It all started in the spring of 1967 when Tony Edwards, a businessman in London, was approached by Chris Curtis, the former drummer and singer of the Merseybeat band The Searchers, who said, “You could be the next Brian Epstein.” My manager ought to be you! It defies logic, but Edwards, a clothier with dreams of the rock industry, accepted this invitation to work with these iconic, if fading, beat boomers, and thus became involved with one of the most successful, although self-destructive, bands in heavy metal history.
Although Chris Curtis was a renowned figure, the excesses of the 1960s left him pharmaceutically challenged to the point where his Scouse colleague George Harrison nicknamed him “Mad Potter.” Curtis left The Searchers with the intention of forming a trio known as Roundabout. His vision included himself and two other musicians, fiery guitarist Ritchie Blackmore and classically skilled organist Jon Lord, in a lineup that was always in flux.
Blackmore was regarded as one of the best guitarists on the circuit and was a seasoned studio musician at the age of 22. He had performed with Neil Christian And The Crusaders (who, after he left, brought in young Jimmy Page) and The Outlaws (who supported Gene Vincent and Jerry Lee Lewis). Twenty-six-year-old Jon Lord had done some session work, notably playing piano on The Kinks’ You Really Got Me, and had experienced some degree of success with The Artwoods, who featured Ronnie Wood’s older brother Art.
However, Curtis abruptly disappeared after planting the seeds for this new band, supposedly checking himself into a clinic. “I don’t believe it was for alcohol or drugs. According to keyboardist Jon Lord of Deep Purple, “I believe he was mentally fragile.” For whatever reason, Curtis was obviously no longer in the picture. But Lord and Blackmore were so enthusiastic about his audacious concept that they chose to proceed.
Blackmore had watched The Maze perform in Hamburg, so the two brought in drummer Ian Paice, singer Rod Evans, and former bassist Nick Simper of Johnny Kidd & The Pirates. The lineup was full in March 1968. A month after renaming themselves Deep Purple in response to Ritchie’s grandmother’s favorite song, Roundabout performed a few warm-up gigs in Scandinavia. It was “an embarrassing name… until we saw it in the charts,” as pragmatist Nick Simper put it. However, compared to the other options, which reportedly included Concrete God and Sugarlump, it was unquestionably better.
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