Deep Purple Album: “Book of Taliesyn”

As the author of the Jefferson Airplane book "Take Me To A Circus Tent" and a former radio disc-jockey, I am often asked to write and or discuss various recordings from the 60's and 70's.

"The Book of Taliesyn" brought Deep Purple closer to the appearance of the famed and great "Mark II" line-up. Ian Gillan and Roger Glover would raise the bar even higher. Before they become part of the fold, there is the tremendous second album and the self-titled third.

"Listen, Learn, Read On" leads off the second Purple release. Possibly, by design the record starts with the shortest tune and ends with their epic cover of a Motown classic. "Listen, Learn, Read On" Features a terrific and varied vocal by Rod Evans along with a perfect guitar solo by Blackmore. Ritchie already is finding his way and it isn't only the ability to excel with his leads and fills but the perfect tone to coincide with the song.

"Hard Road" also known as "Wring That Neck" is the perfect instrumental. Blackmore is tasty with a timeless riff supported by Ian Paice's drumming and Jon Lord's in your face but not over the top keyboards.

"Kentucky Woman" is a wonderful cover to the Neil Diamond hit. Purple does a well-rounded interpretation and deserves credit for not only pulling off a well-respected interpretation but also being open-minded in their selection of non-group recordings.

"Exposition"/"We Can Work It Out" gives us two for the price of one. Starting with their own composition of high energy- merging into a slower cover of the Beatles legendary song. This is the second Beatles selection ("Help" was recorded on the first LP) they pulled off well.

"The Shield" one of the best efforts from the Purple "Mark I" line-up is also contains a superlative singing job by Rod Evans. The lyrics are intense and the clarity and conviction only further engrave them in your mind.

"Anthem" with a mid-evil keyboard sound and a Blackmore guitar that enhances the dark mood is the most overlooked composition on the record but not any lesser.

"River Deep Mountain High" has been interpreted by performers from all musical avenues. The tune partially written by record producer Phil Spector has been enjoyed not only by Motown fans (Four Tops, Supremes, and Ike & Tina Turner) but also by those having purchased records by the Animals, Harry Nilsson, and Bob Seger. Deep Purple's ten minute journey is the most adventurous of all the renditions. It could have been easily too long if they were anything less. With the Blackmore/Lord combination, it takes on a life of its own. Never is there a passage you call superfluous. A climatic ending to a great production.

Make sure to please get the remastered version with the five bonus tracks lead by "Playground." Between Blackmore's aggression, Lord's perfect keyboard, and some terrific nuances by Ian Paice it is a must listen!

Enjoy the music and be well,

Craig Fenton

Author of the Jefferson Airplane book "Take Me To A Circus Tent"

These EMI remasters (the three Mark I recordings) are all fantastic. BUY! Rod Evans was seriously under-rated on vocals. Apparently he didn't have the vocal power necessary when Deep Purple went out on the concert trail. In the studio he was memorable. Ritchie picks up the guitar, missing on much of the Shades of Deep Purple debut. Songs are top-notch: Shield, Kentucky woman, Wring That Neck, River Deep/Mountain High are great. Jon Lord is masterful. The remastering is superb.

I remember finding this album in the early 90's when I was working as a college radio station DJ. I though the cover was kind of odd, so it caught my eye. I had heard of Deep Purple, but not this version. Deep Purple MK1 featured Rod Evans on vocals (check out Captain Beyond) and Nicky Simper along with founding members John Lord (keys), Ian Paice (drums), and Ritchie Blackmore (guitars). Even at this early stage, you can hear John's classical keyboard approach and Ian's already exceptional drumming. Interestingly, Ritchie still hadn't found his signature sound yet.

The sound of MK1 Deep Purple was decidedly psychedelic art rock with very little resemblance to "Smoke on the Water" MK2 era Deep Purple. Thus, most fans tend to overlook these first 3 albums, what a shame. On tBoT, the band steps up with some very bold original compositions and fewer cover tunes than their debut release.

"The Hard Road" was to serve as the band's instrumental live jam song even into the MK2 era before being replaced by "Lazy". Starting off with a bit of orchestral bombast, the dual keyboard / guitar lead allowed Ritchie and John to strut their stuff live. This is a very fun and rollicking track.

"The Shield" is one of my all time favorite songs. This is a great psychedelic art rock tune. It is both beautiful and haunting with a progressive rock overtone that was ahead of its time. I just love this track because they threw so much into it, especially Ian's percussion without it ever sounding like a "wall of sound".

"The Anthem" is one of my other all time faves. This is a ballad for people that don't like ballads. Rod Evans vocals are perfect for this song. He's got a bit of a crooner in him that works well with songs like this. Once again, Ian's exceptional percussion work comes to the forefront. Very few drummers at this time could even play anything as remotely complicated and understated. John adds some exceptional classical organ and string arrangements that fit the "Taliesyn" theme of the album perfectly. Ritchie even adds a wonderfully understated solo after hardly being heard till that point.

The rest of the album is comprised the psychedelic "Listen, Learn, Read On" and a trio of cover tunes. One of the cover tunes, "Kentucky Woman" was a minor hit for the band. I mark the album down a star because of the number of cover tunes, but make no mistake, three of the original compositions are extraordinary and worth the price of the disk alone. The bonus tracks are also a nice addition.

As for the sound, what a welcome revalation. The original LP from Tetragammon wasn't particularly good and the first CD's of this album were made from scratchy LP's (probably not "official" releases either). This time, they went back to the original tapes so you can here everything clearly from Ritchie's piercing guitars to Nicky's thumping bass. This is how the album was meant to sound. Make no mistake, this record doesn't have the production quality of a modern recording, but this is so much better than it has ever sounded before.

Book of taliseyn is one of the first albums from Deep Purple and amongst their best.Almost all the songs on this are classics like Kentucky Woman,Anthem and Shield.This album should be there in your collection and is highly recommended.

PURPLES 2ND ALBUM IS GREAT WITH THE CLASSICAL AND JAZZ INFLUENCE IT DISPLAYS TALENT AND IT HAS THE SONGS KENTUCKEY WOMAN LISEN LEARN READ ON AND ANTHEM ITS FABOULOUS