Deep Purple - Perfect Strangers

Tony Edwards

Tony Edwards, former manager of Deep Purple, died on November 11th at the London Clinic aged 78.

A lot of you will know that I worked with Tony on projects to access and release the band's catalogue over many years, right up to just a couple of days before he died. His passing will leave a large gap in our lives. Tony had been subject to a number of serious problems over the last 18 months or so, but even during spells in hospital managed to keep in touch via his Blackberry and latterly iPad.

I think it was a measure of the man that even when we disagreed over things, which wasn't that often over some thirty years (and over 100 releases or more), it was still hard to get too angry with him. He was remarkably generous in allowing me to tackle many of the reissues as we saw fit, trusting in our judgement. The result has been a back-catalogue which more than did the band's music justice, and which was often the envy of fans of other groups.

It was without doubt Tony's love of spotting an opportunity which sparked life into the embryonic contacts between musicians which evolved into Deep Purple, and which he and business partner John Coletta (who died in 2006) sunk money into for a couple of years until the breakthrough album In Rock justified the faith of all concerned. My own memories of Tony are many; it wasn't being whisked around London in his old Bentley as a 20 year old that impressed me so much as his vintage Sherlock Holmes attire of a deerstalker and cape, old school even then and especially incongruous for a man who was at the time managing Toyah and Jayne "If You Don't Want To Fuck Me Fuck Off" County at the height of the punk era.

More interestingly to me Tony still retained a love of Deep Purple's music, not something many managers can ever be accused of. When we were working on clearing the BBC broadcasts for the first time, he rang up at some unearthly hour of the morning excited by hearing the old broadcasts for the first time, feelings which more than echoes my own at hearing this material in pristine shape for the first time. This week we'd been gathering our thoughts for a slew of exciting projects being developed for 2011 in connection with the anniversary of Smoke On The Water, in preparation for a meeting when he came out of hospital for what we understood was to be a short stay for some restorative surgery and physio work.

Deep Purple and their music have been a part of many of our lives for years, and while at the end of the day it was the musicians which created that often superb body of work, it was in large part Tony Edwards who helped sow the seeds back in the winter 0f '67. Thank you.

Photo: Tony Edwards on the far left with members of the band (and his business partner John Coletta far right) aboard the Starship in 1974.

Simon Robinson


Some 1968-76 Deep Purple members have written their thoughts about Tony Edwards :

Glenn Hughes on Twitter:

"So very sad that my dear friend and Manager of Deep Purple, Tony Edwards has passed away, we have lost one of the Good Guys...GH"

Jon Lord on jonlord.org:

"Tony Edwards was a good man and a man also of deep-seated enthusiasms. He had a passion for, and a great interest in, Deep Purple and its various member’s careers, as well as a genuine enjoyment of the band’s music. He was the reason that Richie and I were able to get together at the end of 1967 and the sole reason too for our being able to form the band that changed our lives.."

Ritchie Blackmore on Facebook:

"WITHOUT TONY EDWARDS THERE WOULD BE NO DEEP PURPLE. With deepest respect - and with great sorrow - we honor Tony Edwards - who passed on Nov11,2010. Tony was the man behind the scenes for Deep Purple. He was instrumental to the existence and sustenance of the band and its music from its inception to present day. Tony's insight and intuitiveness were unparalleled in the music business. He will be thought of often - and missed greatly."

David Coverdale on whitesnake.com:

"With respect my thoughts & prayers are with Tony´s family & friends... When I heard he was very ill earlier this year I opened dialogue with him via email, as he couldn´t speak comfortably, for the first time in many, many years, & it was a mutual treat for both of us... So much water under the bridge, but, I can say it was a heartful reconnect... There were 3 management figures involved at the very beginning when it was HEC Enterprises... I never met the ´H´ & only worked with Tony Edwards & John Coletta... the E & C... of course, my relationship continued with Mr Coletta into the early, formative years of Whitesnake, as I was led to believe at that time, incorrectly as we discovered later, that it was a contractual necessity... who knows how things would have turned out had TE been directly involved... Once again, it was wonderful to re-meet after so long & very sad it was so short-lived..."

Roger Glover on rogerglover.com:

"Tony was the driving force of Deep Purple's management in the early days. My first impressions of him when I joined the band in July 1969 – a man of ideas, an intellect, a man of taste, a man of action. I remember him rubbing his hands together with enthusiasm and saying, "Now what can we achieve today?" He was the kind of man who could think of something and then turn it into reality with his drive and passion. It was his instinct to book the Albert Hall in order to stage Jon's Concerto, an event that was to propel the band in more ways than one into the future. He also dreamed up the cover image of In Rock, the album that changed everything for us.. I am always grateful for his powerful contribution at the start of our long journey. My condolences go to his family."

Smoke on the water

Biography

Deep Purple is an English rock band formed in Hertfordshire in 1968. Together with Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath they are considered to be heavy metal pioneers. Especially influential to heavy metal were Ian Gillan’s powerful screams and Ritchie Blackmore’s virtuoso solos. Deep Purple were also very influential to progressive rock.

Deep Purple’s early output ranged from rock (such as their cover of Joe South’s “Hush)” to strongly classically influenced pieces (such as “April”, from their third album). Their first few albums contained very long solos, such as those on the band’s covers of “Hey Joe” and “I’m So Glad”.

After their third album, founding member and guitarist Ritchie Blackmore in particular felt the band should move in a harder direction - and felt that then singer Rod Evans and bassist Nicky Simper were incapable of working in that direction. Both were therefore let go, and replaced with singer Ian Gillan and bassist Roger Glover from Episode Six, producing what is now thought of as the classic Deep Purple lineup with keyboardist Jon Lord and drummer Ian Paice.

The first output of this new lineup was a mixed electric and orchestral album with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, Deep Purple In Concert, with the centrepiece being Lord’s “Concerto For Group And Orchestra”. The whole project was reputedly initiated after idle chat with the band’s manager about the possibility led to him book the orchestra and give the inexperienced composer a deadline to produce the work of a public concert.

Following on from this unusual venture were four very influential studio albums over the next four years: Deep Purple In Rock, Fireball, Machine Head, and Who Do We Think We Are?, and the live album Made In Japan.

Though this lineup still recorded some songs with a lighter, pop tone such as “Strange Kind Of Woman” and “Black Night”, the influence of their new blood and the impetus this provided to the existing members showed strongly in hard rock songs such as “Speed King”, “Child In Time”, and the massively successful “Smoke On The Water”.

In 1973, creative tensions led to Gillan and Glover leaving the band, being replaced by previously unknown singer David Coverdale and ex-Trapeze bassist/singer Glenn Hughes. This new lineup continued the success of their predecessors, recording the albums Burn and Stormbringer, and further successful tours and live albums. However, Blackmore became disenchanted with the increasing funk direction he felt the band was taking and left to form Rainbow (a name inspired by the stage set when they performed at the California Jam music festival) with former members of Elf, who had previously toured with Deep Purple as a support act.

The band recruited former James Gang guitarist Tommy Bolin and recording Come Taste The Band. It was on the 75/76 tour that the tensions within the band really came to the surface, finishing with their final performance in Liverpool in March 1976, where Coverdale resigned and the band ceased to exist. Tommy Bolin died of a heroin overdose in December 1976 whilst on tour with his solo band.

Coverdale went on to form Whitesnake, with Paice and Lord joining Tony Ashton to form the short-lived Paice, Ashton And Lord before they too joined Coverdale in Whitesnake. Hughes completed a solo album but spent most of the 70s and 80s fighting drug addiction which he finally overcome in the 90s and has since produced a string of solo albums.

In 1984, Deep Purple’s best-known second lineup (Ian Gillan, Jon Lord, Ian Paice, Roger Glover, and Richie Blackmore) reunited to produce the albums Perfect Strangers and The House Of Blue Light. Tensions returned however, and Gillan was fired and replaced by Joe Lynn Turner, formerly of Rainbow. This lineup only lasted for one album, Slaves and Masters, before Ian Gillan returned again for The Battle Rages On. Blackmore subsequently departed the band for good while touring in support of this album, being temporarily replaced by Joe Satriani. During this time, many archival live albums of the original Deep Purple lineup were released, such as Scandinavian Nights (a 1988 release of a 1970 concert) and King Biscuit Flower Hour (a 1995 release of two 1976 concerts)

The remaining members recruited Dixie Dregs/Kansas guitarist Steve Morse and, revitalised, produced what many regarded as their best work in many years, Purpendicular, then Abandon before Lord retired and was replaced by former Rainbow and Ozzy Osbourne keyboardist Don Airey. This lineup has since recorded the albums Bananas and Rapture Of The Deep.

While not as influential or commercially successful as in their original incarnation, the band have remained a successful studio and live act throughout this latest period.

Deep Purple-Child in Time