The Book Of Taliesyn

The Book of Taliesyn is the second album recorded by Deep Purple, released in 1968 (US) and 1969 (UK). The band was forced to go into the studio by the record company only 3 months after the American release of their debut album, following an unexpected chart success in the States with their first single, “Hush”.

The album follows the pattern of Shades Of Deep Purple and includes not only the band’s original compositions, but also some covers. The covers, just like the ones on the debut album, were all well known songs, but recorded with different arrangements than the originals and often included an introduction written by the band or taken from classical music. This time, the artists covered by Deep Purple were again The Beatles (“We Can Work It Out”), Neil Diamond (“Kentucky Woman”) and Ike and Tina Turner (“River Deep, Mountain High”).

Two singles were released in The US: “Kentucky Woman” (reached #38) and “River Deep, Mountain High”, with only the first song being released as a single in the UK.

The cover artwork was created by John Vernon Lord (no family ties with the band’s keyboard player). It is the only album to have his cover artwork.

The Book of Taliesyn was re-issued in 2000, along with 5 bonus tracks and extensive liner notes.

It was the second of three albums recorded with the original line-up of Deep Purple:

Rod Evans - lead vocals
Ritchie Blackmore - guitar