Just how popular was Deep Purple really in the US in the 70s?

This poster is grossly inaccurate. They played in Detroit for both Fireball & Machine Head albums. I saw the latter in '73 with Black Oak Arkansas opening for them.

To the OP, they co-headined the California Jam with ELP in April of '74. I'd say they were pretty popular.

 

Machine Head was everywhere in the early 1970s. A friend and his band gave Smoke On The Water a shot at the local teen center in 1973 as I recall, to mixed results.

 

October 18 & 19 1968 @ LA Forum opening for CREAM. Deep Purple's first US dates!
Also the first concert ever held at The Forum.

 

Rubbish, it mentions titles of and borrows a few words from Little Richard songs (obviously one of Gillan's heroes), if anything it is a tribute (lyrically). Musically what songs is it a medley of?

 

Those were novelty posters. They were fantasy concert posters that were sold at stores like Spencer Gifts. You still seen them now. Deep Purple never opened for Aerosmith during that time frame.

 

They were pretty big, but they were nowhere near as big as the mighty Led Zeppelin. And of course, ELP was the headlining band over them for the huge California Jam show. They had one killer year, 1973, when they had Machine Head at its sales peak, Smoke on the Water out as a single, Made in Japan out, and Who Do We Think We Are. I think they've had a total of 3 albums break into the top 10 in their entire career, but never a number 1, only one multi platinum seller (Machine Head 2x platinum). So, compare that to The Stones...who hit #1 with every single studio release they put out in the 70's, and it's really no comparison there either.

 

It was 1975, my best friend played Machine Head on his new system everyday . A Thorns TD160 Table , Altec Lansing Valencia Speakers all pushed by a Phase Linear Amp ! Life was GREAT and only got better!!!!

 

Didn't know that, makes sense, thx
I've been naive before!

 

Machine Head was a monster! The whole album was played everywhere, blaring out of every car and house party, for I'd say a least a good year. Of course Smoke On The Water led the way, but Highway Star was even better, along with the rest of the album. They also had the live album that was very big, but after that they seemed to lose a lot of steam, not sure why. Burn was probably the last hurrah, great song, not so sure about the rest of the album. I don't even know what they did past that (band changes, etc). I'm sure they were still good, but the thrill was gone.

 

Everyone I knew owned Machine Head.

 

Huge. I went to high school in Canada but I don't think the border marked any appreciable difference in popularity. I was in Grade 12 in 1974 and I doubt that there was a day when I didn't hear either "Machine Head" or "Made in Japan" or both. It was the accompaniment to every car ride, part of the sound track to every (frequent) party. The release of "Burn" and "Stormbringer" were big deals although everybody missed Gillan and Glover and those albums never got the rotation of the two that had preceded them. I saw them in Vancouver in 1975 (MKIII: Hughes & Coverdale) and the arena was packed.

 

No-no. I think it was about the deficit of records. So there were people who a) had an opportunity to get foreign rock records into USSR and b) were into particular bands. So they basically hooked a lot of people on these particular bands. That's why Deep Purple or Slade or Sweet were so huge in USSR and bands like Grand Funk Railroad not.

That's my imho.

 

Exactly. I never ever heard a single DP fan commenting on the message of the song (people either didn't understand the lyrics or if they did they just figured that it was some usual anti-war blah-blah-blah which of course it was), all everyone talks about is the music and Gillan's voice (read screams).

 

A few months ago I picked up two of their albums [two copies of one of them] sealed for $4 each. I like both of them.

 

It's ironic, considering how iconic a live album that "Made in Japan" became when you consider that it was only intended to be released in Japan.
It was only when it became obvious that it was sold as an import that it was released worldwide. Thank goodness!

 

They sold out Tarrant County Convention Center on that tour. Tucky Buzzard opened, then Savoy Brown played a set. Purple were great, of course. Tucky also opened for Uriah Heep in '73 as I recall. I don't remember being impressed by them either time but they certainly didn't get booed off the stage.

 

Here in Brazil they were more popular than Zeppelin and Sabbath, at least in the first half of the 70s. As I remember the most popular band at the time was Yes around here.

 

Well I'm pretty sure this one is a fake.

 

Exactly, The Stones and Zep were mainstream (essentially Chevy drivers and jocks), Purple had their moment but they never seem to have a scene, the personnel changes hurt, made them kinda anonymous/indistinct personality wise regardless of how good the music was. Sabbath had a very specific fan base even when the sales fell off for TE and NSD, they could still tour arenas (10-15K), Purple fell off until the 80s reunion.

 

BTW The Deep Purple Live Index 14-3-1974 Coliseum New Haven USA
http://www.aerosmithtemple.com/get-your-wings-tour-dates-1974 03-14-74 New Haven Coliseum New Haven CT

 

I'd disagree that Led Zeppelin were ever really "mainstream" which to me was kind of a cool thing about them. To the FM Radio/Album Rock crowd (where they were the very biggest act) they absolutely were, but the 70's was also Pop Music/Top 40 AM Radio, AOR radio, Johnny Carson, Dick Cavett, Soul Train, Paul Simon TV Specials, Frank Sinatra, Paul McCartney, ABBA... I doubt most people in "mainstream" America could even tell you who Robert Plant was.

And if you watched the Grammy Awards it was Stevie Wonder, it was Paul Simon. Elton John rarely won but he was constantly nominated. Led Zeppelin probably couldn't get arrested at the Grammy Awards back then. I think they had one nomination. Mainstream did their best to ignore them. These days they would probably still try to but it wouldn't be as easy.

The 70's were kind of different. Media was different and there wasn't much crossover. Kids in high school probably weren't talking about Paul Simon very much but those same kids' parents probably weren't talking about Led Zeppelin very often either.

Anyway, Deep Purple were huge in the US. For any of us old timers this question is simply ridiculous.

I've never really understood why people give a hoot about how popular an act is or was. And if I was to start caring, bands like Deep Purple would be at the end of the list. Most musicians were probably lucky to ever play to 150 people a night let alone 15,000. Hard to understand the whole conversation's significance.

Purple and Sabbath played the same large arena venues pretty much. Purple were probably a little bigger at their peak but I suppose it depends in what part of the country. Sabbath had an amazing run and Master Of Reality was a game changer because pre-orders caused it to already be Gold on Day 1. No way will I ever believe that album should have debuted in the US at #8 or whatever it was. But the point is that neither act were likely worried too much about record sales and concert attendance in the US during much of the 70's. Each band probably had some periods where they were doing a little better than the other but musical acts who reach this level of success are so rare that I find these threads a bit silly. Certainly whoever said Purple were "way" bigger than Sabbath in the US was drunk, IMO. Zeppelin were bigger than both. As were The Stones, Pink Floyd (post-Dark Side) and others. ELP and Yes were huge also. Yes maybe more so on the East Coast where I think they held a record for quickest sellout of four shows at Madison Square Garden in 1977.

 

Sure. They get the dates from something.

It's the arrangement of acts that is off, pictures often from the wrong era, etc.

Notice the opening acts listed for those dates on the Aerosmith page:

Opening Acts:
Elephant's Memory
Focus
Mahogany Rush

Deep Purple did not open for Aerosmith in 1974. Bet your entire bank account on it.

 

Yes definitely. You could tell this is true because of all the members at the HOF induction ceremony, Coverdale was the one who got the biggest audience reaction.
They really just had no face of the band...partly because it was changing and evolving quite often, and partly because I don't think anyone really wanted to be. That is, until Coverdale and Hughes came along. Anyway, they had their moment, but they just never could sustain that momentum here in the US. They had the reunion, but they never achieved the iconic status that Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin have here. Their albums do nothing, and every review I'm reading with their tour with Alice Cooper has them literally getting blown off the stage.

Cooper put on an arena rock show that reached from the front row all the way to the Starplex lawn. Deep Purple put on a decent show, but it was no match for Cooper’s pageantry. Deep Purple fell flat.

Deep Purple Had the Unenviable Job of Following Alice Cooper at Starplex


Don't get me wrong: Deep Purple weren't bad. They played a jammy, riff-tastic set that would probably have been just fine if it had happened earlier in the evening. But following up the Grand Guignol spectacle of the Alice Cooper Band with an hour of low-energy blacklight poster rock was a doomed proposition from the get-go.

Alice Cooper Made Heads Roll at Ak-Chin Pavilion in Phoenix

Alice Cooper had his head chopped off Sunday, Sept. 3, at DTE Energy Music Theatre, but came away the winner. The 69-year-old Detroit native stole the show as the middle set in a classic rock triple bill with Deep Purple and opener Edgar Winter.

Review: Alice Cooper, Deep Purple play the classics, and more, at DTE


If there isn't an unwritten rule, let's just make it now, that you don't go on after Alice Cooper. Even a 69-year-old Alice Cooper — who just has too many toys, too many glam-rock classics, too aggressive of a band, and a voice too much intact.

It's not like Deep Purple has much to lose, though. The old British warhorse is on its Long Goodbye Tour, and while it has no declared finish line, Purple is getting close to riding off into the sunset. Although we may have said that decades ago.

Alice Cooper reigns at KeyBank Pavilion while Deep Purple admirably works the 'Machine Head'

It was a thrilling set, to be sure, and Deep Purple would have an impossible act to follow (though, admittedly, the comparison is unfair). They’ve never been much of a “show” band – concentrating on the punishing music on an epic scale. And lead singer Ian Gillan’s stage presence is pretty much limited to a side shuffle with arms out front, his eyes squinting.

Alice Cooper's Dark Theatrics Dominate Deep Purple's Space Truckin'


And some scathing fan reviews

Reviews of Deep Purple and Alice Cooper - Greek Theater, Los Angeles, CA - What our customers thought

 

I'm not betting my bank account after seeing this. You win!
Untitled Document

 

Great post! I agree with almost all of it. Especially interesting is how Zeppelin is viewed today compared to back in their heyday. As was said, Zep were very big in the 70s but not in a "mainstream" way. They didn't put out singles per say (maybe a couple, I think after the fact), it was all about the albums. And as was said, they couldn't get arrested in the mainstream media i.e. Grammys, etc. Also, lets not forget, perhaps the biggest "mainstream" music magazine of the time, did nothing but pan them. Rolling Stone hated Led Zeppelin! As ridiculous as that seems today, that's how it was back then. So people loved them in an almost underground way. And still, when they came to town it was a huge event! So much fun - loved it!

Regarding why bother asking questions about popularity, I think to someone who was there, it can seem like a ridiculous question... but to folks who are younger and who where not around then, it's an interesting question and totally valid, imo. You learn stuff from these threads, even if you already know a lot. I almost always learn something I didn't know, so I'm happy people are still interested and asking.