Rating: 10 / 10 Stars
DEEP PURPLE is: Ian Gillan (vocals), Ritchie Blackmore (guitars), Roger Glover (bass), Ian Paice (drums), Jon Lord (keyboards)
REVIEW – On December 4th 1971, British rockers Deep Purple were in Montreux, Switzerland, right along Lake Geneva, recording their latest album, already named Machine Head, by utilizing the Rolling Stones’ Mobile Studio. It was discovered by their record company that Purple were one song short of completing their new album. Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention were playing a concert inside the Casino that night. Most people, including co-composer Ian Gillan, say that a man with a flare gun started a fire inside the concert hall, but Zappa recollects that it was merely “something flammable”, and not necessarily a flare gun. Although there were no deaths or injuries resulting from it, that fire ended up burning the old casino and everything in it, including all of Zappa’s equipment, to the ground. After the fire was out, and things were settling down, the smoke from the fire had cooled and had fallen toward earth, resulting in an eerie night-time fog on the water over Lake Geneva. Deep Purple had discovered their missing song.
The origins of Deep Purple go back to the mid-60s when guitarist Ritchie Blackmore, along with bassist Nicky Simper, were playing with Screaming Lord Sutch. Drummer Ian Paice and vocalist Rod Evans were in a band called The Maze, Keyboardist Jon Lord was from various bands in the 60s, ultimately teaming up with Blackmore in 1967 for a pre-Purple project that went nowhere. Other band names were bandied about, including “Roundabout”, and “Concrete God”, but when the original five teamed together, Deep Purple Mark I was born.
Mark I only lasted 2 years before signs of stress started to show. Blackmore, Lord and Paice, unimpressed with Evans’ limited vocal range, wanted a change. Evans and Simper were given the axe. Roger Glover was hired to replace Simper, and Ian Gillan was chosen to replace Evans. The new lineup, dubbed Mark II, proved to be inspirational and prolific. A new album quickly came and was heralded as a new direction in rock music. Deep Purple In Rock, was praised among fans and critics alike. Another album, Fireball, followed, and did not live up to the fanfare that In Rock had. The decision was made to ensure top-notch, quality rock only, so the band put their nose to the grindstone to come up with something undeniably remarkable.
The album kicks off with, probably the best opening song an album can have, “Highway Star”. A very fast-paced tune about fast cars as a euphemism for fast women. The oddly-timed “Maybe I’m a Leo” follows, and another album track after that, “Pictures of Home”, featuring a drum intro by Paice that was not written into the song, but rather was improvised before that particular take, and it ended up being used on the album. The first single from the album, “Never Before” closes out the first side. Side 2 commences with the tune described in the first paragraph of this review, “Smoke On The Water”, featuring the guitar riff heard ‘round the world. Taken from a quick guitar line from a jazz standard, it’s the first riff most electric guitarists learn when they begin mastering their instrument. The 7-plus minute blues jam “Lazy” is the 2nd track on side 2, sandwiched between “Smoke” and the last song, “Space Truckin’”. Live versions of “Space Truckin’” have timed out at over 25 minutes and was usually the showstopper featuring hard-playing and even destruction of the instruments used.
Machine Head peaked at #7 on the Billboard 200 Album chart, and Smoke On The Water was a smash Top 5 hit in 1973. Not bad considering it was originally considered a “filler” song, and wasn’t intended to be the huge behemoth it was. In the US alone, Machine Head has sold over two million copies, and several more million worldwide.
By the time Machine Head was released, things were already looking sour for Deep Purple. Tensions between Gillan and Blackmore came to a head in 1973, resulting in Gillan’s and Glover’s departure from Deep Purple. Purple did carry on replacing Gillan and Glover with David Coverdale, who would later front his own very successful band, Whitesnake, and Glenn Hughes, making this lineup Mark III. When Blackmore left Purple in 1975, Tommy Bolin was brought in, making it Mark IV. Deep Purple disbanded in 1976, and remained so until 1984, when the Mark II lineup of Purple reunited to release their 11th album, the wonderful Perfect Strangers. That, however, is another review for another day.
