barneyfife
Purple fan
Registered: 11-2004
Posts: 27
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Evans & Simper
The departure of Rod Evans and Nick Simper from Deep Purple in 1969 must be a touchy subject to those involved because I haven't been able to find much info on it. I've read the interview with Simper, and it's obvious that he's very bitter about the whole thing, but he doesn't state precisely WHY the band fired him. And from what little I've been able to find about Evans, he also is quite bitter about the circumstances surrounding his own departure, but I haven't found exactly WHY he was let go either. I've always suspected that the reason Evans was fired was that his voice was too "pop-oriented" for the heavy direction the band was going at the time. If so, Gillan was the perfect replacement for him. As for Simper, his bass playing seemed to be a good fit for the band, so I've gathered that he was fired for other reasons. Does anyone know exactly why they were fired? I would most appreciate any info you can provide.
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25/11/2004, 16:42
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afantos
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Registered: 10-2004
Posts: 31
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Re: Evans & Simper
I was wondering myself about
Simper. What I think happened is that Gillan brought Glover in the band (I think the main reason was that they worked as a songwriting team in Episode six). He may have asked it as a requirement.
That is only my speculation but it seems logical.
In Smoke on the water book it say's that Evans and Simper were alieneted from the rest of the band before they got fired.
I am still not convinced about that though!
Last edited by afantos, 25/11/2004, 17:32
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25/11/2004, 17:16
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Celtic Legacy
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Registered: 09-2003
Posts: 1992
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Re: Evans & Simper
In a nutshell:
Blackmore felt during the recording sessions for the third album that Rod Evans 'wasn't cutting it'. He thought he was more a ballad singer and Blackmore was more into going in a much harder direction. He also felt that Nick's bass playing was far too old fashioned more suited to the older rock n' roll styles than the progressive direction.
In America during the band's first tours there, Rod Evans got involved with an American girl and fancied settling down there and his performances suffered.
Blackmore convinced Jon and Ian that they needed new members in who were more attuned to a harder approach so they scoped out Gillan and Glover and offered them the gig...without telling Rod and Nick who were unaware of what was going on behind the scenes. In fact no one in the band told them that they'd been fired, they left that up to the management (once their US tour had been completed) and this is a big reason as to why Nicky was so bitter about it. Rod accepted it and went off to America as he'd planned and did very well living off the band's royalties until 1980. Nick got £10,000 and had to go to court to get that. It was all very nasty for a time.
Lots more detail but that's the bare bones of it.
--- Dr. Lyn *sigh*
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25/11/2004, 18:34
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barneyfife
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Re: Evans & Simper
Many thanks for the info, Celtic Legacy. You've answered a question I've been wondering about for a long time. As much as I've appreciated Rod & Nick's contributions to the band's early success, the band's move to replace them with Ian & Roger was a stroke of genius.
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25/11/2004, 19:13
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Atle
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Registered: 09-2003
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Re: Evans & Simper
This story is also told well in the BBC documentary rock family trees, deep purple, from 1995. Lord and Simper tell the story. Lord is very embarrassed about the story. Simper seems 98% able to laugh at it.
--- In heaven, everything is fine...
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25/11/2004, 20:59
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mrsnip
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Registered: 11-2003
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Re: Evans & Simper
quote: barneyfife wrote:
the band's move to replace them with Ian & Roger was a stroke of genius.
One never know what would have been. Mk 1 was great in their way, and had potential.
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25/11/2004, 21:06
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TeleCat
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Re: Evans & Simper
What I don't understand though is if they checked out Episode Six, how could that have been an insight to the heavy direction they were persuing. They were by no means progressive or heavy from what I've heard. And I understood they did a lot of covers live.
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25/11/2004, 21:12
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mrsnip
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Re: Evans & Simper
quote: TeleCat wrote:
What I don't understand though is if they checked out Episode Six, how could that have been an insight to the heavy direction they were persuing. They were by no means progressive or heavy from what I've heard. And I understood they did a lot of covers live.
And MkII´s first recording were Hallelujah, bot exactly heavy.
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25/11/2004, 21:44
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Rahul
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Registered: 09-2003
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Re: Evans & Simper
quote: TeleCat wrote:
What I don't understand though is if they checked out Episode Six, how could that have been an insight to the heavy direction they were persuing. They were by no means progressive or heavy from what I've heard. And I understood they did a lot of covers live.
While Episode Six were basically a beat group, they did have some slight progressive tendencies in their live set, in both the songs they covered, and the fact that Ian Gillan did scream on ocassions. The one he lets rip on Been Such A Long Way Home is fabulous. You can certainly see the potential is there to be exploited.
--- Saw it on the tube
Bought it on the phone
Now you're home alone
It's a piece of crap
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25/11/2004, 22:16
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Milan Fahrnholz
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Registered: 09-2003
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Re: Evans & Simper
I think that tracks like UFO are about as far from commerce you can get with this band.
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25/11/2004, 22:37
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