Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Alphabet – Deep Purple

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame by Alphabet continues today with a look at a band that gave the world one of the best guitar riffs of all time. Meet Deep Purple. Their biggest song, “Smoke On the Water,” WAS released in 1973 and became an FM smash, a tune that transcended music with its opening guitar solo. Did you know the song is about a recording session involving Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention gig? A man fired a flare gun into the ceiling, burned down the Casino. The band had intended on using the casino studio until the fire.

The original members included Ian Paice, Roger Glover, Ian Gillan, Steve Morse, and Don Airey. Organist Jon Lord joined the group a bit later. Ian is the only original member to have stayed through all the band’s lineups. Deep Purples first chart hit was the Neil Diamond tune “Kentucky Woman” while “Smoke” remains their signature song.

Deep Purple was inducted into the Rock N’ Roll Hall of Fame in 2016. Deep Purple has sold over 100 million records, earning every rock award given, playing for nearly four decades.

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Photo credit: Jonas Rogowski