THE BOOK OF TALIESYN

It's so classic that I am now listening to the album of late 60s by Deep Purple titled "Book of Taliesyn" and it has always been a joy listening to vintage rock music like this one. For sure this was not the first album that I knew Deep Purple for the first time because it was "Fireball" that introduced me the band. But I think the music of the early Deep Purple was progressive in nature, or to be specific in symphonic style. Look at the opening track "Listen Learn Read On" which has all the energy and drive of dynamic rock music with some changes in styles and tempo. The music is raw and uplifting. I guess you would enjoy this vintage record as it's quite original in composition. There are raw guitar solo and organ plus some breaks that remind me to symphonic prog music. Ian Paice drumwork indicates his talents really well.

The next track "Kentucky Woman" follows the same energy and drive as previous track. Paice continues with dynamic work while Nic Simples walking bass work does not serve the purpose as beat keeper only but it flows beautifully with the music. Rod Evans indicates his transparent vocal quality while Blackmore's guitar solo is still rough and does not show his uniqueness yet. The organ solo in the middle of the track is truly progressive in nature. In here I can smell the unique organ work quality of Jon Lord which is heavily influenced by classical music. It's stunning.

"Wring That Neck" is truly a symphonic progressive rock track. Liste to how Jon Lord opens the track with his inventive Hammond organ solo which is very dynamic, followed with a blast of rhythm section that follows, combining tight bass lines and dynamic drumwork. Right after long organ solo, Ritchies provides his guitar solo stunningly. It's really an excellent track and everlasting, because you still can enjoy this track nicely even nowadays. Jon Lord enters again and this time combined with Ritchie's guitar. The end of the song has timpani that make it uplifting track.

As usual with previous album, Deep Purple also covers The Beatles song "We Can Work It Out" performed differently with ambient nuance - darker than the original version. It starts symphonic with "Exposition" exploring Jon Lord's organ work combined with Nic Simpler's bass lines. You can see how prog this part is, because the music flows dynamically in inventive notes. When the song moves into "We Can Work It Out" Ritchie provides guitar melody while Rod Evans sings.

The rest of the songs : "Shield", "River Deep, Mountain High", and "Anthem" are also excellent tracks.

Overall, this is a very good early album by Deep Purple which has strong progressive rock elements especially through the work of Jon Lord and also mostly on the structure of the song that most of them are not straight forward. It's an excellent addition to any prog music collection. Keep on proggin' ..!

Peace on earth and mercy mild - GW