Rhino Factoids: Deep Purple meets the London Royal Philharmonic

Once upon a time, it was considered vaguely preposterous that rock 'n' roll and classical musical could ever be brought together successfully, but 46 years ago today, Jon Lord of Deep Purple decided to prove them wrong, composing a concerto - with lyrics by bandmate Ian Gillan - and, along with their bandmates (Ritchie Blackmore, Roger Glover, and Ian Paice), performing it with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra at the Royal Albert Hall.

The evening began with “Symphony No. 6, Op. 95,” composed by Malcolm Arnold, who also conducted the proceedings, after which the audience was favored with a trio of Deep Purple songs - “Hush,” “Wring That Neck,” and “Child in Time” - before moving on to the three movements of “Concerto for Group and Orchestra.” For an encore, the orchestra and company returned to perform parts of the third movement. Widely considered to be the first full-fledged combination of a rock band with a complete orchestra, “Concerto for Group and Orchestra” was also performed with the Los Angeles Philharmonic in 1970.

At some point in the wake of that performance, however, the score was lost, and as a result, 29 years would pass before composer Marco de Goeij recreated the score, leading to a second Royal Albert Hall performance in 1999, 30 years and one day after its original performance. Sadly, this one sans Blackmore, but with Steve Morse stepping in, along with guest vocalists Miller Anderson, Sam Brown, and the one and only Ronnie James Dio, it was about as good as it possibly could've been in Blackmore's absence.