THE DEEP PURPLE DIARY
These are the Deep Purple diary pages. They are intended to attempt to provide a definitive history of the band's years on the road and in the studio. Whilst the period from the demise of Mark 4 in 1976 to the reformation of the classic Blackmore, Gillan, Glover, Lord, Paice line-up in 1984 is outside of the remit of this project, some solo projects and sessions whilst the band was active have been included where considered relevant in this work. No doubt similar volumes of work covering the associated bands Gillan, Rainbow, Whitesnake etc. could be an equally interesting proposition for someone. Although a version of Deep Purple performed during the period from June to August 1980 with Rod Evans on vocals, as this was without the support of the other members and management, those concerts have not been included within the scope of this listing.
My interest in the band goes back to the school holidays, July 1970, and a trip to a now long-defunct record shop. What shall we buy?" I asked my friend Mick. "I've read a lot of good reports in NME about these two new bands Deep Purple and Black Sabbath" he replied. And so it was we left the shop, him with "Paranoid", me with "Black Night". With the later acquisition of "Deep Purple In Rock" I was hooked and got each new release the day it came out, with one notable exception.
News of the departure of Gillan and Glover in June 1973 brought home the possibility that there might not be anymore releases from the band and so started a sudden rush to check out the Mark 1 line up. I now had every LP they'd released in the U.K. together with the Mark 2 singles. The end of the band in 1976 then triggered the interest in live tapes. Initially these tended to be from television or radio shows and, to a large extent, these live recordings subsequently gained official release which also had to be bought. The ironic thing is, the one album it had taken me 5 months to get around to buying was "Made In Japan" because it duplicated "Machine Head" so much and yet it only retailed at £3.25 and with a 5% discount, it cost me £3.09.
Like many, I 've now spent thousands of pounds buying the albums, singles and CD's, the re-releases, the remixes, the anniversary editions, tickets, videos, books, programmes, t-shirts, magazines etc. to the point that, in the U.K. at least, with the exception of the "Kentucky Woman" 45, the Concerto promo 45 and the "Love Conquers All" cassingle, there's nothing else to get. When on holiday, I always make a point of buying overseas variations to the extent that I've now got multiple copies of virtually everything.
Prompted by this ever increasing collection of material by the band from throughout the now over 30 years in all its various incarnations, I was conscious that to list what recordings I had only told a part of the story. Others have catalogued the band's career in the form of detailed discographies and others will have larger DP collections. I don't claim to have the definitive collection but I felt that a diary was needed to produce something that would serve both as a personal account and which could form a reference source for others to make more sense of it all and put things in perspective. Many hours have been spent researching and collating the raw data, typing, checking, editing, printing, re-checking drafts to formulate what could, in due course, form the basis of a book but which starts its public life as my first attempt at a website on the internet.
Towards the end of 1997, I heard that such a book on the career of Pink Floyd was being published. That is the direction I always saw this project developing. The establishing of an as far as possible complete diary listing of the band's activities is the obvious pre-cursor to then reporting what was played at each gig and supporting this with photographs, tickets, contemporary reports and cross-referencing to the recorded legacy. This work has been substantially progressed off-line since this site was first established. Naturally, there are still gaps and questions about the band's early years which may never be completely resolved.
In an ideal world, every gig would have been recorded and a copy survived to this day. Realistically, it is unlikely that further tapes of shows from the sixties and seventies are likely to be uncovered now, although master copies of a number of those often bootlegged radio and television performances are still being sought. With the technological advances that happened in the intervening years, it is assumed that potentially every show from the eighties and nineties survives in someone's collection.
The diary is written from the perspective of the events themselves [not the recordings that emanate from those events, though these are referred to] and should not be considered as a discography or live tape catalogue. For specific details regarding live tapes, their traits and quality, try Michael Richards' "Live Cassette Analysis" [available directly from Michael or on-line, by credit card, from the DPAS.]
Point to each line-up below in turn to see the up-to-date diary of that particular incarnation of the band. Any contributions received with regard to other dates or amendments, spelling mistakes or typo's would be greatly appreciated, added/amended where appropriate and credited. Please e-mail any contributions you may have to nigelyoung@aol.com
Mark 1 [Blackmore, Evans, Simper, Lord, Paice]
Mark 2 [Blackmore, Gillan, Glover, Lord, Paice]
Mark 3 [Blackmore, Coverdale, Hughes, Lord, Paice]
Mark 4 [Bolin, Coverdale, Hughes, Lord, Paice]
Mark 5 [Blackmore, Gillan, Glover, Lord, Paice]
Mark 6 [Blackmore, Turner, Glover, Lord, Paice]
Mark 7 [Blackmore, Gillan, Glover, Lord, Paice]
Mark 8 [Satriani, Gillan, Glover, Lord, Paice]
Mark 9 [Morse, Gillan, Glover, Lord, Paice]
Sources/References Recommended Listening
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What you've had to say about the Deep Purple Diary:
Bruce Ambrose: "Great site! This will surely become a major reference page for all Deep Purple fans"
David Browne: "I'm just writing to say how much I've enjoyed your incredible tour dates list"
Mark Cantin: ".... this is one incredible piece of work! Outstanding! Thanks so much from a fellow Purple fan! This is simply unparalleled!"
Jim Collins: ".... your Purple Diary site just blew me away"
Brian Currin: "Really love your site. What a masterpiece!"
Roger Glover: "Nice work. Exhaustive. I got tired just looking at all the gigs we've done. Looking through your list brought a lot of memories back to me. Thanks. It is an invaluable tool."
Ron Harper: "Your site is now in my favourites folder for instant recall"
Mark Jagger: "Very nice work! The tour chronology is amazing"
Ed Janx: "Good work! An excellent resource"
Brian Kelty: "I just found your diary. It is excellent and will form a great reference for collectors. You are to be congratulated"
Fedor de Lange: "Great work!"
Michael Lorentzen: ".... this is the best diary I've seen"
Doug MacBeath: ".... what can I say? Great stuff!!!!"
Petri Myllyla: "Absolutely great!"
Olle Nystrom: "Thank you for an excellent job!"
Svante Pettersson: "You've done a great job"
Garry Smith: "Wow! There's a lot of work in there!"
Nick Soveiko: "Thank you very much for taking the labour to collect such a comprehensive list of DP gigs and putting it on the web"
Ritchie Swann: "Wow. Your Deep Purple Diary site has to be the definitive page on the band that I have been searching for for years. Absolutely incredible. I'm sure it'll be a best seller"
Stephen Wunrow: "Very impressed! Put me down for a copy of the forthcoming book"
Bernard Yin: "A sign of the glorious and sick dedication to rock and roll that makes the world a better place"
Anders: "I for one will definitely buy your book"
"Very good stuff. Highly recommended"
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