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Deep Purple Mk. 1: L-R Ritchie Blackmore, Jon Lord, Rod Evans, Nick Simper, Ian Paice

Deep Purple Mark One

I shall be of more service to thee than the 300 salmon...

Jon Lord, Nick Simper, and Ritchie Blackmore were the nucleus around which Deep Purple was built. After several disappointing experiences with lead singers (including checking out Rod Stewart -- who they felt wasn't good enough -- and Ian Gillan, who turned them down to work with Episode 6), the rest of the band came into place after Mick Angus almost got the job of lead vocalist. Angus referred his friend Ian Paice, drummer with a band called The Maze, who brought along his singer, Rod Evans. Evans got the vocalist spot and Paice became the drummer and Angus eventually became part of the DP road crew. Their first gigs arrived in Denmark, in late April of 1968.

The Mk.1 sound was usually pop-oriented, but with some heavier leanings. Many of their numbers were covers of popular songs and the management of Tetragrammaton records, their original label, kept pushing them to Get the Product Out. The band wnt over huge in America with the hit single, "Hush", but faded somewhat after that and never really cracked the UK market. Their last performance together was on July 4, 1969... 6 days later, Ian Gillan and Roger Glover were taking their spots in the lineup.

Strangely enough, just as the lineup was changing, the second Mk.1 album ws released in the UK, with the third one to follow up in November 1969. (The second LP had been released in America in October of 1968 and the third was released in the US in June of 1969.) Tetragrammaton had gone bankrupt and was eventually bought out by Warner Brothers. Although the Mk.1 lineup was only together for little over a year, they produced three albums that, although not monumental, showed great promise and had some truly great moments on them. There is a compilation of Mk.1 material, Purple Passages, that was released by Warner Bros. in the US in 1972 to replace deleted Tetragrammaton material.

Buy It!	Shades of Deep Purple (Studio release, 1968) Rating: 5.76 Reviews: 9 Comments: I love this album and would recommend it to anyone for the superb work of all involved. (Kevin Masser) A taste of things to come. Evans is boring and they hadn't found their style yet. (Jesper Almen) This recording, on a scale of 1 to 10 escapes with a 5! (Huitzilopochtli Osiris) Rating: 3.8. While I consider the Mark I lineup to be worthy of some praise, this album I rate the weakest of the Simper-Evans period. This album does not give an accurate picture of the ability this lineup had. (Rob Richardson) Many nice ideas here and there, but without "Hush" and "Mandrake Root" this would have been just another forgettable psychedelic pop album from the late 1960s. (Heikki Heino) The first album has some strong points like Hush and Mandrake Root and shows the potential of the group, but the general mood is the same as in all the Mark I era: pop-psychedelic and experimental. The many cover songs are very well interpreted, but show the lack of original ideas of that period. Rating: 7 (Spiros Papageorgiou)
Buy It!	Book of Taliesyn (Studio release, 1968/1969) Rating: 5.75 Reviews: 8 Comments: Misses the hits from first album. Only really good song is Wring that Neck. (Jesper Almen) Book of Taliesyn has some excellent psycho-heavy rock energy. (Ilija Gospodinov) The last three tracks are great one after the other. "River Deep, Mountain High" is a monumental work and demands your attentions as the classic it is. (Dean Webb) My highlights are "Listen, Learn, Read On" and "Kentucky Woman", which I love. Hard Road and The Shield are good ones. The songwriting on Taliesyn is an improvement over Shades, and Ritchie is a little more assertive here. Both areas take a quantum leap on the next album, Deep Purple. (Rob Richardson) More original than their debut, probably the best album by Mk 1. (Heikki Heino) Even more experimental and psychedelic than 'Shades', but generally boring stuff. The highlight of the album is of course Wring that neck which shows what great musicians Ritchie, Jon and little Ian are. Rating: 5 (Spiros Papageorgiou)
Buy It!	Deep Purple (Studio release, 1969) Rating: 6.72 Reviews: 9 Comments: To me, the 3rd album is the first true classic released by the band. A powerful example of the twin towers of Blackmore and Lord, working together and clearly defining what would become the trademark Purple sound, the aggressive sound of Jon's Hammond organ vs. the sonic attack of Ritchie's fiery guitar work. (Jim Collins) Not there yet, Gillan/Glover is missing, but the songs are getting rougher...and better. (Jesper Almen) Great work from both Nick Simper and John Lord. Not the most cohesive of DP albums, but still worthy of the band's name. (Dean Webb) When you listen to this album it is obvious that Evans had to go. "Bird Has Flown" is surprisingly hard, and "April" is a study for Concerto. (Heikki Heino) In this album Purple are begining to turn towards a heavier sound, which seems a lot more natural to their style. Why didn't Rosemary is the best example of this new direction and it rocks! And of course there's April as a prequel for the Concerto. Rating: 7 (Spiros Papageorgiou)
	Purple Passages (Compilation of Mk.1 material) Rating: 5.5 Reviews: 2 Comments: Evans was made for Captain Beyond (Sue Rose)