In the 1970s Deep Purple

Deep Purple

The groups from the UK started in 1968 and are best known for their album work, than the singles. Sixty albums later and the group had really made a stamp on music history. Eight of those albums were top twenty hits in the UK in the 1970s. This heavy rock band did have single hits too.

  

1970 gave them a No. 2 UK hit with Black Night which is said to have originated from a bass line in Ricky Nelson’s song called Summertime. The song had Ian Gillan on vocals who left the band in 1973. Ritchie Blackmore on guitar and later went on to join the group Rainbow.

The song had Roger Glover on bass and he left in 1973, but he also worked with Nazareth and Judas Priest. John Lord and Ian Paice were the other two members, and this was the highest charting single Deep Purple would have.

1971 saw the group have another top ten single with Strange Kind Of Woman from the album Fireball, the original title was Prostitute, and is said to be based on someone they all knew who has since died. Fireball became the next single.

1973 saw the big comeback hit with Smoke On The Water from the album Machine Head. The song is famous for the guitar work played on the Fender Stratocaster Electric Guitar. The song is based on a fire in Switzerland that the band witnessed. They actually saw the smoke on the water.