Deep Purple Mark I

As a young kid working at the local library I had some advantages of coming across some really cool stuff.  At seventeen years old I was leaving for work one day when a co-worker handed me some LP's that she was going donate to the library sale if I passed up on any or all of these.  I grabbed them like a mouse who obsesses with cheese.  The one that caught my eye was Shades of Deep Purple.  Still in amazing shape for an old record, and even better yet she told me she barely listened to it.  It caught my eye for few reasons. "Hush" was on it and 3/5th of the line-up I heard on Machine Head which at that age and continue now to obsess over are present.

It was an album that I knew required headphones.  It was an album that had a few odd quirky covers on it.  "Hey Joe", "I'm So Glad" and "Help!" all done with early Deep Purple flare. Out of the three covers I really like "Help."  The version sounds like music of desperation (pun intended), and at six minutes it's got a lot of interludes and a wonderful Richie Blackmore solo in it too.  It's quite catchy too.  It kinda reminds me if they slowed down the Beatles version and played it a slower speed.

As much as I'm a Deep Purple fan, this is an album I like going back to hear Deep Purple sound like a British Invasion Rock band not the Hard Rock/Progressive band they were going to become in a few short years.  I will admit that the playing of Jon Lord on organ surely makes their signature sound quite evident in their early years.  An album that is worthy of fun and repeated listenings.