DEEP PURPLE: Black Night + Speed King (Live & previously unreleased) 7″ Killer Picture sleeve HAR 5210! Check videos and a review video of this single.

Description

Deep Purple – Black Night
Label: Harvest
Catalog#: HAR 5210
Format: Vinyl, 7″ Single
Country: UK
Style: Hard Rock, Classic Rock

Tracklist:
A Black Night
Producer – Deep Purple
B Speed King
Producer – Jeff Griffin

Runout Groove “A” side, HAR 5210 A – 1.
Runout Groove “B” side, HAR 5210 B – 1.

Label,
“A” side. HAR 5210A
B. Feldman & Co Ltd. T/AS HEC Music Ltd.
(P) 1970 Original sound recording made by HEC Enterprises Ltd.
“B” side. HAR5210B
B. Feldman & Co Ltd. T/AS HEC Music Ltd.
(P) 1980 Original sound recording made by HEC Enterprises Ltd.
From the sleeve:
This version [of Speed King] is live and previously unreleased, and is taken from “In Concert” tapes recorded in 1970 and 1972 to be released as an album in Autumn this year.
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Allegedly written in a drunken stupor…the music has tinges of both “We Ain’t) Got Nothin’ Yet” by the Blue Magoos (as RR mentioned) & Ricky Nelsons “Summertime”. Created only because the record company insisted on one more song that could be released as a single, as the record company deemed that not much else from “In Rock” was really very marketable as a single – from their standpoint.
Musically it holds together quite well, lyrically its pretty inane & banal…not reflective at all of Gillan & Glovers better efforts.
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AWESOME song.. I love it! One of the all time favourites. It reached the top of the UK charts. This was the first song the mark II line-up of the band ever written and look what we have.. a masterpiece. I especially like the live versions of this one where the crown goes humming the riff melody in the beginning. Awesome !!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Deep Purple Rules !!!!!!!!!!

When the band had finished with the “In Rock” sessions, the managers of the Harvest label were very enthusiastic about what they had heard, but there was something missing, in their opinion. A song for a single release.

OK, said the band. You’re going to get it. They sat together for about two hours but couldn’t get anything. So, they went out to a pub and stayed there for a while. Roger & Ritchie went back to the studio and the latter started jamming. It sounded very good to Roger and Ritchie told him : “It is borrowed from Summertime – Ricky Nelson”. “You can’t use that” said Roger. Ritchie replied : “Why not? Have you ever heard of it” said Ritchie ? Roger said “No”. And Ritchie to conclude : “Fine” !

Ian Gillan said later : “We borrowed the title from the words of an old Arthur Alexander song. We stole the tempo from On The Road Again (Canned Heat). Roger and I sat trying to write the most banal lyrics we could think of”.

And here you go for “Black Night”. Their highest ranking in the UK charts!

“Black Night” is of course one of the anthems of the band.

The song reflects the growing aspirations of Blackmore, Lord and Paice to move in a more rock orientated direction, a desire which led to the departure of Rod Evans and Nick Simper after the previous “Deep Purple” album. New boys Glover and Gillan add their stamp to the song, the composition of which is democratically credited to all five band members. Gillan’s vocals are far better suited to the heavy rock sound the band had adopted than Evans, the song being driven along by the newly formed Glover/Paice powerhouse. The basic riff of the song is as familiar as the legendary “Smoke on the water”, the lyrics being suitably dark but irrelevant.

The band clearly captured the mood of the singles buying public at the time, the song becoming a huge top 3 hit in the UK. It was around this time that bands such as Black Sabbath, Free, and 10 Years After all enjoyed significant singles chart success, consequently the UK airwaves were for a time full of fine music.

The B-side would become the opening track on the forthcoming LP, which quickly became the band’s most successful album to date. What is extraordinary about this single is its B-side. I played it as much as the A-side actually. It was one of the first songs of “In Rock” (October 69) in gestation, while the superb and heavy intro was first cut in November. The first version was with a piano. This song is another Purple jewel. They could extend it to over fifteen minutes during their live sets and it also belongs to my beloved Purple song.

As a single this one deserves five stars.