Now Available: Deep Purple – In Concert ’72

If you’re a Deep Purple fan, then you’ll definitely want to check out In Concert ’72, which arrived on record store shelves earlier this week, but we’ll forgive you if you do a momentary double-take and ask yourself, “Wait, do I already have this?”

The truthful answer to that question is that you might already have a fair amount of it, but even at that, you definitely don’t have all of it. And, yes, we realize that’s an answer which requires a bit of further clarification, so here goes.

This particular concert took place at London’s Paris Theater on March 9, 1972, but it was originally paired with another performance from February 19, 1970, and released under the less specific title Deep Purple in Concert. Both shows were recorded by the BBC, which is how the ’72 show ended up getting its own release in 2004 under the title Live on the BBC, but in 2012, that show received another reissue – this time with a new remix – and was released under its current title, In Concert ’72, and with the running order of the performance actually matching the original set list for the first time.

That’s what you’re getting here, along with a bonus track (“Maybe I’m A Leo”), and from a historical standpoint, this is a must-own for Deep Purple fans, given that it features the band’s first live performance of “Smoke on the Water,” an extended version of “Strange Kind of Woman,” and a really, really extended version of “Space Truckin’,” which is 22 freaking minutes long.

Yes, that’s a whole lot of “Space Truckin’.” But it’s also Deep Purple as they were firing on all thrusters, ready to make the jump to rock ‘n’ roll superstardom, which means that if you’re a fan, you’re probably already chomping at the bit to hear it. If so, then, hey, don’t let us stop you!