Rod Evans
Rod Evans | |
---|---|
Background information | |
Birth name | Roderic Evans |
Born | 19 January 1947 |
Origin | Eton, Buckinghamshire, England |
Genres | Psychedelic rock, progressive rock, hard rock |
Occupation(s) | Singer |
Years active | 1964–1973, 1980 |
Roderic Evans (born 19 January 1947) is a retired British singer known as the original vocalist of the rock bands Deep Purple and Captain Beyond.
Evans began his professional career in The Maze before becoming a founding member of Deep Purple in 1968, with whom he recorded their first three studio albums. After recording a solo single, he co-founded Captain Beyond in 1971, with whom he recorded their first two studio albums. Following a brief legal battle with Deep Purple in 1980, Evans retired from music.
Early career
[edit]Evans was born in Eton, Buckinghamshire.[1][2] He "had been fronting groups since he was 17"[3] and played together with drummer Ian Paice in The Maze, formerly MI5. He was also in a band called The Horizons in the mid-1960s.
Deep Purple
[edit]Evans and Paice were original members of Deep Purple when they formed in Hertfordshire in 1968.[4]
According to Deep Purple's founding bassist, Nick Simper, Evans was hired after "dozens" of other singers were auditioned. Evans clinched his place in the band after sharing an idea to rearrange the Beatles' song "Help!" as a ballad. This version of "Help!" was subsequently recorded for Deep Purple's debut album Shades of Deep Purple, but the most recognised song recorded with Evans is a cover of a Joe South composition called "Hush", which reached No. 4 on the US Billboard charts in October 1968.
Deep Purple had one other US Top 40 hit with Evans on vocals, a cover of Neil Diamond's "Kentucky Woman", which appeared on the band's second album and peaked at No. 38.[5] Both "Hush" and "Kentucky Woman" are used in the Quentin Tarantino film, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.
After recording three studio albums and one non-album single ("Emmaretta"), Evans was dismissed in the summer of 1969 while on tour in the U.S.[4] It had been decided by Ritchie Blackmore, Jon Lord and Ian Paice that Evans' pop vocal style would not be suitable for the heavier hard rock sound the band wanted to achieve moving forward.[6] Another factor in Evans' dismissal from Deep Purple was his desire to move to the United States.[7]
Captain Beyond
[edit]In 1971, Evans recorded a solo single for Capitol,[8] titled "Hard To Be Without You" (b/w "You Can't Love A Child Like A Woman"). That same year, he went on to form Captain Beyond, along with former Johnny Winter drummer Bobby Caldwell, former Iron Butterfly bassist Lee Dorman and guitarist Larry "Rhino" Reinhardt, who also was part of the last incarnation of Iron Butterfly.
Evans left Captain Beyond and the music business after two albums. He became a director of respiratory therapy at a western American hospital until 1980.[9]
Deep Purple controversy and lawsuit
[edit]In 1980, Evans was approached by a management company that specialized in the unscrupulous and frequently legally actionable practice of reforming groups with a minimum of original members, often in violation of trademark and contractual law. They offered him a chance to sing again under the Deep Purple name and he accepted. According to Nick Simper, the original Deep Purple bassist, Evans asked him to join the "new" Deep Purple, but Simper refused. This "bogus Deep Purple", comprising no former Deep Purple members apart from Evans, played a number of shows in Canada, Mexico and the US. The band performed renditions both of songs from Evans' own tenure in the band, which Deep Purple biographer Dave Thompson described as "reasonable", as well as songs from the Gillan and Coverdale eras, which were described as "horrendous" and to confirm the "bogus Deep Purple's" "complete lack of legitimate credentials. Several shows ended in what was described as "rioting", with chairs being thrown onto the stage at a gig in Toronto on August 12 1980. The band had also talked of releasing an album of new material under the "Deep Purple" name, which angered Evans' formed Deep Purple bandmate Jon Lord, who described such a possibility as "the worst lie".[10][11]
A registered company, Deep Purple Overseas Ltd., had been registered with Companies House in the UK 9 years prior in 1971 to safeguard the "Deep Purple" name from unwarranted exploitation. Members of the management team of then-disbanded genuine Deep Purple John Coletta and Tony Edwards successfully sued and were awarded $672,000 in damages. As a result, Evans stopped receiving royalties from the Mark I Deep Purple albums.[10][11]
Later life
[edit]Evans has not appeared publicly since the 1980 court case and his current whereabouts are of considerable interest to fans of early Deep Purple.[10]
In 2015, Ian Paice said, "If anyone knows where Rod is or even if he is still on the planet, that would be good news. We haven't had contact with him since the late 1970s. Nobody seems to know where the hell he is, or even if he is still alive. Not a clue."[12]
In a 2015 interview, Captain Beyond drummer Bobby Caldwell mentioned that he was in touch with Evans, saying that Evans is "just doing fine these days" and had gone back to working in respiratory therapy for a long time.[13] Caldwell similarly confirmed in September 2017 that Evans was "doing great", adding that Evans, who is married to another respiratory therapist, was residing in Northern California and had no plans to perform again.[14]
Evans was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Deep Purple in 2016 but, despite being invited, he did not attend the ceremony.
Discography
[edit]Solo
[edit]- "It's Hard To Be Without You" / "You Can't Love A Child Like A Woman" (1971), Single, Promo only
with Deep Purple
[edit]- Studio Albums
- Shades of Deep Purple (1968), US#24
- The Book of Taliesyn (1968), US#54
- Deep Purple (1969), US#162
- Live albums
- Inglewood – Live in California (2002)
- BBC Sessions 1968–1970 (2011)
- Compilations
- Purple Passages (1972), US#57
- Mark I & II (1973)
- When We Rock, We Rock, and When We Roll, We Roll (1978)
- The Anthology (1985), UK#50
- The Deep Purple Singles A's and B's (1993)
- Smoke on the Water: The Best Of (1994)
- 30: Very Best of Deep Purple (1998), UK#39, UK:Silver
- Shades 1968–1998 (1999)
- The Very Best of Deep Purple (2000), UK: Gold
- Listen, Learn, Read On (2002)
- The Early Years (2004)
- The Platinum Collection (2005), UK#39
- Deepest Purple: The Very Best of Deep Purple 30th Anniversary Edition (2010)
- Singles
- "Hush" (1968), US#4
- "Kentucky Woman" (1968), US#38
- "River Deep – Mountain High" (1969), US#53
- "Emmaretta" (1969), US#128
- DVDs
with Captain Beyond
[edit]- Studio albums
- Captain Beyond (1972)
- Sufficiently Breathless (1973), US#90
- Lost & Found 1972-1973 (2017)
- Live Albums
- Live In Texas October 6, 1973 (2013)
- Live Anthology Official Bootleg (2013)
References
[edit]- ^ "Find My Past". Search.findmypast.co.uk. Retrieved 17 July 2014.
- ^ "Anthem - BMI Work #12721182". Repertoire.bmi.com. Archived from the original on 2 July 2014. Retrieved 17 July 2014.
- ^ "Pre Deep Purple -- Ian Paice and Rod Evans". The Deep Purple Appreciation Society. DPAS/Darker Than Blue. Retrieved 31 January 2023.
Evans had been fronting groups since he was 17...
- ^ a b "Music - 7 Ages of Rock - Deep Purple". BBC. 19 October 2004. Retrieved 17 July 2014.
- ^ Deep Purple - Kentucky Woman - Song Review by Joe Viglione Retrieved July 11, 2019
- ^ Joel Whitburn (2007). "The Billboard Albums: Includes Every Album That Made the Billboard 200 Chart". Record Research Inc. p. 227. ISBN 9780898201666.
- ^ Steve Rosen Interview with Ritchie Blackmore, 1974 on YouTube Retrieved "Ritchie Blackmore, Guitar God|Part 1/5" on 14 January 2014.
- ^ "Rod Evans. Captain Beyond History". Deep-purple.net. 30 April 1972. Retrieved 17 July 2014.
- ^ "Bogus Deep Purple in Sounds 80". Archived from the original on 14 March 2012. Retrieved 17 July 2014.
- ^ a b c "Captain Beyond: Band Member Info on ROD EVANS". Archived from the original on 13 March 2012. Retrieved 17 July 2014.
- ^ a b Thompson, Dave (2004). Smoke on the Water - The Deep Purple Story. ECW Press. p. 225-231. ISBN 9781550226188.
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(help) - ^ Will Ritchie Blackmore Attend Deep Purple’s Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction? - 93XRT. Retrieved 20 December 2015.
- ^ Blowin’ Wind with Captain Beyond’s Bobby Caldwell - The Great Southern Brain Fart. Retrieved 30-Jan-2016.
- ^ Schaff, Mark; Schaff, Pam (8 September 2017). "Interview with Bobby Caldwell of Captain Beyond". My Global Mind. Retrieved 13 August 2024.
External links
[edit]- The Highway Star – Information from a Deep Purple fansite.