Happy Anniversary: Deep Purple In Rock Turns 45 Today
On June 3rd, 1970 Deep Purple In Rock was unleashed. It was the band's fourth studio album and fifth overall in just under two years. It was the first studio release for the legendary Mk II line up (the live Concerto for Group and Orchestra was released just six months prior, but that's another song) and despite not receiving the lion's share of post-2K resurgent popularity which their peers have, Deep Purple In Rock stands monumentally as an icon of first generation hard rock and a blue print of the future for the genre of heavy metal.
Featuring seven tracks plus a non-album single born out of the same sessions, Deep Purple In Rock was a dramatic shift from the band's three previous studio albums. Gone were the post-British Invasion sounds, pop psychedelia and neo-prog orchestral leanings, along with vocalist Rod Evans and bassist Nicky Simper. This was a new Purple. A heavier Purple. Pardon the pun, but a truly deep Purple.
Ian Gillan stepped up to the mic and fellow Episode 6 alum Roger Glover took over on the bass, bringing a decidedly crunchier sound to the band. It was a perfect storm if you will: Ritchie Blackmore now had two artists to play off of in Gillan's epic vocal range and Jon Lord's perfectly paired Hammond organ tones. All of this was held together on the bottom end by Glover and the only player to be in every iteration of the band from '68 to the present, drummer Ian Paice.
While the album proper contains three tracks which become live staples (two of which are still played today) it was the non-album single "Black Night" recorded during the same sessions which yielded their first, true hit single.
"Black Night" peaked at #2 on the UK charts and remains a staple as a concert closer 45 years later. The album itself features the Purple classics "Speed King", "Bloodsucker", "Into the Fire" and one of the most epic recordings in the band's oeuvre, "Child in Time". If you've never experienced this 10+ minute masterpiece, stop reading, click play, crank it and enjoy. We'll be here when you get back.
There. Mind properly blown? Good.
If one delves deeper though on side 2 of Deep Purple In Rock, you will find an under appreciated example of Purple at their hard rocking finest. "Flight of the Rat", while simpler in structure than the aforementioned "Child in Time", is the type of song that can easily induce even the most conservative rock fan to break out their air guitar, nod along to the beat or just plain rock out in abandon.
This was just the start for what history remembers as the "best" or most popular line up of the band. Deep Purple Mk II would go on to release three more studio albums, along with what some (myself included) consider among the best live albums of all time before Ritchie Blackmore decided to shake things up with the band and its sound. While you rarely, if ever, hear any of the songs contained on Deep Purple In Rock on the radio (American radio at least) it nonetheless remains as one of the best examples of the hard rock genre ever committed to tape. Do your ears a favor. Even if you've never heard of Deep Purple before this, seek it out. Play it. Annoy your neighbors with it. Enjoy it.
(Image credit: Deep Purple In Rock and Mt. Rushmore mash up by Tim Summers, via reddit)
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