Over the course of 1972, probably the most-played album at my school was Deep Purple’s Machine Head. But not by me. Its opening song, Highway Star, exhibited the characteristic combination of leaden riffs and virtuosic classical-inspired solos that their admirers loved so much… and I couldn’t stand.
It’s got a piledriving rhythm, generated by Ian Paice and Roger Glover, adorned by Ritchie Blackmore’s pyrotechnic guitar solo (apparently inspired in equal measure by rockabilly guitarist Johnny Burnette and Bach) and Jon Lord’s extravagant keyboard solo, which starts off like a motorcycle revving up and turns into an amohetamine-driven Bach fugue.
This song apparently began life when the band travelled to a gig in Portsmouth on a bus with some journalists, one of whom asked Blackmore how he composed songs. “Like this,” he said, picking up a guitar and playing the opening riff of what would soon become Highway Star.
Demonstrating the truth in the adage that you should always write about what you know, Gillan added some lyrics about being on the road in a rock’n’roll band, the group filled in the gaps during a pre-gig rehearsal, and they premiered the song that same night onstage.
Anyway, Highway Star. It’s fast. It’s heavy. It’s skilfully executed. It’s not half as bad as I imagined it would be. Even though it reminds me of a grim period of my life where music provided the only relief.
Many years later I would interview Ian Gillan, who was living in Lyme Regis at the time. It seemed somehow appropriate that a rock dinosaur would live on the Jurassic Coast but he was at pains to emphasise his wild man credentials, telling me he sometimes joined local bands onstage in the local Dorset pubs.
“I’ve still got the fire in my belly,” he assured me, patting a loose black T-shirt covering an exapanse of torso that was well upholstered, if not actually ablaze.
Then Roger Glover came in, looking a bit like Chas (or perhaps Dave) in a collarless grandad shirt and waistcoat, with a cap on his head. “How yer diddlin’ Rodge?” inquired Gillan, instantly dousing the fire.