{"id":10144,"date":"2026-04-11T08:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-04-11T08:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/deep-purple-black-night-thought-whole-thing-waste-time-101298\/"},"modified":"2026-04-11T08:00:00","modified_gmt":"2026-04-11T08:00:00","slug":"deep-purple-black-night-thought-whole-thing-waste-time-101298","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/deep-purple-black-night-thought-whole-thing-waste-time-101298\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cYou can\u2019t release that, we were p****d!\u201d \u2013 The Making of \u2018Black Night\u2019 by Deep Purple"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Originally published in Uncut, December 2011<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Originally published in Uncut, December 2011<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Useful with a guitar, yes. As the 1960s turned into the 1970s, however, Ritchie Blackmore, Deep Purple\u2019s tremolo arm-riding lead guitar genius, had discovered another weapon of choice with which he was no less effective \u2013 the catapult. While Deep Purple made their leap from garage rock singles sensation (the so-called \u201cMKI\u201d line up) to the free-roaming heavy rock of their classic \u201cMKII\u201d formation, Blackmore, from the passenger seat of the band\u2019s Bentley, would play havoc with the public.<\/p>\n

\u201cOn the way to a gig, we\u2019d stop at the greengrocer\u2019s and get a load of gooseberries, so that Ritchie could shoot them at passers-by and people cleaning windows,\u201d explains bassist Roger Glover, himself soon sucked into the enigmatic guitarist\u2019s pastime. \u201cThe fashion caught on, and we all got catapults and gooseberries. We were like a tank, protected on all sides, gooseberries flying.\u201d<\/p>\n

Their fruit missiles dispatched, on arrival at their gigs, Blackmore and his rejuvenated lineup of Deep Purple (old hands Jon Lord \u2013 keyboards and Ian Paice \u2013 drums), joining new boys Roger Glover (on bass, replacing Nicky Simper) and Ian Gillan (on vocals, replacing Rod Evans) to display an aptitude for a different kind of resourcefulness. <\/p>\n

Playing a mixture of \u201cMKI\u201d songs and new material fresh from their rehearsal room at Hanwell Community Centre in west London, Purple MKII were charging towards their mission statement: the hairy, improvisational and very heavy rock\u2019n\u2019roll of Deep Purple: In Rock, and its lead-off single, a rather leaner, but no less heavy proposition called \u201cBlack Night\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe simplicity and the inspiration of it are the important thing,\u201d says drummer Ian Paice, some 42 years on from their No 2 hit. \u201cThe lyric was simple, the riff was catchy. The drumming was ridiculous. You can\u2019t plan it. That moment of creativity had to be like that \u2013 it was that moment in time\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

The Key Players<\/strong><\/p>\n

Ian Gillan (Vocals)<\/p>\n

Ian Paice (Drums)<\/p>\n

Roger Glover (Bass)<\/p>\n

______________________________<\/p>\n

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IAN GILLAN:<\/strong> I was in a band called Episode Six with Roger Glover, which was more of a harmony band, really. At one gig, there were a few dodgy characters leaning up against the wall of the venue \u2013 and we ended up joining their band. Purple was the talk of every musician in the country \u2013 they had something new and very exciting.<\/p>\n

ROGER GLOVER:<\/strong> My first impression of them was that they all had new clothes on. I wasn\u2019t very wealthy at the time, which is an understatement. I was also impressed with their look: they had a dark look about them which I didn\u2019t like at first, a bit dangerous. But when I met them, they weren\u2019t like that at all. Apart from possibly Ritchie.<\/p>\n

GILLAN:<\/strong> They were rich, and their hairdos were pretty scary \u2013 someone had put some work into them; they were organised. I remember my first meeting with Ritchie, I had a lousy cold and all my tissues fell out over the floor, I felt about two feet tall.<\/p>\n

IAN PAICE:<\/strong> Looking back, there was a feeling that where Jon, Ritchie and I were going, Rod, as a vocalist, couldn\u2019t come with us. He had a nice voice, but a balladeer\u2019s voice, so he was pushing reality when he had to sing hard songs. Nicky was happier with what had come before, than with what was coming. It\u2019s not a put-down because he was a fine bass player and a lovely bloke, but through the course of a lot of gigs, a year\u2019s touring, you could see three of us moving in one direction, with one who couldn\u2019t come with us, and one who didn\u2019t want to. The only solution was to freshen it up, and get people who could do it, who were a bit more open-minded.<\/p>\n

GLOVER:<\/strong> I didn\u2019t really know them before I joined, but I knew they\u2019d been a hit in the States. Ian Gillan\u00a0and I had a songwriting partnership. They offered him the gig and a bit later, they gave me the gig. My audition was recording a song called \u201cHallelujah\u201d. At the end, Jon Lord came up and said, \u201cWe\u2019ve had a chat, would you like to join our band?\u201d<\/p>\n

PAICE:<\/strong>\u00a0In Rock was a leap forward by virtue of the fact that Roger and Ian could create something from nothing \u2013 Ian, his off-the-wall lyrics, and Roger, he\u2019s an amazing creator of riffs. With the virtuosity of Ritchie and Jon, it lent itself to so many options musically. Within a couple of weeks of rehearsing and writing it was obvious there was going to be a totally different outcome. It was very satisfying\u2026 you never knew what was going to happen next.<\/p>\n

GLOVER:<\/strong> There was an incredible chemistry at those first writing sessions. \u201cSpeed King\u201d was written on the first day, then \u201cChild In Time\u201d on the first or second day \u2013 in this old gym in Hanwell on the outskirts of London.<\/p>\n

PAICE:<\/strong> We didn\u2019t say we needed a single \u2013 management said we needed a single. They said, \u201cYou\u2019ve got a day off between these two shows, why don\u2019t you go into De Lane Lea and knock out a single?\u201d That was how they thought you did it. You just go in there and come out with something wonderful, and they\u2019d make a lot of money.<\/p>\n

GLOVER:<\/strong>\u00a0Jon had had his day with Concerto For Group And Orchestra, and I think that rankled a bit with Ritchie, as they were co-partners of the whole affair. We did it, but once that was done, Ritchie said, \u201cIt\u2019s hard rock now. If it\u2019s not dramatic or exciting, it doesn\u2019t belong on this album.\u201d So they were the kind of bywords for the album. \u201cBlack Night\u201d was written after In Rock was finished, and the management said, \u201cWe need a single.\u201d We were a bit pompous, a bit like \u201cWell, we\u2019re an albums band, not a singles band\u2026\u201d So they said, \u201cOK, let\u2019s not call it a single, let\u2019s call it a \u2018lead track\u2019.\u201d So we went to De Lane Lea for a day to record a lead track.<\/p>\n

PAICE:<\/strong> So we duly went into the studio at 10am, without an idea. We jammed all day, and by 6pm we had zilch, so we said, \u201cShall we go and have dinner?\u201d So we went and had dinner, came back again, and again\u2026 zilch. So at about 9.30, we said, \u201cEnough of this. Shall we go to the pub?\u201d Round the corner was a nice, happy little boozer called the Newton Arms [33 Newton St, London WC2], so we drank far more than was good for us \u2013 not paralytic, but certainly losing touch with reality. Then we went back to the studio.<\/p>\n

GLOVER:<\/strong> I seem to remember Ian Gillan attempted to clear the top shelf of the rare bottles. We got good and drunk, then Ritchie and I went in the studio first \u2013 he played the riff, and I said, \u201cThat\u2019ll do\u2026\u201d and he said, \u201cNo, I was just playing Ricky Nelson\u2019s \u2018Summertime\u2019.\u201d I said, \u201cWell, I\u2019ve never heard it, let\u2019s do it anyway.\u201d<\/p>\n

PAICE:<\/strong>\u00a0Well, we weren\u2019t thinking too clearly at this stage of the game, so we thought, \u2018That sounds all right\u2026\u2019 So we started on that. Jon was getting these nice chords. Ritchie said, \u201cWe need some drum fills.\u201d And, we\u2019d lost interest by this point, so I thought, \u2018What won\u2019t fit?\u2019 So there\u2019s this bluesy shuffle, and I decided to break the four beats into three. The fills worked against the part of the song, and each time one came, they became more complex. So now at least, Ian had something to work with. But he was in the same state as the rest of us.<\/p>\n

GLOVER:<\/strong> We finished the music about 1am. Gillan and I sat down on the floor with our back to this big pillow. We thought that the title of the Arthur Alexander tune \u201cBlack Night\u201d was pretty good, so we stole that. We were having a laugh, because we thought the whole thing was a waste of time now, so we wrote the most banal lyrics we could. We just banged it out. I went to bed that night thinking, \u2018That\u2019ll be some obscure B-side or something.\u2019<\/p>\n

PAICE:<\/strong> We never saw singles, trying to find them\u2026 you\u2019d see the wood, not the trees. \u201cSmoke On The Water\u201d, we thought, was just an album track. It took an exec at Warners in the US to say, \u201cWe\u2019ll edit it and put it out as a single\u2026\u201d We didn\u2019t see it. We thought \u201cNever Before\u201d was the single \u2013 if you listen to it now, it\u2019s the weakest track on Machine Head. Leaving the commercial decisions to other people seemed to work a lot better for us. We didn\u2019t see it. We were playing music, having a ball. Recording was a necessary evil, but the fun was playing and touring.<\/p>\n

GLOVER:<\/strong> The management were over the moon. They said, \u201cThat\u2019s it, you\u2019ve done it.\u201d We said, \u201cYou can\u2019t release that, we were pissed.\u201d But they did, and it changed our lives. It bears out the philosophy I have that what you do when you\u2019re not looking is much better than what you do when you are\u2026 if you use your brain in music, it\u2019s all over. Your first aim is best. I don\u2019t remember putting them on, but there are handclaps on there.<\/p>\n

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\u201cIF YOU USE YOUR BRAIN IN MUSIC, IT\u2019S ALL OVER. YOUR FIRST AIM IS BEST.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

GILLAN:<\/strong> It\u2019s got handclaps on it? Wow! I don\u2019t think we were anti-commercial. But we were anti-contrivance, and like Zeppelin, we found dignity throught the music we were playing. It wasn\u2019t slung together by a producer and a publisher. We decided we were going to take hold of our music and let it evolve organically.<\/p>\n

PAICE:<\/strong> With all the great stuff, you do get the odd problem. Like when you\u2019re mixing, and you\u2019ve got three guys saying \u201cMy bit\u2019s more important than yours.\u201d There\u2019s Martin Birch trying to keep sanity, with five pairs of hands on the faders. Sometimes it was to the detriment of the end product, but if you\u2019re proud, you do want it to be heard. There can be a bit of a fight on the faders.<\/p>\n

GILLAN:<\/strong> Martin was new school. We\u2019d all been through the BBC audition and the pipe smokers in the control booth. It was a load of Horlicks \u2013 the way things were. Like all young vandals, we wanted to have it our way. Martin was one of the new-thinking engineers. He understood that with electric guitar and with drums playing in an abandoned fashion, you needed a new approach. We tried to get a live feel \u2013 the purpose of engineers up to then was to throw a blanket over everything so you had a bone-dry sound.<\/p>\n

PAICE:<\/strong> Martin became like the sixth member of the band \u2013 he would have a word. When you have some prickly personalities, that stranger in the room can smooth the waters. He was incredibly aware. His attention was great.<\/p>\n

GLOVER:<\/strong> We did Top Of The Pops after it had become a hit \u2013 you have to support the record, but we made our point by not plugging our guitars in. We didn\u2019t take it too seriously. We wanted to be ourselves and not pushed into any\u2026 slot.<\/p>\n

GILLAN:<\/strong> I know Ritchie hated TOTP \u2013 it was associated with pop. Rock music had its own constituency, its own steering wheel. It was beyond the control of the establishment, and we saw TV as the enemy. Later on in some territories, it became very significant. We close with it in most places. \u201cSmoke On The Water\u201d is in the set, but \u201cBlack Night\u201d\u2026 people go home singing that riff!<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

The post \u201cYou can\u2019t release that, we were p****d!\u201d \u2013 The Making of \u2018Black Night\u2019 by Deep Purple<\/a> appeared first on UNCUT<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Originally published in Uncut, December 2011 Originally published in Uncut, December 2011 Useful with a guitar, yes. As the 1960s turned into the 1970s, however, Ritchie Blackmore, Deep Purple\u2019s tremolo…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[551,31,35],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10144","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-deep-purple","category-features","category-interviews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10144","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10144"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10144\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10144"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10144"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10144"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}