Released July 1968 Length 4:38 | Recorded May 11, 1968 | |
Genre Psychedelic rock, instrumental rock, progressive rock, hard rock Label Tetragrammaton (US)
Parlophone (UK) Writer(s) Ritchie Blackmore, Jon Lord | ||
"And the Address" is a song by English hard rock group Deep Purple.
Contents
Early history
The song is the very first composed by the band. It was written by Ritchie Blackmore and Jon Lord before the formation of the group, but the two knew that they would get a band together soon, as they had been hired by musician Chris Curtis to get something stirred up. This was because Curtis had met Lord whilst on the hunt for some session-players. Curtis also told Lord about a young guitarist named Ritchie Blackmore, apparently of exceptional talent.
Composition
The duo's cooperation with Curtis didn't work though, as the latter was tended to be much too directorial and supposedly "in charge". Lord and Blackmore continued to work together, as they enjoyed playing together. Soon they were on the hunt for other musicians so they could start a band. In December 1967, at Jon Lord's home in London, he and Blackmore discussed the possibilities for a potential project together. It was at this time they began writing some tunes: "And the Address", then "Mandrake Root", (which would eventually have lyrics added to keep it down to one instrumental).
Recording and continuation
After the band was fulfilled, they began recording the album Shades of Deep Purple in May. "And the Address" was the first song to be set in motion, on May 11. After the release of the album, the song was played at many live shows, and it would be played until the release of The Book of Taliesyn, later in 1968. This newer album featured another instrumental, "Wring That Neck", also called "Hard Road" in the US. This instrumental would prove more popular than "And the Address", and therefore it was dropped in favor of the newcomer at live shows. "Wring That Neck" has stayed on Deep Purple's set-lists even to the present day, and "And the Address" has almost never been played after 1968.