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Next thing you know, there’s Mark 1
Derek Lawrence recalls his association with Joe Meek, meeting Ritchie Blackmore, and a new band coalescing around them.
This looks like another fragment of the same interview which we featured on our pages a few years back.
Thanks to Ritchie Blackmore Official channel for posting this.
Unauthorized copying, while sometimes necessary, is never as good as the real thing
MKI are my favorite DP line up, just after the mighty MKII. Those first 3 albums are excellent and still get played very much by me!
June 26th, 2025 at 11:02Derek says in the interview, Ritchie played on this here:
https://youtu.be/A4e-5veFNKs
There is a solo at 00:59 that COULD be Ritchie and it MIGHT even be Ritchie in the vid sitting on a stool playing it. It’s hard to tell. With Joe Meek recordings it is notoriously difficult to determine what the respective recording line-ups were, he was a sonic alchemist distilling things in the aftermath.
What I would really love to see and hear is a compilation of Joe Meek stuff with Ritchie commenting track for track what he remembers about the sessions, but apparently he has no interest for that particular part of his legacy. Schade.
June 26th, 2025 at 12:15@ 2 Damn right Uwe, they should do something to lift Deep Purple mk I into more peoples minds. I regularly play all three of the mk I albums. Deep Purple (third) being the favourite.
June 27th, 2025 at 06:45I like The Book of Taliesyn best, it has that naïve late 60s psychedelia whimsical prog pop charm and is really varied. April (let’s call the third album that for ease of reference, everyone in Germany does!) saw the band edging forward (or backward? 😂) to hard rock territory, but I just felt that Gillan/Glover were better suited for that than Evans/Simper. April is also the much darker and sullen album. That said, Chasing Shadows, Lalena and the Ennio Morricone-pastiche of the title track (whenever I hear that choir in the first part set in, I see Clint Eastwood and Lee Van Cleef glint mischievously into the sun, up to no good as usual!) are all personal favorites.
I can see though that pretty much none of the songs – Kentucky Woman and improvisational mainstay Wring That Neck/Hard Road excepted – on TBOT would have worked live in 1968/69 with the then available technology. The album is very much a studio creation, bit of an attempt to do a Sgt. Pepper even.
June 27th, 2025 at 15:30Anybody remember ANGEL?
https://youtu.be/K5Cc-9Wij_M
https://youtu.be/aZeZvzt-fEw
Curiously enough for a Yank outfit hailing from Washington DC (and obviously inspired by Freddie Mercury‘s gown chic!), they wanted Derek Lawrence to produce their first two mid 70s albums because they were all Mk I (not II or III) fans. By that time Derek‘s production skills were regarded as somewhat archaic/old hat and he was bemused by the request of these five young Americans he had never heard of before. He really didn‘t have experience in production of that heavy a music, but produce them he did, aided by Big Jim Sullivan, Ritchie‘s former guitar teacher.
SWEET were ardent Mk I fans too.
June 27th, 2025 at 20:39Leslie – Mk 1 is where it all started and I agree that those first three albums have such a great feel, very much like a band “finding it’s feet”. It’s a shame that important period of the band’s history is often neglected by most of us “amateur historians”.
June 27th, 2025 at 21:13In case you have never read or forgotten about this interview with Derek here:
http://www.deep-purple.net/interviews/derek-lawrence.htm
June 27th, 2025 at 21:15Derek Lawrence also has many anecdotes to tell that are not written in the purple history books
June 27th, 2025 at 23:15@4
“the Ennio Morricone-pastiche of the title track” Yeah, conjures up the same images for me.
Like this one does: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IST8hN3Ezxo
“April” as you call it is my favorite & most played of the Mk I albums. I too find the overall mood of the album somewhat dark. The lyrics of most of the songs sound like the words of a severely depressed person crying out for help. It’s a glimpse in to the bands future; their transition from psychedelia to harder rock.
June 27th, 2025 at 23:31The one of the 3 I like the least. But Shield and Anthem are really good with Anthem as the big one on this album.
June 28th, 2025 at 08:12Truth be told, I most likely only like TBOT so much because my first four DP albums were – all bought on a four week vacation in Germany in the summer of 1975 while we were still living in Africa all year round (hard to get vinyl there) – Shades of, Book of Taliesyn, In Rock and Stormbringer – a hilariously weird mix and an indication of how I would never really have just one line-up of Purple which I liked, my catholic approach to all things Purple has its roots in juvenile randomness (I was 14). I’m such a fraud. 😂
When a schoolmate loaned me his copy of Burn soon after, I remember valiantly trying to match the photos of the band members in the In Rock gatefold sleeve with the candles – my results were somewhat inconclusive (I think I thought Glenn was Big Ian and identified DC as a beardless Roger Glover, but doubts lingered) … 🤣 That is when I started reading the name credits on the albums more closely – to this day I haven’t stopped with that … 😎
That interests me: When did it sink in with you guys that Hush, SOTW, Mistreated and Getting Tighter are sung by four different people and that there is not just one Purple line-up?
June 28th, 2025 at 13:25It was mail order people who started calling Mk I’s third outing “April” instead of “same” or “3rd” or “drittes Album” eventually in Germany and the name just stuck because it was descriptive (and April, the song, was a radio staple in the 70s in Germany, believe it or not, even the long version got played, especially on stillen Feiertagen). Sometimes it was also called “Hieronymus Bosch Cover”.
Never liked it when bands didn’t give their albums titles, Zed Leppelin-pretentious it is and only good for learning the term “eponymously named”, which you only ever read in record reviews. ☝️🤓
June 28th, 2025 at 15:48Wonder when Universal will release the live Canada 69 tape.
June 28th, 2025 at 23:38Book of Taliesyn has Listen, Learn, Read on along with Wring That Neck and Athem and Shield, four favourites for me plus that album cover. However, April and a few others off the third DP album are damn good arrangements too. MKI did very well to my ears, sure it is the 60’s and all, but that is what it was always going to be. Rod Evans was a fine singer and Nick a good bass player, both musicians opening the door nicely. That Ennio Morricone soundtrack (Sergio Leone) film, is that Once Upon A Time in The West, with Charles Bronson and Henry Fonda. A classic it is, really good quality filming in that and Claudia Cardinale too. Uwe again eh? He does these things deliberately, luring us into something then, bingo, oh yes, I do remember that scene. Shame on him. I know it in’t the film he is talking about, but I will blame him anyway, why not? Cheers.
https://www.art.com/gallery/id–b10176-d207238/once-upon-a-time-in-the-west-canvas.htm?srsltid=AfmBOopGXZ9eka1YtfWUSOkeCtGRCmcA9e5GqinaJ-kNPR1QC2jbPypz
June 28th, 2025 at 23:46@ 12- you mean like The Beatles (aka The White Album) Uwe? It was called the latter by anyone but The Beatles themselves. Same with DP and as you said LZ. Sabbath too with Vol.4, they wanted to call it Snowblind. That was of course rejected by the powers that be for obvious reasons. So the pretension in ‘name’ calling isn’t that at all, is it? There are plenty more no doubt. Record companies, journalists or radio announcers, blame whoever, even the music listening public, someone has to know what they are talking about. Cheers.
June 29th, 2025 at 03:27@ 14
“Once Upon a Time in The West”
I always wondered if that movie was the inspiration for the song of the same name by Dire Straits. I seem to remember some similarity to the intro of the live versions of that song and the tune that Charles Bronson was playing on his harmonica.
June 29th, 2025 at 07:04@ 16 – a good point and a bit of both worlds no doubt, London’s West End and the Wild West of the USA. Plus the fact that they went over that way to record the second album. Those two early albums are classics for me, what a wonderful new band they were at that time. That original lineup, and they were never the same after the resignation of two members. Cheers.
https://direstraitsblog.com/lyrics/communique/communique-once-upon-a-time-in-the-west-lyrics/
June 29th, 2025 at 12:07The Painter/Fault Line – great! Sign of things to come !
June 29th, 2025 at 13:41Count my vote for Book of Taliesyn as my favorite MKI album, even with (or perhaps because of) it’s mixed influences – rock, psychedelia, prog. Kentucky Woman is an excellent cover, with one of Jon’s more underrated solos. I really dig Paicey’s groove on The Shield, which also shows Ritchie foreshadowing his more developed MKII solo technique, and Jon’s trick of using the organ percussively with a brief hand slap solo. But the primary reason I like BOT best is Wring That Neck; a classic Purple shuffle which, without vocals, deservedly continued as a MKII concert staple – hey, it has the three instrumental virtuosos (Blackmore, Lord, Paice) stretching out. Book of Taliesyn certainly is not an In Rock or Machine Head (or even a Fireball), but it’s still a good time.
June 29th, 2025 at 14:28The difference between The Beatles and that other nondescript Yardbirds-split-off band, dear Herr MacGregor, of course is that by the time the Whiten Album was released the Fab Four were – quoting performance artiste Ms Ono’s late hubby here – bigger than Jesus. They could afford to be pretentious and IIRC they never got sued for covertly recycling Mississippi Delta Blues riffs either – duh! 😂
But as is often the case with you, where there is abundant shade there are also specks of light and acerbic insight interspersed in your comments: Your observation on Pick Withers is spot-on, when he packed up his drum case with the Straits, he took their groove with him. He was their Charlie Watts.
June 29th, 2025 at 14:35I always wondered why Chasing Shadows wasn’t played by early Mk II (remember how Mk I’s last offering was only released in the UK after Rod and Nick were already history), it seemed tailor-made for Ian Gillan’s voice and Paicey’s overdubbed percussion on the studio track could have been ably replaced by Jon’s percussive hand slap technique on Hammond (and IG might have added some congas as well). It really could have been something, a percussive showpiece. Not to mention Nick’s busy, but perfectly fitting bass line in it.
I’m not even sure whether Mk I played it ever live. The writing was already on the wall for that line-up when the song could have been introduced into the set.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rgWntDbrSb4
June 29th, 2025 at 20:19@ 2
Uwe, Heinz is joined in the promo film by fellow members of The Tornados: Alan Caddy on guitar, Roger LaVerne on organ and drummer Clem Cattini on… bass (who you guessed to be Ritchie). They are miming to the song in a studio near Paris for a Scopitone promo film for Heinz’s soon to be released single Dreams Do Come True, audio recorded at Holloway Road. The filming sessions were widely reported in the music press at the time.
June 30th, 2025 at 06:05As with the two other Scopitones (Robot and Telstar) by The Tornados filmed on the same March 1963 trip, rhythm guitarist George Bellamy (father of Matt Bellamy of Muse) was absent, George was back in England and just about to get married.
Blackmore is not in the promo film and there’s no reason to think he played on the track. Alan Caddy and Clem Cattini were both prolific session musicians and both had previously been in Johnny Kidd And The Pirates and played on Shakin’ All Over in 1960. Although that song is credited to Heath (Johnny Kidd), the royalties were split between Kidd, Caddy and Brian Gregg.
@ 20 – Oh, I forgot, The Beatles were bigger than Jesus, sorry, better not talk the truth then. Also, we better not say anything about the plagiarism too, heaven forbid, whoops, there is the Good Lord again, and even after the fact with My Sweet Lord, oh dear. Holier than thou it appears The Beatles can be, or were that is and best we don’t go there, well many would prefer that wouldn’t they. Most people are aware of their ‘stealing’, when they should have been buying, or should that be borrowing? Sorry a bit of Uriah Heep there. Here goes then.
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/everything-fab-four-the-beatles-as-plagiarists-extraordinaires_b_58d99c5be4b04f2f07927247
June 30th, 2025 at 06:13The Beatles ripped off Chuck Berry? That’s kind of lame, same is true of The Beach Boys and The Rolling Stones, ole Chuck was iconic in his influence. And the Fab Four actually covered him best with Roll Over Beethoven and Rock’n’Roll Music, two very forceful renditions of his work.
Everyone knows that if there is one band that early Beatles owe a lot too, then it is The Everly Brothers, not Chuck Berry.
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/KkycDQ6D5eM
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/caiHemv40V4
https://youtu.be/rI0ll5SexV0
Paul and John patterned their harmony vocals after them, that is part of Allgemeinbildung, Herr MacGregor, not some far fetched Chuck Berry connection!
And while we’re at it: I checked my Beatles collection, no My Sweet Lord contained there anywhere, maybe an Australia-only bonus track? 🤣
Finally, rather than knocking Come Together for the term flat-top, we should all be thankful for its existence because according to both Marsden and Moody it spawned the guitar riff to this here:
https://youtu.be/9-0AiRqvpMw
Finally, Judas Priest owed a debt to Chuck Berry too:
https://youtu.be/2zxoGFjFJlk
This is how you do a cover proper, putting on your own stamp!
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Nigel, you sure know your Joe Meek! Great info, vielen lieben Dank.
June 30th, 2025 at 23:50@ 24 – Clutching at straws again Uwe. Better to go down trying though. If you don’t fight you lose. I didn’t write that article, but you know that. There are other articles too, have a look. I don’t pretend, a big difference and the same applies to Dylan from the 60’s. These artists and many more lifted many melodies etc. Successful artists have their way of cobbling ideas together, mixing things up, we know that. It is the way it is. Oh and by the way, where did I say that My Sweet Lord was a Beatles song????????? Listen, learn, read on. Cheers.
July 1st, 2025 at 10:31