fusion, July 1972
YA DON'T judge Lew Alcindor by Fran Tarkenton, and you can't judge Deep Purple by the Move so let's fergit any angles like that because ...
Deep Purple: Rainbow Theatre, London
Live Review by Tony Norman, New Musical Express, 8 July 1972
THE RAINBOW came back to life on Friday night with a snarl, a cheer and a smile. The near-capacity crowd had come to see Deep ...
Deep Purple: Made In Japan (Purple TPSP 351 £3.25)
Review by Rosalind Russell, Disc, 16 December 1972
Deep in the heart of Japan ...
Deep Purple: So Dreadfully Hot Here In The Colonies
Report by Jim Esposito, Zoo World, 23 December 1972
"WHERE'S THE booze?" ...
Deep Purple: Sometimes I Feel There's a Conspiracy Against Us...
Interview by James Johnson, New Musical Express, 27 January 1973
IAN PAICE talking to JAMES JOHNSON ...
Who Do Deep Purple Think They Are?
Interview by Jim Esposito, Rock, 26 February 1973
2021 INTRODUCTION: Wrote this story based on interviews I had with Deep Purple the night they played Pirate's World in Dania, Florida, on December 16th, ...
Deep Purple: Who Do We Think We Are!
Review by Lester Bangs, Phonograph Record, March 1973
HOT DAMN, it's a new Deep Purple album! ...
Deep Purple: Who Do Purple Think They Are?
Interview by Keith Altham, New Musical Express, 17 March 1973
IN CONTEXT, WE'RE AS VALID AS ANYTHING BY BEETHOVEN. ...
Deep Purple: Who Do We Think We Are? and Made In Japan
Review by Robot A. Hull, Creem, April 1973
DEEP PURPLE sure does play a godamn LOUD concert. I thought Cactus and Johnny Winter were bad, but hell Jon Lord knows how to cave ...
Review by Jon Tiven, Rolling Stone, 24 May 1973
DEEP PURPLE have had a rough time gaining and retaining the status of being Kings of the Heavy Metal Set, and with the release of ...
Deep Purple: An Unpublished Interview with Ritchie Blackmore
Interview by Jim Esposito, unpublished, June 1973
2012 NOTE: This Q&A hails from circa June 1973, for an interview published in Creem in September that year. It broke the story about the ...
Deep Purple: Who'll Be Purple's New Voice?
Report by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 30 June 1973
THE NEWS that Ian Gillan is to leave Deep Purple comes at a time when the group are on the crest of world-wide acclaim. Yet ...
Deep Purple: A New Bassman — But Still No Singer
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 14 July 1973
"PAUL RODGERS was asked to join us, but there were just too many things in the way. Apart from just the contractual side of it, ...
Deep Purple: Purple, Introducing The…Err…Unknown Mr. Coverdale
Report and Interview by Tony Stewart, New Musical Express, 29 September 1973
PURPLE RECORDS took the press down to Clearwell Castle on the Welsh-English border last week to meet their new singer boy. The name of this ...
Review by Charles Shaar Murray, New Musical Express, 16 February 1974
NEW LINE-UP time, folks. As all you well-informed young people will have been aware for nigh on a full season, Ian Gillan has left to ...
Review by Ken Barnes, Rolling Stone, 25 April 1974
DEEP PURPLE'S first album since last year's departure of vocalist Ian Gillan and bassist/composer Roger Glover is a passable but disappointing effort. ...
Various Artists: California Jam Festival: Ontario Motor Speedway, Ontario CA
Live Review by David Rensin, Zoo World, 23 May 1974
"Bastion Of Ennui" nets record gate. ...
Deep Purple: Monsters of the Deep
Report and Interview by Lester Bangs, New Musical Express, 8 June 1974
I'M SITTING on Deep Purple's jet waiting to take off from Detroit Metro. The accommodations are luxurious and the general mood is a Saturday afternoon ...
Black Sabbath and Deep Purple: Who Really Are The Kings Of Heavy Metal?
Comment by Jon Tiven, Circus Raves, November 1974
ONE HALF-DECADE ago, Black Sabbath couldn't get a favorable review if they begged for it – and beg they didn't. ...
Review by Pete Makowski, Sounds, 2 November 1974
IT IS going to be interesting to see the fans' and critics' reaction when they lay their hands on Stormbringer. ...
Deep Purple: Stormbringer (Purple Records)
Review by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 2 November 1974
'Stormbringer'; 'Love Don't Mean A Thing'; 'Holy Man'; 'Hold On'; 'Lady Double Dealer'; 'You Can't Do It Right'; 'High Ball Shooter'; 'The Gypsy'; 'Soldiers of ...
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 2 November 1974
THE FORTUNES of Deep Purple have taken strange paths over the past 12 months. But changes in line-up and strange stories about their antics in ...
Deep Purple summon the Thunder Gods with Stormbringer
Interview by Jon Tiven, Circus Raves, January 1975
In the midst of Purple's whirlwinds of sound and fury, the band remained silent about their brooding motives. But in a rare interview Ritchie Blackmore ...
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 25 January 1975
A CURIOUS MARRIAGE of convenience. That is how the link between American lead guitarist Tommy Bolin and British speed rock band Deep Purple might appear ...
Report and Interview by Jon Tiven, Circus Raves, March 1975
DAVID COVERDALE cocked his head forward and let loose with a thunderous growl to counter Ritchie's furious riff-picking. Glenn Hughes directed his bass notes at ...
Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 28 June 1975
RITCHIE BLACKMORE'S DEPARTURE from Deep Purple comes as no surprise to followers of Deep Purple who have watched their activities closely over the years. For ...
Interview by Steven Rosen, Creem, November 1975
THE CALIFORNIA CLIME seems to agree with Ritchie Blackmore, a usually unhealthy looking fellow whose complexion runs somewhere between spoiled flour and banana yogurt and ...
Deep Purple: Let Your Fingers Do The Talking…
Report and Interview by Jim Esposito, unpublished, 14 December 1975
… or Ritchie Blackmore Is Right. He Probably Could Wipe Up The Floor With Most Guitarists. ...
Ian Gillan: Rock And Roll's In Gillan's Soul
Interview by Pete Makowski, Sounds, 13 March 1976
"We all came out to Montreux, On the lake Geneva shoreline. To make a record with a mobile, We didn't have much time." ...
Deep Purple: Empire Pool, Wembley
Live Review by Tony Stewart, New Musical Express, 20 March 1976
AT THE Empire Pool, Deep Purple rule. The roaring audience of ten thousand or so press their hands to their heads as their ears get ...
Deep Purple: Why The Purpling Had To Stop
Interview by Tony Stewart, New Musical Express, 31 July 1976
In which TONY STEWART listens patiently while IAN PAICE and DAVID COVERDALE explain (within the limits of decent reticence and Not Ratting On Mates)... ...
Review by Lester Bangs, Circus, 28 February 1977
LET'S SEE, as of now I have written two features on Deep Purple, plus, uh, I reviewed In Rock, Machine Head, and Who Do We ...
Deep Purple: Deeper Shades of Purple
Report and Interview by Deborah Frost, Circus, 12 May 1977
DEEP PURPLE. The name itself was synonymous with the rock genre it perfected; Deep Purple was heavy metal. Unleashing waves of relentless decibels upon worshippers ...
Ritchie Blackmore: Wailing over the Purple Rainbow
Interview by Steven Rosen, Guitar Player, 1978
WHILE RITCHIE Blackmore’s Baroque-tinged shred solos make him the in-vitro father of today’s progressive- and classical-metal movement (just ask Yngwie), his foot-stomping power chords in ...
Ritchie Blackmore: I Want To Tell You What I've Been Doing
Interview by Jon Young, Trouser Press, July 1978
AS DAVE SCHULPS and I rolled along in the darkness to our impending interview, we were filled with apprehension. After all, Ritchie Blackmore has never ...
Are You A Whore For Rock 'N' Roll?
Report by Rosalind Russell, Record Mirror, 20 December 1979
ROSALIND RUSSELL thinks most of you are ...
Ritchie Blackmore: Rock of Ages
Retrospective by Chris Charlesworth, Smash Hits, 19 March 1981
IT'S A MIGHTY LONG WAY DOWN ROCK AND ROLL AND RITCHIE BLACKMORE HAS GOT THE SCARS TO PROVE IT. CHRIS CHARLESWORTH TRACES THE TWENTY YEAR ...
Book Excerpt by Stuart Grundy, John Tobler, 'The Guitar Greats' (BBC Books), 1983
ONE REASON for the selection of ace heavy metal guitarist Ritchie Blackmore as one of our subjects relates to a previous, slimmer and somewhat inferior ...
Interview by Sylvie Simmons, Sounds, 3 November 1984
"WE ALL CAME IN at different times. Paicey and I walked in – we'd booked a conference room in Greenwich, Connecticut overlooking the harbour, and ...
Deep Purple: Perfect Strangers
Review by Deborah Frost, Rolling Stone, 28 February 1985
The title track comes blasting out of nowhere, like an I'm-alive-and-well message from an old friend you'd given up for dead. With its steamy vocal ...
Interview by Sylvie Simmons, Creem, March 1985
DEEP PURPLE. Two words that mean so much to so many. It's been 13 years since DP – the DP, Gillan, Glover, Paice, Lord and ...
Deep Purple, The Scorpions, Meat Loaf et al: Knebworth Fayre, Knebworth, Hertfordshire
Live Review by Steffan Chirazi, Sounds, 29 June 1985
THIS IS the second Dark Age. It's gotta be. Either that or it's a farmyard. Either that or it's a British festival. Oh oh, it's ...
Interview by Pete Makowski, Metal Hammer, 20 June 1988
"Rock'n'Roll is the perfect art which conceals art, that satisfying spontaneity which can be achieved only by taking intense thought" – Kathleen Cleaver (paraphrased) ...
Overview by Stuart Maconie, New Musical Express, 19 January 1991
Bring your good taste to be slaughtered! To mark Iron Maiden's ground-breaking success (any bleedin' excuse — Ed), STUART MACONIE investigates the subtle and many-faceted ...
Deep Purple: Musical Differences?
Profile and Interview by Mat Snow, Q, February 1991
Ian hated Ritchie. Ritchie hated Ian. Roger had to go, but then he came back. Jon stayed, and David joined. Then Ritchie left — and ...
Retrospective by Tom Hibbert, MOJO, May 1994
Born too late for The Beatles, too early for punk. 1969 was not a good year to be starry-eyed and 17. So tell us, Tom ...
Interview by Jim Irvin, MOJO, December 1994
THE THIRD VERSION OF DEEP PURPLE TO FEATURE Ian Gillan on lead vocal has just toured the world. Shortly before the Japanese leg, guitarist Ritchie ...
Review and Interview by Sylvie Simmons, MOJO, December 1996
Second album by Deep Purple’s mark II line-up of Ian Gillan, Ritchie Blackmore, Jon Lord, Roger Glover and Ian Paice, rereleased on its 25th anniversary. ...
Mr. Coverdale and His Enormous Snake
Interview by Ian Fortnam, bol.com, September 2002
THE GENTLEMAN rock star lounges decorously before us, a cigarette steadily smouldering between his fingers. ...
Worst Idea in the History of Music: Concerto for Jon Lord and george
Comment by Clinton Walker, Limelight, 2003
AN EMAIL ARRIVED for me a little while back, just after the program for the 2003 Sydney Festival was released. Titled THE WORST IDEA IN ...
Retrospective and Interview by Kieron Tyler, MOJO, January 2003
They invented symphonic rock, wrote the world's dumbest riff and excelled in lunacy, greed and very long solos. Kieron Tyler charts the stop-start metal excess ...
Deep Purple/Peter Frampton/Thunder: Newcastle Arena
Live Review by Rahul Shrivastava, bbc.co.uk, 10 November 2004
DEEP PURPLE burst out of the British underground during the late '60s, shedding their early US psychedelic sound in favour of a heavy, more aggressive ...
Deep Purple: Rapture Of The Deep
Review by Rahul Shrivastava, bbc.co.uk, 2005
AFTER THE PLODDING Abandon, and the disposable Bananas, you'd be forgiven for not expecting too much from Purple's latest offering. ...
Deep Purple: 'Smoke On The Water' (Warners)
Retrospective by Johnny Black, Blender, May 2005
Performers : Ritchie Blackmore – guitar; Ian Gillan – vocals; Jon Lord – keyboards; Roger Glover – bass; Ian Paice – drums; Producer: Martin Birch; ...
Richie Blackmore: Blackmore's Nightmare
Retrospective by Pete Makowski, Classic Rock, March 2006
"I'm at that stage where I will play anything I want to. I will not be dictated to by fans or people who say: 'You ...
Deep Purple: Around The World Live (Eagle Vision)
Film/DVD/TV Review by Paul Elliott, Classic Rock, July 2008
Four-disc set documenting the Steve Morse era and Jon Lord's farewell. ...
Retrospective and Interview by Johnny Black, Hi-Fi News & Record Review, March 2010
TO GET THE POINT of Machine Head you must first understand what it is not. ...
Deep Purple: The Vinyl Collection '72 to '87
Review by Luke Torn, Uncut, March 2016
Hard rock pioneers' studio prime, remastered and recaptured on vinyl across seven LPs. ...
Interview by Rob Hughes, Classic Rock, May 2020
RH: Who was the first guitarist to really capture your imagination? ...
Live Review by Chris Charlesworth, Just Backdated, October 2022
TO THE 02 by riverboat, courtesy of my old friends Deep Purple, though only three survive from the group I covered extensively for Melody Maker between 1970 ...
see also Artwoods, The
see also Ritchie Blackmore
see also Tommy Bolin
see also David Coverdale
see also Ian Gillan
see also Rainbow
back to LIBRARY
