Deep Purple Universe

Deep Purple Line-ups

Members for each Line-up

Let's start with some basic "purple notions". The stack bar-plot below shows which member of Deep Purple has been in a specific line-up, from the earliest Mark I to the current Mark VIII. All the graphs in this page are interactive, so you can select which member you want to obscure from the legend.

From Mark I to Mark VIII

This other plot is based on the classic Mark I - Mark VIII timeline you can find on all the best well-known Deep Purple fan-sites. The members' names on the left side can be selected, as in the previous graph, in order to customize the visualization. Each line-up is also marked with the years in which they have been active.

Instruments barplot

In order to be more accurate, the barplot below shows all the Deep Purple members for each related instrument. The members' names on the left side can be selected, as in the previous graph, in order to customize the visualization.

Rare Line-ups

Over the years, several musicians shared the stage together with Deep Purple on the occasion of some special events, tour legs, or just for dealing with unforeseen circumstances affecting some members of the band. For example, many US tours in the Seventies have seen members of the band dealing with hepatitis, so proper substitutes were called to jump on stage if the shows couldn't be postponed or canceled. Other formations reported here are based on studio auditions, such as the ones held after Ian Gillan's second departure from the band in 1989.

Most influential artists in the Deep Purple family

Eigenvector Centrality

In Graph Teory, the importance of a single node can be described by measuring its centrality inside the network. Many algorithms can be executed for this purpose, and, amongst these, Eigenvector Centrality can be described as the dominant eigenvector of the adjacency matrix used for building the graph itself. In order to quantify a node's influence, all centrality scores are assigned to the other nodes, by taking into account the connections between the high-scoring vertices. These connections contribute more to the score of a specific node than equal connections to low-scoring ones. A high eigenvector centrality means that a node is connected to many nodes, who themselves have some high scores. Hence, the number and importance of neighbors can be used to quantify each node's influence. Here are the 25 most influencial artists from the original Deep Purple network.

Artists’ PageRank scores

Google's PageRank is a variant of Eigenvector Centrality, and it measures the global influence of a specific node, by including its indirect influences. This algorithm has been used not only to detect artists who are significant in their own way, but also those who interact with more influential musicians. PageRank scores are expressed as percentages (a logarithmic scale is used by Google). For example, Joe Lynn Turner (0,68% score and 45 links) has a higher PageRank than Roger Glover (0,57% score and 63 links), even though there are more links to the latter one. This happens because the fewer links to Joe Lynn Turner come from more relevant artists than the ones to which Roger Glover is connected, and those connections are considered of higher value in this context. In fact, Roger Glover's links are mainly inside the Deep Purple line-ups connections (which belong to the same band), while Joe Lynn Turner's collaborations vary between multiple different projects.

Bands’ PageRank scores

The same criterion described above can be also applied for the bands. Festival events play, off course, a major role in this ranking, but also bands such as Whitesnake, Blackmore's Night and the Michael Schenker Group seem to be relevant given their numoerous line-ups, which include some of the most influential musicians from the original network. You can zoom inside the graph in order to see all the listed bands with the highest PageRank scores.

Deep Purple Members’ Universes

Jon Lord

The following graphs are interactive too, so you can touch or click on a single "planet" to see who the main neighbors are inside each artist's universe outside Deep Purple. The bubble chart below shows the main families detected in the global network for Jon Lord. As said here, only the main collaborations have been kept in order to offer a better representation of the most significant relationships between each DP member and other bands or projects. Jon Lord played Hammond Organ and keyboards with several bands beside Deep Purple, ranging from his earliest professional band The Artwoods to the hard blues line-ups of Whitesnake and Bob Diasley's Hoochie Coochie Men. He also released numerous solo albums as classic composer and performer, such as Sarabande (1976), Beyond The Notes (2004), The Durham Concerto (2007) and the studio version of Deep Purple's Concerto For Group & Orchestra (2012).

Ritchie Blackmore

Here are the main universes detected in the global network for The Man In Black. Before co-founding Deep Purple, Ritchie Blackmore played as session guitarist for Joe Meek's productions and has also performed with many bands, such as The Outlaws, who also toured with Jerry Lee Lewis and Gene Vincent in 1965. After quitting Deep Purple in April 1975, Blackmore formed is own band Rainbow with Ronnie James Dio from Elf on vocals and Cozy Powell on drums. The band involved many other acclaimed rock artists such as Graham Bonnet, Roger Glover and Don Airey. He joined Deep Purple Mk2's reunion in 1984 and after his second departure from Purple in 1993, he reformed Rainbow with an all-new line-up and then started a new duo with his wife Candice Night, called Blackmore's Night, which is still active to this day. Rainbow are still playing several "revival" shows nowadays with a line-up that includes some of the former members from Blackmore's Night backing line-ups.

Ian Paice

Ian Paice is the only musician who ever played drums with Deep Purple, but his collaborations over the years range from Paice Ashton Lord to Whitesnake, Gary Moore and many others. He also plays several shows with Deep Purple tribute bands from all over the world and he has co-founded a charitable organization with his wife Jacky in 2010, called The Sunflower Jam.

Ian Gillan

Before being Deep Purple's most acclaimed lead singer, Ian Gillan played with many undergound line-ups and replaced Episode Six's original vocalist Andy Ross. After lefting Deep Purple in 1973, he retired for performing and started several business investments. In 1975 he replaced Ronnie James Dio at Roger Glover's Butterfly Ball one-off performance and since then he began forming his solo projects, such as the Ian Gillan Band and Gillan. Before rejoining Purple in 1984, he has been the lead singer for Black Sabbath and after leaving DP again in 1989, he formed a new version of one of his Sixties band Garth Rockett & The Moonshiners. He came back to Deep Purple in 1992 and still is the lead singer of the band nowadays. Many other solo albums have been released under its name, such as Dreamcatcher (1997), Gillan's Inn (2006), and One Eye To Morocco (2009).

Roger Glover

Here are the main families detected in the global network for Roger Glover. He formed his first band The Madisons in the early Sixties. The band would later merge with The Lightnings, forming the Episode Six, which also featured Ian Gillan from 1965 to 1969. He quit Deep Purple along with Gillan in 1973 and started his carrier as producer for many English artists and bands, such as Nazareth, Judas Priest, Elf and Status Quo. In 1975 he released his first solo album, called The Butterfly Ball And The Grasshopper's Feast (1974). He has also been in Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow from 1979 to 1984 as bassist and producer. During Deep Purple's Mk2 reunion days, he formed an extemporaneus duo with Ian Gillan and published the Accidentally On Purpose album in 1988. He still plays bass in Deep Purple nowadays.

David Coverdale

This bubble chart shows the main universes detected in the global network for David Coverdale. He played in several underground bands before joining Deep Purple Mk3 in 1973. After the band split, he released two solo albums produced by Roger Glover, titled White Snake and Northwinds (1977). He then formed his own band Whitesnake and still leads them nowadays. Several acclaimed musicians from the Hard Rock and Heay Metal world have been in Whitesnake, such as Jon Lord, Ian Paice, Cozy Powell, John Sykes, Adrian Vandenberg, Rudy Sarzo, Steve Vai and Doug Aldrich. In 1993, he also published an album with Jimmy Page from Led Zeppelin, titled Coverdale Page.

Glenn Hughes

Before joining Deep Purple Mk3 in 1973, Glenn Hughes was a founding member of Trapeze along with Mel Galley and Dave Holland. After Deep Purple split in 1976, he released his first solo album, titled Play Me Out (1977). He published many more albums since then and he has been part of several successful band and projects. In 1982, he formed the Hughes/Thrall duo with ex-Pat Travers guitarist Pat Thrall, while in the mid-Eighties, he recorded with other bands, such has Phenomena, the Gary Moore Band and Black Sabbath. In 2005, he collaborated again with Sabbath's Tony Iommi for the release of the album Fused. Many other collaborations followed since then and formed Black Country Communion along with Joe Bonamassa, Jason Bonham and ex-Dream Theater keyboardist Derek Sherinian. While being part of California Breed, he started touring as lead singer with Kings Of Chaos in 2013 and he is now going to release a new album as bassist and singer with The Dead Daisies.

Tommy Bolin

Before becoming Purple's guitarist in 1975, Tommy Bolin had already been in the bands Zephyr and Energy. In 1973, he replaced Domenic Troiano in the James Gang and released two albums with them: Bang (1973) and Miami (1974). During this time he played lead guitar in Billy Cobham's solo album Spectrum (1973), which also featured Jan Hammer on keyboards and Leland Sklar on bass. In 1975, just before joining Purple, he has been a recording artist for Alphonse Mouzon and published his first solo album Teaser, which also featured Glenn Hughes, David Foster and Phil Collins amongst others. After Deep Purple final split in 1976, he released his second solo album Private Eyes (1976) and formed the Tommy Bolin Band. Many tribute albums and shows have been done in his honor, the first of which was a tour held in 1999 in Texas and featured his brother Johnnie from Black Oak Arkansas, Glenn Hughes, Rocky Athas and Craig Erickson. Dean Guitars also produced a tribute superstrat model honoring Bolin's Teaser album cover.

Rod Evans

This bubble chart shows the main families detected in the global network for Rod Evans. His earliest associated acts included The Horizions, The MI5 and The Maze, the band in which he encountered Ian Paice for the first time. He has been in Roundabout, the 1968 embryonic version of Deep Purple, and after leaving DP Mk1, he co-founded Captain Beyond and stayed with them from 1971 to 1973. The band published two albums: Captain Beyond (1972) and Sufficiently Breathless (1973). Evans left music business till 1980, when he was approached by a management company specialized in questionably reformed famous bands and began to tour with a bogus version of Deep Purple, which also featured ex-Steppenwolf guitarist Tony Flynn and other unknown sessionists. This move cost him a lawsuite from Deep Purple Overseas Ltd for damages of $672,000 and the forfeit of all Deep Purple Mk1's royalties. He has not appeared publicly since the court case.

Nick Simper

Before joining Roundabout and Deep Purple Mk1 in 1968, Nick Simper had already played with bands such as The Renegades, Simon Raven Cult and Johnny Kidd's New Pirates. He first met Ritchie Blackmore while playing with Screaming Lord Sutch & The Savages and also played with Jon Lord during his time with The Flower Pot Men & Their Garden before joining Roundabout. After leaving Deep Purple in 1969, he formed his own band Warhorse, with which he realased two albums: Warhorse (1970) and Red Sea (1972). In 1994, he joined Quatermass II with Mick Underwood on drums, and recorded the album Long Road (1997). Nowadays, he plays bass in his own two bands The Good Old Boys and the Nasty Habits. The decision by the Rock N' Roll Hall Of Fame to not induct him with Deep Purple in 2016 is still perplexing.

Joe Lynn Turner

Here are the main universes detected in the global network for Joe Lynn Turner. In 1977, he started singing with Fandango, an American pop band, which toured with several artists such as The Allman Brothers Band, The Marshall Tucker Band, The Beach Boys and Billy Joel. He joined Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow in 1981 and published three studio albums with them: Difficult To Cure (1981), Straight Between The Eyes (1982) and Bent Out Of Shape (1983). After Rainbow first split, he collaborated with Yngwie Malmsteen and then joined Deep Purple Mk5 in 1990. After DP reunited again with Ian Gillan on vocals, Turner started taking part in different projects, such as Mother's Army, Brazen Abbot and the Hughes/Turner duo, with Glenn Hughes. He has also published several solo albums, such as Rescue You (1985), JLT (2003) and Second Hand Life (2007).

Joe Satriani

Earlier in his career, Joe Satriani worked as a guitar instructor for many of his former students achieving fame, such as Steve Vai, Larry LaLonde, Kirk Hammett, Charlie Hunter and Alex Skolnick. He then went on to have a successful solo music career, becoming a 15-time Grammy Award nominee and having sold over 10 million albums. In 1988, he was recruited by Mick Jagger as lead guitarist for his first solo tour and toured with Deep Purple Mk6 during the 1993 Japanese and European tours. He has also worked with other several guitarists during the G3 tour, which he founded in 1995. He has been the guitarist for the supergroup Chickenfoot since 2008 and today he is annoverated as the best-selling instrumental rock guitarist of all time.

Steve Morse

During his studies at the University of Miami in 1975, Steve Morse has being playing with colleagues Andy West, Bart Yarnold, Frank Josephs and Allen Sloan in a band, which would then become Dixie Dregs. During the following years the Dregs would involve several acclaimed musicians, such as Rod Morgenstein, Dave LaRue, Mark O'Connor and Jordan Rudess. In 1983, he formed the Steve Morse Band and three years leater he joined Kansas, with which he relased two albums: Power (1986) and The Spirit Of Things (1988). After joining Deep Purple Mk7 in 1995, he continued touring and recording with other artists and bands, such as Sharon Isbin, Living Loud, Angelfire and the supergroup Flying Colors.

Don Airey

This bubble chart shows the main families detected in the global network for Don Airey. He has had a long and productive career, playing with such acts as Gary Moore, Ozzy Osbourne, Judas Priest, Black Sabbath, Jethro Tull, Whitesnake, Saxon, Wishbone Ash, Cozy Powell, Colosseum II, Michael Schenker, Rainbow, Empire, members of Thin Lizzy, Brian May and Living Loud. He also worked with Andrew Lloyd Webber for the classical and rock fusion album Variations (1978).

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(CC) 2020 Made by Gregorio Tedde just for analysis purpose.
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