The classic song "Deep Purple" is one of those fascinating pieces of music that has lived several completely different lives across generations. Despite the name, it actually has nothing to do with the rock band of the same name—it’s a romantic ballad from the early 20th century.

🎼 Origins (1933)

“Deep Purple” was written in 1933 by:

Peter DeRose – music

Mitchell Parish – lyrics

The song began as a piano instrumental by DeRose before Parish added lyrics. The title refers to the deep purple color of twilight, symbolizing romance and longing.

A key lyric line:

“When the deep purple falls over sleepy garden walls…”

It paints an almost cinematic evening scene where lovers meet at dusk.

🎷 Early Popularity (Late 1930s–1940s)

The song became a hit during the big band era.

One of the earliest popular recordings was by Larry Clinton and His Orchestra in 1939, which reached #1 on the charts.

Other artists who recorded it during the era included:

Artie Shaw

Guy Lombardo

Sammy Kaye

At that point it was considered a standard romantic ballad, often performed in dance halls and radio broadcasts.

🎤 The Big Revival (1963)

The song exploded again in 1963 when Nino Tempo & April Stevens recorded it.

Their version:

Won the Grammy for Record of the Year (1964)

Went to #1 on the Billboard Hot 100

Featured a unique spoken-word intro by Nino Tempo

This is the version most people recognize today.

📺 Donny & Marie Connection

The song became associated with Donny and Marie Osmond after they performed it together on their 1970s variety show.

Their performances leaned into the song’s romantic theatricality, which helped introduce it to a new generation of TV audiences.

Given your playful “special appearance by Marie Osmond” idea in that image, it actually fits beautifully—the Osmond variety-show era loved this kind of tongue-in-cheek romantic nostalgia.

🎵 Musical Style

The song sits stylistically between:

Tin Pan Alley ballad

Big band standard

Traditional pop

Common musical traits:

Slow romantic tempo

Lush harmony changes

Sentimental lyrics about evening romance

🌙 Why the Song Endures

“Deep Purple” keeps resurfacing because it has:

Timeless imagery (twilight, gardens, love

)Simple but elegant melody

Huge interpretive flexibility

It can be done as:

a jazz ballad

a crooner standard

a pop duet

A live (tracked) performance at my weekly show that I've been wanting to sing for 40 years and to catch it live was a great opportunity to snag a recording. I'll definitely keep this one in the rotation - it's such a great song written by the Vannelli's and sung by Gino's magnificent multi timbred voice. This was the single song in history that changed my own musical direction and I remember that being the first time I'd heard a man sing with that kind of power and control and emotion in his voice. I've since covered several of his songs including 3 from the "Nightwalker" album itself. I've had the pleasure of meeting him 3 times now as well and that album not only deeply affected me at the time of it's release but also 2023-2024 as one of the main albums I listened to during the cancer journey. I hope I brought it a bit of justice. Thiis was only my 2nd take on the song and I'm sure there will be others.

By far my favorite Christmas or holiday tune, I have recorded this before and used this same arrangement, but it was at least a decade ago and my style has changed along the way in many ways. This is the Larry Gatlin arrangement which floored me the first time I heard it - seems tailor-made for me!

Probably one of Dan Fogelberg's best songs - and there are many of those to choose from. I haven't done much of his stuff over the years although I really really like most everything I've ever heard. I believe he was tremendously talented, and maybe I'm just having a Renaissance moment. This song has been in my head the last week or so, and this was the easiest way to get it out.

By far my favorite LRB song, this is patterned after their 2nd recording of the song on "The Hits...Revisited" with a slightly faster tempo than the 1983 recording. I rushed at the chance to record this a few years ago and didn't like the resulting recording, I'm much much happier with this vocal performance and added a bit of production myself to the arrangement. I think it rocks and it's always going to be one of my favorite tunes.

Probably one of the most beautiful tunes I've ever heard, with the original version being stunningly performed by Gino Vanelli. I had actually heard just a piano & vocal version he'd done, and then I heard the studio version and was even more blown away. But there's more about this song than just this cover version.

In the early 80's after I graduated high school, I began singing in some of the local nightclubs in the area around Oak Lawn in Dallas, and was introduced to a man named Paul Allen. Paul was an incredibly talented pianist and we hit it off very well. We performed at a club called "The Blue Mill" for over 2 years on a regular basis and really became close friends. Life happens, you go in other directions, and it was wonderful to be able to pop in where he was playing pretty much anywhere - and he'd always ask me to come up and sing a few songs. He could play literally anything and played for many many people over the years. We still stayed in touch through social media and email, and every once in a while i'd forward a song to him or he'd suggest something to me to learn.

We both sent this song to each other at different points; he was blown away by the piano only version and I was blown away by Vanelli's voice on both. We said we'd make it happen one day.

Well, many years passed, and I got contacted to perform at a memorial for another fabulously talented individual who had played for many many people over the years and was a good friend of Paul's, mine, and many others. Buddy Shanahan. I immediately knew that Paul would be playing and we both knew it was time to work this one up. But we had very little time, no sheet music arrangement, and Paul said he'd just transcribe it out when I got there to rehearse. We had one rehearsal the day before the memorial and there we were, over 30 years from those first days of playing together, to performing a song that we had both been wanting to do for years and years.

It was the last time that Paul and I would see each other or perform together again, as he was tragically taken away from us all in a senseless crime the next year. I still have a hard time watching the video of our performance, knowing he is not here anymore, and the wonderful love of music he shared with anyone he ran into in his life. I hope he rests in peace, and I had promised him at one point I was going to do this in the studio.

I hope his angel gets to hear it because I love how this turned out.

It also marks the first recording I've ever gotten to do in which I was able to get a successful vocoder recording in an arrangement. It's in the 2nd verse, and brings a dreamlike quality to the words, in my opinion.

It's beautiful slow jazz; a song like this comes along once in a lifetime to get to spend time working on and recording. If you like this you should really check out both versions that Gino Vannelli has done - they're both on Youtube.

One of the most popular songs of the entire 70's, this sad tale about life has moments of happy sounding chord progressions.. but it covers the life of a man after being left at the altar, losing his parents, and unsure of what life has to bring. But it's also one of my all time favorite songs that I've wanted to record. I hope you enjoy my take.

This is such a timeless and classic song originally written and performed by the legendary Roy Orbison. Don McLean covered it several years later, taking the song out to a lushly orchestrated ballad arrangement, which happened to be the first version of the song I heard and became familiar with. I've always loved it, and many years later, kd Lang recorded it both solo and as a duet with Roy Orbison himself. If you get the chance, you should check out a live recording she did several years ago that you can find on YouTube, and hear what she does with her amazing voice with this song.

In honor of Bobby Caldwell, who recently passed, and was the original artist of this great song. Go West recorded it too many years later, and fortunately stayed true to the original arrangement. I just started doing this song a few months back as it's an all time favorite, and it gets a grear reception every time. This is a live recording, slightly mixed, that I'll probably end up doing in the studio soon. Hope you enjoy this classic!

This is one of the most iconic songs from the entire late 70's and 80's catalog combined. It is still played on radio and it's just such a great song. You can almost feel yourself out in the wind, on a quiet sailboat, just you and the water, and maybe someone special with you. I had done it live years ago and decided it was time to update it. I completely remade the intro with those awesome orchestrated swells and put in a little actual sound of being on the water along with it. .... I hope you enjoy! Just meant to be a one-off, but the recording kind of took on a life of it's own in the process. I love this song.