HALLELUJAH (I AM THE PREACHER) / APRIL (PART ONE)

After the release of Deep Purple's third (self titled) album, Ritchie Blackmore and Jon Lord decided that the time had come to replace Nick Simper on bass and Rod Evans on vocals. They secured the support of Ian Paice, and set about their search for people who would be sympathetic to their desire to move in a more overtly rock direction. The situation was kept secret from Evans and Simper, who continued to tour with the band.

After watching a performance by the band "Episode 6", Blackmore, Paice and Lord invited Ian Gillan to join them for a recording session. Gillan brought along his band mate Roger Glover, and the five recorded the song "Hallelujah". This all happened before the "Deep Purple" album had even been released, Evans and Simper being sacked after they had become aware through rumours of what was going on.

"Hallelujah" was released as a single in July 1969, backed by an edit of the instrumental section of "April", the last track on the "Deep Purple" album. The B side thus featured Evans and Simper, not Gillan and Glover although vocalist Evans does not actually appear on this edit.

The A side is a highly credible, and certainly brave first effort by the new line up. The band were clearly intent on securing an early hit single, bringing in songwriters Roger Cook and Roger Greenaway for the composition. Cook and Greenaway were both members of the pop group Blue Mink ("Melting pot") around this time, and strange as it may seem to say it, the song could easily have been picked up by that combo.

Initially a big sounding ballad, "Hallelujah" features some fine guitar work by Blackmore and the occasional scream by Gillan. The centre section suddenly picks up the pace as Gillan sings the cynical lyrics "Oh tell it to the man who's power is the sermon on the wall, Tell it to the man who says you can misjudge them all Tell it 'till it can be heard above the wailing of the crowd Tell it on the field of war and hope you'll soon be justified."

The prog structuring of the song was unlikely to bring with it the success the band craved. Apart from a slot on the "Beat club" TV series which has been preserved for posterity, the single did little to further the Deep Purple cause. Despite the myriad of Deep Purple compilations now available, recordings of the song are still relatively hard to find.

This is however an important part of the Deep Purple history. Not simply because it is the first recording by the band to feature Gillan and Glover, not because it is a non-album single, but simply because it is a fine song by any standard.

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