RITCHIE BLACKMORE Reflects On DEEP PURPLE's In Rock Album - "We Were At #1 With The Record For About A Year; I Thought It Was Warranted"
June 7, 2023, a year ago
In the clip below, shared via Ritchie Blackmore's official YouTube channel, Blackmore discusses the early days of Deep Purple after having been asked what impact Deep Purple In Rock had on his life. He discusses the early albums and drummer Ian Paice.
Blackmore: "We were starving for a few years before that, and then we were suddenly in vogue and everyone had Deep Purple In Rock. We were at #1 with the record for about a year, umtil we replaced it with Fireball, which was interesting. It's nice to be in that position, especially with something like Deep Purple In Rock. I thought it was warranted. 'Child In Time', and there are a few other tracks on there, that was well received unlike the next one. Fireball was put together too quickly for my liking; we didn't have the ideas. Fireball to me was artificial, contrived, although I know Ian Gillan disagrees. I would never play that record."
Deep Purple In Rock is the band's fourth studio album. It was released in June and was the first studio album recorded by the Mark II line-up of Ritchie Blackmore, Ian Gillan, Roger Glover, Jon Lord and Ian Paice.
In Rock was the band's breakthrough album in Europe and peaked at #4 in the UK, remaining in the charts for over a year. By contrast, it under-performed in the US, where the band's Mark I albums had been more successful. An accompanying single, "Black Night" reached #2 in the UK, becoming their highest charting single in Britain.
Tracklist:
"Speed King"
"Bloodsucker"
"Child in Time"
"Flight of the Rat"
"Into the Fire"
"Living Wreck"
"Hard Lovin' Man"
