Wow, thanks, I never saw anything of that length and audio quality of the Bogus Purple! had expected it to be even (much) worse. Granted, the rendition is hamfisted, but so are a lot of Smoke on the Water versions if not played by Purple. Evans voice is immediately recognizable, but his limits are immediately obvious too: He's flat throughout (one of the reasons why he was dismissed in 1969: "He had issues pitching when the music got louder.") and he is rhythmically insecure though the Smoke on the Water verse is hardly a sophisticated rap by Eminem.
But a real historic piece, vielen Dank!
No issues with Cafferty, yes, he sounds like the Boss, but he wasn't the only one who was Springsteen-inspired back then.
Even these more recent guys are in a way.