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Deep Purple Mk. 3 on stage at the Paris Olympia: L-R Ian Paice (at drumkit), Ritchie Blackmore (way up at the top), David Coverdale, Glenn Hughes, Jon Lord

Deep Purple Mark Three

Lady double dealer get outta my way...

When Ian Gillan left (and Roger Glover asked to leave), Deep Purple underwent the longest hiatus between performances or recording, not resurfacing until December, 1973. The reason for the long interval was explained by both the search for replacements and because the band wanted fresh material from the new lineup that would translate well from the vinyl (they used vinyl in them days to record music...) to the stage. The first album from the Mk.3 lineup, Burn, followed shortly thereafter, being released in early 1974.

1974 was an important year in Purple history for many reasons, not least of which was their performance at the California Jam, on April 6, headlining over Emerson Lake and Palmer, The Eagles, and Black Sabbath (among other artists). There are videos of the event in circulation and one would be well advised to get a copy of the event... if for no other reason but to see that camera and the big explosion.

Divisions crept into the band, though, and the new life observed on Burn was flagging by the time Stormbringer was recorded. Ritchie was thinking more and more of recording with a band from America called Elf and Glenn Hughes battled with David Coverdale over vocal duties. Lord and Blackmore were trading solos not in the spirit of the performance, but that they might each get their fair share of the spotlights. The lineup finally split after the end of their European tour of 1975, with Blackmore taking his last bows with the band (until the 80's) at the Paris Olympia, on April 7th, a year and a day after the infamous California Jam concert.

Although this lineup did not produce as much overwhelmingly popular material as the Mk.2 lineup, they turned in some absolutely solid live performances and did great honor to the name Deep Purple. It's quite unlikely we'll ever hear this lineup perform together again, so we'll have to turn to posthumous releases to unfold the full spectrum of their legacy as a live act.

Buy It!	Burn (Studio recording, 1974) Rating: 7.89 Reviews: 9 Comments: Burn is a great album. The title track has one of the cleanest organ solo's from Mr Lord. This album highlights the way that the band took a more bluesy approach when joined by Coverdale and Hughes. A nice blend of rock, blues, and weirdness (A"200"). 8/10. (Paul Sommer) Gillan & Glover gone and still great songs! (Jesper Almen) For me a definition of a clean heavy rock sound, full of energy, no psychodelic stuff. (Ilija Gospodinov) A fresh start with new line-up. They were still getting to know each other when this album was recorded, so an achievement like this is incredible. The best DP studio album without Gillan. (Heikki Heino) I listened to the first track ( the title song ), felt relief and bought it…only to find out when I came home that the rest of it wasn’t so good as the first song. (Per Lundblad) New blood has entered the group and in this first album with Coverdale, the mood is audibly good. I, personally, like DC's voice very much, it's very different than IG's of course, but I like that bluesy sound. The title track is one of my favorites, and this album contains also Mistreated, You fool noone and Sailing ships which are great, too. The only thing I realy hate from MkIII is Hughes's voice. I think he destroyes many of the songs and is totally out of the spirit of DP. But, in all a good effort from the band. Rating: 8 (Spiros Papageorgiou)
Buy It!	California Jamming (Live recording, 1974) Rating: 6.00 Reviews: 3 Comments: Classic concert. Lousy sound. REALLY losusy sound. Try to get the video instead. (Jesper Almen) It's a great show, but the cd is very quiet. The levels are very low. I wish it were louder. You can hear that the show is awesome, but it doesn't really jump out of the speakers. (Johnathan Dee)
	Live in London (Live recording, 1974) Rating: 8.80 Reviews: 5 Comments: This is not only one of the best live LP's Purple ever recorded, it's one of my favorite live LP's of all time. (Jim Collins) One of the first Mark 3 shows. Hughes and Coverdale are doing a great job. Specially DC on "Mistreated". Still waiting for a decent CD version of this one. (Jesper Almen) This is a great recording from a great show. The band is in top form, Coverdale feeling still a bit of a stranger, but performing very well. The most noticable thing about LiL is the power! With recordings like that it seems so fair that DP were regarded at the time 'The loudest band in the world'. This one should be released on CD soon, so people can hear DP MkIII at their best. Rating: 9 (Spiros Papageorgiou)
Buy It!	Stormbringer (Studio recording, 1974) Rating: 5.83 Reviews: 10 Comments: A bit too funky, but still an excellent album, a very good follow up to "Burn" with several songs done very nicely to fit into the live set, but the songs written partly by Hughes were a dissapointment for Ritchie... (Ilija Gospodinov) A little too funky. Still great songs. Hate Holy Man and Hold on... (Jesper Almen) Too much funk (and junk), without much soul. (Brigette Sporn) I really enjoyed this one. Not Ritchie's strongest, but Hughes and Coverdale do a great job without killing each other. (Dean Webb) Ritchie probably lost interest somewhere during these sessions. Hughes and Coverdale carry this album - somewhere away from the traditional Purple ground... (Heikki Heino) I don’t mind this kind of music, but it has to be played with a certain confidence and self-esteem. And I just don’t find it here. No wonder Blackmore left. (Per Lundblad) Not a very good follow-up to Burn, although it starts with a very strong song, the title track, which is a classic DP-rocker. But the rest doesn't stand up so good to Purple standards, with the exception -of course- of Soldier of fortune, which I consider as one of the best rock ballads of all time. Ritchie is obvious bored and preoccupied with his solo project during the whole of this album, so control has been passed to Coverdale and, in particular, to Hughes, who tries to turn Purple to some kind of a Pop/Soul act. Still some interesting moments, like the sound of the guitar on Gypsy and the solo on Hold on (which is the only original Purple song from the Ritchie era that does not include him on the credits!). Rating: 7 (Spiros Papageorgiou)
Buy It!	Made in Europe (Live recording, 1975: includes material from final Mk.3 concerts) Rating: 6.08 Reviews: 6 Comments: A good selection of songs at first inspection, but the songs themselves are heavily edited and dubbed-over. The limitation of 5 songs was due to its release on vinyl, where you can only put so much on one disc. The same material is available in much better form on the Archive Alive! CD, and that one should be bought instead of this one. Still, it's a good release and better than nothing for Mk3 live. (Dean Webb) ...suffers from being a single lp and being edited. Go for "Final concerts" instead. (Jesper Almen) This is a live album from the last concerts with Ritchie. It is a good LP to have if you want to hear DP MkIII live, but the mix is very slow and the MkII numbers are not performed so well. Still it contains a fantastic Mistreated. My suggestion: try to fing Live in London instead... Rating: 6 (Spiros Papageorgiou)
	Archive Alive! (Live recording, 1975: includes material from final Mk.3 concerts) Rating: 9 Reviews: 1 Comments: This is a great 2-CD set. It contains material from the last ride of Mk3 DP through Europe and includes full versions of Mk3 doing "Space Trucking", "Going Down", and "Highway Star." One should note, however, that Coverdale had to dumb-up the lyrics to "Highway Star." Lots of energy and punch and great to listen to. Much better release than Made in Europe, which has many of the same recordings. (Dean Webb)
Buy It!	The Final Concerts (Live recording, 1975: includes material from final Mk.3 concerts) Rating: 6.75 Reviews: 2 Comments: Blackmore is absentminded, on his way to Rainbow. Coverdale and Hughes are doing a great job still. Great live versions of "Gypsy" and "You fool no one". (Jesper Almen) More tracks recorded when Ritchie was leaving Purple. Nice to hear some songs that didn't make it to Made In Europe. (Heikki Heino)