Deep Purple, Made in Japan (1972)

I don’t know that heavy rock live albums of its own or of any other era get much more essential that Deep Purple‘s Made in Japan. The only one I can think of that even comes close to the same echelon is Band of Gypsys, which also had the advantage of coming out two years earlier in 1970, but that’s a pivotal two years between the Jimi Hendrix release and the Deep Purple one. It could easily be argued that, whatever role Hendrix played in laying the foundation for it, the style of heavy rock that Mk. II Deep Purple played really took shape between 1970 and 1971, coming into its own around Purple, Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath and so on even as the world mourned Hendrix‘s passing in Sept. 1970.

And what of the Sabbaths and the Zeppelins of the universe? Well, Black Sabbath‘s aptly-named Live at Last wouldn’t show up until 1980, and Led Zeppelin didn’t release The Song Remains the Same until 1976. Pink Floyd‘s genius-level concept Live at Pompeii came out in 1972, but it was more film than album, and had no audience. Made in Japan basically owned its moment, and though it starts out with a rigorously scorching if relatively straightforward rendition of “Highway Star,” its extended takes on the classics “Child in Time,” “Smoke on the Water,” “The Mule,” “Strange Kind of Woman,” “Lazy” and especially “Space Truckin'” continue to provide an insight into how the band worked in a way that nothing else could.

Of course, it’s about the performance and the players. You think just anyone could pull off a 12-minute “Child in Time?” Not a chance. But Deep Purple were at the arguable height of their powers in Aug. 1972, when Made in Japan was recorded over the course of three nights — two in Osaka, one in Tokyo. The all-allstar lineup of founding bassist Roger Glover, organist Jon Lord (R.I.P. 2012), drummer Ian Paice, guitarist Ritchie Blackmore and vocalist Ian Gillan had released Machine Head three months prior, which flubbed on its first single but nonetheless produced the band’s defining hit in “Smoke on the Water,” and after 1970’s In Rock and 1971’s Fireball (discussed here), it seemed that the band’s true artistic and commercial potential was realizing itself. I won’t take anything away from 1973’s Who Do We Think We Are, which would be the last studio outing Mk. II Purple would release until their 1984 reunion for Perfect Strangers, but Made in Japan captures them as close to in-their-moment as any live record possibly could.

Be that as it may, the prevailing sentiment one gets in listening to it is of ego. On stage for these songs, Deep Purple are as much about showcasing virtuosity as engaging their audience. “Highway Star” is the lead-in, but “Child in Time” indulges a long and flowing drama of vocal and guitar acrobatics, Blackmore and Gillan almost competing to be the standout performer. “Smoke on the Water” makes a good case for Blackmore in that role, though it’s Paice who gets the solo in “The Mule,” which like the subsequent “Strange Kind of Woman” is brought to nearly 10 minutes. If there’s any point at which Made in Japan goes over the top, that might be it, if only because they treat a song about soliciting prostitutes like it’s Mozart, but as they do with “The Mule,” with “Child in Time,” with the shuffling “Lazy” and with “Space Truckin'” still to come, Deep Purple make it hold up.

That is, the ego — all that ego, which I think even the band at this point is willing to acknowledge as the reason this lineup didn’t last much more than another year, despite having produced such landmark output — is justified. Is Made in Japan overblown? Absolutely. Yes. But the self-indulgence becomes part of the appeal, and even as “Strange Kind of Woman” meanders into guitar noodling, one can hear the audience clapping along. And the blues jam at the start of “Lazy” brims with the kind of fluidity and chemistry that is perhaps the best example on this record of what made this incarnation of Deep Purple so special. To have them then follow that up by taking one of their best hooks, for “Space Truckin’,” and taffy-pull it into this massive sprawl — holy shit, Jon Lord‘s keys — and put it to a big rock finish that would make even Manowar blush? Come on.

Their mark on heavy rock, and rock in general, is indelible, and while Made in Japan isn’t in itself the reason for that, it’s certainly the line that underscores the point.

As always, I hope you enjoy.

—

Maybe you saw I posted on the social medias or maybe you didn’t, but Echoes and Dust was kind enough to ask me about three records that have influenced my life and my picks were posted earlier this week. Thank you to Sander van den Driesche for caring enough to ask. I was deeply flattered.

Unlike last week, I did not take today off from work. Looks like a lot of people did though, so the office is relatively quiet. Remind me to tell you sometime about what a huge proponent I am of the four-day work week. Four on, three off. Should be four off, three on, but I’d take a three-day weekend every time out and call it progress. Which it would be. Working five days a week. Soul-swallowing.

Nonetheless, this week wasn’t quite as unbearable as last week was, and by that I mostly mean that it seemed to go by quicker. I’ve been pretty beat the last couple days, but even so, the hours moved. Last week, everything sat still. I’ll get out of here in a little bit — going to even cut out a couple minutes early since I got here early — and go home and have lunch and see if I can watch some baseball and hang out with The Patient Mrs. if she gets home from a meeting at work at any reasonable time. Plan is to grill later if the weather holds — very much a springtime notion — and then tomorrow meet my family for an early dinner in Connecticut, essentially halfway between where they are in NJ and where we are in Massachusetts, and also just so happens to be where The Patient Mrs.’ family is, so we’ll see them as well. Always a marathon, but good. I’ve got Sunday to recover.

And while I do that, coffee ritual and plenty of writing to do. Today was absolutely packed. Single announcement, video premiere, album review, video premiere, album announcement, track premiere and this? Yeah, that was like three days of work right there. But Monday’s got plenty going on too, as does the rest of next week. The notes (subject to change) look like this:

MON.: Radio Adds, maybe a Stubb track premiere, otherwise Hollow Leg video and Fuzz Evil video.
TUE.: Spidergawd album review and a stream for a sampler of RidingEasy’s new Brown Acid compilation.
WED.: T.G. Olson album review, Six Dumb Questions with Forming the Void, and Doublestone video premiere.
THU.: Brume track premiere and album review; video premiere for Sea.
FRI.: The Sonic Dawn review/full stream; track premiere for the new Avon single.

There’s of course a backlog of news and other stuff slated in there as well, so yeah. My head’s pretty much spinning from now until Roadburn hits in two weeks. Funny to think of staying up until six in the morning to write and working on the Weirdo Canyon Dispatch ‘zine over there as a respite, but I think by the time I get to Tilburg it might actually be one.

Because compulsion!

Oh hey, we went to war again this week and the US Senate took its toys and moved just a little bit further away from being any kind of democratic legislative body — as opposed to the House, which long ago gave up that ghost — but yeah. Super. It’s a super world.

Whether or not institutions and long-held political conventions — not to mention international law — are breaking down all around us, I hope you have a great and safe weekend, wherever you might be and whatever mischief you might be up to. Have fun, watch your ass, and come back Monday for more good times, having thoroughly checked out the forum and radio stream in the meantime.

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Tags: Deep Purple, Deep Purple Made in Japan, Hertford, Made in Japan, UK, Warner Bros. Records

This entry was posted on Friday, April 7th, 2017 at 2:00 pm and is filed under Bootleg Theater. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.