When one hears the name Deep Purple the thing that immediately comes to mind is Smoke on the Water and the album from whence it came, Machine Head. Machine Head is a great album, but it isn’t my favorite. That honor goes to Deep Purple In Rock [1970]. For the longest time Fireball was my favorite because it is so much different than either In Rock or Machine Head. But the more I listened to it, the more In Rock grew on me. Deep Purple never thought of themselves as a “heavy metal” band. They were a hard rock band that had influences ranging from jazz to classical, folk to 1950s rock and roll to the blues.
At the end of the 1960s, there were three bands [very
LOUD bands] that appeared as if from nowhere.
Led Zeppelin emerged from the ruins of the Yardbirds, and effortlessly
incorporated British folk music and American blues into their sound. Black Sabbath merely invented a genre – heavy
metal. With Geezer Butler’s lyrics of
doom and Tony Iommi’s skull-crushing riffs, this was music for the
apocalypse. There was a third group
began as a progressive rock band with classical influences – Deep Purple. The instrumental focus of Zeppelin and
Sabbath were their respective guitarists – Jimmy Page [Led Zeppelin] and Tony
Iommi [Black Sabbath]. In my circle of
friends, most liked either Led Zeppelin or Black Sabbath. I was the Deep Purple guy, because they had a
two-headed monster in Ritchie Blackmore and Jon Lord. Deep Purple’s sound had a lot to do with the
sound of Jon Lord’s Hammond. He fed his
Hammond C-3 through a Marshall stack, which turned a piece of furniture into a
smoke-belching beast. As a guitarist,
Ritchie Blackmore is a king among men. The combination of the two is just more
interesting to me, musically.
The year was 1969 and Deep Purple was at a creative crossroads. Both Jon Lord and Ritchie Blackmore wanted to take Deep Purple in a heavier direction. Up until then, the band’s music was written mostly by Jon Lord and had touches of classical music thrown in the mix, but they knew they couldn’t carry on in that direction for very long. They recorded covers from Joe South [Hush], Neil Diamond [Kentucky Woman] and the Beatles [Help!]. Jon Lord was the instrumental focal point for the band. Ritchie wanted Deep Purple to go in the same musical direction as Led Zeppelin, a more riff-based approach. Lord and Blackmore both concluded [along with drummer Ian Paice] that their then-current singer [Rod Evans] and bassist [Nick Simper] weren’t up to that challenge. To solve their problem they recruited singer Ian Gillan and bassist Roger Glover from the band Episode Six. Not only could Gillan go toe-to-toe with any rock vocalist of the day, as a bonus Gillan and Glover were also a songwriting team. But before they could get into a studio to put something down, there is the not-so-small matter of the Concerto for Group and Orchestra.
Apparently Jon Lord let slip that he wanted to do something like the Concerto sometime in the future. Their managers overheard what he said, and before Jon Lord knew it the managers already had the Royal Albert Hall and the Royal Philharmonic booked. Ian Gillan and Ritchie Blackmore weren’t thrilled about the project, but they did it anyway. If nothing else, Concerto for Group and Orchestra got Deep Purple noticed. But since classical music was something the band was trying to get away from, Ritchie was dying to try things his way. He told Jon Lord that if his way didn’t work he’d be happy to play with orchestras the rest of his life. Luckily for us, Jon Lord scratched his musical itch and Ritchie got his way. Once the Concerto was done, they gigged like mad. They’d play about five shows a week, then they would record whenever they got a spare moment. Such was Deep Purple’s workload. On their “off days” they were in the studio creating something new. This was how Deep Purple In Rock was born. The pattern would repeat on the follow-up, Fireball. Though the Concerto was the new group’s first recorded effort, Deep Purple In Rock was the group’s proper debut in their new riff-based heavy rock direction. During the recording of the album, a phrase that illustrated the band’s mindset was born – “can we have everything louder than everything else?” Ian Gillan can be heard saying it between songs on Made In Japan. To set the mood for the album, Ritchie Blackmore decreed: “If it’s not dramatic or exciting, it has no place on this album.” The songs that became Deep Purple In Rock were dramatic, and they were exciting.
The songs -
Speed King – The chaotic beginning [which the band referred to as “Woffle” – recorded separately from Speed King] was an unusual way to begin an album. I think it was the band’s way of breaking with their past. Roger Glover came up with the riff after Ritchie Blackmore told him he really liked Jimi Hendrix’s Fire. Ian Gillan strung together bits of lyrics from songs like Good Golly Miss Molly and Tutti Frutti. The song is not a drug song – it’s just about singing fast [I’m a speed king, can’t you hear me sing it/I’m a speed king/ See me fly…]. The song started out with piano instead of organ and was once called Kneel and Pray. That version is on the 25th Anniversary Edition of Deep Purple In Rock. They made the right choice in sticking with the organ. After Gillan sang the first couple of verses we the listeners are treated to Lord and Blackmore trading solos back and forth while Glover and Paice are playing the groove. In a live setting, the Blackmore/Lord duel became more intense – for proof listen to the 25th Anniversary edition of Made In Japan. This is what set Deep Purple apart from Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath.
Bloodsucker – A short song this one. Not very memorable except for Gillan’s screaming – AAAAAGH NO NO NO!!!! This was later recorded again with Steve Morse for Abandon [1998]. That version is titled Bludsucker. I have no idea why they did that.
Child In Time – The masterpiece - this epic from Deep Purple is the band at its most intense. According to the liner notes, Ian Gillan said “this is of a loser – it could be you.” Jon Lord pinched the riff from a San Francisco group called It’s a Beautiful Day. The song he borrowed it from was Bombay Calling. Apparently It’s a Beautiful Day returned the favor by borrowing Wring That Neck for one of their songs. This is Ian Gillan’s finest performance – ever. He scaled three octaves up to a controlled scream. How did he do that? There is no way either Robert Plant or Ozzy Osbourne could do what Ian Gillan did on Child In Time - nor could anyone else for that matter. While Jon Lord played the chords underneath, Ritchie played a 2:32 speed solo. The longer the solo went, the faster it got. With 21 seconds left Jon Lord joined him to finish the solo, almost as if they were racing each other to the finish. That’s what I like about old Deep Purple – Jon Lord was able to match Ritchie Blackmore note for note. After a couple of seconds of silence, Jon plays the organ riff again. Then it was a race to the finish with Gillan screaming over all of it, then a thunderous crash to end it all. Simply breathtaking…Luckily Gillan could still hit the high notes when I first saw Deep Purple in 1985. He can’t hit them anymore.
Flight of the Rat – How does one follow Child In Time? You follow it with eight minutes of hard-core riffage. The riff has got Blackmore’s name all over it. Powerful. Relentless. This would have been a great song to play live, but they never did.
Into the Fire – Roger Glover came up with this riff too. He also said that lyrically it was a warning about drugs. This is a good song, but not great. Deep Purple wasn’t a “drug” band – they were a “drinking” band. The hard drugs didn’t come into Deep Purple until Tommy Bolin and Glenn Hughes came along.
Living Wreck – This song is the quiet one from In Rock. It would not have been out of place on Fireball. I’m not sure how it made the cut, but it does serve as foreshadowing for Fireball.
Hard Lovin’ Man – Here is yet another riff from Roger Glover. Jon Lord uncaged the Hammond beast on this one. He fed his Hammond organ through Marshall amps instead of the usual Leslie speaker, giving the Hammond a more metallic, machine-like character. This was Jon Lord’s live set-up, which accounts for his performance sounding as close to on stage performance as possible [though in the studio]. Not to be outdone, Ritchie Blackmore abused the hell out of his guitar.
Black Night – Recorded after the In Rock sessions were complete. It was an afterthought because the managers asked “where’s the single?” after they finished the album. It wasn’t included on the album at the time, but later came out as part of the 25th Anniversary disc. After wracking their brains trying to come up with a song [they were NOT a singles band], they went to the pub and got pissed. Afterward they came back to the studio and a song was born. Ritchie Blackmore borrowed the riff from Ricky Nelson’s Summertime. The words came about as the group sat around trying to come up with words that matched “black night.” The band turned their noses up to singles, until this one became a Top 5 hit in the UK.
Cry Free – This outtake came out with the 25th Anniversary disc. Back in 1970 there were 20 minutes a side for a vinyl album. This one didn’t make the cut, but it is no less urgent and aggressive than any of the other songs that made the album.
Jam Stew – an instrumental outtake that would be revived for a session album with Albert Lee called Green Bullfrog.
Also for the 25th Anniversary disc, Roger Glover remixed three songs – Speed King, Black Night, and Flight of the Rat. They sound as if the drums were cleaned up, and the vocals are clearer, but that’s about it. Why he didn’t give the entire album the same treatment I haven’t a clue.
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