| Welcome
to our Looking Back (30 Years Ago) section, where we are following
Deep Purple month by month thirty years ago. If you have any recollections
to add for the next issue of Darker Than Blue, do
get in touch.
 Deep
Purple's final few months were played out on the road at the start
of 1976. If their shows in Australia and Japan had escaped much
Western media scrutiny, they were now playing in their biggest
territories and, while it would be wrong to suspect any kind of
stitch-up amongst journalists, their live reports did paint an
often bleak picture of the state of the band's performances. The
powerful UK music press did repeat some of the reviews, as well
as send correspondents out to cover shows, and it was impossible
to ignore the often negative tones. Hindsight
showed that drug problems affected two of the band and this clearly
had a big effect on their live shows, but egos, and a seeming
inability to address any of the issues didn't help.
Deep
Purple toured the east of America in January and tape evidence
shows some inspired moments on many shows, but at other times
they were a little ramshackle as various members of the band struggled
to keep the set together. To their credit, the set did vary quite
a lot, more so than it had in the past certainly.
Supported
by Nazareth, the tour moved across to the mid and western states
through February. Two shows on the tour were taped officially,
though one exists only in partial form. The tapes from Los Angeles
near the very end of the tour on Feb 27th 1976 were broadcast
on American radio as part of a syndicated show sponsored by King
Biscuit Flower Hour, heavily bootlegged and finally issued on
CD officially nearly twenty years later in 1995. It remains a
useful document of this final period of the band's career (Live
In California 1976).
Originally
Deep Purple had planned to take a break at this juncture, and
then do a full European tour in May and June. However they decided
to slip in some UK shows in March. It would be interesting to
know - when common sense might have suggested the band rest for
a while - the politics behind this; whether it was to keep fans
happy, to counter negative press, to help bolster sales of the
new album or what.
Whatever
the reasons, it all back-fired in spectacular fashion, as members
of the band seemed tired or disinterested on stage, with Bolin
also having to handle hecklers shouting for Ritchie. It was often
left to Lord and Paice to try and pull things together but the
response from both fans and journalists alike was one of the worst
I've ever seen for any band touring the UK. It didn't help that
seemingly one of the poorest shows was the second gig in London,
with all the press in attendance.
 For
fans who were still mourning the departure of Blackmore, as well
as those still wanting Mk 2 to return, the tour simply reinforced
their opinions. But even for those who had accepted the changes
on the new album and looked forward to the gigs, it was a huge
let-down. After the last show in Liverpool on March 15th, three
members of the group decided they'd had enough. Lord and Paice
agreed they didn't want to play in the band any more (which effectively
meant it was over) and Coverdale resigned. Nobody told Bolin or
Hughes.
The
press office kept the news at bay for some with talk of holidays
and solo projects (Bolin had gone straight out on the road in
America with his own band), while behind the scenes the management
were trying to ensure that they still had something to manage
and that any solo albums or new bands would remain under their
auspices. Deep Purple were however defunct, though the news didn't
finally make the papers until July.
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