1969
1969 was such a pivotal year as bands such as Led Zeppelin and Grand Funk Railroad gave hard rock bands with heavy blues based roots a much firmer identity, in both sound and marketing appeal. As pre-1969 it had basically been a much looser affiliation of like-minded artists, which had consisted of a number of blues and psychedelic based bands that had played very loud music, which in turn had helped to forge out a very heavy sound and an early identity. Artists like Jimi Hendrix, Cream, Iron Butterfly, Steppenwolf and Blue Cheer were prime examples of this. One of these artists Jeff Beck had in 1968 put out his first solo album
Truth, this album remains an extremely influential release even today, in fact it could be seen as an appetizer for what was to come in the following year 1969. Now speaking of 1969, here is my entry at number 10, effectively the album I think was the 10th best within the chosen genre for the year and from there it will go in a logical direction to position 1.
10. Deep Purple Deep Purple 1969 (Harvest)
Progressive Rock-Hard Rock
The transition from progressive rock to hard rock.
By their third album Deep Purple were still in a crux over whether they should progress as a progressive rock band or make the switch to a hard rock outfit, as uptil then success had mostly been just limited to the "Hush" single from their debut album. In essence Mk.1 Deep Purple and the future Mk.2 Deep Purple line-up were two very different animals. The former of which perform on this album, were essentially a progressive rock outfit and like most bands of their ilk were prone to over indulge and to show their ability as prog rock musicians. Whilst the future Mk.2 line-up right from the word go, were a hard rock outfit that believed in hitting hard, whilst still showing off their musical excesses whenever the occasion arose. Now that scenario didn’t quite happen overnight as is often believed, because over the course of their first three albums, the band had already been moving into a heavier direction and all the elements of their early progressive sound and their heavy tendencies came together superbly on their third album the eponymous
Deep Purple. It’s on this album that the foundations and future direction of the band were finally laid down and even today it’s still an absorbing listen for both prog fans and hard rock fans alike.
Rod Evans- Vocals
Ritchie Blackmore- Guitar
Neil Simper-Bass
Jon Lord- Organ/Keyboards
Ian Paice-Drums
Production- Derek Lawrence
Album
Chasing Shadows- Kicks off with a steady drum intro by Ian Paice, before Rod Evan’s voice eases into the song. The song really showcases the band’s musical virtuosity, especially the ability of future Purple pillars Blackmore, Lord and Paice who are great here.
Blind- A song that has all the hallmarks of a typical 1960’s song.
Lalena- A Donovan cover that amazingly sounds like an early version of “When a Blind Man Cries” it’s beautifully sung by Evans and has some great organ work by Jon Lord.
Fault Line- A great intro section to the following song….
The Painter- A song that typifies the excitement and intensity that was around at the time, this type of song and intensity were already being taken to a new level by Led Zeppelin on their first two albums.
Why Didn’t Rosemary- One of the strongest tracks on the album with some complex and sublime guitar work by Ritchie Blackmore.
Bird Has Flown- Another great track and probably the heaviest track on the album.
April- The showcase track on the album, that is an accomplished three-part suite that really brings to a close the MK.1 phase of the band. It also ranks as one of the band's most ambitious offerings.
Verdict
In hindsight, this is an album that often gets overlooked in the annals of heavy rock development and is usually just treasured by Deep Purple fans. But here is an album that demonstrates a band’s talent and their ability to move forward and seek out a new direction. The album is blessed with Derek Lawrence’s production as well, because at this time here was a producer that really knew how to capture a live based band on a studio album and he got it just right with Deep Purple on this album. He would later go onto star with Wishbone Ash, whose early material as a footnote has a lot of similiarites with this album. Sadly this album though, would prove to be a watershed for the band, as band leaders Ritchie Blackmore and Jon Lord thought both vocalist Rod Evans and bassist Neil Simper weren’t the ideal men to push the band in the required direction and they would soon give way to both Ian Gillan and Roger Glover for the next studio album.