| The Book of Taliesyn | ||||
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| Studio album by Deep Purple | ||||
| Released | 11 December 1968 (US) July, 1969 (UK) |
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| Recorded | August - October 1968 at De Lane Lea, Kingsway, London |
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| Genre | Hard rock, progressive rock, blues rock, psychedelic rock[1] | |||
| Length | 43:57 (Original LP) 65:19 (2000 CD edition) |
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| Label | Harvest Records (UK) Tetragrammaton (US) Polydor (Canada) |
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| Producer | Derek Lawrence | |||
| Deep Purple chronology | ||||
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| Re-issue cover | ||||
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Remastered
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| Professional ratings | |
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| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic | [2] |
The Book of Taliesyn is the second album by English rock band Deep Purple, released by EMI's Harvest Records in the UK (1968), Tetragrammaton in the US (1968), and Polydor in Canada and Japan (1969).
The album follows the psychedelic/progressive rock sound of Shades of Deep Purple; however, there is a harder edge to several songs, beginning to show the new sound Deep Purple would introduce in 1970 with Deep Purple in Rock. Also, the original tracks are longer and more diverse than the ones on Shades of Deep Purple, proving that the band had expanded their creativity and ambitions when it came to writing their own material.
Although there isn't any title track in this album, the title-phrase "The Book of Taliesyn" appears in the lyrics for the song "Listen, Learn, Read On."
Contents |
Deep Purple was booked for a rather excessive tour in the United States, starting in October, as a result of the unexpected success gathered there concerning their debut album Shades of Deep Purple, fronted by the single "Hush." The single was a massive hit in the States and was the spawn of their sudden popularity there. Their American label had pushed them back into the studio just a couple of months before the touring began. This was quite imminent, as their debut album hadn't even been released in the United Kingdom yet. Other reasons for the push for more studio recordings was of course the lack of songs for a live set and the fact that studio work would of course garner more songs.
In early August 1968, they entered the studio for rehearsals and sessions. Rushed into recording new material, the band was not exactly overflowing with ideas. The situation was much like the one they had been in during the recording of the Shades. With a lack of originals, they included several covers, as the material they had been working on was not good enough for an album. These songs were instead performed over BBC sessions for a radio show; "Top Gear", hosted by John Peel.
Deep Purple ventured in the studio with an ambition of coming up with much better original material than their previous effort, as well as including some covers. Finesse recordings began in early October and ended on the tenth. The band had not originally planned on being in studio all the way to October, but production was enthusiastic and everybody in the band had a sense for perfection, especially Ritchie Blackmore. "Shield" and "Anthem" were recorded first, followed by "Wring That Neck," "Listen, Learn, Read On," "Kentucky Woman," and "Exposition/We Can Work It Out." "River Deep - Mountain High" was always intended as the final track, so its recording was postponed until the other tracks were finished. The song was taped on the 10th of October, which ended their recording in studio. In charge of production was Derek Lawrence, who had also produced their previous album.
The tapes were mixed in both mono and stereo. The mono tapes were trashed, as neither of the two labels had any use for them in any matter. The mixing was supposed to be overseen by the band members, but their schedule in October was so tight that Lawrence did it without them. This dismayed the band at first, but the result sound-wise turned out better than on their debut.
Overall, the final album has a cleaner, heavier and more polished sound than their debut. Just as on Shades, time they had been awarded to write and record was very slick, so they had to perform under pressure. In addition, the last time they went into studio, some ideas accompanied them. But with a request for a new album coming only three months after their first album was recorded, they came in with fewer original ideas. But the longer time given to record helped, which provided them four lengthy original songs for the final album. Shades has four originals included as well (only one of these, "Mandrake Root," was played live after 1969), but that album also contains four covers, as opposed to Taliesyn which contains three. The expanded focus on originals for this album would be even further developed on their next venture in the studio.
The album name was taken from a famous 14th century Welsh manuscript, containing certain poems attributed to the 6th century poet Taliesin.
Deep Purple's American label, Tetragrammaton, issued two singles. "Kentucky Woman," with the instrumental "Wring That Neck" (titled as "Hard Road" in the US) as the B-side, was the album's main promoter, much like "Hush" had been for Shades of Deep Purple. It was released in December, after the album had been out for a couple of months. While strictly a B-side, "Wring That Neck" would be used regularly in their live concert set, even into the Mark II era, as it allowed Blackmore and Lord to display their instrumental talents to audiences.
The "Kentucky Woman" single did not flop, peaking at #38, but to the dismay of the label it was nowhere near as big a success as "Hush" had been. In an eager attempt to improve sales of the album, another single was released in December, a heavily-edited version of "River Deep - Mountain High" (which ran over 10 minutes on the album), with "Listen, Learn, Read On" as the B-side. The single was not a success, charting lower than "Kentucky Woman," but it actually beat Ike and Tina Turner's version for some time.
Their English label, EMI, issued the "Kentucky Woman" single as Tetragrammaton did, but they stuck with that. EMI did not release the "River Deep - Mountain High" single, feeling it didn't have the potential to impact the charts in England and that it wasn't worth giving a shot. Not surprisingly, the album sold to a much lesser degree in the UK than overseas and it was widely overlooked there. That had also been the case for Shades of Deep Purple.
John Peel, head of the Top Gear radio show, had previously met the band while they were playing at his show. After great expectations, he had mixed reactions for the final album:
"The group have done some fine things for Radio One and they excite when they play live. I don't understand where this record went wrong, it is all too restrained somehow. They recorded "Wring That Neck" much better for a recent Top Gear."
The cover of the 1968 album shown here, was created by the illustrator and author John Vernon Lord who coincidentally appears to share the same name as the band's keyboard player, Jon Lord. The Book of Taliesyn was the only record cover John Vernon Lord ever designed and, according to the artist's recent retrospective, the original artwork was never returned.[3]
The brief from the artist's agent is detailed in Drawing upon Drawing[3] as follows:
"The agent gave me the title saying that the art director wanted a 'fantasy Arthurian touch' and to include hand lettering for the title and the musicians' names. I mainly drew from The Book of Taliesin, which is a collection of poems, said to be written by the sixth century Welsh bard Taliesin."[3]
The fee for the job was £30 (minus 25% for the agent). John Vernon Lord was, until recently, Professor of Illustration at the University of Brighton.
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Listen, Learn, Read On" | Rod Evans, Ritchie Blackmore, Jon Lord, Ian Paice | 4:05 |
| 2. | "Wring That Neck" (originally titled "Hard Road" in the USA) | Blackmore, Nick Simper, Lord, Paice | 5:13 |
| 3. | "Kentucky Woman" | Neil Diamond | 4:44 |
| 4. | "(a) Exposition" "(b) We Can Work It Out" |
Beethoven, Blackmore, Simper, Lord, Paice, John Lennon, Paul McCartney |
7:06 |
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5. | "The Shield" | Evans, Blackmore, Lord | 6:06 |
| 6. | "Anthem" | Evans, Lord | 6:31 |
| 7. | "River Deep, Mountain High" | Jeff Barry, Ellie Greenwich, Phil Spector | 10:12 |
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 8. | "Oh No No No" (studio outtake) | Mike Leander, Leon Russell | 4:25 |
| 9. | "It's All Over" (BBC Top Gear session; 16 January 1969) | Ben E. King, Bert Berns | 4:14 |
| 10. | "Hey Bop a Re Bop" (BBC Top Gear session; 16 January 1969) | Evans, Blackmore, Lord, Paice | 3:31 |
| 11. | "Wring That Neck" (BBC Top Gear session; 16 January 1969) | Blackmore, Simper, Lord, Paice | 4:42 |
| 12. | "Playground" (remixed instrumental studio outtake; 18 August 1968) | Blackmore, Simper, Lord, Paice | 4:29 |