Come Taste the Band Purple in 1984. When Ritchie Blackmore left Deep Purple in 1975, there was uncertainty over whether the band would continue, as they did when Ian Gillan and Roger Glover left in 1973. It was David Coverdale who asked Jon Lord to keep the band together, and Coverdale was also a major factor in recruiting Tommy Bolin to take the guitar slot after hearing Bolin's work on the Billy Cobham solo album "Spectrum". Rehearsals for the album were recorded by Robert Simon, who was originally engineering the album. But after a dispute with the band over scheduling, the band left Simon's
Gillan (band) then accepted an offer to front Black Sabbath to the incredulity of the Gillan band members, particularly McCoy, and the acrimony remains to the present day. McCoy subsequently released compilations of studio out-takes to which he had the rights, known as "The Gillan Tapes", and ensured that revenues were distributed fairly amongst the band. Bernie Tormé and John McCoy collaborated on the GMT band project, releasing two albums in 2006 and 2009. According to at least one interview, Gillan did not have nodes removed as British doctors recommended, as he was afraid that would adversely affect his voice. A German