Decisive Band · Hard Rock, Prog & Early Metal
Deep Purple
Mark II lineup (Blackmore / Gillan / Glover / Lord / Paice) set hard rock’s organ-plus-riff classroom: Machine Head (1972) and the Made in Japan live document.
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Landmark
Smoke on the Water · 1972
Open-fifth riff as global guitar classroom.
Helped open
Hammond equal to guitar in hard-rock mix.
Firsts stay on the band page—paired with story, not a separate encyclopedia.
01 / 06
Organ + riff classroom
Mark II sets hard rock’s organ-plus-riff grammar: Lord’s Hammond equal to Blackmore’s guitar in the live mix. Machine Head (1972) and Made in Japan are the studio and live textbooks. More organ-forward than Zeppelin or Sabbath.
02 / 06
Mark I / II / III and Blackmore exit
Mark I: Evans/Simper era. Mark II: Gillan/Glover peak. Mark III: Coverdale/Hughes after Gillan/Glover leave. Blackmore exits 1975 to form Rainbow—hub path to fantasy-lyric hard rock. Paice is the continuous drum seat.
03 / 06
Smoke on the Water: teaching riff
Open-fifth figure over Lord’s organ and Paice’s pocket. Lyric documents the Montreux casino fire. It becomes the first riff many guitarists learn worldwide. Highway Star shows the speed and neoclassical lead side of the same album.
04 / 06
Blackmore figures, Lord Hammond, Gillan scream
Blackmore blends blues bends with classical scalar runs. Lord treats Hammond as a lead instrument. Gillan’s scream sits above without melisma fashion. Glover and Paice lock the pocket that Made in Japan documents.
05 / 06
Unpredictable exit, loud organ
Blackmore’s unpredictability line foreshadows the Rainbow split. Lord’s equal-volume organ claim is the mix fact behind the Mark II sound. Quotes document method, not myth.
06 / 06
NWOBHM and metal classroom
Iron Maiden and later metal acts cite the riff-plus-organ weight and Gillan-range vocals. Rainbow continues Blackmore’s neoclassical lead path with Dio. Smoke remains the pedagogical object.
Organ + riff classroom
Lineup versions
Named peak casts—not every drummer swap. Hub people link out when they walk between bands.
Mark I
1968–1969
Early albums before Gillan/Glover; psychedelic/hard-rock hybrid.
- Ritchie BlackmoreGuitar
- Rod EvansVocals
- Jon LordKeyboards
- Nick SimperBass
- Ian PaiceDrums
Mark II
Peak1969–1973
In Rock / Machine Head / Made in Japan citation era.
- Ritchie BlackmoreGuitar
- Ian GillanVocals
- Jon LordKeyboards
- Roger GloverBass
- Ian PaiceDrums
Mark III
1973–1975
Burn / Stormbringer; Blackmore exits 1975 to Rainbow.
- Ritchie BlackmoreGuitar
- David CoverdaleVocals
- Jon LordKeyboards
- Glenn HughesBass, Vocals
- Ian PaiceDrums
Quote wall
Interview quote wall (structure ready for Whisper imports). Short cites—no full copyrighted video embeds.
“I don't like to be predictable.”
— Ritchie Blackmore, 1975 · Interview excerpt · quote wall
“The organ was as loud as the guitar.”
— Jon Lord, 1972 · On early Purple live mix · press
Composition table
band · year · track · members_on_stage · genre_tags
| Year | Track | Members on stage | Genre tags |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1972 | Smoke on the WaterOpen-fifth riff as global teaching tool; Montreux fire lyric. | Ritchie Blackmore, Ian Gillan, Jon Lord, Roger Glover, Ian Paice | |
| 1972 | Highway StarSpeed riff + Blackmore classical figures + Lord Hammond race. | Ritchie Blackmore, Ian Gillan, Jon Lord, Roger Glover, Ian Paice | |
| 1970 | Child in TimeIn Rock era: Gillan scream over Lord’s organ bed. | Ritchie Blackmore, Ian Gillan, Jon Lord, Roger Glover, Ian Paice |