Welcome to School Me, wherein I your humble know-it-all admit to something I don’t know and then ask you, the readers, how to rectify my ignorance. Our first attempt at this is a doozy.
How is it that I don’t know more about Deep Purple? I know ancillary things like: “Dunh-dunh-DAHHH…dunh-dunh-DA-DAAH,” the lead guitarist was Richie Blackmore who left Deep Purple to form Rainbow, I like Rainbow more than I like Deep Purple, Steve Morse is the current guitarist for the band and is kick-ass, but I have little desire to hear what his DP material sounds like.
For some reason I always equate Deep Purple with Black Sabbath, but where Sabbath had a modus operandi that guided (sometimes misguided) them, Deep Purple never seemed to me to have a clear concept of what they wanted to be. Their identity was muddied more because of the seemingly endless revolving door of personalities involved with the band, and it became difficult for me to reconcile the concept of a galaxy featuring Glenn Hughes (who fronted both bands at times) and David Coverdale (later Whitesnake), and Joe Lynn Turner (also Rainbow which was once fronted by Ronnie James Dio, also of Black Sabbath and this is starting to give me a headache).
In keeping with the premise of this series I shall reveal I only know, with certainty, two DP songs: “Smoke On The Water” and “Highway Star.” I own Stormbringer but probably have only listened to it twice. This is not a judgment of quality or lack thereof but more a statement that I just wasn’t in the mood at the time. So I’m a total neophyte when it comes to this band, and I open the floor to you. Give me five earth shaking, can’t-live-without Deep Purple songs that will make me want to investigate further. Tell me something about their history that will stoke my curiosity. Agree with me that the album title Come Taste The Band is just crap. Let me know why I should not hold Blackmore’s Night against him and give this another shot, freed from the fear of Renn Faire nerds attacking me.
Your assignment starts…now!
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