In reference to some comments I made regarding my inability to like Deep Purple, even via their vaunted Greatest Hits album, Townsman General Slocum wrote:
Christ sake, Mod. What’s with you guys? Steve, well, he could have been too set in his ways by the time Purple came along, I don’t know. But Machine Head? What’s not great about that record? Meaty! Also, Rat Bat Blue, the Mule, Our Lady the whole Fireball record, really. In Rock is good, too … I’ve been a big fan since Machine Head came out. True, they were one of the bands Spinal Tap was busting on, with the main difference that they all had crazy prowess on their instruments, and didn’t have the zany lyrical sense of, say Uriah Heep. It’s funny that they were far bigger in the rest of the world than Zep, but Zep’s music fits so much better in 1973 rust-belt america. They are so solid, not that they’re in heavy rotation at my house all the time anymore, but it never occurred to me to bust on them. I went through a little Deep Purple phase again not too long ago, and found that they didn’t require the pinch of nostalgia between the cheek and gum that other bands need to sound fun. Please find the “funny” songs you refer to, Mod.
General, I was afraid I’d touch a nerve by admitting that I don’t find much to like in Deep Purple beside the unintentionally funny bits. If I could, I’d list details of what irks me about their music, but all I can think of is 3 or 4 song titles. “Hush” is great, like a lost Steppenwolf song. Their version of “Help” is pretty cool in the way only a rock nerd could love a song. Then I know “Smoke on the Water”, which sounds like Spinal Tap. “Highway Star”, which is too noodly for its rockin’ aspirations (and which also sounds like Spinal Tap). Then there’s another song or two I know fairly well when I hear it from Machine Head, but the title of which is not coming to mind. “Space Truckin'”! That’s the title. Come on, despite the cool riff, you don’t chuckle when you hear that song?
I admire the guitar playing of Ritchie Blackmore. I get a visceral reaction from his solos, and he’s got some good riffs to boot. Jon Lord‘s organ playing is always good, but the singer sounds like David St. Hutchins to me and that drummer–ugh–he’s all open hi-hats that just seem to fill up what little available space is left in their thick arrangements. I really don’t like that drummer. Ian Paice, right?
My problem with Deep Purple is that they’re stuck in some netherworld between song-based heavy rock, which Led Zeppelin excelled at playing, and the noodly, prog-rock showboating of ELP and second-generation prog-rock bands that would follow ELP and Deep Purple, most notably Boston and Kansas. I don’t know, General, I’ve seen some VH1 “making of” Machine Head 3 times in the past few months. I usually watch it all the way through because I’m a bit fascinated by the band’s mix of chops, noble aspirations, and dumb lyrics. They’re understandably excited to play back a dual organ-guitar solo on some song, but the music itself suggests more about the rock ‘n roll that would follow (eg, the second-generation prog bands) than the music that probably inspired Deep Purple.
Can you, General Slocum, or anyone in the Halls of Rock point me in the direction of a dozen Deep Purple tracks worth revisiting, without prejudice? I look forward to your suggestions.
