R.I.P.: Nino Tempo, Grammy Winner For 'Deep Purple'

Nino Temp (1935-2025)

Nino Tempo, a skilled tenor saxophonist who, with his sister April Stevens, achieved a No. 1 hit with their Grammy-winning 1963 cover of “Deep Purple,” died on April 10 at his West Hollywood, Calif., home. He was 90. His friend Jim Chaffin confirmed the death.

Tempo’s career spanned big-band jazz, rock, and funk, before returning to jazz in the 1990s. As a child, he sang with Benny Goodman’s orchestra, later played saxophone for Bobby Darin and Frank Sinatra, and released a funk album with Nino Tempo & 5th Ave. Sax in the 1970s. Yet, his 1960s pop duet with Stevens on “Deep Purple” remains iconic.

The jazz standard, composed by Peter DeRose with lyrics by Mitchell Parish, featured a relaxed arrangement by Tempo and a studio band including Glen Campbell on guitar. Recorded in just 14 minutes during a session produced by Atlantic Records’ Ahmet Ertegun, the track’s unique spoken-sung refrain—Stevens reciting lyrics and Tempo echoing in falsetto—emerged accidentally during rehearsal. Despite a rushed session, where Tempo improvised harmonica due to a no-show, the siblings doubted the song’s potential, and Ertegun deemed it “unreleasable.”

Pushing for its release or a contract exit, Tempo and Stevens saw “Deep Purple” hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in November 1963, selling over a million copies and winning a Grammy for best rock ’n’ roll recording, outshining hits by Lesley Gore and Sam Cooke. Stevens died in 2023.