Bogus Deep Purple

Bogus Deep Purple is the unofficial name for an unauthorized version of Deep Purple, consisting of ex-vocalist Rod Evans and four unknown session musicians (none of whom had any history with the group), which played a series of concerts in 1980 before being stopped by a United States court injunction.

Bogus Deep Purple
OriginUnited States
Genres
Years active1980
Past members

During the group's short history, they played across the US, Canada and Mexico, with many of their shows ending in riots by dissatisfied fans.

Background

The group was formed by an unscrupulous management company specializing in making money from reformed groups with a minimum of original members.

At the time of the group's formation, Deep Purple had been disbanded since 1976, and would not legally reunite until 1984.

Early in 1980, Evans was contacted by the management team who offered him a chance to play under the Deep Purple name again, which he accepted. Evans had been inactive in the music industry since leaving Captain Beyond in 1973, and he in turn contacted founding bassist Nick Simper, who turned the offer down.[1] In contemporary interviews, Evans incorrectly stated he had received permission from the other Deep Purple members to use the group's name.

The tour

The group played their first gig at the Civic Center, Amarillo, Texas on May 17, 1980, and played several shows in the state before headlining a show at the Estadio Inde Olimpico, Mexico City on June 28.[2]

In August 1980, the management of the legitimate Deep Purple became aware of the imposter group. The legitimate group filed suit to stop the imposters, but the hearing was scheduled after the bogus group's scheduled August 19, 1980, performance at California's Long Beach Arena. Being unable to stop the performance, Deep Purple's management instead ran the following ad in the Los Angeles Times one day before the concert, stating:[3]

The following STARS WILL NOT PERFORM at the
Deep Purple Concert at
Long Beach Arena Tomorrow, Aug. 19, 1980.

RITCHIE BLACKMORE
DAVID COVERDALE
IAN GILLAN
ROGER GLOVER
GLEN HUGHES (SIC)
JON LORD
IAN PAICE

Lawsuit and aftermath

After the other former members were contacted about the bogus group, their management sued Evans, as he was the only member of the band who received booking royalties and who had any rights to the name "Deep Purple".

The suit was successful: the bogus group was ordered to permanently cease referring to themselves as "Deep Purple," and Evans was ordered to pay damages of $672,012.44 (USD) (US$2,110,760 in 2020 dollars[4]) for using the band name without permission, which included $168,003.11 in actual damages (US$527,690 in 2020 dollars[4]) and $504,009.33 (US$1,583,070 in 2020 dollars[4]) in punitive damages, while Evans, Emery, Flynn, Jurgens and their promoter were also ordered to pay $143,973.52 (US$452,214 in 2020 dollars[4]) in legal fees.

Having no capacity to pay this amount, Evans was ordered to forfeit all future royalties from the albums and singles recorded by the Mark I lineup of Deep Purple. This judgement effectively ended Evans' career as a performing musician, as any future earnings he made from performing would have to be paid toward the lawsuit, and for many years after this decision, Evans did not receive royalties for his work with Deep Purple.

Both Ian Paice and Jon Lord remarked it was not about money, but about saving the good name of Deep Purple. Paice stated, "We didn't make that money, it all went to the lawyers involved. [But] the only chance to stop that band was to sue Rod."

Lord acknowledged that he did not enjoy having to testify in court against Evans, stating he must have known that he could not get away with a fake Deep Purple and blaming him for "being silly".[5]

Personnel
  • Rod Evans - vocals
  • Tony Flynn - guitars
  • Tom de Rivera - bass
  • Geoff Emery - keyboards
  • Dick Jurgens III - drums

The four instrumentalists had previously played in a Bogus Steppenwolf organized by the same management company a few years before:[6] in fact, there is one gig report stating that the Bogus Steppenwolf opened for the Bogus Deep Purple, using the same backing band.

Drummer Dick Jurgens III died of cancer on December 4, 2016. [7]

References
  1. Thompson 2004, p. 226.
  2. Thompson 2004, p. 227.
  3. "The New Deep Purple featuring Rod Evans". Los Angeles Times. August 18, 1980.
  4. 1634–1699: McCusker, J. J. (1997). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States: Addenda et Corrigenda (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1700–1799: McCusker, J. J. (1992). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1800–present: Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. "Consumer Price Index (estimate) 1800–". Retrieved January 1, 2020.
  5. Hartmut Kreckel (1998). "ROD EVANS: The Dark Side of the Music Industry". Captain Beyond website. Archived from the original on 13 March 2012.
  6. Thompson 2004, pp. 224, 226.
  • Thompson, Dave (2004). Smoke on the Water: The Deep Purple Story. ECW Press. ISBN 978-1-55022-618-8.
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