Funny / Deep Purple

Of all the "Big Three", Deep Purple was the only one with a functioning sense of humour, and with nearly fifty years in the band, there are bound to be some of these floating about.

• This is epecially evident on Fireball. The band may dislike "Anyone's Daughter", but it's still pretty hilarious. "No One Came" is a rueful, funny song about the trap of fame and success, and it also rocks.
  • "Anyone's Daughter" is somehow a bit Hilarious in Hindsight given every single member of the Mark II lineup now has at least one daughter.
• Mark VIII is basically made of these. One of the finest moments comes from the Rapid Fire question & answer session promoting Infinite. They were supposed to answer in one-word answers, which everyone does...except Steve Morse, who manages to ramble about the topics at hand.
  • He also gets a good moment of snark in when the band is asked if each of them can play Smoke on the Water on guitar.
    Steve Morse: Apparently not! *laughing*
  • Roger Glover also admits to skipping queues because he's a rock star.
  • Ian Gillan sings Led Zeppelin songs in the shower.
• Another moment comes from this 2003 interview in Brazil with the full band. Football comes up, at which point the band (and the Brazilian interviewer!) get to ribbing Steve for being the Token American who calls football 'soccer'. Then Don Airey, who up until then had been sitting wordlessly between the two Ians, spoke up with the history of the word. Turns out it's actually British!
  Interviewer: (while Don is talking) God, he knows everything about football!
  • At one point, when asked about whether they're all okay with jet lag, Don slumps forward and pretends to fall asleep.
• This video from backstage at Wembley features some entertaining backstage antics.
• This video from Access All Areas, which features Ian Paice talking about pre-show rituals with Don giggling in the foreground. If the rant doesn't get you, Don's giggle-snorts will.
  Paicey: Especially Don, who's USELESS SOBER!
  Don: Laughing harder
  • A cut to Don in an interview afterwards reveals that both members of the band named Ian are walking CMO Fs, in Don's opinion.
• Some of "Days May Come and Days May Go" conversation in-between songs counts
  David: Nicky... Anybody... Drinky...
  Nicky Bell: Could I have another scotch and, uh, a tall scotch and, uh, a lotta ice? A real tall one. Bring me a coupla 'em. Beat. Pretty please?
• Another Mark VIII example: A recent interview with Don Airey, Ian Paice and Roger Glover is practically made of these.
  • Paicey at one point gets talking for a rather long period of time, and his bandmates do not let him go on it.
  Roger: He's practicing for Shakespeare.
  Don: NOW IS THE WINTER OF OUR DISCONTENT...
  Paicey: No respect whatsoever.
  Don (continuing on): Made glorious by the summer of my—
  Roger: Alright, alright, calm down...
  • Later, the three get talking about what it's like getting older. They then talk about all the benefits of being older, from bus passes to younger guys buying them drinks in the pub because they're rock stars
  Paicey: I absolutely love it.
  • After which time Paicey gets talking for a long time *again*
  Don: *fake snoring* Oh, sorry! Been listening to this all morning!
  *Roger and Paicey laugh*
  Roger: I'm aging in front of your very eyes!
  • The interviewer finally attempts to get things back on track. Don interrupts her by shouting "don't look at [Paicey], you'll encourage it!", cuing another round of laughter from his bandmates (and likely from the audience)
• David Coverdale was arrested for public profanities in Australia. Why? He was told he couldn't say "the f-word" onstage, so instead of using "the f-word," he used every other curse he knew. It reached its peak when David got the audience to chant "fuck".
• Mk II era Purple acted in an... avant garde German film called "P2." The film includes this, among other things. Their reactions in the beginning are something else.
  Ian Gillan: Good morning! (To lady next to him) And how are you? What's for breakfast?
  Jon Lord: Who put the light on?
  Roger Glover makes choking noises while attempting to talk
  Ritchie Blackmore: (To Ian Paice) What are we doing here?
• While Mk IV was in Lakeland, Florida, Music Media Magazine (a local music magazine) did an interview with Tommy Bolin.
  MMM: What are the Bolin words of wisdom… the creed you live by?
  Tommy: Fuck ’em if they can’t take a joke!
• Some bands have auspicious beginnings. Not Deep Purple, who were arrested on the way to their very first gig due to work permit issues.
• Ian Gillan's onstage speeches and antics almost deserve a page of their own. Some examples include:
  • For a period of time in late '70-early '71 he'd begin gigs by yodeling.
  • Apparently, he was once mocked for forgetting his shoes. He then started going barefoot routinely.
  • Introducing Paicey as "Elton John" in the 1993 tours due to passing resemblance.
  • At one point, when introducing Don Airey in 2001 (when he was brought in to replace Jon at the last minute):
  Ian: We have a youth policy, so we brought one in from the junior team tonight. The incorruptible, absolutely gorgeously beautifully delicious, accomplished, and uh, some other things, Don Airey.
  • At various times, including the night before that before the above example, he's introduced Don as "gluten-free"
  • Occasionally after a line about zombies eating brains in 'Vincent Price':
  Ian: Mmm...DELICIOUS!
  • The fact that he went onstage like this◊ at one point.
• There are multiple photos of Ian in drag. Including in a skirt at a press conference, standing on a table.
• The photoshoot the Mk IV lineup did for Creem with its Boy Howdy! beer ^note  The brand Boy Howdy! was fake and made to endorse Creem. In every issue a different band would pose with cans or six-packs of it. . Highlights include Jon Lord looking very unimpressed, Ian Paice making a… face, and Tommy Bolin and Glenn Hughes getting a bit handsy.
• On the subject of funny photoshoots, there exists this◊ picture of Mark VIII, all in sunglasses, looking extraordinarily serious...standing up to their chests in a pool. Fully clothed.
• Steve once tries commenting on the fact that he greatly admires the band and believes they are important to the history of rock 'n roll, and deserve to be remembered. Unfortunately, he chose to say that "the band ought to be institutionalized" to express this, cuing a lot of laughter from the others.
  • In the same press conference, the group is asked about sex, drugs, and rock 'n roll. Steve looks a bit shocked about the whole thing.
• Roger and Paicey once listened to a bunch of songs that they've either covered as Purple (and Rainbow in Roger's case), or that other bands have covered of theirs. The opening montage features the both of them laughing a fair amount, which is really all you need to know about what's coming.
  • When discussing a laser-projection Beethoven they'd have conducting "Difficult to Cure", Roger clarifies that it was not the real Beethoven.
  • When the covers come up, they start with a rap song that sampled "Hallelujah". The sheer confusion on both of their faces is quite funny in its own right. Roger also calls it "Absolutely nothing."
  • Type O Negative's cover of "Highway Star" is next. Paicey starts giggling the minute he realizes what's going on.
• While recording Burn, Glenn Hughes' ex-girlfriend sent him an envelope of a white powder he thought was cocaine. It turned out to be PCP, but by the time he found that out it was too late. He decided his best bet was to act casual, which did not work at all. Some of the highlights include a conversation with David Coverdale he thought was in perfect German but turned out to be gibberish, and going to take a piss but being unable to find his cock.
• Steve Morse was apparently forced by the rest of the band to travel to gigs separately for a while because he was playing his guitar incessantly and drove them nuts. Yes, it is apparently possible for someone to do too much music.

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