Let’s make one thing very clear at the start of this review: In its earliest incarnation, Deep Purple was Jon Lord’s band.

Yes, Ritchie Blackmore was lightning personified on the electric guitar; no one is taking anything away from his skills, even in the earliest days of the band. But Shades Of Deep Purple, the group’s debut effort, would be all for naught if it weren’t for the driving force of Lord’s Hammond organ work. In fact, the bulk of the solos are for organ, not guitar.

So, if you pick this disc up knowing only the song “Hush” and expect the guitar fireworks that would be found on albums like Machine Head or Fireball… well, pilgrim, you’re gonna be disappointed. But how does this disc stand up on its own merits?

Admittedly, this one is a tentative first step for the band, featuring vocalist Rod Evans and bassist Nick Simper (the two whose departures two albums later would mean the end of the Mark I version of Deep Purple). The songwriting is not terrible, but does lack a little bit of originality—I mean, three of the first four songs all begin with essentially the same chord progression. The fact that half of the album is essentially cover songs also doesn’t help matters—and I’m well aware this includes “Hush,” which for most fans was their initial exposure to the band.

It’s not that I’m against covers (though it did feel like Deep Purple relied on them a little heavily in their first iteration). It’s just that, if you’re going to cover “Help” or “I’m So Glad,” you want to not only put your own spin on it, but you want to keep things energetic. One can’t say this is always the case.

As for original songwriting… well, it’s not terrible, but most definitely still in its feeling-out phase. “One More Rainy Day” feels like a failed attempt to hit the pop charts, while “Mandrake Root” has definite strong moments, but almost cried out to be a vehicle for Blackmore to be able to further showcase his talents. It’s one of the few times where one can say Lord’s solos just didn’t fit quite as well.

Note that I’m not saying that Lord shouldn’t have been the focal point of the band. His skills on the keyboards were quite solid, and there were enough bands in the ’60s proving that keyboards could be the lead instruments in bands. Yet one wishes that Blackmore had been given a little more room to expand his talents; maybe it’s just me, but I feel it would have improved the band’s overall sound and made the road ahead that much more clear. There was plenty of room for both Lord and Blackmore to respectfully lead Deep Purple into the future; whether certain egos would have allowed this to happen is something we can debate over a couple of cream sodas.

It’s not that Shades Of Deep Purple is a bad album, it’s just one featuring a band that wasn’t quite sure what to do with themselves. That, in and of itself, is its Achilles’ heel. When things click for the band, the results are pretty good. But the overreliance on covers and tentative original songwriting is what ends up weakening this one.

Is it still worth checking out? Absolutely; in fact, in order for one to understand the eventual development of Deep Purple, you should experience this one at least once. But I can’t sit here and say this one’s a masterpiece. It has its moments, but is a flawed first take for this legendary band.

Rating: C+

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