Hallelujah (Deep Purple song)
"Hallelujah" is a song by English hard rock group Deep Purple, released in 1969. It is the first single to feature singer Ian Gillan and bassist Roger Glover and released in-between their 1969 eponymous album and the live Concerto for Group and Orchestra. The B-side was an edit of the instrumental album track "April".
| "Hallelujah" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single by Deep Purple | ||||
| B-side | "April Part I" | |||
| Released | 25 July 1969 [1] | |||
| Recorded | 7 & 12 June 1969 | |||
| Length | 3:38 | |||
| Label |
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| Songwriter(s) | ||||
| Producer(s) | Deep Purple | |||
| Deep Purple singles chronology | ||||
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The track was recorded on 7 and 12 June 1969. At the time, Glover had not yet joined the band and played on the track as a session musician.[2][3]
The song was written by Roger Greenaway and Roger Cook, and originally released as "I am the Preacher" by The Derek Lawrence Statement earlier the same year.[4] Deep Purple's cover version flopped, despite TV appearances to promote the record in the UK.[5] Guitarist Ritchie Blackmore told the Record Mirror that the new band "need to have a commercial record in Britain", and described the song as "an in-between sort of thing"—a median between what the band would normally make but with an added commercial motive.[5] Gillan was unhappy about the single because he did not write the lyrics.[3]
References
- Popoff, Martin (2016). The Deep Purple Family (2nd ed.). Wymer Publishing. p. 60. ISBN 978-1-908724-42-7.
- Robinson, Simon (1995). Deep Purple in Rock (CD Booklet). Deep Purple. London: EMI. p. 5. 7243 8 3401925.
- Gillan & Cohen 1993, p. 62.
- 45cat's entry about The Derek Lawrence Statement: "I am the Preacher" 1969 7"
- Bloom, Jerry (2008). Black Knight: Ritchie Blackmore. Omnibus Press. p. 128. ISBN 978-1846097577.
Sources
- Gillan, Ian; Cohen, David (1993). Child in Time – The Life Story of the Singer from Deep Purple. Smith Gryphon Limited. ISBN 1-85685-048-X.
