Where did the name “Deep Purple” come from?
When Deep Purple went on their first tour, to Denmark in 1968, they were still named Roundabout. This was the name suggested by Chris Curtis, former drummer for The Searchers, who actually started the whole process of putting the band together. His concept was of a “roundabout” where people get on and off easily, allowing different line-ups. He was rather quickly put aside, and the actual band (Mk I) wasn’t too pleased with the name. On the boat between England and Denmark, Ritchie Blackmore and bassist Nick Simper were interviewed about the new band. It seemed that it actually was during this interview that the band changed its name to Deep Purple – named after an old song that was a favourite of Ritchie’s granny, or something like that. According to an interview with Nick Simper in an old issue of Darker Than Blue, the journalist asked them what the name of the band was. Ritchie looked at Nick with a grin, and said “It’s Deep Purple”. Nick smiled back, and that was it. These are the
