Родерик Эванс: Deep Purple және Captain Beyond вокалисінің тарихы

English singer

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.

Evans was born in Eton, Buckinghamshire. He "had been fronting groups since he was 17" 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.

Evans and Paice were original members of Deep Purple when they formed in Hertfordshire in 1968. 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. 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. Another factor in Evans' dismissal from Deep Purple was his desire to move to the United States.

In 1971, Evans recorded a solo single for Capitol, 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.

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. This "bogus Deep Purple", comprising no former Deep Purple members apart from Evans, played a number of shows in Canada, Mexico and the US. After several shows ended in near riots, management of the genuine Deep Purple, which had disbanded in 1976, successfully sued and were awarded damages. As a result, Evans stopped receiving royalties from the Mark I Deep Purple albums. 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." 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. 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.