May 18, 2014

101 Reel-To-Reel Tapes 65: Deep Purple ~ Concert at the Royal Albert Hall - 1969







Deep Purple ~ Concert at the Royal Albert Hall





Deep Purple ~ Concert at the Royal Albert Hall      .
reel-to-reel tape box cover detail               .
detail photo by Styrous©                                 .
    

In addition to my 20,000 Vinyl LP collection I'm selling, I have reel-to-reel, pre-recorded tapes for sale as well. If interested, contact me by email please, not by a comment. 

The Deep PurpleConcert at the Royal Albert Hall, reel-to-reel tape will be on sale on eBay in June (see links below).   

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Deep Purple was formed in Hertford, England, in 1968, as a progressive rock band, the band's sound shifted to hard rock in 1970.  Together with Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath, they have been referred to as the "unholy trinity of British hard rock and heavy metal in the early to mid-Seventies". 

Deep Purple were ranked number 22 on VH1's Greatest Artists of Hard Rock programme and a British radio station Planet Rock poll ranked them 5th among the "most influential bands ever". At the 2011 Classic Rock Awards in London, they received the Innovator Award.



Deep Purple ~ Concert at the Royal Albert Hall
cover design: Castle, Chappell & Parners Ltd.
reel-to-reel tape box cover
photo by Styrous©


Deep Purple gained publicity in 1969, with the Concerto for Group and Orchestra, a three-movement epic composed by Jon Lord as a solo project and performed by the band at the Royal Albert Hall with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Malcolm Arnold. Together with Five Bridges by The Nice, it was one of the first collaborations between a rock band and an orchestra. This live album became their first album with any kind of chart success in the UK. However, Ian Gillan and Ritchie Blackmore were less than happy at the band being tagged as "a group who played with orchestras" at the time; what they had in mind was to develop the band into a much tighter, hard-rocking style.


Deep Purple ~ Concert at the Royal Albert Hall
reel-to-reel tape box back
photo by Styrous©



Concerto for Group and Orchestra, composed by Lord, with lyrics written by Gillan, was first performed on September 24, 1969 and released on vinyl in December 1969. The 1969 performance was the first ever combination of rock music and a complete orchestra and has been cited as paving the way for other rock/orchestra performances.


Deep Purple ~ Concert at the Royal Albert Hall
reel-to-reel tape box cover detail
detail photo by Styrous©      




Concerto for Group and Orchestra displays some characteristics of the concerto grosso, sinfonia concertante, and concerto for orchestra genres in three movements.



Deep Purple ~ Concert at the Royal Albert Hall 
reel-to-reel tape box back detail
album cover photos by Daily Express
& British Lion Films
detail photo by Styrous©

First movement (Moderato - Allegro)
After an elaborate orchestral introduction the Group and the Orchestra work as separate blocks, trying to get dominance over the main theme - this opposition of a group of soloists against an orchestra is quite "concerto grosso" style.


Deep Purple ~ Concert at the Royal Albert Hall
reel-to-reel tape box back detail
album cover photos by Daily Express
& British Lion Films
detail photo by Styrous©

Second movement (Andante), with lyrics sung by Ian Gillan
Here the group integrates more with the sound of the orchestra while still clearly on top of the orchestral texture, giving a sinfonia concertante look and feel.


Deep Purple ~ Concert at the Royal Albert Hall 
reel-to-reel tape box back detail
album cover photos by Daily Express
& British Lion Films
detail photo by Styrous©

Third movement (Vivace - Presto)
Apart from Ian Paice's drum solo, the music is so tightly knit that the distinction between the group and the orchestra is almost lifted: in a way the group becomes part of an extended orchestra, with one elaborate "solo" passage, by an instrument that is no soloist throughout the movement, giving a concerto touch: this is more or less what is understood by the Concerto for Orchestra genre.

Deep Purple ~ Concert at the Royal Albert Hall
reel-to-reel tape box back detail
album cover photos by Daily Express
& British Lion Films
detail photo by Styrous©




Original 1969 Royal Albert Hall performance

The Concerto was first performed and recorded on September 24, 1969 in the Royal Albert Hall, London.
The programme consisted of:

No.     Title     Performer(s)     Length     

1.     "Symphony No. 6, Op. 95" (Malcolm Arnold)
    1st Movement: Energico (9:19)
    2nd Movement: Lento (8:52)
    3rd Movement: Con Fuoco (7:02)

    The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra     25:13

2.     "Hush" (Joe South) Deep Purple - 4:42
3.     "Wring That Neck" (Ritchie Blackmore, Nick Simper, Jon Lord, Ian Paice) Deep Purple - 13:23
4.     "Child in Time" (Blackmore, Ian Gillan, Roger Glover, Lord, Paice) Deep Purple - 12:06

5.     "Concerto for Group and Orchestra" (Jon Lord, with lyrics by Ian Gillan)
    First Movement: Moderato-Allegro (19:23)
    Second Movement: Andante (19:11)
    Third Movement: Vivace-Presto (13:09)

    Deep Purple with The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra     51:43

6.     "Parts of the Concerto's "Third Movement" (Given as an encore.)           5:53
  
Deep Purple ~ Concert at the Royal Albert Hall 
reel-to-reel tape
photo by Styrous©




The Concerto for Group and Orchestra was performed one more time, with the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Lawrence Foster at the Hollywood Bowl on 25 August 1970, after which the score was lost. After the score was lost in 1970, it was performed again in 1999 with a recreated score from a project started by keyboardist Jon Lord, who sought to recreate the band's original 1969 album with the help of Marco de Goeij, a fan who was also a musicologist and composer, the two painstakingly recreated the lost score.




Deep Purple ~ Concert at the Royal Albert Hall
reel-to-reel tape label detail
detail photo by Styrous©



Track listing:

Concerto for Group and Orchestra (Jon Lord, with lyrics by Ian Gillan)

Side 1: 
    First Movement: Moderato-Allegro (19:23)
    Second Movement: Part one- Andante (19:11)

Side 2: 
    Second Movement: Part two - Andante (continued)
    Third Movement: Vivace-Presto (13:09)

Warner Brother Records
September 24, 1969



Deep Purple ~ Live At Royal Albert Hall, 1969, video on YouTube




Deep Purple ~ Concert at the Royal Albert Hall on eBay

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