DEEP PURPLE IN ROCK

Vinyl "Extended Plays" (EPs), played at 45 R.P.M., were very popular in some countries like in the U.K. and other countries, like in Mexico, but not in the U.S. (as Mark Lewisohn wrote in his book "The Beatles: Recording Sessions", 1988), in the sixties and in the seventies. So, I saw a lot of vinyl discs in the EP format from a lot of artists in the record shops of my country in the late sixties and in the seventies, and maybe even in the eighties too. With the arrival of the CDs, the vinyl discs in every format (LPs, EPs, and singles) gradually were discountinued in the eighties-early nineties. In fact, I remember that the last album that I bought in the LP format was YES`s "Union" album in August 1991.

This E.P. by DEEP PURPLE was released by "Discos Capitol de México" in 1970. I have it. It has three songs from the "Deep Purple In Rock" album, plus "Black Night", released in other parts of the world only as a single, but it was also included in the Mexican version of the "In Rock" album in 1970.

Side One: 1. "Black Night" : the full single version (with 3:26 minutes in lenght). 2. "Speed King": it is a different version from the one which was included in the original L.P. release. It lacks the heavy intro and the organ part at the start of the song. It starts directly with the lyrics, and it has a piano arrangement. In fact, this is the same version which was included as a bonus track in the "25th Anniversary Edition" of the "In Rock" album in 1995, and was indicated as the "Piano Version" in the cover of that remastered 2 CD version. There are other differences to the original LP version in other musical arrangements...but in this EP the song ends 42 seconds earlier due to an early fade-out, maybe only done by the Mexican record company for this EP. It still is a good version. (The original "Piano Version`s " total time is 4:15 minutes; this faded out version`s time is 3:07).

Side Two: 1. Into the Fire and 2. Living Wreck: both are the same versions of the original LP...but also faded out earlier for their inclusion in this EP. (The original version`s time of "Into the Fire" is 3:29 minutes; this EP version is 3:04 minutes in duration; while "Living Wreck" original time is 4:30 minutes, and this EP version`s time is 3:18 minutes).

It seems (as I could listen to them) that all four songs are Mono versions in this EP.I know that In the sixties and early seventies very few singles and EPs were released in Stereo. The majority of them were released in Mono. I don`t know the real reason of the existence of the vinyl EPs. But in particular this EP is mostly of historical interest for the most die-hard fans of the band and record collectors, due to the inclusion of the "Piano Version" of "Speed King" (but in a shorter version due to the use of an earlier fade-out) which was not included in the original LP. Maybe this gives to this EP an additional "Collectable Value". Who knows?

Maybe the real function of the vinyl EPs in some countries was to give some "samples" from some songs from some albums to promote them and make the fans buy the LPs, or to give to the fans in an EP the most popular songs from some albums without having to but the LP.

For collectors / fans only.

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