Deep Purple: News, History & Updates

Deep Purple Biography by Greg Prato

Excerpts from Greg’s books for Alternative Nation

WENDY DIO [Ronnie James Dio’s wife and manager]: Deep Purple I grew up with – I loved them. Their album, [1969’s] ‘The Book of Taliesyn,’ was one of my favorites, and that was with Rod Evans and Nick Simper – before Ian Gillan or Roger Glover came into the picture. I loved that band. A real classical band – of course, they did things with an orchestra afterwards [1970’s ‘Concerto for Group and Orchestra’].

DAVID “ROCK” FEINSTEIN [Elf guitarist]: Ritchie Blackmore was one of my idols. When the first Elf album [featuring a pre-fame Ronnie James Dio on vocals] came out, the idea of us going on tour with Deep Purple was like the ultimate thing for me, because I loved Deep Purple, and I loved Ritchie Blackmore. It was Jeff Beck, Ritchie Blackmore, Jimi Hendrix – those are the guys that were an inspiration to me. After the Elf album was recorded, the first tour we did with Deep Purple, I wanted to meet Ritchie. The roadies were there setting up, and I said, “Where’s Ritchie’s dressing room? I want to meet him.” And they said, “On no. You can’t.” There were all these stories going around about Ritchie throwing bands off the tour and stuff like that – which was a bunch of crap, really.

But I said, “No. I want to meet him.” So they told me where it was, and I went down to where the dressing room was, knocked on the door, Ritchie answered, and I introduced myself. I said to him, “I just want to ask you one question – I want to know who your favorite guitar player is.” And he said, “Jeff Beck is my favorite guitar player.” And I said, “Well, Jeff Beck is my favorite guitar player, also…but you’re my second favorite guitar player!” I think Ritchie is a great guy and an incredible player, and that’s how the relationship started with Elf and Deep Purple.

CRAIG GOLDY [Dio guitarist]: For me, music was like my only friend. I came from an abusive family – I left home at the age of fourteen and lived on the streets. So I had my little tape recorder with me and I bought batteries and had a wind-up clock to wake myself up to change clothes and go to work. But that music was always the thing that I turned to. That was like “my friend.” Because I was kind of an oddball, and that music calls to the downtrodden and the black sheep of the globe. But Deep Purple was also really good at being interestingly simple and to be able to attract the musicians and the non-musicians – the girls and the guys. Those guys were great at that. So all of a sudden, it was like…they disappeared. I didn’t understand fully the dynamic of what it was like to be in a band with people who are such alpha males. I could only imagine David Coverdale, Glenn Hughes, Jon Lord, Ian Paice, and I could see that ‘Stormbringer’ was…I loved ‘Stormbringer,’ but I can see why it disenchanted Ritchie, because it was kind of going more towards the R&B.

BRIAN TATLER [Diamond Head guitarist]: It’s [Ritchie Blackmore’s] trademark – a Fender Strat. I used to have a poster on my bedroom wall of Deep Purple, and he had a Gibson 335. A red one. Most of the time in Deep Purple, he seemed to play…I think he played a 335 on the In Rock album. After that, he seemed to move on to the Strat. That became his main guitar, and that is why I bought a Strat – because I thought he looked super-cool. I liked his sound – he was able to get a fantastic sound. And I could never get that sound out of a Strat and a Marshall, like Blackmore got. I don’t know quite how he did it, because often, a Strat can be a bit wiry and a bit thin – with the single coil pickup. But somehow, Blackmore’s sound was always very powerful. It never sounded thin or weak. Fantastic playing.

RUDY SARZO [Quiet Riot/Ozzy Osbourne/Whitesnake/Dio bassist]: When you hear a Blackmore song or solo, there’s a certain uniqueness to it – choice of notes, articulation, and the fact that he’s playing a Stratocaster. I play with a lot of guys who play Stratocasters, and they’re the most unforgiving guitar that you can play. Because “garbage in/garbage out” – if you don’t know how to play, don’t even try a Stratocaster. Just stick to something else that’s going to be a little bit more forgiving – like a Les Paul.

GLENN HUGHES [ex-Deep Purple bassist]: We were rehearsing at Pirate Sound [in 1975, after Blackmore left]—that’s where we were ‘auditioning,’ if you will. We only auditioned two people—Clem Clempson, and then Tommy [Bolin]. Clem didn’t get the gig, not because of his ability as a guitar player—I think it was because to fill Ritchie Blackmore’s boots, you have to be a character. Tommy on the other hand . . . when I walked in and saw him, I shouted across the room, “Whatever happens, you’re coming home with me!” We were just peas in the pod together. Tommy’s a Leo; he’s a sensitive, funny, and very sweet man. An artist, y’know? I saw he had the Echoplex set up on a stand, his Hiwatt’s, and just the way he picked up the guitar—he was going to get the job. I particularly wasn’t looking for a Ritchie Blackmore clone. Let’s just say that if Yngwie Malmsteen would have been present at that time in the ‘70s, I probably wouldn’t have wanted to go for a clone of Blackmore. As we didn’t clone [Ian] Gillan and [Roger] Glover with Coverdale and Hughes. So I think getting him in, we weren’t interested in jamming old Purple songs that day. We wanted to just forge ahead. And lo and behold, I think we started coming up with stuff immediately—that first day. For me, Paicey, and Lordy, that’s what we liked to do anyway—jam a lot. We probably shouted out some chords and drifted off into some jazz stuff. And then we probably picked up the tempo and played some really intense rock stuff. It was a very brief audition, because we knew he’d probably got the gig.

DAVID COVERDALE [Whitesnake singer, ex-Deep Purple singer]: It’s unfair for me, to be honest [to compare Tommy to Blackmore]. Tommy, as it’s pretty well documented now, embraced the peripheral aspects of the music business—to a debilitating degree at times. My disagreements at times with Ritchie Blackmore were more personality-based, and not alcohol or drug-based. That was an uncomfortable spiral downwards, I felt. I think one of the things that was really difficult for Tommy is that he was looked upon as ‘a replacement guitarist.’ Y’know, he replaced Joe Walsh in the James Gang. He told me people would shout out, “Joe!” The more insensitive members of the audience. [Purple would split in 1976, with Bolin dying on Deceber 4th that year, at the age of 25]

ERIC BLOOM [Blue Öyster Cult singer/guitarist]: As far as album sales go, Deep Purple buries Rainbow [Blackmore’s post-Purple band]. Not to cast any aspersions on Rainbow, and also you’ve got to remember, Deep Purple has longevity, and at one point in this conversation, let’s say the early ‘70s into the mid ‘70s, Deep Purple was the biggest band in the world. I’m a huge Deep Purple fan, and they’re great guys. It’s hard to compare, because both have their own strengths and also there’s been versions of Rainbow that have nothing to do with other versions of Rainbow. And Deep Purple does have a certain amount of continuity.

QUOTE SOURCES (CLICK LINKS FOR ORDER INFO):
All quotes are from The Other Side of Rainbow, except for Glenn Hughes and David Coverdale quotes are from Touched by Magic: The Tommy Bolin Story