When it comes to classic rock albums, few are as iconic as Machine Head by Deep Purple. Released in 1972, this album has cemented its place in rock history, not just for its groundbreaking music but also for the incredible story behind its creation. In this episode, we take a journey through the making of this legendary album, and focus on the track they *thought* was going to be the hit from this record (and it wasn’t “Smoke On The Water“).
“Never Before” (Richie Blackmore, Ian Gillan, Roger Glover, Jon Lord & Ian Paice) Copyright 1972 R. Feldman & Co LTD trading as HSC Music
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TRANSCRIPT:
Whether you’re a child in time, a speed king, or a highway star, you’ve managed to find yourself here at the “I’m In Love With That Song” Podcast. I’m your host, Brad Page, and each episode of this show, I pick a favorite song and we explore it together, on our quest to understand what makes a great song work. You don’t have to play an instrument or read music, we don’t get into music theory here. This is just about listening.
We’ve talked about Deep Purple on this show before, back on episodes 72, 127, and with Greg Renoff on episode 104. But this time, we’re going back to 1972 and their biggest selling album “Machine Head” for a song called “Never Before”.
The most popular lineup of Deep Purple, what fans refer to as the “Mark II” version, came together in 1969 when guitarist Richie Blackmore, keyboard player Jon Lord, and drummer Ian Paice fired their original singer and bass player, and hired vocalist Ian Gillan and bassist Roger Glover, both from the band Episode Six. The first album from this Mark II lineup was “Concert for Group and Orchestra”, which is really more of an oddity than anything. It was the next album, “In Rock” that really established Deep Purple as a band to be reckoned with.
They followed that album with “Fireball” in 1971. This album gets some mixed response; some people really like it– and I think Ian Gillan has even said it’s his favorite Deep Purple album– but other people thought it was a bit of a letdown after the “In Rock” album. I like it.
One thing that’s definitely true about the “Fireball” album is that most of the songs on the record weren’t really suited for live performance, at least as far as the band was concerned. Most of the tracks from that album were never played in concert. And since Deep Purple were, above all, a band that excelled at live performance, this was a bit of a problem. So when the band set out to record their next album, they specifically wanted songs that would work well in their live set.
In fact, the original plan was to record this next album in a live setting. So they booked the casino in Montreux, Switzerland, with the intention to set up on stage and record just like they were playing a gig. The casino was about to close down for the season, so they’d have the venue all to themselves. There was one last show booked at the casino, a concert by Frank Zappa. And then once that was done, Deep Purple could move in and set up. Perfect.
Except, and everyone probably knows this story by now, but during Frank Zappa’s show, one of his crazy fans shot a flare gun into the ceiling and it set the whole casino on fire. Miraculously– and it really is amazing– everybody made it out alive, partly due to the heroic efforts of a guy named Claude Nobs, who risked his life to get some of those attendees out safely.
So suddenly, Deep Purple’s recording plans went up in smoke… literally. So, what are they going to do now? First, they booked a theater called the Pavilion, but the neighbors complained about the noise, so that didn’t work. Eventually, they landed at the Grand Hotel, which was closed down for the winter. They took over a floor and set up in rooms and corridors of the hotel, and parked the Rolling Stones Mobile studio truck outside and ran all the wires between the hotel and the truck. For the band to get from the truck to their recording positions in the hotel, they had to go past the reception, through the kitchen, across the landing, and then out on the balcony, climb in through a window every time they needed to switch between recording their tracks and listening to the playback. Apparently, this was such a pain in the ass that they were determined to get everything in one take just to avoid that hassle.
In the end, the album was recorded in two weeks. It cost $8,000 to record. When it comes to a recording budget, that’s nothing.
All of this story is told in the lyrics to “Smoke On The Water”. It’s right there in the song. Their biggest hit is a straightforward account of this whole crazy situation in which the album was made. Initially, though, the band didn’t think “Smoke On The Water” was anything special. They certainly didn’t think it would become a big hit. There was another song on the album that the band thought was going to be a hit single. It’s a song called “Never Before”.
“Never Before, like all the songs on the album, is credited to all five band members. It features Richie Blackmore on guitar, Jon Lord on keyboards, Roger Glover on bass, Ian Paice on drums, and Ian Gillan on vocals. All five members are also credited as producers. The album was engineered by Martin Birch.
The song kicks off with a very funky riff. Totally has that live in the studio feel, just the four of them jamming on that riff. Ian Paice is one of rock’s greatest drummers. Let’s hear what he’s laying down.
This is the only time they play that riff. It’s right here at the beginning of the song, then they never return to it again. It’s too bad, because I could listen to them vamping on this riff all day. Such a great groove.
But before we move on to the rest of the song, I just want to point out one thing about the recording. You can really hear the sound of the room. Listen especially to Richie Blackmore’s guitar part: you can really hear that room sound. For an album that wasn’t recorded in a real studio– remember, they’re set up in a hotel, just trying to make it work– considering the circumstances, this is a great sounding record.
Let’s back it up and listen to just the instrumental part under the vocal, because this is a great riff, too. Deep Purple were one of the tightest ensembles out there when they locked in. You just can’t beat them.
That’s the chorus. And you can see why the band thought that this was going to be the hit, because that’s a damn catchy chorus. Let’s listen to the instrumental track underneath the vocal. The real magic here is the piano part that Jon Lord overdubs on the chorus. It’s a rollicking, fun part that really adds a lot, makes the chorus stronger. And the chorus ends with a nice little riff that leads us right back into the verse.
Let’s go back and hear that drum fill by Ian Paice. Then we’ll move on to the next verse.
Let’s go back and bring up Ian Gillen’s vocals on this verse.
This time, that riff leads us into the bridge, which is a whole different feel than the rest of the song. Also notice that Gillan doubles his vocal part here rather than harmonize.
That descending part feels very orchestral to me, but it’s just one guitar part playing off of the organ. The organ and the guitar hold a chord there, but the bass climbs up the scale.
And that takes us right into the guitar solo. It’s a great solo by Richie. Richie Blackmore’s never played a solo that wasn’t great, but this solo is more old-school rock and roll than what you typically get from Richie; it’s even some Chuck Berry-style licks at the end. Richie said that with the exception of “Highway Star”, all of the solos on this album were not worked out in advance, he’d just improvise. That just goes to show what an innate sense of melody, flow and structure he has. He’s one of the greats.
Pretty sure he’s overdubbed another guitar on that last chord to thicken it up. And because it’s not 100% matched perfectly, the slight deviation in the bending of strings makes it sound fuller.
And that takes us into the last verse.
Then we have the last chorus. First, let’s hear the bass and drums together. Roger Glover on bass; he’s certainly the least flashy player in the band, but he’s more than just rock solid. He and Ian Paice on drums make a mighty rhythm section.
And now let’s hear that all together.
Next up is a piano solo by Jon Lord. He’s playing an electric piano, but he’s also running it into a Marshall guitar amplifier to get that distorted sound. Also, notice how the guitar is panned to the left and the organ to the right.
Deep Purple – “Never Before”
When “Never Before” was released as a single, it kind of flopped. Didn’t get past # 35 on the charts. But when they released the album, which they named “Machine Head”, in March of 1972, the album became a hit, of course, driven by the success of “Smoke On The Water” and all the other great tracks on that record.
By any measure, “Machine Head” is a classic album. You’ll find it on just about every list of classic albums that’s ever been made. I love every track on this album. In fact, one of my favorite Deep Purple tracks was recorded for this album, but it never made it onto the record. Just too many good songs to choose from, they couldn’t fit them all. It’s called “When A Blind Man Cries”, and it was only issued as the B-side of the “Never Before” single.
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Thanks again for listening to this edition of the I’m in Love With That Song Podcast on “Never Before” by Deep Purple.
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