Sunday night rock 'n' roll

Deep Purple are an English hard rock band formed in Hertfordshire in 1968. Along with Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath, they are considered one of the pioneers of heavy metal and modern hard rock, although the members of the band have always refused to label themselves as heavy metal. The band has also incorporated pop and progressive rock elements, was once listed by the Guinness Book of World Records as the world's loudest band, and has sold over 100 million albums worldwide.

The band has gone through many line-up changes and an eight-year hiatus. The 1968-76 line-ups are commonly labelled Mark I, II, III and IV. Their second and most commercially successful line-up featured: Ian Gillan (vocals), Ritchie Blackmore (guitar), Jon Lord (keyboards), Roger Glover (bass guitar) and Ian Paice (drums). This line-up was revived from 1984-89 and again in 1993 before the rift between Blackmore and other members became unbridgeable. The current line-up including guitarist Steve Morse has been much more stable, though Lord's retirement in 2002 has left Paice as the only original member.

I've seen Deep Purple a few times but probably won't see them again, as Ian Gillan's voice has pretty much had it and they spend too much of their act playing tracks from whatever their new album is rather than playing the classics that people have actually come to listen.

That said, at their peak they were one of the great rock bands of all time. The combined genius of Jon Lord and Richie Blackmore created classic rock songs that have stood the test of time. As far as live albums go, Made In Japan is in my top 10 live albums of all time.

I could include dozens of videos but have a maximum of four so here they are.

Black Knight



Smoke On The Water



When A Blind Man Cries



Lazy



(Nothing Follows)