The Book of Taliesyn (Remastered) Deep Purple

• 1Listen, Learn, Read On04:03
• 2Wring That Neck05:15
• 3Kentucky Woman04:45
• 4Exposition/We Can Work It Out07:08
• 5Shield06:07
• 6Anthem06:33
• 7River Deep, Mountain High10:09
• Total Runtime44:00

Info for The Book of Taliesyn (Remastered)

Several months after the innovative remake of 'You Keep Me Hanging On,' England's answer to Vanilla Fudge, was this early version of Deep Purple, which featured vocalist Rod Evans, and bassist Nick Simper, along with mainstays Ritchie Blackmore, Jon Lord, and Ian Paice. This, their second album, followed on the heels of 'Hush,' a dynamic arrangement of a Joe South tune, far removed from the flavor of one of his own hits, 'Walk a Mile in My Shoes.' Four months later, this album's cover of Neil Diamond's Top 25, 1967 gem 'Kentucky Woman,' went Top 40 for Deep Purple. Also like Vanilla Fudge, the group's own originals were creative, thought-provoking, but not nearly as interesting as their take on cover tunes. Vanilla Fudge did 'Eleanor Rigby,' and Deep Purple respond by going inside 'We Can Work It Out' -- it falls out of nowhere after the progressive rock jam 'Exposition,' Ritchie Blackmore's leads zipping in between Rod Evans smooth and precise vocals. As Vanilla Fudge was progressively leaning more towards psychedelia, here Deep Purple are the opposite. The boys claim to be inspired by the Bard of King Arthur's court in Camelot, Taliesyn. John Vernon Lord, under the art direction of Les Weisbrich, paints a superb wonderland on the album jacket, equal to the madness of Hieronymous Bosch's cover painting used for the third album. Originals 'The Shield' and 'Anthem' make early Syd Barrett Pink Floyd appear punk in comparison. Novel sounds are aided by Lord's dominating keyboards, a signature of this group.

„Though 'The Anthem' is more intriguing than the heavy metal thunder of Machine Head, it is overwhelmed by the majesty of their 'River Deep, Mountain High' cover, definitely not the inspiration for the Supremes and Four Tops 1971 hit version. By the time 1972 came around, Deep Purple immersed themselves in dumb lyrics, unforgettable riffs, and a huge presence, much like Black Sabbath. The evolution from progressive to hard rock was complete, but a combination of what they did here -- words that mattered matched by innovative musical passages -- would have been a more pleasing combination. Vanilla Fudge would cut Donovan's 'Season of the Witch,' Deep Purple followed this album by covering his 'Lalena'; both bands abandoned the rewrites their fans found so fascinating. Rod Evans voice was subtle enough to take 'River Deep, Mountain High' to places Ian Gillam might have demolished.“ (Joe Viglione, AMG)

Rod Evans, vocals
Ritchie Blackmore, guitar
Jon Lord, Hammond organ, keyboards, backing vocals
Nick Simper, bass, backing vocals
Ian Paice, drums

Recorded in August and October 1968 at De Lane Lea Studios, Kingsway, London
Engineered by Barry Ainsworth
Produced and mixed by Derek Lawrence

Digitally remastered

FYI: We offer this album in its native sampling rate of 44.1 kHz, 24-bit. The provided 96 kHz version was up-sampled and offers no audible value!

Deep Purple
are an English rock band formed in Hertford in 1968. They are considered to be among the pioneers of heavy metal and modern hard rock, although their musical approach changed over the years. Originally formed as a progressive rock band, the band's sound shifted to hard rock in 1970. Deep Purple, together with Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath, have been referred to as the "unholy trinity of British hard rock and heavy metal in the early to mid-Seventies". They were listed in the 1975 Guinness Book of World Records as "the globe's loudest band" for a 1972 concert at London's Rainbow Theatre, and have sold over 100 million albums worldwide, including 8,5 million certified units in the US.

The band has gone through many line-up changes and an eight-year hiatus (1976–1984). The 1968–1976 line-ups are commonly labelled Mark I, II, III and IV. Their second and most commercially successful line-up featured Ian Gillan (vocals), Jon Lord (organ), Roger Glover (bass), Ian Paice (drums), and Ritchie Blackmore (guitar). This line-up was active from 1969 to 1973, and was revived from 1984 to 1989, and again from 1992 to 1993. The band achieved more modest success in the intervening periods between 1968 and 1969 with the line-up including Rod Evans (vocals) and Nick Simper (bass, backing vocals), between 1974 and 1976 (Tommy Bolin replacing Blackmore in 1975) with the line-up including David Coverdale (vocals) and Glenn Hughes (bass, vocals), and between 1989 and 1992 with the line-up including Joe Lynn Turner (vocals). The band's line-up (currently featuring Ian Gillan, and guitarist Steve Morse from 1994) has been much more stable in recent years, although organist Jon Lord's retirement from the band in 2002 (being succeeded by Don Airey) left Ian Paice as the only original Deep Purple member still in the band.

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