Deep Purple ) 1969 (Harvest EU 2016)

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Deep Purple, also referred to as Deep Purple III, is the 3rd studio album by the English rock band Deep Purple, released in June 1969 on Tetragrammaton Records in the US and only in September 1969 on Harvest Records in the UK. Its release was preceded by the single "Emmaretta" and by a long tour in the UK, whose dates were interspersed between the album's recording sessions.
The music of this album is mostly original and a combination of progressive rock, hard rock and psychedelic rock, but with a harder edge and with the guitar parts in more evidence than in the past. This was due both to the growth of guitarist Ritchie Blackmore as a songwriter and to the conflicts within the band over the fusion of classical music and rock proposed by keyboard player Jon Lord and amply implemented in the band's previous releases.
The band started their second US tour in April 1969 with little support from their almost-bankrupt American label and without an album to promote, because of a delay in the manufacturing of the new LP. During the tour, Deep Purple showed a remarkable progress as performers and a musical direction more oriented towards a heavier and louder sound than before. Doubts about the compatibility of vocalist Rod Evans with the hard rock music that other band members wanted to pursue brought about the decision to search for a substitute, which was found in Ian Gillan of the band Episode Six. Gillan had formed a songwriting duo with Episode Six's bassist Roger Glover, who was also invited to join Deep Purple and replace Nick Simper. The band's new line-up, identified as Mark II, debuted live in London on 10 July 1969.
This was the least commercially successful of the 3 albums released by the band's Mark I line-up, and was ignored by critics upon its release. Modern reviews are generally positive, and remark on the variety of styles within the album and the boldness of the song arrangements.
The album was issued in a stark gatefold sleeve, wrapped around with a segmented illustration from Hieronymus Bosch's painting The Garden of Earthly Delights. The label ran into difficulty over the use of the Museo del Prado-owned painting, which was incorrectly perceived in the US as being anti-religious, featuring immoral scenes, and was thus rejected or poorly stocked by many record shops. The original painting is in color, although it appeared on the LP in monochrome due to a printing error for the original layout, and the band opted to keep it that way.

Deep Purple:
Rod Evans – lead vocals
Ritchie Blackmore – guitars
Nick Simper – bass, backing vocals
Jon Lord – Hammond organ, piano, harpsichord, backing vocals, claves, string, woodwind
Ian Paice – drums, timbales, maracas, cowbell, timpani

🔘 Side 1:
Chasing Shadows
Blind
Lalena
Fault Line
The Painter

🔘 Side 2:
Why Didn't Rosemary?
Bird Has Flown
April