Vintage Deep Purple Performance Footage Newly Unearthed
Now this is the definition of a buried treasure for Deep Purple fans. Someone has unearthed what could be some of the earliest Deep Purple Mark II performance footage in existence. Check out the short clip of "Hard Road/Wring That Neck" above and then come inside for more.
What is astounding about the above video is just how clean and clear it is. This was filmed in West Germany on October 11, 1969 and, apart from it being in black and white, looks almost as good as footage one would see today. The close ups on Jon Lord's deft hands give a great perspective of how talented this recently departed legend was. The sound quality is also top notch, again impressive considering the age of the footage.
The other clip which has found it's way on to YouTube is another altogether too short listen of Ian Gillan riffing through the vocal lines of the song, "Mandrake Root".
While the audio is a little bit thinner on this track, it is still nonetheless nearly pristine sounding, especially at the :26 second mark where Gillan stretches his vocal chords out for a trademark banshee wail. Major props are in order for the sound mixer for keeping it from distorting!
Now, obviously footage of this quality was not filmed over two random minutes of a concert. There simply must be, or at least once was, more footage from this concert at the Essen Grugahalle in 1969. Whether or not additional film surfaces and/or is presented in a cleaned up, proper release is a whole other thing entirely, but, these fragments are tantalizing teases for Deep Purple fans, especially ones wishing to see a visual document from the formative year of the Mark II iteration of the legendary band.
Original source: The Highway Star. Critical commentary and close but not quite fan boy levels of aphorism, yours truly.
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