Various Artists – Deep Purple – The Family & Friends Albums (2004)

This is a very rare Various Artist sampler with music from members of Deep Purple through varios decades.

I´m not sure, if this was a official release (I can´t believe it), but I´m sure, that this is a very intersting sampler, because we can hear musicians from Deep Purple in many different styles and moods … we hear studio outtakes and live recordings …

For example the great song “Clouds And Rain” by Ian Gillan & Roger Glover.

We hear one of these Jon Lord masterpieces “Concerto for Group & Orchestra” (Movement 1 + 2 … listen to the exciting leadguitar by Ritchie Blackmore !)

We hear the excellent Steve Morse Band (“Take It Off The Top”) and many many more side-projects by the members of Deep Purple.

Roger Glovers collobaration with Randal Bramblett, taken from the Glover album “Snapshot” (2002) is another highlight on this album.

And the song “No More Cane On The Brazos” by Ian Gillan is …. puuh … surprisingly more the good !

So … this is your chance to listento the many sides of the Deep Purple family and their friends.

And of course we hear another live version of “Smoke On The Water” …

Tracklist:

CD 1: Deep Purple & Family:
01. Deep Purple: Via Miami (Gillan/Glover) 4.46
02. Ian Gillan: Gut Reaction (Gillan/Morris) 3.34
03. Glenn Hughes & Geoff Downes: Don’t Walk Away (Hughes/Downes) 4.21
04. Roger Glover & The Guilty Party: Beyond Emily (Glover/Bramblett) 4.02
05. Deep Purple: Wring That Neck (live) (Lord/Paice/Simper/Blackmore) 4.30
06. Ian Gillan Band: Scarabus (Gillan/Gustafson/Fenwick/Towns/Nauseef) 4.45
07. Roger Glover & Guests (Eddie Hardin & Ronnie James Dio): Love Is All (live) (Glover/Hardin) 4.10
08. Ian Gillan & Roger Glover: Clouds And Rain (Gillan/Glover) 4.02
09. Deep Purple: Concerto for Group & Orchestra Movement 1 (Lord/Gillan) 16.38

CD 2: Deep Purple & Friends:
01. Deep Purple: Smoke On The Water (live) (Lord/Blackmore/Glover/Gillan/Paice) 6.04
02. Steve Morse Band: Take It Off The Top (Morse) 4.28
03. Roger Glover & The Guilty Party: When It Comes To You (Glover/Bramblett) 3.33
04. Ian Gillan: No More Cane On The Brazos (Traditional) 8.08
05. Deep Purple: Vavoom – Ted The Mechanic (live) (Gillan/Morse/Lord/Glover/Paice) 4.17
06. Ian Gillan & Roger Glover: Telephone Box (Gillan/Glover) 5.18
07. Glenn Hughes & Geoff Downes: Feel The Magic (Hughes/Downes) 4.02
08. Ian Gillan: Toolbox (Gillan/Morris) 4.13
09. Deep Purple: Concerto for Group & Orchestra Movement 2 (Lord/Gillan) 19.43

*
**

Deep Purple – Shades Of Deep Purple (1968)

Shades of Deep Purple is the debut studio album by the English rock band Deep Purple, released in July 1968 on Tetragrammaton in the United States and in September 1968 on Parlophone in the United Kingdom. The band, initially called Roundabout, was the idea of former Searchers drummer Chris Curtis, who recruited Jon Lord and Ritchie Blackmore before leaving the project. The Mk. I line-up of the band was completed by vocalist/frontman Rod Evans, along with bassist Nick Simper and drummer Ian Paice, in March 1968.

After about two months of rehearsals, Shades of Deep Purple was recorded in only three days in May 1968 and contains four original songs and four covers, thoroughly rearranged to include classical interludes and sound more psychedelic. Stylistically the music is close to psychedelic rock and progressive rock, two genres with an ever-growing audience in the late 1960s.

The album was not well received in the UK, where it sold very little and did not chart. In the US, on the other hand, it was a success and the single “Hush”, an energetic rock track written by Joe South and originally recorded by Billy Joe Royal, became very popular at the time, reaching number 4 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart. The good sales of the album and the intense radio play of the single contributed largely to the attention Deep Purple would get in their early US tours and also during the 1970s. Modern reviews of the album are generally positive and consider Shades of Deep Purple an important piece in the history of Deep Purple. (by wikipedia)

The usual perception of early Deep Purple is that it was a band with a lot of potential in search of a direction. And that might be true of their debut LP, put together in three days of sessions in May of 1968, but it’s still a hell of an album. From the opening bars of “And the Address,” it’s clear that they’d gotten down the fundamentals of heavy metal from day one, and at various points the electricity and the beat just surge forth in ways that were startlingly new in the summer of 1968. Ritchie Blackmore never sounded less at ease as a guitarist than he does on this album, and the sound mix doesn’t exactly favor the heavier side of his playing, but the rhythm section of Nick Simper and Ian Paice rumble forward, and Jon Lord’s organ flourishes, weaving classical riffs, and unexpected arabesques into “I’m So Glad,” which sounds rather majestic here. “Hush” was the number that most people knew at the time (it was a hit single in America), and it is a smooth, crunchy interpretation of the Joe South song.

But nobody could have been disappointed with the rest of this record — one can even hear the very distant origins of “Smoke on the Water” in “Mandrake Root,” once one gets past the similarities to Jimi Hendrix’s “Foxy Lady”; by the song’s extended finale, they sound more like the Nice. Their version of “Help” is one of the more interesting reinterpretations of a Beatles song, as a slow, rough-textured dirge. “Hey Joe” is a bit overblown, and the group clearly had to work a bit at both songwriting and their presentation, but one key attribute that runs through most of this record — even more so than the very pronounced heaviness of the playing — is a spirit of fun; these guys are obviously having the time of their lives rushing through their limited repertoire, and it’s infectious to the listener; it gives this record much more of a ’60s feel than we’re accustomed to hearing from this band. [The EMI/Spitfire re-release from 2000 is notably superior to any prior version of the CD, made from the original master tape (which had been sent directly to the group’s American label, Tetragrammaton, leaving EMI with a vinyl dub, astonishingly enough), with textures far closer and crisper than have ever been heard before — there are also five bonus tracks, two very early outtakes from their earliest sessions, an alternate version of “Help,” a BBC recording of “Hey Joe,” and a searing live U.S. television performance of “Hush.” (by Bruce Eder)

Personnel:
Ritchie Blackmore (guitar)
Rod Evans (vocals)
Jon Lord (organ, background vocals)
Ian Paice (drums)
Nick Simper (bass, background vocals)

Tracklist
01. And The Address (instrumental) (Blackmore/Lord) 4.39
02. Hush (South) 4.25
03. One More Rainy Day (Lord/Evans) 3.40
04. Prelude: Happiness (Blackmore/Evans/Lord/Paice/Simper)/I’m So Glad (James) 7.19
05. Mandrake Root (Blackmore/Lord/Evans) 6.10
06. Help! (Lennon/McCartney) 6.01
07. Love Help Me (Blackmore/Evans) 3.49
08. Hey Joe (Roberts) 7.34
+
09. Shadows (outtake)(Lord/Evans/Simper/Blackmore) 3.39
10. Love Help Me” (Instrumental version) (Blackmore/Evans) 3.30
11. Help! (alternate take) (Lennon/McCartney) 5.24
12. Hey Joe (BBC Top Gear session, 14 January 1969) (Roberts) 4.06
13. Hush (Live US TV, 1968) (South) 3.53

*
**

Deep Purple – From The Setting Sun… (In Wacken) (2015)

As a band gets older and has been together longer, and tours become more prevalent than releases of studio albums – mainly, one assumes, because the audience still wants to hear the same old songs rather than newer material at the concerts they go to – then there has to be something that fills the gap created by less albums. The solution is release live albums of archival concerts (something Deep Purple has been very good at over the past two decades) and live albums of recent gigs. Which is where we are here, with From the Setting Sun… In Wacken.

Recorded at Deep Purple’s appearance at the ever increasing popular music festival held at Wacken Open Air in 2013, this double album covers the band’s entire set list, one that mixes the old and the new almost seamlessly. And one should never under estimate how difficult it is for a band like Deep Purple, with 19 studio albums over almost 50 years, to find the right mix in the set list to ensure that they satisfy their fan base, young and old. To have the hits, but also to showcase their newer material so that it is not just a forgotten moment. I think they’ve done an excellent job here on this release.

The newer material from the band all sounds terrific here in the live environment, and really brings to life these songs that may not be as well known by most fans as their classic hits. “Vincent Price” from Now What?! sounds awesome, with Airey’s keys combining beautifully with Glover’s bass line and Morse’s guitar riff. I love the studio version, but the live version really brings this song to life. “Contact Lost” from Bananas is an instrumental focusing on Steve Morse’s wonderful guitar playing, and showcases his talent perfectly, as does the following “The Well Dressed Guitar” from special versions of Rapture of the Deep, where guitar and keyboards dominate in a brilliant flurry of musicianship. “Hell to Pay” and “Above and Beyond” from NOW WHAT?! both come across excellently live, and more than hold their own in this brilliant setlist.
Of the older classic material, it was a real pleasure to hear “Into the Fire” and “Hard Lovin’ Man” from Deep Purple in Rock starting off the album after the typifying brilliance of “Highway Star” opens the show.

Both of those songs are from the great Mark II era, and aren’t necessarily the songs you’d expect the band to play, so hearing them again was just terrific. Ditto with “No One Came” from Fireball. It’s still great to hear songs from these albums. “Strange Kind of Woman” and “Lazy” are always great staples, especially when the band tends to freeform through “Lazy” in whatever mood they happen to be in. “Perfect Strangers” is always a welcome addition, especially with that Hammond organ at the start. Don Airey does a great job staying true and trusted to Jon Lord’s original keys, both here and throughout the album and performance. “Space Truckin'” still sounds great after all these years, and “Smoke on the Water” features a guest appearance by Uli Jon Roth to help add to the most played song of all time. The encore is kicked off by covers of Booker T and the M.G.’s “Green Onions” and then “Hush”, which is still a great song after all these years, and completed by “Black Night”, that old staple that still has people jumping 40-odd years later.

As always the performance of the band is faultless. They could probably do this in their sleep, but they sound as brilliant as ever. The great mix of songs, and the ability of the band to still play around with the tracks without changing them so much that people won’t enjoy them is fantastic. You may have heard similar on other recent live releases, but they still never fail to amaze you with their performance. It may not be an essential purchase, but you certainly won’t be disappointed if you do. (by almanack)

There’s gonna be hell… hell to pay!

Personnel:
Don Airey (keyboards)
Ian Gillan (vocals)
Roger Glover (bass)
Steve Morse (guitar)
Ian Paice (drums)
+
Uli Jon Roth (guitar on CD 2/06.)

Tracklist:

CD 1:

01. Highway Star (Gillan/Paice/Lord/Blackmore/Glover) 6.48
02. Into The Fire (Gillan/Paice/Lord/Blackmore/Glover) 3.26
03. Hard Lovin’ Man (Gillan/Paice/Lord/Blackmore/Glover) 6.34
04. Vincent Price (Ezrin/Airey/Gillan/Paice/Glover/Morse) 4.25
05. Strange Kind Of Woman (Gillan/Paice/Lord/Blackmore/Glover) 5.48
06. Contact Lost (Morse) 2.57
07. The Well-Dressed Guitar (Airey/Gillan/Paice/Morse) 2.38
08. Hell To Pay (Ezrin/Airey/Gillan/Paice/Glover/Morse) 5.02
09. Lazy (Gillan/Paice/Lord/Blackmore/Glover) 7.55

CD 2:
01. Above And Beyond (Ezrin/Airey/Gillan/Paice/Glover/Morse) 5.10
02. No One Came (Gillan/Paice/Lord/Blackmore/Glover) 5.16
03. Don Airey’s Solo (Airey) 3.00
04. Perfect Strangers (Gillan/Blackmore/Glover) 6.03
05. Space Truckin’ (Gillan/Paice/Lord/Blackmore/Glover) 4.54
06. Smoke On The Water (Gillan/Paice/Lord/Blackmore/Glover) 7.58
07.1.Green Onions (Jackson/Jones/Steinberg/Cropper)
07.2. Hush (South) 7.20
08. Black Night (Gillan/Paice/Lord/Blackmore/Glover) 6.14

*
**

Deep Purple – Warm Up In Australia (1984)

APRIL 1984: The five members of Deep Purple Mk 2’s original line-up all met together in Kentucky for talks. Blackmore personally called Jon Lord in Scandinavia on April 13th (where he was on tour with Whitesnake) to ask him over. Although the various members had been in touch with one another over the years, this was the first time they’d all been together since June 1973 in Japan. The musicians then met up again the following week at the offices of manager Bruce Payne’s Thames Talent company in New York, where they agreed to reform Deep Purple to both record and tour.

OCTOBER / NOVEMBER 1984: By October Deep Purple had begun rehearsals for the first tour. It might seem hard to believe now, but they chose to do this in an old community room at St. Peter’s Hall in Bedford! They were there for a fortnight, and re-learnt many of the old Mk 2 “Made In Japan” era classics as well as some of the new material.

DECEMBER 1984: The late November and December shows were so far away that it took a while for the first reports to filter back home to the UK (hard to imagine a world without the internet!). They kicked off in Australia, hit New Zealand on December 2nd, and then returned to Australia to play three more cities. The schedule was leisurely, allowing for extra shows to be dropped in where demand was high, and sunbathing when it wasn’t.

The set-list was a mix of old and new – Highway Star, Nobody’s Home, Strange Kind Of Woman, Gypsy’s Kiss, Perfect Strangers, Under The Gun, Knocking At Your Back Door, Lazy, Child In Time, Difficult To Cure, Space Truckin’ and encores, with Smoke On The Water saved for the end. Reviews were mixed, although the enthusiasm for having the band back was immense.

Gillan was struggling at times, and Blackmore often seemed happy to settle back and watch the others. It was obviously going to take the band a while to settle in to working with one another again but with half the set new they were at least determined not to rest too heavily on past glories.

The tour finished in Melbourne on the 18th, and barring a mini riot in Adelaide (where ticketless fans had tried to crash the stadium before the show) gone down well.

George Harrison turned up to guest at one gig (Sydney, December 13th), and football matches provided relaxation for members of the band and crew, as well as lucky fans. It was back home for a couple of weeks off before the start of the American tour after Christmas. (by deep-purple.net)

And here´s the full concert from their last gig in Australia in 1984.

But, to be honestly … this is the classic Deep Purple Mk. II line-up, but this is not their best live recording … much to much screaming by Ian Gillan … and much to much distracted solos by Ritchie Blackmore and Jon Lord … sorry Folks … but it´s yet a nice addiion to every Deep Purple record collectiion.

The sound quality is okay, but please don´t forget, that this a bootleg !

Recorded live at the Entertainment Centre, Melbourne, Australia, December 16, 1984.

Personnel:
Ritchie Blackmore (guitar)
Ian Gillan (vocals)
Roger Glover (bass)
Jon Lord (keyboards)
Ian Paice (drums)

Tracklist:
01. Highway Star 5.15
02. Nobody’s Home 3.46
03. Strange Kind Of Woman 8.29
04. Ritchie’s Blues / A Gipsy’s Kiss 5.35
05, Perfect Stranger 5.56
06. Under The Gun 6.02
07. Knocking At Your Backdoor 9.39
08. Lazy 7.24
09. Child In Time 10.13
10. Difficult To Cure 9.05
11. Space Trucking 13.57
12. Speed King 6.15
13. Introduction to the band members 1.17
14. Black Night 4.11
15. Smoke On The Water 7.37
+
16. Warm Up In Australia (uncut version) 1.45.58

All songs written by Ritchie Blackmore – Ian Gillan – Roger Glover – Jon Lord – Ian Paice

*
**

Deep Purple – Live In Graz 1975 (2014)

Recorded live at the Liebenaur ice rink in Graz, Austria, ‘Graz 1975′ captures the Mark III Deep Purple lineup in one of its very last performances. However, this is hardly the sound of a band in its final hours.

Instead, it is that of a band charged and ready to take on the world. This show is often regarded as the “holy grail” of this lineup, and has been frequently traded in bootleg form by fans for years prior to this, its first official release.

Several shows on what turned out to be this lineup’s final tour were recorded using the fabled Rolling Stones mobile studio. Shortly after these concerts, guitarist Ritchie Blackmore would split to form Rainbow, and Purple would bring in Tommy Bolin to try and keep things rolling. ‘Graz 1975′ is a wall to wall feast, and may be the definitive portrait of this version of the band.

Deep Purple waste no time getting to the point here, kicking things off with the almighty ‘Burn.’ Without question it’s one of the greatest of all the band’s songs, and this version is absolutely captivating. The energy level goes right off the rails once that mighty riff kicks in.

Singer David Coverdale had clearly settled into his place in the band by this point. While he may never have captured the role with the brilliance that Ian Gillian had, he more than holds his own here. Newer recruit and bassist Glenn Hughes has also found a home here, adding his own personality to the mix both in playing and presentation.

Three tracks from the band’s then-current album ‘Stormbringer’ turn up here — ‘The Gypsy,’ ‘Lady Double Dealer’ and the title cut. All three are high octane stuff, surpassing the studio versions — with ‘Lady Double Dealer’ particularly killing. ‘Mistreated’ from the ‘Burn’ album gets a lengthy workout here, allowing Blackmore to show off with a bluesy but high energy solo. ‘You Fool No One,’ also from ‘Burn,’ maintains that same energy and surge for over 12 minutes.

There’s also a rock solid rendition of the all-time classic ‘Smoke On The Water.‘ One interesting thing about this version is the vocal harmonies provided by bassist Glenn Hughes during the second verse. His addition here adds a nice change up, taking the song somewhere else entirely.

Now, time to nitpick. Do we really need another 20-minute-plus version of ‘Space Truckin’? Probably not. It’s noodle central for both Lord and Blackmore on this one. Thankfully, Mr. Paice holds down the fort, keeping the whole mess from blowing off into the wind.

That is the one main problem with any live Deep Purple outing, their tendency to go on and on. When they tighten it up, which is actually the case for most of the songs here, they are a force of nature. But when they meander, they get lost. As for the overall performance, it’s pretty damn amazing, and as for the sound quality, it’s all aces. This set was produced by the legendary Martin Birch, the man responsible for countless great hard rock records from Fleetwood Mac and Black Sabbath to Iron Maiden and beyond. His sharp approach on the initial recording, coupled with some tasty remixing and mastering from Martin Pullan shine this monster up just right.

In short, if you love Deep Purple, you will love this album. Even if you’re one of those who swear only by the Mark II lineup, there is no denying the band’s power here. Turn it up loud and let it rock! (by Dave Swanson)

Personnel:
Ritchie Blackmore (guitar)
David Coverdale (vocals)
Glenn Hughes (bass, background vocals)
Jon Lord (keyboards)
Ian Paice (drums, percussion)

Tracklist:
01. Burn (Blackmore/Coverdale/Hughes/Lord/Paice) 7.51
02. Stormbringer (Blackmore/Coverdale) 5.08
03. The Gypsy (Blackmore/Coverdale/Hughes/Lord/Paice) 5.23
04. Lady Double Dealer (Blackmore/Coverdale) 4.31
05. Mistreated (Blackmore/Coverdale)  14.40
06. Smoke On The Water (Blackmore/Gillan/Glover/Lord/Paice) 9.43
07. You Fool No One (Blackmore/Coverdale/Hughes/Lord/Paice) 12.15
08. Space Truckin’ (Blackmore/Gillan/Glover/Lord/Paice) 20.22

*
**

LP frontcover

Deep Purple – In Rock (25th Anniversary Edition with bonus tracks) (1970/1995)

Deep Purple in Rock (also known as In Rock) is the fourth studio album by English Rock band Deep Purple, released in June 1970. It was the first studio album recorded by the classic Mark II line-up. Rod Evans (vocals) and Nick Simper (bass) had been fired in June 1969 and were replaced by Ian Gillan and Roger Glover, respectively.

Deep Purple in Rock was their breakthrough album in Europe and would peak at No. 4 in the UK, remaining in the charts for months (the band’s prior MK I albums had been much better received in North America than in their homeland). The album was supported by the hugely successful In Rock World Tour which lasted 15 months.

Although this was the first studio album to feature the MK II line-up of the band, it was this line-up that had earlier recorded the live Concerto for Group and Orchestra. The album was also preceded by the single “Hallelujah”, the first studio recording that Gillan made with Deep Purple. “Hallelujah” was a Greenaway-Cook composition released in late 1969, but the song flopped. A second single, “Black Night”, was developed around the same time as the In Rock album, but not included on the album. “Black Night” fared much better, as it rose all the way to No. 2 on the UK charts.

In 2005 the album won the Classic Rock and Roll of Honour Award (given by the British monthly magazine Classic Rock) in the category Classic Album. The award was presented to Ian Gillan, Ian Paice, Jon Lord and Ritchie Blackmore.

Deep Purple’s earlier work ranged from psychedelic hard rock to orchestra-driven tracks and covers that ranged from The Beatles to Neil Diamond, among others, but on this record all tracks are credited to the five members of the band.

Jon Lord used both the Leslie speaker and a Marshall amplifier with his Hammond organ, therefore the organ sound varies a lot throughout the songs. (Example: “Living Wreck” – Leslie speaker, “Hard Lovin’ Man” – Marshall amplifier).

Ritchie Blackmore used a Gibson ES-335 guitar on “Child in Time”, not his usual Fender Stratocaster. This album is his favourite, along with Machine Head.

The cover depicts the band in a rock sculpture inspired by Mount Rushmore. (by wikipedia)

After satisfying all of their classical music kinks with keyboard player Jon Lord’s overblown Concerto for Group and Orchestra, Deep Purple’s soon to be classic Mark II version made its proper debut and established the sonic blueprint that would immortalize this lineup of the band on 1970’s awesome In Rock. The cacophony of sound (spearheaded by Ritchie Blackmore’s blistering guitar solo) introducing opener “Speed King” made it immediately obvious that the band was no longer fooling around, but the slightly less intense “Bloodsucker” did afford stunned listeners a chance to catch their breaths before the band launched into the album’s epic, ten-minute tour de force, “Child in Time.” In what still stands as arguably his single greatest performance, singer Ian Gillan led his bandmates on a series of hypnotizing crescendos, from the song’s gentle beginning through to its ear-shattering climax and then back again for an even more intense encore that brought the original vinyl album’s seismic first side to a close. Side two opened with the searing power chords of “Flight of the Rat” — another example of the band’s new take-no-prisoners hard rock stance, though at nearly eight minutes, it too found room for some extended soloing from Blackmore and Lord. Next, “Into the Fire” and “Living Wreck” proved more concise but equally appealing, and though closer “Hard Lovin’ Man” finally saw the new-look Deep Purple waffling on a bit too long before descending into feedback, the die was cast for one of heavy metal’s defining albums. (by Eduardo Rivadavia)

In other words: One of the most important album of rock history !

Personnel:
Ritchie Blackmore (guitar)
Ian Gillan (vocals)
Roger Glover (bass)
Jon Lord (keyboards)
Ian Paice (drums, percussion)

Tracklist:
01. Speed King  5.52
02. Bloodsucker 4.16
03. Child In Time 10.18
04. Flight Of The Rat 7.53
05. Into the Fire 3.30
06. Living Wreck 4.31
07. Hard Lovin’ Man 7.11
+
08. Black Night (original single version) 3.27
09. Studio Chat (1) 0.28
10. Speed King (piano version) 4.14
11. Studio Chat (2) 0.25
12. Cry Free (Roger Glover remix) 3.20
13, Studio Chat (3) 0.05
14. Jam Stew”(unreleased instrumental) 2.30
15. Studio Chat (4) 0.40
16. Flight Of The Rat (Roger Glover remix) 7.53
17. Studio Chat (5) 0.31
18. Speed King (Roger Glover remix) 5.52
19. Studio Chat (6) 0.23
20. Black Night (unedited Roger Glover remix) 4.48

All songs written by Ritchie Blackmore, Ian Gillan, Roger Glover, Jon Lord and Ian Paice.

*
**

Deep Purple – Made In Japan (1972)

Recorded over three nights in August 1972, Deep Purple’s Made in Japan was the record that brought the band to headliner status in the U.S. and elsewhere, and it remains a landmark in the history of heavy metal music. Since reorganizing with singer Ian Gillan and bassist Roger Glover in 1969, Deep Purple had recorded three important albums — Deep Purple in Rock, Fireball, and Machine Head — and used the material to build a fierce live show. Made in Japan, its selections drawn from those albums, documented that show, in which songs were drawn out to ten and even nearly 20 minutes with no less intensity, as guitarist Ritchie Blackmore and organist Jon Lord soloed extensively and Gillan sang in a screech that became the envy of all metal bands to follow. The signature song, of course, was “Smoke on the Water,” with its memorable riff, which went on to become an American hit single. But those extended workouts, particularly the moody “Child in Time,” with Gillan’s haunting falsetto wail and Blackmore’s amazingly fast playing, and “Space Truckin’,” with Lord’s organ effects, maintained the onslaught, making this a definitive treatment of the band’s catalog and its most impressive album. By stretching out and going to extremes, Deep Purple pushed its music into the kind of deliberate excess that made heavy metal what it became, and their audience recognized the breakthrough, propelling the original double LP into the U.S. Top Ten and sales over a million copies. (by William Ruhlmann)

In other words: A classic and one of the best hard-rock live albums ever recorded ! ! !

Personnel:
Ritchie Blackmore (guitar)
Ian Gillan (vocals)
Roger Glover (bass)
Jon Lord (keyboards)
Ian Paice (drums)

Tracklist:
01. Highway Star 6.45
02. Child In Time 12.19
03. Smoke On The Water 7.27
04. The Mule 9.45
05. Strange Kind Of Woman 9.10
06. Lazy 10.35
07. Space Truckin’ 20.02

All songs written by: Ritchie Blackmore – Ian Gillan – Roger Glover – Jon Lord – Ian Paice

*
**

Happy Birthday, Mr. Ritchie Blackmore !