Although I had been listening to music from a very young age it wasn’t until I started paying close attention to rock & roll that I first began to develop any true musical interest. While I was exposed to- and listened to country, Jazz, swing and blues it was the rock bands of the 60’s that really got my attention. One of those was a band formed in Hetford England in 1967 to be called: “Roundabout” originally comprised of session guitarist Ritchie Blackmore, organist Jon Lord, Bassist Nick Simper, vocalist Ron Evans and drummer Ian Paice. After a re-branding of the name to “Deep Purple” the group had its first success in 1968 with the release of their debut album “Shades of Deep Purple” and a cover version of the Joe South tune Hush as their first hit single, which peaked at number 4 on the US charts in 1968. Not long after Evans and Simper were both dismissed from the band with Evans being eventually replaced by vocalist Ian Gillan, and Simper by bassist Roger Glover - whom Blackmore had been introduced to by a close friend. Today Deep Purple after several minor line up changes, continues to enjoy at the very least moderate success, which pales in comparison to the bands early achievements with Ritchie Blackmore in the forefront. Deep Purple are widely considered by many rock historians along with Led Zeppelin, Cream and Black Sabbath to be amongst the founding fathers of heavy metal.
