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The Beatles

Background informationOrigin Liverpool, EnglandGenre(s)Rock
Pop
Psychedelic rock Years active1960—1970
1994—1996(Partial Reunion) Label(s)Parlophone, Capitol, Apple, Odeon, Vee-Jay, United Artists, Atco, Swan, Tollie, PolydorWebsiteBeatles.comFormer membersJohn Lennon (1960–1970)
Paul McCartney (1960–1970)
George Harrison (1960–1970)
Ringo Starr (1962–1970)
Pete Best (1960–1962)
Stuart Sutcliffe (1960–1961)
Jimmy Nicol (1964 fill-in for ailing Ringo)

The Beatles were a highly influential English rock band from Liverpool, Merseyside. They are the most critically acclaimed and commercially successful popular music band in history.^[1][2] The innovative music and style of John Lennon1940–1980), Paul McCartney (b. 1942), George Harrison1943–2001), and Ringo Starr (b. 1940) helped to define the 1960s, and they continue to be held in high regard for their artistic achievements, their huge commercial success, their role in the history of popular music, and their contributions to popular culture. Although their initial musical style was rooted in the sounds of 1950s rock and roll, the group explored a great variety of genres, ranging from Tin Pan Alley to psychedelic rock. ( (

The Beatles were the best-selling popular musical act of the 20th century. In the United Kingdom alone, they released more than 40 different singles, albums, and EPs that reached number one. This commercial success was repeated in many other countries: EMI estimated that by 1985, the band had sold over one billion discs or tapes worldwide.^[3] The RIAA has certified The Beatles as the top selling artists of all time in America based on U.S. sales of singles and albums.^[4]

The Beatles were a major force behind the "British Invasion" of UK-based popular bands in the United States in the mid-1960s and they helped to pioneer more advanced, multi-layered arrangements in pop music. The Beatles' impact extended well beyond their music. Their clothes, hairstyles, and statements made them trend-setters from the 1960s to this day, while their growing social awareness — reflected in the development of their music — saw their influence extend into the social and cultural revolutions of the 1960s.

Contents

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History

Formation and early years

In March of 1957, John Lennon formed a skiffle group called The Quarrymen (fleetingly known as The Blackjacks). On July 6 of that year, Lennon met Paul McCartney while playing at the Woolton Parish Church Fete. On February 6 1958, the young guitarist George Harrison was invited to watch the group (then playing under a variety of names) perform at Wilson Hall, Garston, Liverpool ^[5] and he was soon a regular player. Paul had become acquainted with George (a year younger) at school, the Liverpool Institute, and on the morning school bus-ride; they had also grown up in a common neighbourhood (Speke). A few primitive recordings of Lennon, McCartney, and Harrison from that era have survived. During this period, members continually joined and left the lineup; Lennon, McCartney, Harrison and Stuart Sutcliffe (a classmate of Lennon at Liverpool Art College) emerged as the only constant members. Lennon and McCartney both played rhythm guitar, Harrison played lead guitar and Sutcliffe played bass. The group had a high turnover of drummers and McCartney played drums at gigs when they were drummerless.

The Quarrymen went through a progression of names — Johnny and The Moondogs, Long John and The Beatles, The Silver Beetles (derived from Larry Williams's suggestion "Long John and the Silver Beetles") — and eventually decided 17 August 1960 on "The Beatles". There are many theories as to the origin of the name and its unusual spelling; it is usually credited to John Lennon, who said that the name was a combination word-play on the insects "beetles" (as a nod/compliment to Buddy Holly's band, The Crickets) and the word "beat". He also later said that it was a joke, meaning a pun on "Beat-less". In her book John, Cynthia Lennon^[6] In addition to being a fan of the Crickets, Lennon is paraphrased as having said: "If you turn it round it was 'les beat', which sounded French and cool."^[6]tongue-in-cheek 1961 article in Mersey Beat magazine that "It came in a vision — a man appeared on a flaming pie and said unto them, 'From this day on you are Beatles with an A'."^[7]. (This story was later the inspiration for the title of one of McCartney's solo albums, Flaming Pie.) suggests that John came up with the name Beatles at a "...brainstorming session over a beer-soaked table in the Renshaw Hall bar...". Lennon, who became famous for giving multiple versions of the same story, also joked in a

In May of 1960, The Beatles were hired to tour the north-east of Scotland as a back-up band with singer Johnny Gentle^[8], who was signed to the Larry Parnes agency. They met Gentle an hour before their first gig, and McCartney referred to that short tour as a great experience for the band.^{[citation needed][9]} The band's van (driven by Gentle) had a head-on crash with another vehicle on their way back from Scotland; Moore lost some teeth and had stitches after being hit in the mouth by a guitar.^{[citation needed]} Nobody else was seriously injured. (Shortly afterwards, feeling the age gap was too great — and following his girlfriend's advice — Moore left the band and went back to work in a bottling factory as a fork-lift truck driver.)^[10] For this tour the chronically drummerless group secured the services of Tommy Moore, who was considerably older than the others.

Hamburg

Norman Chapman was their next drummer, but it lasted only for a few weeks, as he was called up for National Service. This was a real problem as their unofficial manager, Allan Williams, had arranged for them to perform in clubs on the ReeperbahnHamburg, Germany.^[11] Paul McCartney has often said that if any of The Beatles had been individually called-up for National Service — had it been extended for just a few more weeks — the band would never have come into existence, because of the different ages of the key members.^[12] in

In August of 1960, McCartney invited Pete Best to become the group's drummer after watching Best playing with The Blackjacks ^[13] in the Casbah Club. This was a cellar club operated by Best's mother Mona, in West Derby, Liverpool, where The Beatles had played and often used to visit^[14]. In the documentary The Compleat Beatles, Williams described Best's drumming as "not too cleverly, but passable."

They started in Hamburg by playing in the Indra and Kaiserkeller bars. They were told to play six or seven hours a night, seven nights a week. They went back a second time and played the Top Ten club for three months (April until June 1961). During this time period, Stuart Sutcliffe decided to remain in Germany to concentrate on painting and left the group. Sutcliffe's departure led McCartney to switch from playing rhythm guitar to bass guitar. While they were playing at the Top Ten they were recruited by singer Tony Sheridan to act as his backing band on a series of recordings for the German Polydor Records label, produced by famed bandleader Bert Kaempfert.^[11] Kaempfert signed the group to its own Polydor contract at the first session in June 1961. On October 31 Polydor released the recording "My Bonnie^[15] Their third stay in Hamburg was April 13 – May 31, 1962, when they opened The Star Club.^[11]brain hemorrhage. (Mein Herz ist bei dir nur)", which made it into the German charts under the name "Tony Sheridan and The Beat Brothers", a collective name used for whomever were in Sheridan's backup band. That stay was dampened when they were informed upon their arrival of Sutcliffe's death from a

Upon their return from Hamburg, the group was enthusiastically promoted by Sam Leach, who presented them for the next year and a half on various stages in Liverpool forty-nine times^[16]. Brian Epstein, manager of the record department at NEMS, his family's furniture store, took over as the group's manager in 1962 and led The Beatles' quest for a British recording contract. In one now-famous exchange, a senior Decca Records A&R executive named Dick Rowe turned Epstein down flat and informed him that "Guitar groups are on the way out, Mr. Epstein."^[17]

Record contract

Epstein eventually met with producer George Martin of EMI's Parlophone label. Martin expressed an interest in hearing the band in the studio; he invited the quartet to London's Abbey Road studios for an audition on 6 June.^[18] Martin had not been particularly impressed by the band's demo recordings, but he instantly liked them as people when he met them. He concluded that they had raw musical talent, but said (in later interviews) that what made the difference for him that day was their wit and humour in the studio.

Martin did have a problem with Pete Best, whom he criticised in The Compleat Beatles for not being able to keep time. He privately suggested to Brian Epstein that the band use another drummer in the studio. Best had some popularity and was considered good-looking by many fans, but the three founding members had become increasingly unhappy with his popularity and his personality, and Epstein had become exasperated with his refusal to adopt the distinctive hairstyle as part of their unified look. Epstein sacked Best on 16 August 1962. They immediately asked Ringo Starr (real name: Richard Starkey), the drummer for one of the top MerseybeatRory Storm and the Hurricanes, to join the band. The Beatles had met and performed with Starr previously in Hamburg. In fact, the first recordings of John, Paul, George, and Ringo together were as early as 15 October 1960, in a series of demonstration records privately recorded in Hamburg as backing group for singer Lu Walters.^[19] Starr played on The Beatles' second EMI recording session on 4 September 1962, but Martin hired session drummer Andy White for their next session on 11 September. groups

Their recording contract — in common with how shabbily new artists were treated in that era — paid them only one penny^{[citation needed]} This amounted to one farthing per group member. This royalty rate was further reduced for overseas sales, on which they received half of one penny (split between the whole band) for singles sales outside of the UK. George Martin said later that it was a "pretty awful" contract.^[20] Their publishing contract with Dick James Music (DJM) was also standard for the time; each writer received the statutory minimum of 50% of the gross monies received, with the publisher retaining the other 50%.^{[citation needed]} for every single sold, which was split among the four Beatles.

The Beatles' first EMI session on 6 June did not yield any releasable recordings but the September sessions produced a minor UK hit, "Love Me Do", which peaked on the charts at number 17. [1] ("Love Me Do" reached the top of the U.S. singles chart over 18 months later in May 1964.) This was swiftly followed by their second single "Please Please Me". Three months later they recorded their first album (also titled Please Please Me). The band's first televised performance was on a programme called People and Places transmitted live from Manchester by Granada Television on 17 October 1962.^[21]

America

Although the band experienced huge popularity in the record charts in the UK from early 1963, Parlophone's American counterpart, Capitol Records (owned by EMI), refused to issue the singles "Love Me Do", "Please Please Me" and "From Me to You"^[22] in the United States, partly because no British act had ever yet had a sustained commercial impact on American audiences.^{[citation needed]}Vee-Jay Records, a small ChicagoWLS, placed "Please Please Me" into radio rotation in late February 1963, making it possibly the first time a Beatles record was heard on American radio. Vee-Jay's rights to The Beatles were cancelled for non-payment of royalties.^[23] label, is said by some to have been pressured into issuing these singles as part of a deal for the rights to another performer's masters. Art Roberts, music director of Chicago powerhouse radio station

In August 1963, the Philadelphia-based Swan label tried again with The Beatles' "She Loves You", which also failed to receive airplay. A testing of the song on Dick Clark's TV show American Bandstand resulted only in laughter and scorn from American teenagers when they saw the group's Beatle haircuts. The famous radio DJ, Murray the K (Kaufman) featured "She Loves You" on his 1010 WINS record revue in October, to an underwhelming response.^{[citation needed]}

After The Beatles' huge success in 1964, Vee-Jay Records and Swan Records took advantage of their previously secured rights to The Beatles' early recordings and reissued the songs that they had rights to, which all reached the top ten of the charts the second time around. (MGM and Atco also secured rights to The Beatles' early Tony Sheridan-era recordings and had minor hits with "My Bonnie" and "Ain't She Sweet".) Vee-Jay ended up issuing some odd LP repackagings of the limited Beatles' material they had: as well as Introducing... The Beatles, which was essentally The Beatles' debut British album with some minor alterations, Vee-Jay also issued an unusual LP called The Beatles Vs The Four Seasons which put together songs from The Beatles and The Four Seasons (another successful act that Vee-Jay had under contract) in a 'contest': the back cover featured a 'score card'. Another unusual release was the Hear The Beatles Tell All album, which mixed interviews with the same early Beatles' material. It has been claimed that both Vee-Jay and Swan attempted legal fights with Capitol/EMI to secure full American contractual rights to The Beatles, which may have contributed to the eventual demise of both labels. It has also been said this fight to secure The Beatles took attention away from each label's most successful artists, The Four Seasons (Vee-Jay) and Freddy Cannon (Swan), who decided to move to more-established labels. The Vee-Jay/Swan-issued recordings eventually ended up with Capitol, who promptly issued most of the Vee-Jay material on the American-only Capitol release The Early Beatles. Many of the early Vee-Jay and Swan Beatles' records command a high price on the record collectors' market.^{[citation needed]} The Swan material was issued on the Capitol LP The Beatles' Second Album.

Beatlemania

In November 1963, The Beatles appeared on the Royal Variety Performance and were photographed with Marlene Dietrich who also appeared on the show. In early November 1963, Brian Epstein persuaded Ed Sullivan to commit to presenting The Beatles on three editions of his show in February, and parlayed this guaranteed exposure into a record deal with Capitol Records. Capitol committed to a mid-January release for "I Want to Hold Your Hand",^[24] but a series of unplanned circumstances triggered premature airplay of an imported copy of the single on a Washington DC radio station in mid-December. Capitol brought forward release of the record to 26 December 1963.^{[citation needed]}

Several New York radio stations — first WMCA, then WINS and WABC — began playing "I Want to Hold Your Hand" on its release day, and the Beatlemania that had started in Washington was duplicated in New York and quickly spread to other markets. The record sold one million copies in just ten days, and by 16 January, Cashbox Magazine had certified The Beatles record number one (in the edition published with the cover-date 23 January).^{[citation needed]}

This contributed to the hysterical fan reaction at JFK Airport on 7 February 1964. A record-breaking seventy-three million viewers — approximately 40% of the U.S. population at the time — tuned in to the first Sullivan appearance on 9 February. During the week of 4 April, The Beatles held the top five places on the Billboard Hot 100 (see The Beatles record sales, worldwide charts) — a feat that has never been repeated. They had an additional 7 songs at lower positions: 12% of the chart consisted of Beatles songs.[2]

In the summer of 1964 the band undertook their first appearances outside of Europe and North America, touring Australia and New Zealand (notably without Ringo Starr who was ill and was temporarily replaced by session drummer Jimmy Nicol). When they arrived in Adelaide, The Beatles were greeted by what is reputed to be the largest crowd of their touring career, when over 300,000 people turned out to see them; at the time Adelaide's population was roughly 200,000. In September that year baseball owner Charles O. Finley paid the band the then unheard of sum of $150,000 to play in Kansas City, Missouri.^{[citation needed]}

In 1965 Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II bestowed upon them the MBE, a civil honour nominated by Prime Minister Harold Wilson. The award, at that time primarily given to military veterans and civic leaders, sparked some conservative MBE recipients to return their awards in protest, which was widely reported in the British press and was even the lead item on the BBC television news. The first two were returned on 14 June, before The Beatles received theirs on 26 October 1965.^[25]

On 15 August that year, The Beatles performed the first stadium concert in the history of rock, playing at Shea Stadium in New York to a crowd of 55,600.^[26] The band later admitted that they had been largely unable to hear themselves play or sing, due to the screaming and cheering. This concert is generally considered the point at which began their disenchantment with performing live.^{[citation needed]}

Backlash and controversy

In July 1966, when The Beatles toured the Philippines, they unintentionally snubbed the nation's first lady, Imelda Marcos, who had expected the group to attend a breakfast reception at the Presidential Palace^{[citation needed]}. When presented with the invitation, Brian Epstein politely declined on behalf of the group, as it had never been the group's policy to accept such "official" invitations. The group soon found that the Marcos regime was unaccustomed to accepting "no" for an answer. After the snubbing was widely broadcast on Philippine television and radio, all The Beatles' police protection disappeared. The group and their entourage had to make their way to Manila airport on their own, with the authorities throwing up every road block they could to harass them as much as possible. At the airport, roadie Mal Evans was beaten and kicked, and The Beatles themselves were pushed and jostled about by a hostile crowd. Once the group boarded the plane, Epstein and Evans were ordered off, and Evans said, "Tell my wife that I love her..." (showing how seriously he thought the danger was of them both being shot). Epstein was forced to give back all the money that the band had earned while they were there before being allowed back on the plane (Anthology).

Almost as soon as they returned from the Philippines, an earlier comment by John back in March of that year launched a backlash against The Beatles from religious and social conservatives in the Bible Belt of the United States. In an interview with British reporter Maureen Cleave, Lennon had offered his opinion that Christianity was dying and that The Beatles were "more popular than Jesus now."^[27]

Afterwards, a radio station in Birmingham, Alabama, ran a bit on burning Beatles records because the comments, as a joke, in their opinion. Though many people affiliated with rural churches in the American South started taking this seriously. Towns across the United States and South Africa started to burn Beatles records in protest.

However, The Beatles observed wryly, "Hey, they've gotta buy 'em before they can burn 'em."^{[citation needed]} Under tremendous pressure from American media, Lennon apologised for his remarks at a press conference in ChicagoAugust 11, the eve of the first performance of what turned out to be their final tour.^{[citation needed]} on

The studio years

Ray Charles

Ray Charles
Background information Birth name Ray Charles Robinson Born September 23, 1930 in Albany, Georgia Died June 10, 2004 in Beverly Hills, California Genre(s) R&B, Soul, Blues, Pop, Jazz Occupation(s) Vocalist, musician, songwriter, arranger Instrument(s) Piano and other keyboard instruments, vocals Years active 1951 - 2004 Associated
acts The Raelettes Website http://www.raycharles.com/

Ray Charles was the stage name of Ray Charles RobinsonSeptember 23, 1930 – June 10, 2004). He was a pioneering American pianist and soul musician who shaped the sound of rhythm and blues^{[citation needed]}. He brought a soulful sound to country music, pop standards, and a rendition of "America the Beautiful" that Ed Bradley of 60 Minutes called the "definitive version of the song, an American anthem — a classic, just as the man who sang it."^[1] (

Frank Sinatra called him "the only true genius in the business."^[1][2]

Biography

Early years

Ray Charles Robinson was born in Albany, Georgia^[3] to Bailey and Aretha Robinson. Bailey had two more families, leaving Aretha to raise the family.

When Ray was five, his four-year-old brother George drowned in an outside washing tub.^[1] Not long after this event, Ray began to go blind, becoming totally blind by the age of seven.^[4] Charles never knew exactly why he lost his sight^[1], though there are sources which suggest Ray's blindness may have been due to glaucoma.^[4] He attended school at the Florida School for the Deaf and the Blind in St. Augustine, Florida, and he learned how to read braille there.^[4] He also learned how to write music and play various musical instruments.^[4] While he was there, his mother died. His father died two years later.

After he left school, Charles began working as a musician in Florida in several bands that played in various styles, including jazz and country music. Charles moved to Seattle in 1947^[4] or 1948^[5]. One of his first gigs was in a club called The Rocking Chair. He soon started recording, first for the label Swingtime Records, achieving his first hit with "Baby, Let Me Hold Your Hand" in 1951, then signed with Ahmet ErtegunAtlantic Records a year later.^[4] When he entered show business, his name was shortened to Ray Charles to avoid confusion with boxer Sugar Ray Robinson.^{[citation needed]} at

Middle years

Charles scored his first Atlantic hit in 1953 with the release of the Ahmet Ertegun-composed "Mess Around." He had another hit with his version of "It Should Have Been Me."

Charles' career went into high gear with the gospel drive of "I Got a Woman" (1955). This was followed by "This Little Girl of Mine," "Drown in My Own Tears," "Hallelujah I Love Her So," and "Lonely Avenue." Many of his songs at that time were gospel songs with secular lyrics. He also recorded many blues ballads.

Charles' landmark album Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music

The essence of this phase of his career^{[citation needed]} can be heard on his live album Ray Charles In Person, recorded before a mostly African American audience in Atlanta in 1956. This album also features the first public performance of "What'd I Say." It broke out as a hit in Atlanta from the tape, months before being recorded in the studio in a two-part version with better fidelity.

Shortly afterward, in an appearance at the Newport Jazz Festival he achieved mainstream success with "The Night Time (Is the Right Time)" which appeared on Ray Charles at NewportWhat'd I Say". (1959) and his signature song, "

Charles had already begun to go beyond the limits of the blues-gospel synthesis while still at Atlantic. He recorded with very large orchestras and with jazz artists like Milt Jackson and even made his first country music cover song with Hank Snow's "I'm Movin' On."

He then moved on to ABC Records in 1959^[4], where he was given a greater amount of control over his music. Charles went on to broaden his approach, not on experimental side projects, but with pop music, resulting in such hits as "Unchain My Heart", "You Are My Sunshine", and the #1 hits on the Billboard pop charts, "Georgia On My Mind" and "Hit the Road Jack." In 1962, Charles surprised his new, broader audience with his landmark album Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music, which included the Don Gibson penned "I Can't Stop Loving You" and "You Don't Know Me".

In 1961, Charles canceled a concert scheduled to take place in the Bell Auditorium in Augusta, Georgia to protest against segregated seating required by Jim Crow laws.

Later years

In 1965, Charles was arrested for possession of heroin, a drug to which he had been addicted for 17 years.^{[citation needed]}prisonLos Angeles.^[1] He spent a year on parole in 1966. It was his third arrest for the offense, but he avoided time after kicking the habit in a clinic in

During the 1960s and 1970s, Charles' releases were hit-or-miss^[4], with some big hits and critically acclaimed work, and some music that was dismissed as unoriginal and staid.^{[citation needed]} His version of "Georgia On My Mind," was proclaimed the state song of Georgia on April 24, 1979, with Charles performing it on the floor of the state legislature.^{[4][citation needed]}America the Beautiful." This act was significant in that it symbolized to many the move away from segregation and racism. He also had success with his unique version of "

In the late 1980s, a number of events increased Charles' recognition among young audiences. He made a cameo appearance in the popular 1980 film The Blues Brothers. In 1985, "Night Time is the Right Time" was featured in the episode "Happy Anniversary" of The Cosby Show on NBC. The cast members used the song to perform a wildly popular lip-synch that helped the show secure its wide audience.^{[citation needed]} In 1986, he performed his rendition of "America the Beautiful" at WrestleMania 2. Charles' new connection with audiences helped secure a advertising spot for Diet Pepsi.^{[citation needed]} In a Pepsi Cola commercial of the early 1990s, Charles popularized the catchphrase "You Got the Right One, Baby!"

In the late '80s and early '90s, Charles made appearances on The Super Dave Osbourne Show, where he performed and appeared in a few vignettes where he was somehow driving a car, often as Super Dave's chauffeur. At the height of his newfound fame in the early nineties, Charles did guest vocalsChaka Khan) on long time friend Quincy Jones' hit "I'll Be Good To You" in 1990, from Jones' album Back on the Block. for quite a few projects. He also appeared (with

Final appearances

Gladys Knight performed Charles' "Georgia On My Mind" during the Opening Ceremonies of the 1996 Olympic GamesAtlanta, Georgia. in

In 2002 Charles headlined during the Blues Passions CognacFrance. At one point in the performance a young fan rose to his feet and began to sing an a cappellaMess Around"; Charles responded by performing the song.^{[citation needed]} version of Charles' early song, " festival in southern

In 2003 Charles performed "Georgia On My Mind" and "America the Beautiful" at a televised annual electronic media journalist banquet held in Washington, D.C., at what may have been his final performance in public. Ray Charles' final public appearance came on April 30, 2004, at the dedication of his music studio as a historic landmark in the city of Los Angeles.^[4]

Cover of Genius Loves Company, an album released posthumously.

He died on June 10, 2004 of "liver disease"^[4], at his home in Beverly Hills, California, surrounded by family and friends. His death was not due to liver cancer as was erroneously reported on certain websites^[6] He was interred in the Inglewood Park Cemetery in Inglewood, California.

His final album, Genius Loves Company, released two months after his death, consists of duets with various admirers and contemporaries: B.B. King, Van Morrison, Willie Nelson, James Taylor, Gladys Knight, Michael McDonald, Natalie Cole, Elton John, Bonnie Raitt, Diana Krall, Norah Jones, Idina Menzel, and Johnny Mathis. The album won eight Grammy Awards, including five for Ray Charles for Best Pop Vocal Album, Album of the Year, Record of the Year and Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals for "Here We Go Again" with Norah Jones, and Best Gospel Performance for "Heaven Help Us All" with Gladys Knight; he also received nods for his duets with Elton John and B.B. King.

The album included a version of Harold Arlen's "Over the Rainbow", sung as a duet by Charles and Johnny Mathis; that recording was later played at his memorial service.^[7]

Discography

Deep Purple

Deep Purple
Background information Origin London, England Genre(s) Hard rock
Heavy metal Years active 1968–1976;
1984–Present Label(s) Edel Website deep-purple.com Members Ian Gillan
Steve Morse
Roger Glover
Don Airey
Ian Paice Former members Ritchie Blackmore
Jon Lord
David Coverdale
Glenn Hughes
Rod Evans
Tommy Bolin (deceased)
Joe Lynn Turner
Joe Satriani
Nick Simper

Deep Purple are an English hard rock band formed in London, England in 1968 (see 1968 in music). Along with Led ZeppelinBlack Sabbath, they are considered to be one of the pioneer contributors to the heavy metal and the hard rock genres. and

History

(1964–1967) Pre-Deep Purple years

The band Episode Six released several singles in the UK during the mid-sixties. It featured Ian Gillan on vocals, Graham Dimmock on guitar, Roger Glover on bass, Tony Lander on guitar, Sheila Carter on keyboards, and Harvey Shields on the drums. Despite extensive touring, they never had their big break.

In 1967, a band called The Flower Pot Men and their GardenThe Ivy League. It was concentrated on a trio of singers. The new name was clearly derived from the children's show The Flowerpot Men, with the obvious psychedelic-era puns on flower power and "pot". The band's most popular song was "Let's Go To San Francisco." Some listeners assumed that the song was a parody of Scott McKenzie's "If You're Going to San Francisco," but the band has denied this. It featured Tony Burrows, Neil Landon, Robin Shaw, and Pete Nelson on vocals, Ged Peck on guitar, Nick Simper on bass, Jon Lord on organ, and Carlo Little on drums. Jon Lord had formerly played in The Artwoods, Nick SimperScreaming Lord Sutch's had been with The Savages, where he also played with guitarist Ritchie Blackmore. was formed, formerly known as

(1967–1970) Breakthrough

Deep Purple on the cover of NME

In 1967, former Searchers drummer Chris Curtis contacted London businessman Tony Edwards in the hope that he would manage a new group he was putting together. Curtis’ idea was that the members of the group would get on and off a musical roundabout, and suitably impressed, Edwards agreed to finance the venture with two business partners: John Coletta and Ron Hire (Hire-Edwards-Coletta – HEC Enterprises).

Curtis then set about building up the group, to be known as Roundabout. His first encounter was with Hammond organJon Lord, then he persuaded session guitarist Ritchie Blackmore to return from Hamburg, Germany, to audition for the new group. Curtis himself, however, soon dropped out, but HEC Enterprises, as well as Lord and Blackmore, were keen that the project should continue, so firstly bassist Nick Simper, then finally vocalist Rod Evans and drummer Ian Paice (both of whom were from the group player The Maze), were recruited. After their first few gigs on a brief tour of Denmark in the spring of 1968, the band agreed on a new name suggested by Ritchie, taken from a song composed by Peter De Rose, Deep Purple which was his grandmother's favourite song.

In October 1968, the group had tremendous success in the USJoe South's "Hush," taken from their debut album Shades of Deep Purple, and they were booked to support Cream on their Goodbye tour. However they were soon kicked off the tour, allegedly because they were upstaging the headlining act. The band's second album, The Book of Taliesyn, was released in the United States to coincide with this tour, although it would not be released in their home country until the following year. 1969 saw the release of their third album, Deep Purple, which contained a symphonyorchestra on some tracks. After these three albums and extensive touring in the States, Rod Evans and Nick Simper were unceremoniously sacked, and replaced by vocalist Ian Gillan and bassist Roger Glover both ex-Episode Six. This would create the quintessential Deep Purple "Mark 2" lineup. Initially, this version of the band released a great single probably influenced by the then-popular stage musical "Hair", a cover of a Greenaway-Cook tune titled "Hallelujah", which flopped, and then the Concerto for Group and Orchestra, a three-movement epic composed by Lord and performed at the Royal Albert Hall with the Royal Philharmonic OrchestraMalcolm Arnold. Together with Five Bridges by The Nice, it was one of the first collaborations between a rock band and an orchestra, although at the time, certain members of Purple (Blackmore especially) were less than happy at the group being tagged as "a group who played with orchestras" when actually what they had in mind was to develop the band into a much tighter, hard-rocking style.

(1970–1976) At top of the world and breakup

Shortly after the orchestral release, the band began a hectic touring and recording schedule that was to see little respite for the next three years. Their first studio album of this period, released in mid-1970, was In Rock and contained concert staples "Speed King", "Into The Fire", and "Child in Time". The band also issued the UK Top Ten single "Black Night". Blackmore's and Lord's guitar-keyboard interplay coupled with Ian Gillan's howling vocals and the solid rhythm section of Glover and Paice, now started to become instantly recognizable. A second album, the slightly more mellow and progressive Fireball (a favourite of Gillan's but not of Blackmore's), was issued in the summer of 1971, including a number of enduring singles such as "Fireball", "Demon's Eye", "Fools", and "No One Came". The band also scored another chart hit with "Strange Kind Of Woman". Together with Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath, Purple were laying the groundwork for what is now called heavy metal music, although at the time, the phrase was still wholly unknown.

During 1972, Deep Purple continued to tour and record at a rate that would be rare thirty years on, releasing Machine Head, an album that was due to be recorded at a casino in Montreux, using the Rolling Stones Mobile Studio, but after a supposedly accidental fire during a Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention gig burned down the casino the album was actually recorded at the nearby Grand Hotel -- this incident famously inspiring the song "Smoke on the Water". Gillan believes that he witnessed a man fire a flare gun into the ceiling during the concert. Continuing from where both previous albums left off, adding more boogie and funkMachine Head has since remained one the band's most famous albums, including the singles "Highway Star", "Space Truckin'", "Lazy", "Pictures Of Home", and "Smoke on the Water". This album was followed a few months later by a live release, Made in Japan mostly recorded at three JapaneseOsaka and one in Tokyo, it is today still one of rock music's most popular live concert recordings (although at the time it was perhaps seen as less important, as only Glover and Paice turned up to mix it). influences, gigs- two in

The classic Purple Mk 2 line-up continued to work hard and record into 1973, releasing the album Who Do We Think We AreDavid Coverdale, and bassist Glenn Hughes, formerly of Trapeze. This new line-up continued into 1974 with the heavy blues/rock album Burn, another highly successful release, which contained the concert staples "Might Just Take Your Life", "You Fool No One", and "Mistreated". Hughes and Coverdale added a funky R&B/soulStormbringer. Besides the title track, the album had a number of singles that received much radio play, such as "Lady Double Dealer", "The Gypsy", and "Soldier Of Fortune". Yet Blackmore was not happy