For any touring rock and roll band, time on the road may be exhausting. It’s fantastic to be able to offer music to legions of admirers all over the world, but when musicians discover that the never-ending cycle of record and tour isn’t going to stop, it’s generally enough to drive anyone insane. period Deep Purple had established themselves as one of the definitive hard rock giants, Jon Lord recalled that this gig was enough to force them to close up shop for a period.
However, given the band’s ever-changing lineups, there was no reason to believe they would quit for any reason. They had already transformed themselves from a jam band to one of the kings of hard rock with Roger Glover and Ian Gillan, and when that didn’t work out, having David Coverdale and Glenn Hughes take over was a godsend when they went into the studio to record Burn.
But on the road, everyone had their share of combat stories. Aside from the legendary narrative of their live recording setup breaking apart, as told in ‘Smoke on the Water,’ Gillan and Ritchie Blackmore also had to cope with hepatitis midway through their time in the band. Even though the band still had some ties to its early days, things started to go wrong when Blackmore chose to call it quits.
He had always been the raw fury driving the band, so seeing him abruptly let go of the reins and form Rainbow came as a surprise to many. And, despite the fact that Come Taste the Band was a reasonably excellent record with newbie Tommy Bolin, it was going to be a difficult task to get anything done once they hit the road, especially with half of the audience mocking Bolin for not being named Blackmore.
However, if that were the only issue with the tour, most people would not be complaining. No, the true horrors occurred when the band was compelled to do gigs they had not agreed to, and one of their crew members died after falling or being shoved down a lift shaft, depending on who you ask.
By the time the band played their final gig in Liverpool, Lord realised that any future plans with this Purple lineup were doomed, saying, “I went straight to my dressing room that I was sharing with [drummer] Ian Paice, and I said, ‘Is this it?’ and he answered, ‘Yeah’. We clasped hands and said, ‘It’s over, thank God. Coverdale walked in minutes later and said, ‘I’m leaving the band,’ and we answered, ‘David, there’s no band to leave.'”
Although the band only existed in name for a short time, the classic lineup quickly reignited the old passion. With Coverdale making waves with Whitesnake, Perfect Strangers provided the ideal opportunity for Blackmore to bury the hatchet with the band and reunite with Gillan and Glover, especially when songs like the title track began to evoke certain red-and-blue hues of what had been.
That lineup still had some vitality in it, but the group’s Come Taste the Band era was effectively over. They had suffered numerous setbacks, but the last tour was the final straw, making everyone totally sick of performing together again.