Rock & Roll Birthdays

Amos Otis

Well-Known Member
1947 Roderic "Rod" Evans vocalist, Deep Purple, Captain Beyond

Evans left the greatest band in the history of rock music, Captain Beyond, and the music business after their first two albums. He then became a director of respiratory therapy at a western American hospital until 1980.

In 1980, Evans was approached by a management company which specialised in questionably-reformed bands with well-known names, and he began to tour under the Deep Purple name accompanied by former members of Steppenwolf and unknown session musicians.

After several shows ended in near riots,[10] Evans was sued by the management of the genuine Deep Purple and they were awarded damages of US $672,000 (US$2,085,208 in 2019 dollars[11]). As a result of the lawsuit, Evans no longer receives royalties from the band's first three albums.

He has not appeared publicly since the court case and his current whereabouts are of considerable interest to fans of early Deep Purple and Captain Beyond.[10] In 2015, Ian Paice said, "If anyone knows where Rod is or even if he is still on the planet, that would be good news. We haven't had contact with him since the late 1970s. Nobody seems to know where the hell he is, or even if he is still alive. Not a clue."[12]

 
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