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Rating: Flipping through the pages of this spectacular compendium of words describing sounds, I realized that I'm missing. And above all, one of the memories of my adolescence is missing: what I propose is not a genre I listen to, the Deep Purple is not a band I follow, The Book Of Taliesyn is not commercially among their best albums, and it's certainly not the most enjoyable on a first listen.
So? - you might say - So I would still like to take you back in time to (re)listen to this sublime example of music thoughtfully written and interpreted "generously". It was my current bassist who gave me a tape containing this album from 1968 (the album, not the tape). I don't remember the emotions I felt on the first listenings, but it's an album that got into my veins, and listening to it again, I feel the pleasant and reassuring sensation I get from touching my woman's backside.
When I speak of "generosity," I mean the ability of a band to give and expose themselves shamelessly and uncensored, that air of "good the first time!" after a rough but unrepeatable take in a somewhat boozy recording studio. And speaking of studio details: this is THE ALBUM of the first historic lineup known as Mark I: Evans on vocals, Blackmore on guitar, Simper on bass, Lord on organ, and Paice on drums.
The frame has some unsettling references to medieval bards, ancient books, and the court of King Arthur, complete with a cover that looks like a work by Hieronymus Bosch. We all know how low Blackmore has gone in recent times with that damn medieval mania... Anyway, back to the record, here and there we find scattered, along with original pieces, some reinterpretations in a typically Deep Purple-esque or Deep-purplian key, whatever suits you.
Just for pedantry's sake (I don't think it's needed) to define the style of Deep Purple Mark I, suffice it to say that on the powerful rhythm base, Lord and Blackmore's intertwining becomes increasingly consciously complementary, two musicians coming from a classical background but with a modern taste for experimenting with sounds and aggressive tempo changes and atmospheres that gradually free themselves from the rotten beat common to early Pink Floyd and also from the neoclassicism that the situation would impose. Perhaps this is the infinite grace of this album: maintaining a precariously delicate balance between new and traditional, between hard rock and beat, between psychedelia and neoclassicism. In short, there's no point in listing musical genre names that ultimately fail to convey the idea of a not at all cohesive and coherent work.
How can you not love Evans' echo-filled voice in the first track? In "Listen, Learn, Read On" (you gotta turn the page, read the Book of Taliesyn!) there's already everything and the opposite of everything: the very recognizable rhythm section, Lord here limits himself to supporting the harmonic structure for Blackmore's elemental riffs and... my God, his solos of absolute delight, always seeking the fifty-fifth note or something like that. As for the track's lyrics, it's better to leave it be, a total idiocy, but I suppose it falls within the concept of "shamelessly giving themselves."
Anthem is one of Deep Purple's best pieces in my opinion: dark atmospheres, excellent melody and harmony even if a bit baroque, excellent execution aided by orchestral accompaniment, the great Lord here takes the upper hand.
Hard Road (Wring That Neck) is a fun yet virtuous blues jam that live often became a monstrous 30-minute piece, here the particular interplay that Lord and Blackmore could create is more noticeable, responding to and recalling each other and returning to the main theme to add something more each time. Shield is another of the best progressive pieces where you can enjoy all the different band members giving their all: very suggestive, excellent harmonies permeated by that playful air that lightens up and makes everything sublime.
More standard, however, among the covers, is Kentucky Woman, an interpretation that had more success in the USA and presents a more canonical and perhaps more radio-friendly hard rock. Exposition/We Can Work It Out is another acidified cover with a completely unnecessary intro attached, nothing particularly exciting except for the playful spirit with which the five tackle a "standard."
I conclude this first review of mine with the cover I've always dreamed of having recorded myself: River Deep Mountain High, which begins with a quote from the famous "Also Spracht Zarathustra" by Strauss. In my opinion, here the entire spirit of the album is summarized, and something more is added to Blackmore's guitar's fascinating personality, my personal hero: we follow him drawing wide circles that gradually shrink, rise and fall hypnotically to dissolve in breathtaking dives, always in a constant balance on the verge of dissonance and who knows what modal scales unknown to us. A rebirth.
Well, I know that my attachment to every single note just described is something beyond music, but I hope I've piqued your curiosity. This album is often underestimated due to the "haste" with which it was produced, but by doing so, one makes the same hateful mistake: the "haste" in judgment.
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
01 Listen, Learn, Read On (04:05)
Listen, Learn, Read On
Deep Purple
(Blackmore/Lord/Evans)
In ages past when spells were cast
In a time of men in steel
When a man was taught no special thing
It was all done by feel
So listen, so learn, so read on
You gotta turn the page, read the Book of Taliesyn
Hear the song of lovely Joan
Her sound so sweet and clear
In the courtroom of the King
Among children and the peers
So listen, so learn, so read on
You gotta turn the page, read the Book of Taliesyn
"Now hear ye the words of Taliesyn,
on the foaming beach of the ocean,
in the day of trouble,
I shall be of more service to thee
than three hundred salmon..."
The hare he bounds across the page
Past castles white and fair
Past dreaming chessmen on their boards
With a fool's mate as a snare
So listen, so learn, so read on
You gotta turn the page, read the Book of Taliesyn
"Three times I have been born
I know this from meditation..."
The bird he flies the distance
From pages two to six
Past minstrels in their boxes
To the waters of the Styx
So listen, so learn, so read on
You gotta turn the page, read the Book of Taliesyn
Don't take the pictures lightly
Listen to their sound
For from their coloured feeling
Experience is found
So listen, so learn, so read on
You gotta turn the page, read the Book of Taliesyn
"All the sciences of the world are collected in my breast,
for I know what has been, what is now,
and what hereafter will occur..."
04 Exposition / We Can Work It Out (07:04)
Try to see it my way
Do I have to keep on talking till I can't go wrong
While you see it your way
Run the risk of knowing that our love will soon be gone
We can work it out
We can work it out
Think of what you're saying
You can get it wrong and still you think that it's alright
Think of what I'm saying
We can work it out and get it straight or say goodnight
We can work it out
We can work it out
Life is very short and there's no time
For fussing and fighting my friend
I have always thought that it's a crime
So I will ask you once again
I'll ask you once again
Try to see it my way
Only time will tell if I am right or I am wrong
While I see it your way
There's a chance that we might fall apart before too long
We can work it out
We can work it out
Life is very short and there's no time
For fussing and fighting my friend
I have always thought that it's a crime
So I will ask you once again
I'll ask you once again
Try to see it my way
Only time will tell if I am right or I am wrong
While I see it your way
There's a chance that we might fall apart before too long
We can work it out
We can work it out
At least we can try
We can try out to work it out someday
05 Shield (06:05)
Mama plays a queen on the hill built on a dream
While the children play in the field
Papa smokes the pipe of a sweet and better life
But how strong is the shield?
Can peace be found on the carpet above ground
Where sky is forever blue
So let it pass baby now, the slow and riding cloud
Which may take me from you
Many things a man can lose
His self, his rights, his views
But never his heart or his love
So take this hand of mine and climb baby, climb
To the hill up above
Now you can play a queen on the hill built on a dream
While our children play in the field
I can smoke the pipe of a sweet and better life
And trust in the strength of the shield
So trust in you love, and Lucy of above
And let light pass like a wheel
Don't take the chance of life's hectic dance
Kiss the strength of the shield
The seeker will be found by the looker on the ground
And to his wish he will yield
Fate will have it's word, of course [think this line is wrong...]
And time will change its course
And hold the strength of the shield
06 Anthem (06:31)
When the night wind softly blows through my open window
Then I start to remember the girl that brought me joy
Now the night wind softly blows sadness to tomorrow
Bringing tears to eyes so tired
Eyes I thought could cry no more
If the day would only come
Then you might just appear even though you'd soon be gone
When I reached out my hand
If I could see you
If only I could see you
To see if you are laughing or crying
When the night winds softly blow
In my dark and whispering room
Memories still bring me a numbness to my feelings
Take my hand and brush me by
In the warm and fevered dark
Heart is madly beating
My crazy thoughts are burning
When the night winds softly blow
If the day would only come
Then you might just appear even though you'd soon be gone
When I reached out my hand
If I could see you
If only I could see you
To see if you are laughing or crying
When the night winds softly blow
07 River Deep, Mountain High (10:05)
When you were a young girl
Did you have a rag doll
The only doll you've ever owned
Now I'll love you just the way you loved that rag doll
Only now my love has grown
It gets stronger as the river flows
Deeper baby, heaven knows
Higher, as it goes
Do I love you, my oh my
River Deep, Mountain High, yeah, yeah, yeah
Do I love you, would I cry
Oh I love you baby, how I love you baby
When you were a young girl
Did you have a puppy
That always followed you around
Well I'm gonna be as faithful as that puppy
No I'll never never let you down
Cos it gets stronger as the river flows
It gets deeper baby, heaven knows
It gets higher, so much higher, as it goes
Do I love you, my oh my
River Deep, Mountain High, yeah, yeah, yeah
Do I love you, would I cry
Oh I love you baby, how I love you baby
I love you baby like a flower loves a spring
I love you baby like a robin likes to sing
I love you baby like a schoolboy likes his pie
And oh I love you baby, River deep, Mountain high
Do I love you, my oh my
River Deep, Mountain High, yeah, yeah, yeah
Do I love you, would I cry
Oh I love you baby, how I love you baby
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