How a 1963 Whisper Changed Rock Music Forever

How a 1963 Whisper Changed Rock Music Forever

Hey, welcome to another episode of the Trout Show. I am the Trout, Rick Troutman, aka, in another episode of Vinyl to the Viral, which is a segment of the Trout Show. So, if you're a baby boomer, and you hear the words Deep Purple, you probably think of a band out of the British Isles called Deep Purple.

 But today, we don't talk about that band, except for one important thing, how they got their name from a song, a song that shot to the top of the charts in 1963, which was done by a duo of a brother and sister that made them famous, with a song called, you got it, Deep Purple. That story about Deep Purple and Deep Purple is next on the Trout Show. So if you're a baby boomer, you probably remember this song, which is done by every rock band when they start.

 If you're a band back in the 70s, 80s, and on, especially if you're a classic rock band, that's a song that you had to learn how to play, because it was so famous in the 70s. And also because it's really easy to play. But Smoke in the Water by Deep Purple was a big hit, and propelled that band into stardom.

 You probably don't even know where they got their name, Deep Purple. Well, it isn't from somebody sitting around going, hey, I like the color. It comes from this song.

Yep, that's where Richie Blackmore, the guitarist for the famous band Deep Purple, got the name. From the 1963 song, Deep Purple, recorded by Nino Tempo and April Stevens, a brother-sister act from Niagara Falls, New York. Nino was a child prodigy saxophonist, and he appeared in films and worked as a session musician in the 40s and 50s.

His sister, April, began her career as a solo singer in the 50s, scoring just a minor hit with a song called Teach Me Tiger in 1959. The duo was signed in the early 60s with Edco Records, which was a subsidiary of Atlantic Records, had a lot of famous people on that label. And their version of Deep Purple blended a simple rockabilly energy with the song's dreamy jazz roots, harmonic accents, funky piano parts, and Nino's high, lonesome warble, which was reminiscent of the Hank Williams of the time.

April's soft delivery in the second half, which, by the way, was a mistake. It wasn't something planned. The reason why it even happened was Nino forgot the words mid-take, and his sister prompted him line by line.

That's why she was talking. But the producers loved that little effect. They called it acute effect.

And although Nino, he initially resisted the idea of anyone taking over his singing. But sometimes things happen for no reason except just purely by accident. I met Erdogan, who was the head of Atlantic, and Edco was a subsidiary of that.

When he finished the song, he had planned that Deep Purple was going to be a B-side. That was back when we had 45s. And he thought the A-side should be a song called I've Been Carrying a Torch for You So Long That It Burned a Great Big Hole in My Heart.

But when the music got out to the radio stations, the DJs flipped the song to the other side and made Deep Purple the biggest hit of 1963, purely by accident. You see, people that own record labels and producers don't necessarily know what people like. So, purely by accident, they flipped it over, and Deep Purple became a huge hit in 1963.

It started out at 94 on the Billboard Hot 100, and it didn't take it very long to climb to number one, which it hit on November 16, 1963. It was the 100th song to top the chart and holding the spot for one week. It spent 15 weeks in the top 100, also reaching number one on the contemporary chart and selling over a million copies.

Back when we sold records. The duo performed the song on American Bandstand on April 23, 1963. Of course, we know what happened on that date.

It had just slipped to number three, but decided its timing just before President Kennedy's assassination on November 22, which had shifted national focus to song won the 1964 Grammy for Best Rock and Roll Recording. An ironic nod, giving its standard roots. It displaced another great song of the time, Sugar Shack by Jimmy Glimmer and the Fireballs.

Nino Tempo and April Stevens followed their hits with Whispering, which hit number 11 in 1964, using the spoken word style once again, but never recaptured their number one success. They released albums such as Nino and April Sing the Great Songs, 1964, All Strung Out, 1966, which the latter was praised as a Phil Spector inspired gem. But the duo faded as, yes, it happened to a lot of bands in the early 60s.

The British Invasion took hold in 1964 with that little band called The Beatles. They briefly charted in the Netherlands in 1973 with the song Love Story. In 1975, around 1975 and 76, Donny Marie Osmond covered it note for note, peaking number 14 on the Hot 100 with Marie handling the spoken part.

Even Ray Stevens also recorded a version that year. Ironically, the track's biggest cultural footprint is in rock music. Remember when I mentioned the guitar lead guitarist for Deep Purple, the band, Richie Blackmore? He named his band Deep Purple because his grandmother loved that song that Nino and April did so much.

And that's where Deep Purple came from, and that's where the song Deep Purple came from. What can you say? Sometimes accidents happen. Sometimes it works out.

But in this case, I'm going to tell you, I remember this song. I'm not going to tell you how old I was when I heard it. But the melody line that they sang still sends chills up my spine when I hear it.

And that's been over 60 years ago that that song was released. April Stevens passed away on April 17th, 2023 at the age of 93 in Scottsdale, Arizona. Her brother, Nino Temple, died on April 12th, 2024 at the age of 89.

One song can change a person's, or in this case, a duo's life forever. And the fact that one of the greatest rock bands of all time took their name from it, well, that's a classic song story. Well, that's it for this episode of the Trout Show Vinyl Deviral.

Hope you enjoyed it. For more information about the Trout Show, just go to my website at thetroutshow.com. Everything there, more podcasts, all my YouTube interviews, my music. And by the way, if you've got a song you'd like to know the history of, draw me a line at rickatthetroutshow.com and see what I can do to help you out.

Maybe together we'll learn something about the history of music. So until next time, people, you know what I always say. It's only rock and roll, but I love it.

See ya!