Deep Purple
Deep Purple
Tetragramme 119
1969
Rating:*** (noteworthy)
Released July. ’69 (Nov. ’69 in the UK on Harvest Records), reached #162 in U.S.
Produced by Derek Lawrence
Purple’s self-titled third album, the last with the original line up. Both Simper and Evans would soon leave the band (Evans going to Captain Beyond). As with the previous two albums, this was released on Bill Cosby’s Tetragramme label, and unfortunately for Purple, the label would fold in July of 1969, the same month this set was released.
On this album, Purple sounds like a composite of many of the heavy bands of this era (Zeppelin, Cream, Floyd, Hendrix, Iron Butterfly, King Crimson…) but the sound ends up being something unique to Purple. While “April” foreshadows Purple’s next album (the absurd Concerto For Group and Orchestra), other cuts hint toward the semi-progressive hard rock (aka heavy metal) of their early 70s material.
When most people examine how this band influenced rock music, they look to the highly influential Machine Head era, but for better or worse, the strong influence this band had on rock music can certainly be heard at this point, on this album.
— winch
Sounds Good 