Hush Child In Time Deep Purple

Hush Album: Shades Of Deep Purple (1968)
Child In Time Album: Deep Purple In Rock (1970)
by Deep Purple

Hush was written by Joe South and first recorded by the country singer Billy Joe Royal in 1967. Joe South was a prominent session musician and songwriter; some of his other compositions include "Games People Play" and "Rose Garden." South also wrote "Down in the Boondocks" for Royal, which was a #9 US hit in 1965.

After Royal released his version, "Hush" was quickly recorded by many artists in a variety of styles. The song is about a guy who is so crazy in love that he'll drop everything if he thinks she might be calling his name. Royal's recording has a definite country feel, while Deep Purple used a heavy rock sound.

Other artists to record the song include Jimmy Frey, The Rubes, Killdozer, Dan Baird, Gotthard and Thin Lizzy. Kula Shaker had the biggest UK hit with their cover going to #2 in 1997.

Joe South adapted the song from an old African American spiritual, which included the line: "Hush I thought I heard Jesus calling my name."

It was a cohort of producer Joe Meek, Rod Freeman, who taught Deep Purple this song. Keyboardist Jon Lord recalled to Mojo magazine January 2009: "Initially we thought it's a bit too disco, or whatever the word was then. But Ritchie (Blackmore) said it would work if we toughened it up a bit."

This song has been in the following films: Apollo 11 (1996), Isn't She Great (2000), Beyond the Sea (2004), Children of Men (2006).

The UK Charlatans lifted the organ riff on their 1990 UK hit "The Only One I Know" from this song.

Hush was not a hit in Deep Purple's native UK, though a re-recording made to celebrate their 20th anniversary reached a measly #62 in 1988.

In 1997 British band Kula Shaker's cover of this song peaked at #2 in the UK, bettering Deep Purple's chart position by 60 places. Kula Shaker's version featured in the 1997 film I Know What You Did Last Summer.

Jon Lord (from Mojo magazine): "The whacka thing on the organ was something I started doing in (his previous band) The Artwoods. I played it almost like a set of conga drums. The rhythm of Hush is like a samba."

The Deep Purple version was included on their first album and recorded with the band's original lineup, which didn't include lead singer Ian Gillan, who joined in 1969, replacing Rod Evans. The song is a fan favorite, but Gillan kept it off the setlists when he was in the band, since he wasn't the original singer.

When Steve Morse joined Deep Purple on guitar in 1994, he pushed to bring Hush back to their live shows, which they did. "We have a big improv section in there and it's just a great feel from beginning to end for me," Morse said in our 2014 interview. "And the lyrics are not even lyrics. It's just 'Na nana na na na nananana.' It's the most basic tune in the world, but to me Deep Purple got on the map as a hard rock band from doing that version of 'Hush.' So I love that. And we stretch that out pretty far live."

In the US, Hush was released on Tetragrammaton Records, which was co-owned by Bill Cosby.

"Child In Time" is a protest song about the futility of the Cold War. The lyrics were written by lead singer Ian Gillan.

Ian Gillan said in an interview in 2002: "There are two sides to that song - the musical side and the lyrical side. On the musical side, there used to be this song 'Bombay Calling' by a band called It's A Beautiful Day. It was fresh and original, when Jon was one day playing it on his keyboard. It sounded good, and we thought we'd play around with it, change it a bit and do something new keeping that as a base. But then, I had never heard the original 'Bombay Calling.' So we created this song using the Cold War as the theme, and wrote the lines 'Sweet child in time, you'll see the line.' That's how the lyrical side came in. Then, Jon had the keyboard parts ready and Ritchie had the guitar parts ready. The song basically reflected the mood of the moment, and that's why it became so popular." (Thanks to the Deep Purple Appreciation Society)

This song and the rest of the In Rock album were recorded with the Mark II lineup of the group: Ian Gillan (vocals), Ritchie Blackmore (guitar), Roger Glover (Bass), Jon Lord (keyboard), and Ian Paice (drums). "Child In Time" was played during the Deep Purple Mark II reunion tour Come Hell Or Highwater in 1993. Ritchie Blackmore quit the tour after the European portion - he also ended the original Mark II by quitting because of Ian Gillan's "lack of work ethic."

Some of Deep Purple's signature musicianship is heard on this track, with a keyboard solo by Jon Lord followed by a Ritchie Blackmore guitar solo.

Lars Ulrich of Metallica cites this as one of his favorite songs of all time. He says that when he was 9 years old, his father took him to a Deep Purple show, and it changed his life. "This is their most iconic moment," he told Rolling Stone regarding the song. "I've heard it 92,000 times, and it never sounds anything less than great."

Deep Purple hasn't performed "Child in Time" since their 2002 European tour. Ian Gillan is reluctant to sing it because he can't reach the key anymore. "I always thought of 'Child In Time' not as a song but more like an Olympic event, he told Spain's Rock FM. "It was so challenging. But yeah, when I was young, it was effortless. So we got to the point when I got to about 38 years old, and it just didn't sound right. So I thought, 'Better not to do it badly. Better not to do it.'"