Black Night
A single recorded because management wanted a hit, with lyrics Gillan chose to be banal.
Deep Purple (1970)
- Written by
- Ian Gillan, Ritchie Blackmore, Roger Glover, Jon Lord, Ian Paice
- Released
- 5 June 1970
Management wanted a hit, so the band recorded the song in early May 1970 at De Lane Lea. The riff comes from Ricky Nelson's arrangement of Summertime, and Gillan said he wrote the most banal lyrics he could think of. It was released on 5 June 1970, the same day as Deep Purple in Rock, though it was not on the original album.
It reached number two in Britain, number one on the NME and Melody Maker charts and number one in Switzerland, and the band played it on Top of the Pops. A live version recorded in Tokyo on 17 August 1972 was the B-side of Woman from Tokyo in Europe.
Sid Smith of the BBC heard it as a souped-up version of the Blue Magoos' (We Ain't Got) Nothin' Yet. In Britain it also carried Speed King on its B-side.
More songs by Deep Purple
Smoke on the Water, Highway Star, Child in Time, Hush, Space Truckin', Strange Kind of Woman, Woman from Tokyo, Burn, Perfect Strangers, Knocking at Your Back Door, Speed King
Sources
- Black Night (song), Wikipedia
- Deep Purple in Rock, Wikipedia
- Deep Purple In Rock, BBC Music (2007)
- Speed King, Wikipedia