A Discussion of the Deep Purple Family Tree (Deep Purple/Rainbow/Whitesnake/Gillan) 

Phil Aston is a great guest !! I hope we see him more on SoT.

This particular rock family tree is to me without a doubt, the most interesting in all of British music history, without Deep Purple these other great bands never would've existed.

I just turned 60 and grew up with Purple, Rainbow and all of those heavy / hard rock bands. But, I'm ashamed to say Gillan slipped thru the cracks with me. For some reason , they didn't do anything here in the US. But, thanks to this channel , I just listened to Mr Universe for the 1st time. Holy shit! My new favorite album. Roller, Mr Universe, Message In a bottle, ect.wish I would have gotten it sooner, but better late then ever!

Roger Glover ~ The Butterfly Ball and the Grasshopper's Feast (1974) One of the great albums from the purple family tree.

Great idea from Martin about doing a video of the most weird and obscure Deep Purple offshoots. Captain Beyond, Sarabande, Elements, Butterfly Ball, First of the Big Bands, Warhorse, so many!

Of the choice of the four, my ranking will be 4: Gillan - could never get Into them 3: Whitesnake - love me some early Whitesnake heavy blues 2: Deep Purple - the band that started it all for me nearly 40 years ago. 1: My favourite band of all time. When Blackmore and Dio were together, MAGIC happened. Credit also to the other lesser known spin offs like Paice, Ashton and Lord. - Malice in Wonderland is an extremely underrated album. Jon Lord’s solo projects (Rock and Classical) all good. Captain Beyond were great too. Glenn Hughes is still belting out some great stuff.

A very interesting discussion it will be, I am sure. Purple and all its various offshoots and interconnections to other bands form a huge part of the hard rock & heavy metal genres. As Ian Gillan once said when questioned about the Deep Purple family tree, "It's not a tree, it's a f***** jungle!".

Phil is great. I enjoy listening to his very accurate remarks and it would be great if you could have him on the show more often.

Great show! Purple have remained so important to me since I first heard them 44 years ago. I'd go Purple, Gillan, Rainbow, with Whitesnake at the bottom. Whenever I hear Made In Japan it just underscores that they were arguably the best live rock band of the 1970s, even more than Zeppelin.

I would add Paice Ashton Lord, Hughes/Thrall, Phenomena, Captain Beyond, and Warhorse. It's also worth checking out some of the origins of where the many members of these bands came from; Episode Six, Trapeze, Elf, Fandango, Colloseum II, etc.

Looks like the SOT family tree continues to grow with the welcome addition of Phil. Captain approved cheers gentleman.

Saw Gillan at a club gig in Northampton, UK. Martin's so right about the punk thing. Bernie Torme on guitar was tremendous as was John McCoy. Really high energy stuff. There were even a few punks at the show who really dug it. Guess what, no one bothered them. The support acts were Randy California and Samson feat one Bruce Bruce on vocals. Wonder what became of him?

Phil is back again!😎

Great episode enjoy the UK perspective from Phil great contribution 😊

My first album was Deep Purple, Machine Head; second was rainbow rising at 11. I’m 57. Gillan of course.. let’s not forget Gillan and “old” Whitesnake when know one knew who they were. All my favourites.

I find Martin's hatred of live albums fascinating. Personally I have often introduced myself to a band through a live album. For many bands the songs are transformed in the live arena. They are mostly far more than hits collections. Relative to the Deep Purple family, my introduction to Whitesnake was the 87 album. I listened to it a few times and went back to the store to see what else they had available. Well, what's this? Live... in The Heart Of The City? Live album? Yes please. I fell instantly in love. I immediately lost interest in the 87 album and set out to find the rest of the early stuff. But Live... is my go-to and the extended double CD made it even more awesome. All my favorite Deep Purple albums are live. Those guys could jam. They created on the spot. Those albums are filled with music never heard on the "hits" studio versions.

Great program.Gillan,Whitesnake and Rainbow all in the U.K. charts,singles & albums. Misty eyed thinking back at those times. For reasons discussed elsewhere,Glenn Hughes was under the radar. I recall a friend introducing me to Hughes/Thrall, which got me to seek out Trapeze albums. I recall a Pub Jukebox having ‘Reach For The Sky’ of course a Gary Moore song with a Hughes/Thrall influence. Gary apparently wanted to cut ‘Still The Night’ with Glenn Hughes,but Glenn held it for the Phenomena debut album instead. One can only wonder what magic Gary Moore would have brought to ‘Still The Night’.

1. In Rock 2. Rising 3. Slide it In 4. Mr. Universe (the best studio album from each band)

Tool Box is a great Gillan album , toured Australia in 91 in smaller 1000 capacity venues , great shows , performed all this album and a few classic Deep Purple numbers , Peace from down under.

Though not an offshoot, Black Sabbath is also connected or associated with Deep Purple in which both Ian Gillan and Glenn Hughes were the lead vocalists that appeared on two back to back albums.

Loving it. Phil Aston is a real find.

1- Purple 2- Whitesnake 3- Rainbow 4- Gillan

More Phil. Gives great insight from a British viewpoint.

This is a family tree I am obsessed with. My collection is vast. This was an immense show. My three favourite SoT folk too. Love it guys. Thank you

Great show. Phil is a great addition.

This was a great discussion, I loved them all, Deep Purple, Rainbow, Whitesnake, & Gillian next. This episode really hits home for me because I saw Rainbow in 76 @The Beacon in NYC, I was 15 at the time and the show was amazing, I'll never forget the show.

A meeting of the minds! This would be a great team for a new show! Great topic for you guys to kick off with too!

Deep Purple - Deep Purple (1969). Rainbow - Long Live Rock 'n' Roll (1978). Captain Beyond - Captain Beyond (1972). Whitesnake - Lovehunter (1979). Gillan - Mr. Universe (1979).

Also i want to mention i saw Deep Purple with Simon and he was fantastic. I thought he fit better than Morse. He definitely stuck to Ritchie's solos but added enough of his own stuff to keep it interesting. I can't wait to hear new music with him.

Live in the Heart of the City would be #1 out of those live albums.

Nate and John on The Deep Purple Podcast are lovely chaps and they are doing ALL the Purple branches...down to Ray Fenwick projects and people from the Butterfly Ball etc.

Love the addition of Phil Aston! Great new perspectives!

Great discussion gents, excellent to see all three of you together!

Another great episode with these guys. I hope we get to see more of Phil on the channel.

Thanks for the show DP my favorite band of all times . I like the way Phil described how he was exposed to Deep Purpel and Rainbow.. My experience imagine hearing 2 Deep Purpel songs on the radio and then going to their concert in 1972 and watching them perform made in Japan basically having your mind blown and then becoming a fan of the Deep Purpel family forever.

Thanx for this show. Cool and knowledgeable participants! DP is still in my top three bands of all time and I think the last two - three albums are great. Now What?! and Whoosh are definitely in their better half.

No Blackmore's Night? It was them who really inspired me to go back through Ritchie's back catalog and branch into all these other groups. And Rainbow's debut album is unquestionably the best album they ever released. Rising would be #2.

Is Bernie Torme the most underrated guitarist in the entire history of heavy rock? A total original.

I've never thought live albums belong in a ranking of a discography, for the simple fact that writing a batch of new material is an entirely different task than playing your songs well. When you can pick to play all of your best songs, and put them all on the same record, there isn't much excuse for it not to be good.

Excellent discussion!

Awesome show!!! Love the Gillan band and Rainbow the best!!

Totally agree with the Simon McBride improving the live show, and having worked with them from 96 and 02 (and knowing Morse is awesome as a person and player), they will embrace Simon like Steve on Purpendicular / Abandon.

Great show. 👍

Excellent discussion thank you for posting

Fantastic ... Pete, Martin & Phil ...

I love live albums...Love Made in Japan..also Live in the herart of the city by Whitesnake and On Stage with Rainbow, AND Ian Gillan Band live at Budokan..

Great show as always guys.

When it comes to live, Deep Purple’s Graz 1975 and Whitesnake Live at Hammersmith are tops for me.

Joe Lynn Turner's solo albums are really good and underrated, especially JLT, Slam, The Usual Suspects, Second Hand Life and the last one Belly of the Beast. Great albums, I like even more than Deep Purple's Steve Morse era and late Whitesnake albums.

I will defend Down to Earth to the death as well, Martin! Great stuff!

Thank you guys! Great discussion!

Studio Albums: Deep Purple: Machine Head Rainbow: Rising Whitesnake: Come And Get It Gillan: Glory Road Glenn Hughes: Phenomena Jon Lord: Sarabande Roger Glover: Elements Rod Evans: Captain Beyond Tommy Bolin: Teaser Black Sabbath: Born Again Don Airey: Blizzards Of Ozz Steve Morse: Southern Steel Tony Carey: Blue Highway

I've been slow to checking out the Gillan period but I understand now after trying again why it's been mentioned so many times.

I AGREE DEEP ARE VERY INFLUENTIAL..I LOVE IAN GILLAN AND RITCHIE BLACKMORE

I would agree with Phil because I automatically identify Purple with Gillan despite Coverdale's Part in the band.

Another great episode. For me Purple are on top of this list, Like what Pete said about America with Gillan, I don't believe they even charted here in Australia, I may be wrong so for that reason they would be number 4 and I would have Rainbow at 2 and Whitesnake 3. I must say though I have become a much bigger fan of Whitesnake after watching SOT over the past few years and got into those early albums based on Pete's recommendation.

Great episode. I wish it could have gone on longer! Could hear about / talk about Purple and its extensions for hours! My favourites in order of those 4 bands are: 1) Deep Purple....fav album = Made in Japan 2) Rainbow.........fav album = Rising 3) Gillan..............fav album = Glory Road 4) Whitesnake....fav album = Live in the Heart of the City

An interesting video, even though I'm not a massive fan of any of the bands featured. I have always been more Led Zeppelin than Deep Purple. Having said that, I do own "Rainbow Rising" and "Down To Earth" on vinyl and my CD collection includes the "Deepest Purple" compilation, "Perfect Strangers", "The House Of Blue Light", "Catch The Rainbow: The Anthology" and "Best Of Whitesnake". In the UK, we had a TV series called "Rock Family Trees" based on a series of books. There was no commenting on the merits of the various bands, just a bringing together of the various people who had been in multiple associated bands. The Deep Purple episode was one of the most interesting and, like all episodes, it went beyond just the "main" band and its "children". So, for example, Blackmore formed Rainbow with Ronnie James Dio (and others), so the band Dio was included in the programme. Ronnie James Dio had a spell as Black Sabbath's lead vocalist, so that band was included. You can see where I am going. These programmes were fascinating and I'm sure they might be available on RU-vid, though maybe not as I am sure they were broadcast on one of the BBC's channels.

You could list the "Blackmore wheel spoke" for Black Sabbath: Gillan, Hughes, Neil Murray, Cozy Powell, Don Airey, Bob Daisley, Dio, and possibly others.

Saw the NEW DP live twice - your take on Simon McBride is spot on. Order of bands: DP - Rainbow - Whitesnake - Gillan. Rising - In Rock - Come and Get It - Mr Universe

Great show! I love Deep Purple and Rainbow. Like Whitesnake and should listen to more Gillan (think all Ian Gillan done is a bit of a roller coaster). There is so much content on Deep Purple though that few things today trigger my interest. It's seems like I heard or seen most about it before. This was a bit different and nice to hear different opinions about all these bands. I hope they finished an album with Simon McBride and that it could be a possibly strong end (Ian Gillan is 77 years...). I don't "hate" the album Turning to Crime but think it be a bit sad if the band would end with a cover album after so many decades and albums. I am not a huge fan of all Deep Purple albums but many of them would have made a respectable end.

Great show!

Awesome! Great opinions and facts!

1. Deep Purple 2. Rainbow 3. Gillan 4. Whitesnake

A very interesting and engaging show, thank you chaps! I side more with Pete on this occasion, although I have a more critical view of the Gillan catalogue. The Japanese album and Mr Universe are stonking releases packed with wonderful songs, and then Glory Road is also very strong - so far, so good. After that, however, I personally struggle to make one good album from the next three studio releases. Purple take the crown for me, simply because there's so much diverse quality, followed closely by Whitesnake, and then Rainbow in third asbecauseStranger in us all and the first 2/3 JLT albums are spottier.

I look forward to McBride's work with Purple. I really liked what he did with Sweet Savage.

Hi I also remember that sometime in UK there was a cd that had about the deep purple family,it would be great to hear about these as well , but this was very interesting for me thanks 😅

Discussion on Steve McBride and writing 41:30ish - Purple have a history of embracing the ideas and contributions of new members - Come Taste the Band was dominated by Tommy Bolin's contribution, Perpendicular took a completely different musical direction led by Steve Morse and Jon Lord, Bob Ezran has guided them in new directions. If/when they make their next album expect it to be heavily influence by Steve McBride. As for a better fit - I saw them live in Manchester (UK) in October. McBride did a great job but didn't have the invention of Morse or Blackmore's ability to create OMG moments out of thin air.

Side two of Rising is the best side of vinyl in any genre of music

Agree entirely with Phil's comments about the no Blackmore no Purple nonsense. Purple have always had incredible guitar players. Bolin was the weakest, but that was probably down to his drug issues and sadly he left us way too soon. Simple truth is I love them all and they all brought something special to the band, also their material outside of Purple is incredibly good.

When Deep Purple reformed in 1984 ( Band members were in their late 30s) the media said they were too old and Dinosaurs. How times have changed.

Simon McBride is a great player and has some great solo albums especially now and then and his first release. He's a great blues rock player and really looking forward to the next album.

I hope Phil talks about Made in Japan and why Strange Kind of Woman from the 3rd night wasn't put on the album. Also when Richie left to join Rainbow, David Coverdale tried to get Rory Gallagher in the band, what would that have been like. 👍

Great Show Love all 3 of you guys......WATCH ALL 3 OF Your Channels.......Smart ,Passionate group..............Always do this..........PETER. I KNOW That your to rich to respond to Anyone..

Thanks guys! A really great discussion and I love that you each have distinct viewpoints that differ. Each to their own! But share the love! A fantastic topic for any DP fan. For what it’s worth, my favourite single track from all the catalogues is Gillan’s ‘Mr. Universe’. 🤘😎🤘

I need to revisit Gillan I feel as he's the artist I saw the most on stage but listened to the least (studio albums of course). Too fixated around Rainbow's first four albums and Coverdale's DP period. Listening to you guys, especially Phil, has encouraged me to explore these various rabbit holes. Personally fond of Warhorse and Fandango. Also got interested in McBride joining the ranks of DP and his take on the whole ever present and never ending Blackmore legacy.

A subject close to my heart, followed Purple since 1974, 1976 to 78 chasing anything Purple related and then comes Gillan and Whitesnake. Totally agree with Martin that Rainbow managed to hit the groove again with Bent Out Of Shape, caught them at Stafford's Bingley Hall and walked out and thought Blackmores finally got it together again. Phil's spot on, the expectation for Blackmores first album was massive - we were expecting Burn but got Fireball - dont get me wrong i love the first Rainbow album but Rising and Long Live are def superior. Gillan came with Mr Universe and backed it with a tour that was right in your face rock n roll, and Whitesnake's first tour was to support a classy debut album. My bests? - and its at times a tough call... Purple... Burn, Made in Japan - Gillan - Mr Universe, Future Shock - Rainbow - Rising, Down to Earth - Whitesnake - Trouble, Love Hunter. Have to say i'd agree with you Phil, the strongest off shoot catolog would be Gillan's.. supported with tours that were were pure entertainment - with tickets prices no higher than £3.50 - for three bands!!

Not gonna monopolize the comments here, sorry, but I gotta again give a shoutout to 'No Release' off Difficult to Cure as one of my favorite tunes from these bands. Nobody seemed to dig it except us here in the Detroit area, where it was played in heavy rotation for years. I think it's still the most "Purplish" Blackmore riff and tune of his post Purple stuff. My two cents.

I liked Paice Ashton Lord PAL

GREAT Insights from you Guys. Thanks

First band u ever saw was Gillan on the magic tour ( technically spider the support)

Great discussion here.

Saw Rainbow Rising tour Liverpool Empire amazing.

I agree that Made in Japan should be considered when discussing the whole catalog since the live versions of each song is superior to the studio

Martin at 21min 18 seconds Deep Purple live albums hate them all 😂 priceless

I enjoy Martin I wrote a book on them and here’s my signed copies Popoff

I always wonder if Ritchie ever wanted to get Ronnie in for the vocal spot in Deep Purple before he quit.

Really good show, I love Purple & all the different branches of the tree. Seems I'm agreement with most of Phil's choices & opinions. I would definitely tune in for the other bands from the tree if you guys decide to do that. Before I rank my pick, I just want to say I love all this stuff, but here we go. And I do want to say Ritchie Blackmore is my favorite guitarist & Ian Gillan is my favorite vocalist. Favorite Band Deep Purple (has to be Purple, it's where it all started) Rainbow Whitesnake (the Early years, before MTV) Gillian Favorite Album Purple - Made In Japan (if it has to be a studio, it would be Burn) Rainbow - Rising Whitesnake - Ready n Willing Gillian - Glory Road Favorite Song Deep Purple - Child In Time (from the Made In Japan. It's so much better than the studios version. Gillian vocals are amazing on this.) Rainbow - (this one was a tuff one) Stargazer Whitesnake - Blindman (from the Ready An' Willing album) Gillian - Fighting Man ( in my top three Ian Gillan vocal performances)

For me.... Deep Purple - I don't agree with the "no Blackmore, no Purple" but I understand it. Whoosh kicked butt. Rainbow - My favorite is still the debut. Gillan - The albums are interesting but difficult to get into but I love his voice. Whitesnake - I never got into much. Slip Of The Tongue is my favorite mostly because of Steve Vai. Also I bought the Double Trouble album mainly for the cover lol. @Martin, I don't disagree with you about the first albums by DP but Chasing Shadows is awesome.

Another great show! Thanks.

Great watch thanks guys. I must comment and say I do feel rising is strong all the way through - ok maybe do you close your eyes is the weakest track but still think its great Ronnies vocals lift it up for me. As for everything else on the Record - fantastic. Regards

Great discussion! All four bands are great, but if I had to pick an order it would be: 1. Deep Purple 2. Rainbow 3. Whitesnake 4. Gillan.

No mention of The Butterfly Ball. A very good album indeed.

I Hope it might reference captain beyond

So interesting to see what a difference an Atlantic ocean makes. Or even the North Sea. Here in Norway Suzie Quatro stayed in the top 5 long after even the UK lost interest. Between Whitesnakes Slide it In and 1987 they said the band swapped audience from adults to teenagers, yet they charted exactly the same. When Rainbow went for America, sales divebombed in Norway. i remember seeing Straight Between the Eyes in bargain bins everywhere. Leonard Cohen’s I’m you man made Norwegians froth at the mouth! It was the only country where it made number 1 where it stayed for 19 weeks! 1/4 of all sales in Europe was in Norway who had 4 million people at the time. It only climbed to 34 in Canada and 48 in the UK! Norwegians like melancholy was the argument at the time, probably why Tanita Tikaram’s second album only made the top 2 in one country. Norway.

My biggest gripe about Purple and the off shoot bands is they all wanted to play Mistreated!

Gillan the BBC TAPES 1 & 2 are great live documents!!!

Guys that was suoerb. It gotme thinking about the Gillan albums and the first i bought was Glory Road. The for Gollan fans only is funny and has grwat tracks in it. My mate taped tgat for me only recentky when it was re-released in CD did i get a chance to re-visit it. However Mr Universe is superb with Fighting Man from the earlier Japanese album sessions the most brilliant of tracks. That was not punky whereas a lot of other stuff was. Great band live and good fin too. You did not mention the superb later years IanGillan “soli” albums wurh amazing tracks pike No Good Luck” on them. Another great live band. Steve Morris was superb on those albums and live. An enjoyable listen chaps so a big tgank you.

I'm with Martin on the live albums issue. I would argue that live albums are their own category, and thus should only be ranked against other live albums. A studio album is the result of a band's creativity, a statement. A live album, however good it might be, usually consists of previously recorded material. Great show gentlemen.

COVERDALE ...GLENN HUGHES ..BLACKMORE ALSO AWESOME