In Concert 1970-1972

This review is for the 1992 CD issue of Deep Purple "In Concert" (with 2 different EMI catalogue numbers on the artwork CDS 7981812, CDEM 14334 and each disc with another different number, CDP 7981822, CDP 7981832).This is a double CD of two concerts recorded for the BBC in London during the early 1970's, one disc of which I will argue is superior to what is commonly considered the band's live classic, Made in Japan. Whether or not you'll agree with my assertion, I'll precede the review by saying that if you're a Deep Purple fan and don't already own "In Concert" you'd be crazy not to buy it for the average price it's currently selling on Amazon, less than £4.00.So, on with the review!The first CD, recorded in 1970 and titled "Everything Louder Than Everything Else!", is the lesser of the pair.It may only feaure 4 songs, but it has a total running time of 55 minutes. At this point in the band's career Ian Gillan had been vocalist for just a few months so they were still basing their live set largely around pre-Gillan material, which here is a 50/50 split. The first two songs (Speed King and Child In Time) are taken from Gillan's first album with the band, In Rock, then still to be released. The final two (Wring That Neck and Mandrake Root) are from the band's earlier days, and are each approximately 18 minutes long. Gillan features minimally across the second half of this disc as it's largely instrumental, astoundingly superbly so at times. Mandrake Root is as good as anything (if not better) that Purple would be doing live on stage a couple of years later at their absolute peak. It could even be argued (as I do when reviewing the second disc of this set) the power of the band during these extended instrumental sections holds an intensity of focus which the band let go a couple of years down the line in favour of a more relaxed self-indulgence.The liner notes claim this CD is "mono reprocessed for stereo", but it actually sounds more like a weird stereo mix to me. The bass is over to the left, alone, whilst the keyboards and guitar tend to fill the right-hand side or the centre. It certainly doesn't sound like any reprocessed mono I've heard on other discs, which create their fake stereo effect by filtering the different frequencies into opposite sides of the stereo spectrum, bass to one and treble to the other. This CD sounds like the instruments have been specifically positioned during the mix, albeit with bad choices! Listening through headphones the lopsided effect is very obvious, but through regular speakers I doubt you'd notice it unless you pulled up a chair and sat squarely between them.That issue aside, the sound on this dic is perfectly fine for what it is, a recording originally made for radio broadcast. It's slightly murky or dense at times, which is easily overlooked by virtue of the performance itself being so incredibly powerful. Think of this as an official bootleg; professionally recorded, but maybe not with the best equipment (or given that this was the BBC of 1970, probably recorded with high quality equipment but a lack of knowledge by the staff engineers on how best to use it for Hard Rock - at the time still a relatively new musical form).Out of 5 stars, I would give this first CD a 4 star rating. The band's performance simply can not be faulted in any respect. The extended musical sections are amazing. The disc is really only let down slightly by the production - but even that isn't too problematic in the grand scheme of things.The second CD, recorded in 1972 and titled "Here's A Bit Of A Boogaloo!", features a performance which I believe gives "Made In Japan" a run for its money.Unlike the first disc of the "In Concert" set this "Boogaloo" show was professionally recorded in stereo, with a nice wide split across the stereo spectrum. The overall fidelty is also far superior to the previous disc. With a running time of just over 75 minutes, it's also a notably longer show.Recorded a month before the release of Machine Head and 5 months before the recording took place of Made In Japan, this performance already catches the band at an intense live peak.There are two crucial points with this recording which to my mind make it superior to Made In Japan;1) The Mix. The performance here was mixed with the guitar being the most prominent instrument. The keyboards tend to play more of a supporting role, which is unusual for Deep Purple, a band where that pair are normally battling with each other to gain the foreground. I would assume this was a BBC production hangover from the 1960s, when the guitar was considered the main instrument and the purpose of the keyboards was to back the guitar. But rather than detract from the power of the band this guitar-heavy/heavy-guitar mix gives them an extra boost.Oddly, the keyboards for the majority of the show are quite clean sounding, lacking their usual distorted growl. This has the effect of accentuating their role as a "support" instrument to the guitar, so ironicially this "taming" of the keyboards works perfectly for the particular live sound found here.In comparison, Made In Japan tends to have a mix which varies between keeping all the instruments equally balanced and given large spaces over to solo instruments, mainly the keyboard. Which brings me to the next point....2) The performance. This 1972 BBC show finds the band incredibly tight and completely focused, more, I would argue, than with Made In Japan. On "In Concert" when the band fly off into extended instrumental sections they do so almost entirely together throughout. They hold the groove, power and music exploration as a unit, with very few completely solo examples of musicianship.The Japanese show also includes hugely extended pieces, but they tend to be entirely self-indulgent. For example, the band will disappear completely from the picture whilst Jon Lord spends a few minutes making Sci-Fi movie sound FX, interspersed with dead air or discordant bursts and stabs of Avant Garde styled classical chordwork or fingerings. Other times Blackmore will be left completely alone with his guitar, noodling on semi-classical themes or throwing out musically comedic asides, again with lots of dead air. And then of course, there is The Mule. Slap-bang in the middle of the Japan CD, a drum solo almost 10 minutes long.I'm sure all of that made for an enthralling and exciting live concert experience, almost theatrical at times with the enforced suspense and release, the expectation building of what could happen next etc etc. But I find it transfers very badly to the home listening environment - which is where this BBC shows beats Made In Japan.Here you are listening to the sound of *a band* doing what *a band* do best, even during the extended pieces. It's a lot more powerful and engaging. Even the Jazzy/R&B themed Lazy comes out on this disc as being more energised than the version on the Japanese show. And again, that's down to it being more the focus of the entire band than just an excuse for one member to take centre stage alone for large chunks of time.This 1972 BBC show, although it has great sound and is well produced, may not quite be up to the fidelity of Made In Japan, but it hammers the Japanese gig in terms of unified group performance. It's truly classic live Purple.The only flaw I can find with this CD, and it's an incredibly minor flaw, is the BBC announcer who appears between a few of the tracks, Mike Harding. He has a rather dour Scottish tone, but he's easily enough ignored. The first disc has John Peel as announcer, who some might say was equally dour in his delivery!So, overlooking that final point I'm giving this second CD of "In Concert" a solid 5 star rating.PS: This 1992 release of "In Concert" comes in the old fatbox style of case, with a small booklet explaining the background to each show and including a number of pictures.

Thank you

This is quite a decent album, although in my opinion not Deep Purples best, in saying that there are some tracks on this album I haven't listened to for quite some time and they did bring back a few memories of past times and being a double album makes it good value for money.

A cracking 2CD album of the band in concert, recorded during the BBC Sessions in 1970 and 1972.The album has all the classic tracks from the early years of the band.CD1 - Speed king, Child in time, Wring that neck and Mandrake root.CD2 - Highway star, Strange kind of woman, Maybe I'm a Leo, Never before, Lazy, Space truckin', Smoke on the water and Lucille.

The BBC used to run a programme on Radio 1 on a Saturday night, called "In Concert" at, I think it was 18.30, I used to listen to most of them and record many of them and believe it or not, I actually recorded this gig on cassette when it was broadcast live on the BBC many, many moons ago. I was and still am heavily in to progressive rock. Naturally the cassette after loads of usage deteriorated and eventually tangled in my old portable player, which was high tech back in the day.I was browsing Amazon and came across this and purchased it, now it is the most played CD in the car, I like live music and have many live albums, which I prefer instead of the polished flat sounding studio stuff.This is raw and live and the band had a good night when they recorded this gig and I love it. I have seen Purple live quite a few times, on one occasion they were dog rough at THE RAINBOW, just a bad night, but I used to gig 2 - 3 times a week and have seen many bands and many awesome gigs and some rough ones, but this is one worth getting if you are a Purple fan. This was recorded, just before the release of Machine Head, which is a good album, but to studio sounding for me, a bit lifeless, this gig features some of the tracks off the album with a true live sound. In comparison to Made in Japan, I actually prefer this album as the recording hasn't been tampered with. Oh how I wish it was the early seventies again, so I could relive the fantastic progressive rock era and go to all the gigs again, alas I can't, but this album makes up for, not being able to go back in time. Real live unedited music, just as it should be.

My favourite line up playing my favourite songs live. The quality isn't half bad and the band are on fire. This is only Purple album I had on vinyl, back in the day and as such it's also got some worth for me as a small piece of nostalga. I just love it to bits. There is so much live stuff available these days and if you only really want one live album from this line up it has to be Made in Japan, but this comes a very close second best.

A great collection of classical Deep Purple songs.The double CD is live from BBC radio with some talking from the a BBC speakers.The songs are from the Mark II DP. Most of the songs are from Machine Head making the CD in some way similar to Made in Japan.However the CD contain some uncommon live songs such as Maybe I am Leo and Mandrake Root.I would suggest this CD for people that already know DP a little to appreciate better Blackmore/Lord duos.

The Purple studio albums were great, but live they were on another planet, this is no exception. Deep Purple were one of very few artists who could catch the excitement of a live concert on record, the quality is superb. For lovers of the classic Made in Japan set this is different enough to make essential buying.