DEEP PURPLE - In Live Concert At The Royal Albert Hall with The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Malcolm Arnold 12" Vinyl LP Album
- The Night Hard Rock Crashed Into the Concert Hall
A sweeping interior shot of London’s Royal Albert Hall dominates the sleeve: tier upon tier of curved balconies glowing in warm amber light, deep red curtains tucked between arches, and rows of dark, empty seats wrapping around a vast circular floor. In the center sits a low round platform edged with chairs and greenery, as if the stage is quietly waiting for impact. Across the top, bold purple and red lettering announces Deep Purple and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, with the EMI logo planted firmly in the lower right corner.
This is not a polite crossover experiment. It is Jon Lord walking into the Royal Albert Hall with a score under his arm and a Hammond organ humming behind him. You can hear the tension from the first movement — orchestra tuned tight, band plugged in, nobody quite sure who will blink first. Gillan does not sing gently; he attacks the hall. Blackmore’s guitar cuts through the strings like a flare in velvet air. Paice keeps it all from collapsing, steady but never tame.
What you get is not “fusion” in the smooth jazz sense. It is friction. Woodwinds brushing against distortion. Tympani answering a snare crack. The Royal Philharmonic does not decorate Deep Purple; it wrestles them. And that tension — that slight risk of derailment — is exactly what makes this 1969 performance feel alive rather than ceremonial.
Deep Purple's Italian Job: A Concerto of Chaos and Classical Collisions
Album Description:
This Italian pressing doesn’t start with a riff so much as a dare. Needle down, and I’m suddenly back in the Royal Albert Hall on 24 September 1969: Deep Purple (brand-new Mark II attitude) bolted to the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, with Malcolm Arnold conducting like he’s trying to keep a zoo polite. It’s “Concerto for Group and Orchestra” dressed up as “live concert” drama — and it still feels like the room is holding its breath.
Jon Lord didn’t “blend genres.” He shoved them together and listened for sparks. One minute you’ve got strings trying to behave, the next you’ve got Ritchie Blackmore slicing through the air like he’s offended by the dress code. Ian Gillan has to sing lines he helped write while surrounded by people who probably call a drum kit “percussion.” It’s gloriously awkward. And that awkwardness is the point.
The Concerto Is Three Movements… Even When the Vinyl Pretends Otherwise
On the original vinyl, the second movement gets split across the sides, so track lists can look like “four parts” if you don’t squint properly. Don’t panic — it’s still Lord’s three-movement beast, just sliced up by the practical physics of a turntable. Side One sets the scene (and the tension). Side Two finishes the job and leaves scorch marks.
Yes, They Played Rock Songs That Night — No, This LP Isn’t That Set
The full evening had extra muscle — “Hush,” “Wring That Neck,” even “Child in Time.” But the original album release is the concerto itself, not a handy “best bits of the concert” souvenir. That came later, when reissues decided we all needed the whole programme in one sitting. Personally? I like the stubborn focus of the original idea. It doesn’t beg for applause. It just keeps going.
Studio Credits, Not Fairy Dust
This Italian issue is credited as produced by the band, with Tony Edwards and John Coletta listed as executive producers, and recording credited to Dave Siddle and Martin Birch using the De Lane Lea mobile unit. In other words: not a fantasy crossover project. A real recording job, done fast, under pressure, with a lot of expensive people in the room.
I put this record on when the house is empty. Not because it’s “difficult” — because it’s weirdly intimate hearing a hard rock band try to behave in a concert hall, then fail on purpose. If you want tidy borders between “classical” and “rock,” buy a ruler. This thing was made to snap them.
Matrix / StampeR CODES
90749-A-12-12-69 I
90749-B-12-12-69 T
Music Genre:
British Classic Rock
Album Production Information:
The album: "DEEP PURPLE Live at the Royal Albert Hall with The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Malcolm Arnold (Italy)" was produced by: Deep Purple
Tony Edwards - Executive Producer
John Coletta (1932-2008) - Executive Producer
Sound/Recording Engineer(s): Dave Siddle & Martin Birch using "De Lane Lea" Recording Studios Mobile Unit
Martin Birch – Producer, Sound Engineer
I first noticed Martin Birch on those early Iron Maiden sleeves—the ones with the typography that felt like a threat. At twelve, I didn’t care about "production value"; I just liked that the guitars didn't sound like mud. He was the man behind the sound mixer, the one who made the snare snap like a dry branch in a cold forest. He was "The Headmaster," and we were all just students of his high-voltage curriculum.
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Birch didn’t just record noise; he organized aggression. By 1972, he was already wrangling the messy brilliance of Deep Purple’s Machine Head, turning Ian Gillan’s banshee wails into something that didn't just clip the tape but lived inside it. In 1980, he pulled off the ultimate renovation, giving Black Sabbath a much-needed shower and a new spine. Heaven and Hell shouldn't have worked, but Martin polished that Birmingham sludge into something operatic and gleaming. It was a pivot that felt like fate, mostly because he refused to let the mid-range get lazy.
Then came the long, obsessive stretch with Iron Maiden from 1981 to 1992. It was a twelve-year marriage to the fader. From the moment Killers (EMC 3357, for those who care) hit the shelves, the sound was physical. He knew how to let Steve Harris’s bass clatter like a machine gun without drowning out the melody—a sonic miracle that still feels fresh. You can almost smell the ozone and the dust on the Marshall stacks when the needle drops on The Number of the Beast. He stayed until Fear of the Dark, then simply walked away. No victory lap, no bloated memoir. He preferred the hum of the desk to the noise of the crowd, leaving us with nothing but the records and a slight sense of abandonment. But then, when you’ve already captured lightning on tape for twenty years, why bother hanging around for the rain?
Gatefold/FOC (Fold Open Cover) Album Cover Design with photos on the inside cover pages with opening for record in the inside of the cover
Media Format:
12" Vinyl Stereo Gramophone Record
Total Album (Cover+Record) weight: 230 gram
Year & Country:
1970 Made in Italy
Personnel/Band Members and Musicians on: DEEP PURPLE Live at the Royal Albert Hall with The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Malcolm Arnold (Italy)
Band-members, Musicians and Performers
Malcolm Arnold - Conductor
Malcolm Arnold (1921-2006) was a distinguished British composer and conductor, known for his vibrant orchestral works and film scores. A master of melody and orchestration, he collaborated with Deep Purple on the groundbreaking Concerto for Group and Orchestra in 1969, blending rock and classical music.
Ian Gillan - Lead Vocals
Ian Gillan – Vocals
Fun bit: the guy who hit those stratospheric notes also played Jesus (1970) before he went full purple thunder.
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Ian Gillan, the razor-throated storyteller who helped turn Deep Purple into a stadium engine (1969–1973), then came back for the 1984 reunion and later tours. Before the purple thunder I cut my teeth in Episode Six (1965–1969). In 1970 I also sang Jesus on the original "Jesus Christ Superstar" album—pure theatre, no cape. I went jazz-rock with the Ian Gillan Band (1975–1978), cranked it harder with Gillan (1978–1982), and even took a wild detour fronting Black Sabbath on "Born Again" (1983). Solo records and guest spots followed, but that operatic scream and sly phrasing always gave the game away, whether I was whispering a blues line or detonating a high note over a Marshall stack.
The human engine room of Deep Purple: swing, snap, and zero wasted motion.
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Ian Paice, the drummer who turned Deep Purple's thunder into clockwork groove, never flashy, always lethal. From Maze in the mid-60s he joined Deep Purple in 1968, anchoring every era: the Mark I-IV years (1968-1976) and the long-haul return (1984-present). After the split I followed him through Paice Ashton Lord (1976-1978), Whitesnake (1979-1982), and Gary Moore's early-80s line-ups and sessions (1982-1984). He's the only Purple member to play on every studio album, and you can tell why: his swing sits inside the backbeat, pushing the band forward without rushing. Listen for the tight hi-hat chatter, snare cracks like a starter pistol, and fills that sing without stepping on the riff.
On my best days, that Hammond roar still sounds like cathedral pipes hijacked by a Marshall stack—and Jon Lord is the reason.
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Jon Lord, British keyboardist, composer, and co-founder of Deep Purple, never played “background” the way polite musicians do—he attacked the keys like they owed him money, then turned around and wrote with the discipline of a trained composer. The story starts in the R&B trenches with The Artwoods (1964–1967), then detonates when he helps launch Deep Purple (1968–1976; 1984–2002), where that distorted Hammond became a lead instrument with teeth. After Purple’s first collapse, the road briefly rerouted through Paice Ashton Lord (1976–1978), and then straight into David Coverdale’s orbit with Whitesnake (1978–1984), adding class, weight, and that unmistakable “burning organ” halo to bluesy hard rock. Underneath all the volume, the man kept one foot in the concert hall—because some people can shred and still hear the orchestra in their heads.
The guy who made the guitar sound both medieval and radioactive, often in the same solo.
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Ritchie Blackmore is the sort of name I see on a sleeve and instantly expect sparks: born Richard Hugh Blackmore (1945), he’s an English guitarist who helped hard-rock riffing grow teeth and then politely refused to stop. His era-stamps are basically whole chapters of rock history: Deep Purple (1968–1975, 1984–1993), where the riffs got louder, sharper, and more dramatic; Rainbow (1975–1984, 1993–1997), where he leaned into melody and fantasy like it was a weapon; and Blackmore’s Night (1997–present), where the electric storm calms down into Renaissance-folk textures without losing that unmistakable Blackmore touch. I love that arc: from amp-stacks and arena thunder to lutes-and-candles vibes, like he just swapped dragons for different dragons.
"Blackmore Signature Strats"
I’ve spent too many nights chasing that Blackmore chime. Fender’s Artist Series Strat is a love letter to his ‘70s obsession—Olympic White with a graduated scalloped rosewood board that makes your fingers feel like they’re floating. The electronics are pure Ritchie logic: two Seymour Duncan Quarter Pounds for the bite and a dummy middle pickup. It’s a prop, a plastic decoy for us mortals. Then there’s the Fender Japan ST72-145RB. MIJ builds have a surgical precision, keeping the ‘72 vibe alive for the obsessive collector. We hunt these like lost relics, justifying the cost because a standard neck feels one-dimensional by comparison. It’s a specialized tool for a very specific kind of madness. But then, isn't that the whole point?
If the groove feels like a tank with manners, his name is usually somewhere nearby.
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Roger Glover is one of those credit lines I trust on sight: a Welsh bassist, producer, and songwriter who helped define the heavyweight “engine room” of classic hard rock. I mainly tag him to two eras that just refuse to die: Deep Purple (1969–1973, 1984–present), where his bass and writing instincts locked in with that Mark II bite, and Rainbow (1979–1984), where he wasn’t just playing low-end—he was also steering the sound as lyricist and producer. He came up through Episode Six, then spent the 1970s stacking production work and side projects like it was a second career (because, yeah, it basically was), but those Purple and Rainbow years are the real “mythology in the liner notes” stuff.
Complete Track-listing of the album "DEEP PURPLE Live at the Royal Albert Hall with The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Malcolm Arnold (Italy)"
The detailed tracklist of this record "DEEP PURPLE Live at the Royal Albert Hall with The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Malcolm Arnold (Italy)" is:
Side One:
First Movement
Second Movement
Side Two:
Third Movement
Fourth Movement
High Quality Photo of Album Front Cover "DEEP PURPLE Live at the Royal Albert Hall with The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Malcolm Arnold (Italy)"
Photo of "DEEP PURPLE Live at the Royal Albert Hall with The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Malcolm Arnold (Italy)" Album's Inner Sleeve
Note: The images on this page are photos of the actual album. Slight differences in color may exist due to the use of the camera's flash. Images can be zoomed in/out ( eg pinch with your fingers on a tablet or smartphone ).
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