Speed King
Encyclopedia
"Speed King" is a song by British
hard
rock
band
Deep Purple
from their 1970
album Deep Purple 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 studio recorded song, on both the original version and later live versions across the years. A live version from "In Concert" was released as the B-side of the US release of the single "Black Night
".
"Speed King" is not a cover, however many of its lyrics are borrowed from popular oldies, including "Good Golly Miss Molly", "Tutti Frutti
", and "The Battle of New Orleans
". 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.
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 Deep Purple 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. As usual, Blackmore multi-tracked the solo, so that in the finished recording, the lick played in the solo can be heard being played in two different keys simultaneously (or, at times, in the same key). After the solos, Ian Gillan comes in with a very high-pitched scream and the song returns to the third verse, after which the chorus is played twice. During the last 40 seconds of the song, the band jams on the closing notes.
There is also a "Piano version" of "Speed King" (early take) on The Deep Purple Singles A's and B's
and on the 25th anniversary edition of Deep Purple in Rock
(remixed by Roger Glover
).
and first line. The song is played more or less as usual up to the second verse.
After the second verse, Gillan leaves the stage, and the improvised guitar-keyboard battle between current keyboardist Don Airey
and current guitarist Steve Morse
is played. After this, Airey and Morse leave the stage.
This is sometimes followed by a bass solo by Glover, at the end of which he leaves the stage and Paice plays a drum solo
. Other times, however, the bass solo is cut out and the song immediately cuts to the drum solo.
After the drum solo, the whole band resumes the stage, and sometimes play a portion of a '50s rock song. After this, Gillan and Morse often have a vocal-guitar battle, while Glover, Paice, and Airey play a background rhythm. At the end of the guitar-vocal battle, Morse plays the original solo lick with Gillan doubling him by singing the second guitar part. From there, they return to the original song and play it like the original recording until the end of the song.
In the early days of Deep Purple Mk II, they had an additional set of lyrics in the song, which would eventually become part of a separate song called "Ricochet, or "Kneel and Pray". "Ricochet was eventually dropped from any later studio or live album, but the alternate title, "Kneel and Pray" was used as a working title for "Speed King" during the recording sessions of Deep Purple in Rock
, as it can clearly be heard that the band are referring to the song by this name right before they play the earlier piano version of "Speed King", featured on the re-issue of In Rock.
The other song,"Ricochet", was recorded at the BBC studios (August 11, 1969) and shows up in a number of Deep Purple bootlegs, including their earliest-known bootleg for a long time, recorded at the Amsterdam Paradiso on August 24, 1969 (Crash Landing). The live album Kneel & Pray was recorded October 4, 1969.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
hard
Hard rock
Hard rock is a loosely defined genre of rock music which has its earliest roots in mid-1960s garage rock, blues rock and psychedelic rock...
rock
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
band
Rock Band
Rock Band is a music video game developed by Harmonix Music Systems, published by MTV Games and Electronic Arts. It is the first title in the Rock Band series. The PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions were released in the United States on November 20, 2007, while the PlayStation 2 version was...
Deep Purple
Deep Purple
Deep Purple are an English rock band formed in Hertford in 1968. Along with Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath, they are considered to be among the pioneers of heavy metal and modern hard rock, although some band members believe that their music cannot be categorised as belonging to any one genre...
from their 1970
1970 in music
- Events :*January 3**Davy Jones announces he is leaving the Monkees**Former Pink Floyd frontman Syd Barrett releases his first solo album The Madcap Laughs....
album Deep Purple in Rock
Deep Purple in Rock
Deep Purple in Rock is an album by English rock band Deep Purple, released in June 1970. It was their fourth studio album and the first with the classic Mk II lineup. Rod Evans and Nick Simper had been fired in June 1969 and were replaced by Ian Gillan and Roger Glover, respectively...
. The song is one of the loudest from the album, and featured some of the band's greatest amount of improvisation
Improvisation
Improvisation is the practice of acting, singing, talking and reacting, of making and creating, in the moment and in response to the stimulus of one's immediate environment and inner feelings. This can result in the invention of new thought patterns, new practices, new structures or symbols, and/or...
in a studio recorded song, on both the original version and later live versions across the years. A live version from "In Concert" was released as the B-side of the US release of the single "Black Night
Black Night
"Black Night" is a song by British hard rock band Deep Purple, first released as a single in June 1970 and later included on the 25th Year Anniversary version of their 1970 album, In Rock. The song became a hit following its release, peaking at #2 on UK charts, and to this day remains Deep Purple's...
".
"Speed King" is not a cover, however many of its lyrics are borrowed from popular oldies, including "Good Golly Miss Molly", "Tutti Frutti
Tutti Frutti (song)
"Tutti Frutti" is a 1955 song by Little Richard, which became his first hit record. With its opening cry of "A-wop-bop-a-loo-bop-a-lop-bop-bop!" and its hard-driving sound and wild lyrics, it became not only a model for many future Little Richard songs, but also one of the...
", and "The Battle of New Orleans
The Battle of New Orleans
"The Battle of New Orleans" is the title of a song written by Jimmy Driftwood. The song describes the 1815 Battle of New Orleans from the perspective of an American soldier; the lyrics are evidently intended to be comical. It has been recorded by many artists, but the singer most often associated...
". The song was the first song to be written by vocalist Ian Gillan
Ian Gillan
Ian Gillan is an English rock music vocalist and songwriter, best known as the lead singer and lyricist for Deep Purple. During his career Gillan also fronted his own band, had a year-long stint as the vocalist for Black Sabbath, and sang the role of Jesus in the original recording of Andrew Lloyd...
, who wrote the lyrics by writing down a mix of lines from Elvis Presley
Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....
, Little Richard
Little Richard
Richard Wayne Penniman , known by the stage name Little Richard, is an American singer, songwriter, musician, recording artist, and actor, considered key in the transition from rhythm and blues to rock and roll in the 1950s. He was also the first artist to put the funk in the rock and roll beat and...
and Chuck Berry
Chuck Berry
Charles Edward Anderson "Chuck" Berry is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter, and one of the pioneers of rock and roll music. With songs such as "Maybellene" , "Roll Over Beethoven" , "Rock and Roll Music" and "Johnny B...
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.
Studio version
The song opens with a guitar soloGuitar solo
In popular music, a guitar solo is a melodic passage, section, or entire piece of music written for an electric guitar or an acoustic guitar. Guitar solos, which often contain varying degrees of improvisation, are used in many styles of popular music such as blues, jazz, rock and metal styles such...
by guitarist
Guitarist
A guitarist is a musician who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselves on the guitar while singing.- Versatility :The guitarist controls an extremely...
Ritchie Blackmore
Ritchie Blackmore
Richard Hugh "Ritchie" Blackmore is an English guitarist and songwriter, who was known as one of the first guitarists to fuse Classical music elements with rock. He fronted his own band Rainbow after leaving Deep Purple where he was unhappy because his favourite musical style wasn't adequately...
featuring large usage of the whammy bar. He is soon joined by bassist
Bassist
A bass player, or bassist is a musician who plays a bass instrument such as a double bass, bass guitar, keyboard bass or a low brass instrument such as a tuba or sousaphone. Different musical genres tend to be associated with one or more of these instruments...
Roger Glover
Roger Glover
Roger David Glover is a Welsh bassist, songwriter, and record producer. Glover is best known as the bassist and lyricist for the hard rock band, Deep Purple.-Early career:...
, organist
Organist
An organist is a musician who plays any type of organ. An organist may play solo organ works, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers or instrumental soloists...
Jon Lord
Jon Lord
Jonathan Douglas "Jon" Lord is an English composer, pianist and Hammond organ player.Jon Lord, also known as 'Hammond Lord', is a classically trained piano player. He is recognised for his Hammond organ blues-rock sound and for his pioneering work in fusing rock and classical or baroque forms...
and drummer
Drummer
A drummer is a musician who is capable of playing drums, which includes but is not limited to a drum kit and accessory based hardware which includes an assortment of pedals and standing support mechanisms, marching percussion and/or any musical instrument that is struck within the context of a...
Ian Paice
Ian Paice
Ian Anderson Paice is an English musician, best known as the drummer of the English rock band Deep Purple. As of Jon Lord's departure in 2002, he is the only founding member of the band who never stopped performing with the group, and the only member to appear on every album the band has...
. The four of them jam
Jam session
Jam sessions are often used by musicians to develop new material, find suitable arrangements, or simply as a social gathering and communal practice session. Jam sessions may be based upon existing songs or forms, may be loosely based on an agreed chord progression or chart suggested by one...
together for a minute, before the guitar
Electric guitar
An electric guitar is a guitar that uses the principle of direct electromagnetic induction to convert vibrations of its metal strings into electric audio signals. The signal generated by an electric guitar is too weak to drive a loudspeaker, so it is amplified before sending it to a loudspeaker...
, bass
Bass guitar
The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
and drums
Drum kit
A drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
leave the song, and Lord plays an organ
Organ (music)
The organ , is a keyboard instrument of one or more divisions, each played with its own keyboard operated either with the hands or with the feet. The organ is a relatively old musical instrument in the Western musical tradition, dating from the time of Ctesibius of Alexandria who is credited with...
solo. On the original U.S.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
edition of Deep Purple 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
Lick (music)
In popular music genres such as rock or jazz music, a lick is "a stock pattern or phrase" consisting of a short series of notes that is used in solos and melodic lines...
played several times in different keys. As usual, Blackmore multi-tracked the solo, so that in the finished recording, the lick played in the solo can be heard being played in two different keys simultaneously (or, at times, in the same key). After the solos, Ian Gillan comes in with a very high-pitched scream and the song returns to the third verse, after which the chorus is played twice. During the last 40 seconds of the song, the band jams on the closing notes.
There is also a "Piano version" of "Speed King" (early take) on The Deep Purple Singles A's and B's
The Deep Purple Singles A's and B's
The Deep Purple Singles A's and B's contains the complete collection of Deep Purple's UK released singles. It's a sort of an updated version of the old The Deep Purple Singles: A's & B's 1978. This is a compilation of material by Mks I, IIa, III and IV from 1968 - 1976.In 2010 EMI released another...
and on the 25th anniversary edition of Deep Purple in Rock
Deep Purple in Rock
Deep Purple in Rock is an album by English rock band Deep Purple, released in June 1970. It was their fourth studio album and the first with the classic Mk II lineup. Rod Evans and Nick Simper had been fired in June 1969 and were replaced by Ian Gillan and Roger Glover, respectively...
(remixed by Roger Glover
Roger Glover
Roger David Glover is a Welsh bassist, songwriter, and record producer. Glover is best known as the bassist and lyricist for the hard rock band, Deep Purple.-Early career:...
).
Live version
In concerts, the song is altered, and jams can extend it to 10–15 minutes long. Currently, it is played in concert with the keyboard solo at the beginning cut out, and the song beginning with the first riffRIFF
The Resource Interchange File Format is a generic file container format for storing data in tagged chunks. It is primarily used to store multimedia such as sound and video, though it may also be used to store any arbitrary data....
and first line. The song is played more or less as usual up to the second verse.
After the second verse, Gillan leaves the stage, and the improvised guitar-keyboard battle between current keyboardist Don Airey
Don Airey
Donald Airey has been the keyboardist in the rock band Deep Purple since 2002, succeeding Jon Lord...
and current guitarist Steve Morse
Steve Morse
Steven J. "Steve" Morse is an American guitarist and composer, best known for his work in the hard rock band Deep Purple since 1994. He began his career to form the unique styled instrumental rock band Dixie Dregs in the 1970. Morse's musical inspiration comes from country, funk, jazz fusion, and...
is played. After this, Airey and Morse leave the stage.
This is sometimes followed by a bass solo by Glover, at the end of which he leaves the stage and Paice plays a drum solo
Drum solo
A drum solo is an instrumental solo played on a drum kit. A drum solo may be set or improvised, and of any length, up to being the main performance....
. Other times, however, the bass solo is cut out and the song immediately cuts to the drum solo.
After the drum solo, the whole band resumes the stage, and sometimes play a portion of a '50s rock song. After this, Gillan and Morse often have a vocal-guitar battle, while Glover, Paice, and Airey play a background rhythm. At the end of the guitar-vocal battle, Morse plays the original solo lick with Gillan doubling him by singing the second guitar part. From there, they return to the original song and play it like the original recording until the end of the song.
In the early days of Deep Purple Mk II, they had an additional set of lyrics in the song, which would eventually become part of a separate song called "Ricochet, or "Kneel and Pray". "Ricochet was eventually dropped from any later studio or live album, but the alternate title, "Kneel and Pray" was used as a working title for "Speed King" during the recording sessions of Deep Purple in Rock
Deep Purple in Rock
Deep Purple in Rock is an album by English rock band Deep Purple, released in June 1970. It was their fourth studio album and the first with the classic Mk II lineup. Rod Evans and Nick Simper had been fired in June 1969 and were replaced by Ian Gillan and Roger Glover, respectively...
, as it can clearly be heard that the band are referring to the song by this name right before they play the earlier piano version of "Speed King", featured on the re-issue of In Rock.
The other song,"Ricochet", was recorded at the BBC studios (August 11, 1969) and shows up in a number of Deep Purple bootlegs, including their earliest-known bootleg for a long time, recorded at the Amsterdam Paradiso on August 24, 1969 (Crash Landing). The live album Kneel & Pray was recorded October 4, 1969.
Personnel
- Ritchie BlackmoreRitchie BlackmoreRichard Hugh "Ritchie" Blackmore is an English guitarist and songwriter, who was known as one of the first guitarists to fuse Classical music elements with rock. He fronted his own band Rainbow after leaving Deep Purple where he was unhappy because his favourite musical style wasn't adequately...
- guitarElectric guitarAn electric guitar is a guitar that uses the principle of direct electromagnetic induction to convert vibrations of its metal strings into electric audio signals. The signal generated by an electric guitar is too weak to drive a loudspeaker, so it is amplified before sending it to a loudspeaker... - Ian GillanIan GillanIan Gillan is an English rock music vocalist and songwriter, best known as the lead singer and lyricist for Deep Purple. During his career Gillan also fronted his own band, had a year-long stint as the vocalist for Black Sabbath, and sang the role of Jesus in the original recording of Andrew Lloyd...
- vocals - Roger GloverRoger GloverRoger David Glover is a Welsh bassist, songwriter, and record producer. Glover is best known as the bassist and lyricist for the hard rock band, Deep Purple.-Early career:...
- bassBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick.... - Jon LordJon LordJonathan Douglas "Jon" Lord is an English composer, pianist and Hammond organ player.Jon Lord, also known as 'Hammond Lord', is a classically trained piano player. He is recognised for his Hammond organ blues-rock sound and for his pioneering work in fusing rock and classical or baroque forms...
- organOrgan (music)The organ , is a keyboard instrument of one or more divisions, each played with its own keyboard operated either with the hands or with the feet. The organ is a relatively old musical instrument in the Western musical tradition, dating from the time of Ctesibius of Alexandria who is credited with... - Ian PaiceIan PaiceIan Anderson Paice is an English musician, best known as the drummer of the English rock band Deep Purple. As of Jon Lord's departure in 2002, he is the only founding member of the band who never stopped performing with the group, and the only member to appear on every album the band has...
- drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....