Hard Rock, Psychedelic Rock, Prog Rock For these first three studio albums 1968-1969 performed: Ritchie Blackmore • lead guitar / Rod Evans • vocals / Jon Lord • organ / Ian Paice • drums / Nick Simper • bass guitar, vocals 1. Deep Purple – Shades Of Deep Purple (Tetragrammaton Records – T-102 / NO. T-102) made in USA 1968 original LP | vinyl: NM (mint-) | cover: NM (mint-) glossy cover. 2. Deep Purple – The Book Of Taliesyn (Harvest – 1C 062-04 000) made in Germany 1968 gatefold 1st pressing LP | vinyl: NM (mint-) | cover: NM (mint-) gatefold - no EMI on label 3. Deep Purple – Deep Purple (Harvest – SHVL 759) made in UK gatefold 1974 repress of 1969 original album | vinyl: NM (mint-) | cover: NM (mint-) gatefold The band formed in 1968. Along with Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath, they are considered to be among the pioneers of heavy metal and modern hard rock, although some band members believe that their music cannot be categorised as belonging to any one genre. They were once listed by the Guinness Book of World Records as "the loudest pop group", and have sold over 100 million albums worldwide