Rock ’n’ Roll with Me is a daily email newsletter (except Sunday) presenting one or more of my favorite danceable rock ’n’ roll songs, from the sixties onwards, along with some fun facts and memories.
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Our song of the day
I turned 12 around the time “Hush” by a new group called Deep Purple came out, and boy, did I love hearing it on the radio. It was their first hit single, off their debut album Shades of Deep Purple.
If you grew up in the 60s, you’ll know it as soon as you hear it.
Of course I had no clue what it was really all about, but the tune was so catchy and it was fun to scream out “Hush!” along with lead singer Rod Evans.
Below is a fun video in which the band members lip synch and cavort to their official version of “Hush.” That’s Rod in the towel, Jon Lord pretending to play keyboards, Ritchie Blackmore on guitar, Nick Simper on bass, and Ian Paice on drums. Note that it takes a few seconds for the sound to start.
What is it about British groups in the 60s? They were all such cut-ups! (Note to UK readers: ‘Cut-up’ is an American term for a jokester or prankster.) Deep Purple, Beatles, Rolling Stones … all cut-ups.
Bonus track
My brother Doc (the artist formerly known as Larry) likes Deep Purple’s hit “Smoke on the Water,” and so do I, but it’s not the most danceable song. Recently I was listening to one of my local classical radio stations and heard the song below for the first time. I loved it and jumped online to find out what it was. Lo and behold, a very danceable song with the signature Deep Purple sound, and the lyrics are a hoot. How had I never heard this?! Herewith, “Space Truckin’,” released in spring 1972:
Like “Hush,” that is a great song not only for dancing but for shouting out the lyrics — C’mon! C’mon! C’mon! Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!”
I think I wasn’t aware of this song because Deep Purple went hard rock and heavy metal (with their Deep Purple in Rock album) in 1970, while I continued along the conventional teen girl’s pop and pop-rock path in high school and beyond. Buy an album called Machine Head? Forget it! I didn’t become a hard rocker or metalhead until quite recently, sorry to say, and obviously have some serious catching-up to do.
Some fun facts
The band performed “Hush” on the TV show “Playboy After Dark” in 1968. You can watch the five-minute clip here and see the band perform in groovy threads surrounded by Playboy Bunnies. (I’m assuming they’re Bunnies.)
Before the band sang, host Hugh Hefner asked keyboardist Jon Lord about the rumors that they had moved into a house together but it hadn’t worked out. Jon said they had to leave because the house was haunted, and, when challenged by Hef, protested that he’d seen the supernatural “with my own glasses.”
“Hush” was recorded by the first Deep Purple line-up, referred to as Mark I. (The band is now in Mark IX.) Mark I lasted for only three albums, and is the only one that combined elements of pop, blues, psychedelia, classical, and progressive rock (per Malcolm Dome of Total Rock Radio in Deep Purple: In Rock).
Guitarist Ritchie Blackmore (and Lord and Paice) wanted the band to go more hard rock like Cream and Led Zeppelin. As a result, lead singer Rod Evans found himself summarily replaced by Ian Gillan and bassist Nick Simper by Roger Glover. Thus the era of Mark II was ushered in.
Rod Evans left willingly because he’d met an American heiress on tour and wanted to marry her, but Nick Simper was upset and had to be bought off. (Sudden personnel changes happen in rock bands more often than you’d think, as well as band members being bought off to leave quietly — and to prevent lawsuits, which are also common.) This new line-up recorded “Space Truckin’” and “Smoke on the Water.”
Keyboardist Jon Lord was quoted proclaiming that “We’re as valid as anything by Beethoven.” (The NME Rock ‘n’ Roll Years) Not a cut-up remark. Indeed, his Deep Purple composition called Concerto for Group and Orchestra was played with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra at the Royal Albert Hall in London, to much acclaim.
I really enjoyed this visually fast-paced documentary called Deepest Purple, only 20 minutes long, about the band’s history between 1968 and 1976. Interesting to find out that “Smoke on the Water” was a song about a real event the band experienced in Montreux, Switzerland involving Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention.
Bands often spawn other bands, and Deep Purple was no exception. Ritchie Blackmore went on to found Rainbow, and lead singer David Coverdale (1973 to 1976, Mark III and IV) went on to found and front the hard rock band Whitesnake. David is very active on twitter posting funny memes — follow him at @davidcoverdale and on the band’s website.
Deep Purple is still touring (official site here), and drummer Ian Paice is the only member who’s been with the band throughout its 57 years (except the 1976 to 1984 break-up). Well done, Ian.
Questions for discussion in the comments
What did you think “Smoke on the Water” was about? (No lying.)
Can you truck in space, and was the ‘69 moon landing real?
What is the real meaning of the name “deep purple”? (Is it MI6 code?)
Would you leave Deep Purple to marry an American heiress?
Any other must-share comments?
You know, Smoke on the Water is not one of my favourites. Obviously it's one of the first riffs I leaned on guitar. I think the best piece of music they ever made is Child in Time. I don't know anything about the band, so thanks for this piece, but I do love that song.
I was a big Purple fan, have all their vinyl from Mark I through IV, after which they went inactive for some eight years and I never really reconnected until very recently. I bought the first Rainbow album the day it was released. Still consider Blackmore the Ur-shredder, though of course there are dozens of guitarists today who play a lot faster. Purple are generally credited with Zeppelin and Sabbath as the original proto-metal bands, though it's amusing how tame they sound today compared with some of the hardcore metal bands. I saw them live three times, one of only three acts of whom I can say that (the others are Jeff Beck and Band-Maid.) Fun column, had me nodding my head.