DEEP PURPLE & THE ROYAL PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA/ CONCERTO FOR GROUP AND ORCHESTRA SHVL 767 (-70) UK

I remember being very impressed when this first showed up. Didn't buy it myself, but a friend had it and we listened with awe to a rock band that wrote and performed art music together with one of the great philharmonic orchestras at the time. Don't recall if I understod the music as a whole or that it caught me in any way, but the arty circumstances were enough to earn respect back then. A lot of time has passed since and when listening to it now...I don't know what to think. I'm just not there anymore. It is a symphony orchestra and a rock band collaborating through a work written by Jon Lord. But that's about it. It doesn't grab or move me - no breathtaking power or tearbreaking sentiment and nothing strictly personal. Maybe others can feel the groove, but I sure don't. The only thing that makes me happy here is Blackmoore's guitars. Wish there'd been more of that. A must for band fans and collectors with its obvious place in rock history, but not spending much time on my turntable. Issued and reissued on all possible formats over the world through the years. Premiere US 1969 on Tetragrammaton (T-131). Also reissued in UK 2014 as 3XLP (Parlophone VSHVL 767) with bonus tracks. First UK had label as shown here and E.J. Day laminated fold/out wide-spine cover with Harvest ad inner. (DHÄ*) (HÄVL*)