What I like best about Deep Purple is the church organ sound. When I saw them they had it on a swivel which was rocking back and forth with mist coming out from underneath.
Jon Lord could really hammer the organ and keyboards, couldn’t he?
That organ is a Hammond B3, the same one used in many churches. The B3 and M3 were the two most commonly used, the M3 is very little difference, just not as big. I can’t remember the keyboard player’s name, he died in the past 2 years or so, he used the B3 their entire career, and the sound he got was by cranking the built in tube amp to as loud as it would go. He used it in the 70’s, and in the videos I’ve seen, always rocked it back and forth while playing, almost turning it over at times. Keith Emerson, of Emerson, Lake and Palmer did the same thing.
I’ve been onstage with the B3 a few times, but not many bar bands want to cart one around. Most pros are even opting for a much lighter weight multi-function keyboard these days, and some are so close to the B3 sound it’s hard to tell the difference.
But you brought up a good point, that B3 sound was integral to Deep Purple from their early days, when “Hush” was recorded with Rod Evans on vocals. (1st album I think) Evans went on to join the 1st real supergroup, Captain Beyond. The rest of the band picked up Ian Gillian, the true voice of Deep Purple. Captain Beyond was Rod Evans, Rhino an Lee Dorman, guitar and bass from Iron Butterfly, and Bobby Caldwell, who was drummer for Johnny Winter. One of the best drummers in the business. Definitely worth a listen, their 1st album is one of my old favorites.
Being a guitar player, I was a huge fan of Ritchie Blackmore. One of the best of the 60’s and 70’s guitar players, I always considered him in the same class as Clapton, Page, Beck, Johnny Winter, Duanne Allman and many of the other amazing guitar players of that era. There were plenty...
Without Jon Lord, it’s not Deep Purple.