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

Yeah, but Deep Purple had been together and put out a good run of albums long before Smoke on the Water was overplayed -- let's see, Mark I put out Shades, self-titled, and Book of Taliesyn, and then Mark II put out Deep Purple in Rock and Fireball. Finally, in 1972, I guess you would say they hit some "paydirt popularity", with Smoke on the Water and the Machine Head album.

When you ask "how popular were they?", I think that is an excellent question and I would not know where to start or how to answer it . . . but here is my personal experience.

My brother came back from the navy (stationed in Japan during Vietnam war), and he introduced me to the self-titled and Book of Taliesyn albums (no, he didn't have Shades, despite the popularity of their cover of "Hush"). Judging by him having just those two albums, this introduction must have occurred in 1969, or really early in 1970 (Fireball was not out).

I had no idea who these guys were, but I liked those two albums, as well as his albums by Johnny Winter, Coliseum, and all sorts of bands.

I did graduate from high school in 1971 in Houston, I did see Deep Purple once at the Coliseum in Houston. (My good friend Mike Morris went with me, and we were situated on the 13th row of the floor.) Back then, even if they were folding chairs, the seats were reserved. I hate this free-for-all seating I was later exposed to in outdoor concerts, where the entire "football field" became a sort of collective mosh pit!).

Rod Stewart, leading his Rod Stewart band, opened for Deep Purple. Point being, DP was popular enough to be the headline act by that time. I could research it, but this concert probably occurred after Fireball came out . . . I recall vaguely that DP played one of my favorite songs off of Fireball, "Strange Kind of Woman." The concert concluded when It's A Beautiful Day came on stage and performed Bombay Calling . . . oh, I'm sorry, my multi-infarct dementia acted up for a bit there -- cough, cough -- it concluded when DP gave their usual long and gloriously extended version of Sweet Child in Time.

Richie gave his typically blistering guitar solo. Wow, it is was just so incredible. I know it is sacrilege, but this guy really has nailed it, and it is well orth listening to:



I kind of think that Deep Purple was an acquired taste, more than many other bands were at the time. I don't think they were HUGE but hard-core music lovers like me and my friends paid attention to them. Just because Smoke on the Water is a big, overplayed hit on the radio doesn't mean they were extremely popular. The other factor I would mention is that at this time in history, there was LOTS of competition, in the forms of lots of great bands who were producing albums and touring. I think some really good bands probably didn't get near the attention they deserved.

 

April 21, 2018 : it was 50 years ago today ..... Deep Purple recorded their first single, "Hush" ...

Hush (Billy Joe Royal song) - Wikipedia

 

I've been listening to this song for decades but I didn't know it was covered so much. Actually, I thought Kula Shaker was the only band outside of Deep Purple to cover it. The Partridge Family did Hush? Love to hear that one!

 

I didn't get into the older stuff until later, but Perfect Strangers was pretty big when it came out.

 

Couldn't find a Partridge Family version... only this:


I'd love to see Susan Dey and Shirley Jones circa 1971 doing this song !

 

We respected Led Zeppelin, Who, Stones more probably but check the 8 track - it had Deep Purple in it.

 

Funny, decades later, I've lost some respect for those three (to varying degrees), but not DP. Fan of all four,....for the record.

By the way, the best bootleg I've heard comes from the Perfect Strangers tour in Houston. Great performance and it sounded like they loved Deep Purple down south.

 

Ridiculously popular! You were nobody if you never saw Purple live or couldn't play the chords to Smoke On The Water on guitar. (As long as you weren't in a guitar store where you could have gotten an El' Kabong on the head.)"Kabong!"

 

For that one brief, shining moment in 1972 (the year of their release), I thought Machine Head was as good a studio release as anything by the Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, the Who, etc. Same goes for Made In Japan compared to anything live by the Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, the Who, etc. Then those two albums never lost any momentum throughout my college years of the mid '70s.



After that, The Very Best of Deep Purple, covering much of their '70s output, is about as good an 1CD compilation as you could ask for.

Always thought Deep Purple had a secret weapon in Jon Lord on the organ. Those other bands couldn't answer with their main lineup.

 

They were certainly huge in Vancouver when I grew up, and huge enough to sell out the Pacific Coliseum in Nov. 1974 on the Stormbringer tour, which is DP Mk. III, so I think that says something. Also, CDN. WB DP vinyl is pretty amazing sounding.

 

Sportatorium in south Florida (Mia/Ft.L) was packed in March 1985 when I saw them.
Place was going mental after opening with Highway Star.

May have been a case of pent up demand.
I can remember Rainbow playing in West Palm Beach, a mid-size arena (8k maybe) in '82, and as an opener previously in '78.
While maybe not as high profile as the Stones, Zep or The Who, they were seen as a big band, especially the classic lineup where I lived.
And they played the hits a lot, as well as a bunch of Perfect Strangers on the radio during that time.

 

Agree with everything but the last line. Machine Head was massive in the States, esp. Smoke. Aside from that, though, they were a medium-profile band compared to the Who, Zeppelin and Stones. I can't recall hearing any DP after Machine Head aside from "Hush" and "Woman from Tokyo."

 

One of my first music memories was the "Hush" 45 my older brother bought at Hudson's in Detroit in 1968. I was 4. I loved that song and played it all the time for years afterwards!
I used to hang at his apartment when he moved away from home in '72. He had the import of "Made In Japan" before it was released here, and somehow a "Machine Head" 8-Track tape was always around. I also clearly remember "Woman From Tokyo" being a big "FM" hit in '73, and of course, "Burn" was also a huge "FM" hit in '74. So for me, Deep Purple was a pretty popular band. Definitely "2nd tier" at least.

Keep in mind, no band was "huge" on the level certain artists became in the 80s and 90s when 'rock/pop' music became a very corporate mainstream concern. Even as popular as The Stones and Zep were, 'rock music' was still rather "riding low on the radar" as far as constant exposure goes.

 

Must be that line up. They were touring juggernauts from the first album as I recall.

 

I hate fake posters like this. I remember seeing one for a Fleetwood Mac show in 1970 that had a picture of the Rumours lineup.

 

Does anyone ever hear Mk III on the radio these days? My city's classic rock station WDVE refuses to acknowledge the existence of Mk III despite constant requests for "Burn", "Stormbringer", etc. on their Facebook page. They'll spin the occasional Dio Sabbath tune as a 'deep cut', but I have never heard that station play or mention Mk III (let alone Mk IV). And it's not like Mk III was a commercial failure... both albums went Gold and the band continued playing high-profile gigs stateside (Cal Jam).

 

Saw the same show at Arrowhead Stadium in KC same year.

 

I don't think i've heard any purple not mk ii on the 'normal' aor/classic rock stations in southern california this century. I think i recall some hipster college station once playing 'burn' tho.
AMENDED: I have heard mk i "hush" on radio this century for sure, tho likely in a special oldies-ish 'electric lunch' type format not regular rotation.

 

Smoke and My Woman were everywhere, and we were glad.

 

During the early 70s Deep Purple was 2nd only to Led Zeppelin...

You simply could not get away from Deep Purple or LZ in the early 1970s...

Personally I have always preferred Deep Purple & UFO over LZ...

DP because of Jon Lords Hammond B3 brilliance

UFO is the most melodic of all heavy English groups & drummer Alan Parker & of course the teenage guitar wizardry of Michael Schenker were the other 2 reasons

 

I've not, but then I haven't listened to the radio in years. Maybe part of the reason that MKIII is so marginalized is because Deep Purple haven't performed any of those songs live, except for Burn on the Slaves & Masters Tour in 1991. While I thought The Purple Album was terrible, at least you got a chance to hear those songs live. And Glenn Hughes is still out there performing the MKIII material, so there's always that option as well.

 

Saw Glenn's show last year... it was excellent.

 

Yeah Deep Purple opening for anybody in 1974 was / is pure B---s--t!!!Period.

 

Purple were huge in Canada in the 70s. SOTW of course, but Hush was a massive hit in the great white north.
All the stoners were into Deep Purple, I was early teens but remember my older brother had several LPs that he used to play at house parties etc...Huge influence on me and my rocker friends - that whole era introduced me to DP, Cream, Sabbath, Zep, Stones, Van Halen, Aerosmith...etc...

Ritchie Blackmore's playing on "Made in Japan" is to this day one of finest overdriven stratocaster tones in modern rock history...

 

Purple was huge. Same level as Zeppelin and Sabbath in the mid 70s. Machine Head was in everyone’s collection.