DEEP PURPLE/THE BOOK OF TALIESYN SHVL 751 (-69) UK

After the unexpected US success of "Shades Of Deep Purple" and the single "Hush" the band was rushed into a studio to record a follow-up. At the time they didn't have enough material for a whole album so the originals were stretched and a few covers included. To some extent this reminds of their debute, with organ-driven harsh prog sound. But it's also more diverse - "Listen, Learn, Read On" is psych, a few other tracks has borderline art-rock drama and '45 number "Kentucky Woman" is towards pop. Overall it's heavier than "Shades" - especially the guitars - and in that way carries the seed to later hard rock efforts. I bought my first copy of this at the same time as "Deep Purple In Rock" and I remember liking them both equally. "In Rock" was a party album while this was for relaxed listening with friends. My favorite cuts was "Listen, Learn, Read On" and the mighty "River Deep Mountain High" cover. Back then I also had morning music - songs I played while getting ready for school - and the instrumental "Wring That Neck" was it for a long period. As the predecessor it was produced by Derek Lawrence, but with much better audio - bigger and clearer. (Originally also a  mono version was made, but since the group had moved from Parlophone to Harvest, a UK label that didn't release monos at that time, the tapes were put in the vault and stayed there till 2015 when they finally saw a limited release   https://monolover.blogspot.com/2015/04/deep-purplebook-of-taliesyn-hvl-751-eu.html   ) At first it did not sell as much as the debute in US and in England it was hardly noticed, the sales there picked up first after "In Rock". Released in US late -68 on Tetragammaton (T-107) and in UK June -69. Earliest UK issues with laminated f/o cover and no "EMI" box on left side label, the boxed logo first showed up on the Harvest labels about a year later. (HÄVL*) (DHÄ*)