Take Five: Deep Purple Making Their Mark

Deep Purple are heavyweights in the world of rock. Listeners around the globe know the British group’s biggest hits, including the signature track “Smoke on the Water” from the band’s masterful 1972 LP Machine Head. But before and after creating that hit track, Deep Purple turned out quite a bit more of the finest music of the rock era.

The band continues to this day with classic-era members Ian Paice (drums), Roger Glover on bass and lead vocalist Ian Gillan. Not content to simply churn out the old hits, Deep Purple has released four well-received albums so far this decade. Set for release in July, Splat! is the band’s 24th and latest studio album.

Over the years, Deep Purple underwent many lineup reorganizations; each brought with it a change – sometimes subtle, other times significant – in their musical approach. Fans often refer the lineups by “marks,” and the first four yielded much of the music upon which Deep Purple built its reputation. (By that measure, the current lineup – in place since 2022 – is Deep Purple Mark IX.) Today I’m highlighting notable songs from each of the early lineups.

“Hush” from Shades of Deep Purple (1968)
Deep Purple Mark I launched in 1968, and made their debut album almost immediately after landing a record deal. A mix of original and cover material, Shades of Deep Purple showcased a hard rock sound with progressive elements. Powerful lead singer Rod Evans, guitar wizard Richie Blackmore and organist Jon Lord all shine on tracks like an inventive reading of Joe South’s “Hush,” a No. 4 hit single in the U.S. The original lineup also made two more albums, the psychedelic-flavored The Book of Taliesyn and a self-titled LP, both 1969.

“First Movement: (Moderato-Allegro)” from Concerto for Group and Orchestra (1970)
With new members Ian Gillan (on vocals) and bassist Roger Glover, Deep Purple Mark II debuted with a non-charting single, “Hallelujah.” But they followed it up with an ambitious work, the live Concerto for Group and Orchestra, an epic composition by Jon Lord. That groundbreaking release charted in the UK, Canada, Germany and the U.S. In the years since its release, Deep Purple has mounted performances of Lord’s work on select occasions, and orchestras around the globe have featured it in their repertoires as well.

“Space Truckin’” from Machine Head (1972)
Guitarist Richie Blackmore disliked the orchestral approach, so Deep Purple Mark II moved decisively back toward hard rock for their next release. Even the title of 1970’s Deep Purple in Rock would make the shift explicit. The Mark II lineup would produce three more smash studio albums – Fireball (1971), 1972’s Machine Head and Who Do We Think We Are from 1973 – plus the Platinum-selling double live set Made in Japan. While fans acclaim many eras of the band’s history as peak Purple, Machine Head would be their biggest success in the U.S. “Space Truckin’” found the band firing on all cylinders, with a thunderous bottom-end, a memorable rock-solid core riff and some banshee wailing from Gillan.

“Burn” from Burn (1974)
Both Gillan and Glover left Deep Purple in 1973 (though both would return years later). In their places came bassist Glenn Hughes and then-unknown vocalist David Coverdale. The 1974 album’s title song, opening track and single, “Burn” introduced the Deep Purple Mark III lineup to the world, and made it to the No. 5 spot on Billboard’s “Bubbling Under” chart. The Burn album top-tenned in more than a dozen countries, reaching No. 1 in four. The Mark III lineup would release one more studio album, 1974’s Stormbringer.

“Gettin’ Tighter” from Come Taste the Band (1975)
Guitarist Blackmore left after the release of Stormbringer; in his place came Tommy Bolin, formerly of Zephyr and The James Gang. The Mark IV lineup made only one studio record, the funk-flavored Come Taste the Band. Neither that album nor its single “Gettin’ Tighter” would sell as well as previous efforts (though retrospective reviews praise the music), and Deep Purple went inactive after its release. They would return nearly a decade later, with Gillan, Glover and Blackmore back in the fold for 1984’s Perfect Strangers.