We Stood and Stared

Where did heavy metal start?  Well for me it was with Clive Hook who was doing the music for Scott House assemblies at Meridian.  In the fourth form Mr Newbury was our head of house and he wanted Clive to play some loud music for an assembly.  Clive asked if I could help him and Mr Newbury agreed (I am not sure playing a record is a two man job, but it meant I could sit in the production gantry high above the hall rather than in full sight of the teachers).  Clive brought in Deepest Purple, a compilation of Deep Purple’s greatest hits.  He played on Smoke on the Water and it thumped away and as it was about to get going Mr Newbury waved to turn the volume down.  He look like he was more of a Mantovani man than a metal fan.

Some people suggest that the Beatles invented heavy metal with the feedback on some songs in the mid-60s, but in reality it kind of emerged with various groups at the end of the decade.  It is hard to say who invented it, as a group like Led Zeppelin was considered a metal band in 1980 but listening to their albums now very few of their songs would fall into their category.

In reality in the late 60s you have groups like Cream inching their way towards a heavier and heavier sound but I think it is Black Sabbath and Deep Purple are the first recognisably metal bands (though fans of Slayer and modern metal will find it very mild).  Black Sabbath will be coming higher up the list but Deep Purple are probably the most important heavy metal band in that period, not just because of the sound but the influence that they had on the music.

The band went through multiple line ups, the most successful was Ian Gillan, Richie Blackmore, Jon Lord, Roger Glover and Ian Paice which produced classics like Child in Time, Black Night, Highway Star and Fireball.

(The Gillan line up)

After Gillan and Glover left they were replaced by David Coverdale and Glenn Hughes.  This was primarily the influence of Richie Blackmore.  It only lasted two albums before Blackmore left to form Rainbow (a pattern emerges with Richie Blackmore – gifted musician, difficult human being).  Coverdale and Glover left too.  There were a couple of great tracks like Stormbringer and Burn from this era, but it was not as good as the Gillan period.

(The Coverdale line up)

Deep Purple were over as a serious band, even though they struggled on with Tommy Brolin.  Whitesnake, Rainbow and Gillan were spawned from the band.  There have been multiple reunions and the band still exists, with drummer Ian Paice the only man to play on every album.

The Gillan line up is the best but my favourite track is from the Coverdale line up (though it only just beats Child in Time).  So that is two appearances on the list for David Coverdale as a vocalist – here and with Whitesnake.

Burn

Playlist

1. Hush
2. Speed King
3. Child in Time
4. Black Night
5. Fireball
6. Demon’s Eye
7. Highway Star
8. Smoke on the Water
9. Space Truckin’
10. Woman From Tokyo
11. Burn
12. Stormbringer
13. Perfect Strangers