Deep Purple - Shades Of Deep Purple (1968)

Deep Purple’s debut release in 1968, whilst not of the level of their early 70’s albums, contains some very strong material and good performance from all of the members and gets the band’s career off to a great start. Hard rock was in its infancy in 1968, with Cream and Hendrix at the forefront of the scene at that time, but the bands sound here is already pioneering with a strong emphasis on instrumental passages and the embryonic relationship between Jon Lord’s Hammond lines and Richie Blackmore’s riffs and melodic soloing. A 19 year-old Ian Paice also shows no fear, throwing himself into each track with great flair and technical ability – something that was lacking from many drummers of that era but was, largely because of Paice (and Led Zepellin’s John Bonham) to become a major ingredient of rock music during the 1970s.

Opening with the instrumental And The Address you can almost trick yourself into thinking you’re listening to one of the bands later albums as the track features a heavy guitar part from Blackmore interspersed with Hammond breaks and frantic drumming.

The Joe South cover, and ’surprise’ hit single, Hush is up next and is a very well known track from the group, again featuring some stunning playing from Paice and a chugging Hammond/guitar riff to underpin the track. If you’ve only heard Kula Shaker’s rather limp version in the 1990s – or indeed the version released by Purple in 1988 which was dreadful – you really should check this out.

One More Rainy Day follows which is mainstream semi-psychedelia 60’s fayre which is followed by the instrumental Prelude: Happiness, a Purple take on a Rimsky-Korsakov piece, which again displays the musical dexterity of the band’s members and signals an approach the band would take as they really got into their career. I’m So Glad follows the Prelude – a cover and not overly inspiring, albeit containing some nice flourishes from Lord.

Mandrake Root is a track that was to become a staple of Purple’s live set and really shows the direction in which the band would head with the latter part of the track being a lengthy Hammond solo and Blackmore piece, accompanied by frantic drumming from Paice.

The band then turn their attention to covering the Beatles’ Help! Never really a good move to cover a Beatles tune – and here the band really attempt to give it a strong reworking with the verse sung gently by Rod Evans to a picked acoustic guitar and organ backing. The charm, and urgency, of the Beatles’s number is lost here – and the Hammond histrionics from Lord are misplaced. Blackmore however, turns-in a decent solo towards the close of the song but this choice of cover was sadly misguided, but hey it’s Deep Purple so we can forgive them such a faux pas!

Love Help Me opens with a crashing set of chords from Blackmore/Lord and leads into a short wah-wah solo from Blackmore before a fairly traditional 60’s pop song ensues which is only rescued by Blackmore’s soloing later in the track.

Another no-no is up next, a cover of Hey Joe – and yes, Hey Joe wasn’t written by Hendrix but he recorded the definitive version. Here Purple manage to convert it into a lengthy bolero intro over which Lord solos! Rather clumsily this then switches to the familiar verse of Hey Joe which the band play fairly straight before returning to the bolero again briefly and then into a Blackmore solo . . . it nearly works too, nearly.

It’s a really interesting album is Shades Of Deep Purple. You get the impression the band really want to let rip with endless instrumental passages but hold back as it wasn’t really done at that time – they’d yet to ‘invent’ it – so what you get is a pleasant psychedelia-era pop album with numerous outbursts of ripping Hammond and guitar soloing with Paice frantically filling every conceivable gap throughout. Nicky Simper ably backs things up on bass and Rod Evans does what he does well enough . . . but if we’re honest, we all prefer Gillan don’t we?

For those interested in the development of the rock genre, and in Purple, pretty much a compulsory purchase.

• Rod Evans – Vocals
• Ritchie Blackmore – Guitar
• Nick Simper – Bass
• Jon Lord – Keyboards
• Ian Paice – Drums

Fleetwood Mac - Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac (1968)

Originally meeting as John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers, when the idea was mooted of going it alone Peter Green suggested the band should be named after drummer Mick Fleetwood and bassist John McVie. Jeremy Spencer completed the lineup as rhythm guitarist and this album is their debut release and a million miles away from their saccharine later offerings with Stevie Nicks et al. Here it’s blues all the way with Green really showcasing his vocals and influential guitar playing to great effect.

My Heart Beats Like A Hammer opens with some bottleneck and shuffles along with a powerful vocal and is lyrically on familiar blues territory opining a lost love – some good bottleneck soloing ensues too. Merry-Go-Round is a slow blues number climaxing with a heart-felt solo from Green.

Long Grey Mare is a uptempo number featuring harmonica from Green followed by the piano intro to Hellhound On My Trail which remains a slow blues piano and vocal piece throughout: Jeremy Spencer tinkles the ivories here.

Elmore James’ Shake Your Moneymaker is up next and is a break-neck shuffle with Green belting out the lyrics with plenty of slide guitar to boot and is a standout track. Things then mellow to a syncopated bass-drum riff driven track featuring Green’s harmonica once more which, as there is no guitar on the number, also provides the solo.

No Place To Go is a more forgettable tune but My Baby’s Good To Me sees the band back on track, shuffling along with the bottleneck re-emerging for some nice flourishes before the Black Magic Woman-esque If I Loved Another Woman kicks-in featuring a lengthy Green solo with heavily reverbed guitar sound.

Cold Black Night is slow Delta blues penned by Jeremy Spencer, followed by Green’s acoustic The World Keep On Turning. The album closes with the boogie of Got To Move, another Elmore James number.

This album is interesting as Fleetwood Mac were later to become huge but with a style that bore absolutely no resemblance to their earlier albums. The Green-era of the band was popular too but to a different audience and, as can be heard here, largely revolved around traditional blues in very much the style of Elmore James. If ever you wanted to hear musical contrasts, listen to this then put on Rumours or Tango In The Night – would you know there was any connection between the two bands? No, I didn’t think so!

• Peter Green – Guitar/Vocals/Harmonica
• Jeremy Spencer – Guitar/Piano
• John McVie – Bass
• Mick Fleetwood – Drums

Grand Funk Railroad - On Time (1968)

Whilst perhaps not over familiar to UK rock fans, Grand Funk Railroad were absolutely huge in their native USA and this, their first studio album, whilst not fully displaying their full rock side that would be at its peak during the early 1970s, gives a strong indication of what is to come and is well-worth a listen.

From the opening ‘Are Your Ready?’, the band go through a series of powerful riff-based tracks with Mark Ferner’s driving guitar being ably backed up by simple thunderous drumming and inventive bass-lines: think Cream crossed with MC5 and you’ll get the idea of what to expect.

Certainly a pioneering record in its day, whilst the production is clear, the sound of the instruments – limited by the technology of time – somewhat dates this record but the songs themselves stand up well and from this album were developed many of the band’s powerful rock anthems in their 1970s live set, to which the clip of Heartbreaker below truly attests.

• Mark Farner – Guitars, Vocals
• Don Brewer – Drums, Vocals
• Mel Schacher – Bass guitar

Santana - Santana (1969)

For those that think Rob Thomas was helping launch the career of Carlos Santana with the hit single Smooth in 1999, the revelation that he has been around since the late 1960s may come as something of a shock! For my money, Santana’s greatest work was during the late 1960s and early 1970s of which 1969’s debut album is a shining example.

Shooting to fame following an inspired set at the legendary Woodstock festival, featuring many of the tracks here, Santana’s debut album presented a fresh musical approach combining latin rhythms and phrasing with semi-psychedelic jazz rock to produce a powerful hybrid based around a high calibre of musicianship and long instrumental passages that buzzed along with full percussion backing, frequently mambo and samba beats and overlaid with tuneful soloing from Carlos Santana and Hammond player Gregg Rolie.

The album opens with a Latin conga rhythm that builds with the Hammond into a laid back instrumental in which Gregg Rolie takes the starring role with Santana himself soloing toward the end of the piece. Evil Ways which follows is a vocal track at a mellow pace with again strong solos from Rolie and Santana and was a top 10 US single.

Shades Of Time really serves to showcase Santana’s melodic soloing ability before we are thrown into the uptempo mambo of Savor which is an instrumental piece showcasing Rolie’s musical ability to the full. The Latin percussion doesn’t let up as one of Santana’s better known earlier numbers Jingo, builds-up into a good workout for Santana’s melodic playing and a hypnotic vocal.

The mood then changes to a more straight Yardbird’s feel with Persuasion which is a strong vocal-led track. The mood then changes once more with the jazzy piano intro of Treat that leads to a Latin-flavoured instrumental. You Just Don’t Care follows which is again a standard blues-rock song of considerable power, particularly in vocal delivery.

The congas then return to lead into another of the better-known Santana numbers, Soul Sacrifice, of which a storming version was played at Woodstock as can be seen below. This track also gives drummer Mike Shrieve a chance to really shine with some technically accomplished fills and all-round ability.

Whilst Santana would be ‘discovered’ by a whole new audience some 30 years later, this album represents the true sound of Santana – Latin-flavoured jazz rock at its best.

• Carlos Santana – Guitar
• Gregg Rolie – Keyboard/Vocals
• David Brown – Bass
• Michael Shrieve – Drums
• Michael Carabello – Percussion
• Jose Areas – Percussion