Scarce PRINTED Parlophone inner sleeve included Underestimated, hard rock with psychedelic moves ...the band, Deep
Purple came into existence because of a musician who never played with the band. Chad Curtis, former drummer of the
British Invasion group The Searchers, decided to form a band called Roundabout. He first recruited keyboardist Jon
Lord and then guitarist Ritchie Blackmore. He then withdrew from the project but Lord and Blackmore decided to carry
on....DEEP PURPLE was born...
They recruited bassist Nick Simper, later of WARHORSE
, vocalist Rod Evans, later of CAPTAIN BEYOND and drummer Ian Paice,
and the new band was complete. A name change, from Roundabout was in order and Deep
Purple was chosen because it was the name of Ritchie Blackmore s grandmother s favorite
song.
The original line-up lasted for three albums. They made little impact in their home country of Great
Britain but found commercial success in the United States, beginning with this first release, Shades Of Deep Purple,
which was issued in July of 1968.
Looking back on this first release, and the two that followed, they were
far different from the relentless hard rock releases that would follow and sell close to 100 million albums
worldwide. While the roots of their hard rock sound could be heard in places, there was also a distinct psychedelic
sound present, which was representative of the era.
