Although not as renowned as Ginger Baker or John Bonham, Deep Purple's Ian Paice was one of hard rock/heavy metal's early standout drummers, and like the other two, influenced countless other skinsmen in the process. Born on June 29, 1948 in Nottingham, England, Paice started off playing violin, before switching to drums at the age of 15. From the mid to late '60s, Paice played in a variety of obscure local bands, including such names as Georgie & the Rave Ons, the Shindigs, the MI 5, the Maze, Soul Brothers, and Boz, as well as future guitar hero Albert Lee. It was while playing with one of these groups in Hamburg, Germany that respected session guitarist Ritchie Blackmore took note of Paice, and arranged the drummer to audition for his group, Roundabout, in early 1968. Paice got the gig, as Roundabout soon transformed into Deep Purple, along with additional members Rod Evans (vocals), Jon Lord (keyboards), Nick Simper (bass).
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