Speed King (7:16)
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Speed King is a song by British hard rock band Deep Purple from their 1970 album In Rock. The song is one of the loudest from the album, and featured some of the band’s greatest amount of improvisation in a song, on both the original version and later live versions across the years. It was released as the B-side of the single “Black Night”
The song was the first song to be written by vocalist Ian Gillan, who wrote the lyrics by writing down a mix of lines from Elvis Presley, Little Richard, and Chuck Berry songs in the order that they came to mind. Possibly because of this, the song was never played without him. However, during the years that he has been in the band, it has been one of the band’s staple live performances.
The song opens with a guitar solo by guitarist Ritchie Blackmore featuring large usage of the whammy bar. He is soon joined by bassist Roger Glover, organist Jon Lord and drummer Ian Paice. The four of them jam together for a minute, before the guitar, bass and drums leave the song, and Lord plays an organ solo. On the original U.S. edition of In Rock, the intro was cut out. The version on the compilation Deepest Purple starts with the organ intro. The organ solo lasts a few seconds, before the more recognizable section of the song begins, with Gillan’s vocals coming into the song. After the second verse, a keyboard-guitar battle is played between Blackmore and Lord. This is followed by a guitar solo by Blackmore, mainly consisting of one lick played several times in different keys.
The song was the first song to be written by vocalist Ian Gillan, who wrote the lyrics by writing down a mix of lines from Elvis Presley, Little Richard, and Chuck Berry songs in the order that they came to mind. Possibly because of this, the song was never played without him. However, during the years that he has been in the band, it has been one of the band’s staple live performances.
The song opens with a guitar solo by guitarist Ritchie Blackmore featuring large usage of the whammy bar. He is soon joined by bassist Roger Glover, organist Jon Lord and drummer Ian Paice. The four of them jam together for a minute, before the guitar, bass and drums leave the song, and Lord plays an organ solo. On the original U.S. edition of In Rock, the intro was cut out. The version on the compilation Deepest Purple starts with the organ intro. The organ solo lasts a few seconds, before the more recognizable section of the song begins, with Gillan’s vocals coming into the song. After the second verse, a keyboard-guitar battle is played between Blackmore and Lord. This is followed by a guitar solo by Blackmore, mainly consisting of one lick played several times in different keys.
Video
Added by themule66
Live performance at Granada TV studios 1970.
Good Golly, said little Miss Molly
When she was rockin' in the house of blue light
Tutti Frutti was oh so rooty
When she was rockin' to the east and west…
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Good Golly, said little Miss Molly
When she was rockin' in the house of blue light
Tutti Frutti was oh so rooty
When she was rockin' to the east and west…
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Shouts
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Braveshell wrote:
Awesome... still excellent after all these years!
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ElHa5858 wrote:
Speed, yeah
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davidthemugman wrote:
a very nice little classic and very nice played loud!!!!!
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davidthemugman wrote:
speeed king this is good if you have a V8 yank tank and want to burn rubber
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TinyPliny wrote:
Most amazing call-and-answer solo ever. Got to LOVE Deep Purple's electric live performances!
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backtothelight wrote:
Hey, I hear the German national anthem at the beginning!
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tithou76 wrote:
Mamma Mia ! Orgasmatique ..............
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davidthemugman wrote:
so good are they still going? if they are er how's left of the ORIGANAL crew i mean there very old or don't know how they were or are dead
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Ratzntreiba wrote:
geht ab wie ........
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Francis7858 wrote:
haha this is where the title for The House of Blue Light came from
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saarufer wrote:
deep purple hat noch musikstücke geschrieben und nicht nur musikzeilen! great!
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veyita_88 wrote:
This song is metal actually...at least by 70´s standars (heavier than anything from the first Black Sabbath two albums!) it is just really heavy for its time,and in the studio version sounds even more raw heavier . I know that Deep Purple were not a metal band at all,but they had a couple of metal tunes.
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Natalja1234 wrote:
Klassiker,die in den Musikunterricht gehören!
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Andyhusmith wrote:
There are many versions of this song. The two best versions are in "Scandinavian Nights" (1970) and "Made In japan" (1972) double live albums.
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ItsAlreadyTakin wrote:
lol
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Breaking-Wheel wrote:
This song used to freak me out with the noise and whatnot...
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ACEinONYX wrote:
hmm... was that "Teddy Bear's Picnic" in the improv around the 4min mark..? *LOL* .. oooh... Then we've got some REALLY GOOD SH!T at 5min. =D
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MarysSong82 wrote:
das geht sozusagen ab wie Zäpfchen^^
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difficultman wrote:
super!
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FUWWWAIIII wrote:
best intro ever
Deep Purple
Speed King
full track
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