241: IN ROCK | DEEP PURPLE

Deep Purple in Rock is the fourth studio album by English rock band Deep Purple, released on June 5 1970[6]. It was the first studio album recorded by the Mark II line-up of Ian Gillan, Ritchie Blackmore, Roger Glover, Jon Lord and Ian Paice.

In Rock was the band's breakthrough album in Europe and peaked at No. 4 in the UK, remaining in the charts for over a year; the band's prior MK I albums had been much better received in the United States and Canada than in their homeland. An accompanying single, "Black Night" reached No. 2. The album was supported by the successful In Rock World Tour, which lasted 15 months. The album has continued to attract critical praise as a key early example of the hard rock and heavy metal genres.

Deep Purple MkII were formed in June 1969, after founding members Ritchie Blackmore, Jon Lord and Ian Paice decided to replace original lead singer Rod Evans with someone who could tackle a hard rock style. Lord and Blackmore had initially met with Paice, with Blackmore recalling wanting to "have a go at being really heavy" after hearing Led Zeppelin's debut album. The three went to see a gig by local band Episode Six on 4 June, and after Blackmore sat in with the band, they offered vocalist Ian Gillan the job.

While the original lineup of Deep Purple included experienced musicians, none of the five were accomplished songwriters.Thus, Deep Purple's earlier work ranged from psychedelic hard rock built around Blackmore riffs, to classical-influenced tracks developed and arranged by Lord, to cover songs that ranged from The Beatles to Joe South to Neil Diamond, among others. Gillan and Episode Six bassist Roger Glover had a good amount of songwriting experience, and consequently Glover was also recruited into the band. The group initially met and developed song ideas in secrecy, not telling Evans or founding bassist Nick Simper because the MkI lineup still had tour dates to complete, with their final show happening on 4 July. The Mark II Deep Purple lineup debuted live at The Speakeasy Club in London on 10 July 1969, even though Gillan and Glover did not play their final show with Episode Six until 26 July.

The MkII lineup began to tour extensively, and found they had good musical chemistry together.[14] Hanwell Community Centre was booked for the band to rehearse and write new material. The basic structure of "Child in Time" was worked out at these sessions. "Flight of the Rat" evolved during rehearsals from a humorous re-arrangement of "Flight of the Bumble Bee" by Glover.

Though In Rock was this lineup's first studio album, two other MkII recordings preceded it: the Greenaway-Cook penned single "Hallelujah"  and the ambitious Concerto for Group and Orchestra, a Jon Lord composition that was recorded live on 24 September 1969 by the band with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.

In Rock was recorded at IBC Studios in London, with the first sessions in October, 1969. Recording was spaced out between gigs, which were needed to provide the band with income, and continued intermittently until April the following year. The band's US record company, Tetragrammaton declared bankruptcy in early 1970, meaning an uncertainty of the album being released in the US. Warner Bros subsequently bought out the Tetragrammaton contract. Read more