Space Truckin'
 | This articleneeds additional citations forverification.(August 2009) |
| "Space Truckin'" | |
|---|---|
 Cover of the 1973 Philippines single | |
| SongbyDeep Purple | |
| from the albumMachine Head | |
| Released | March 1972 |
| Recorded | 6–21 December 1971 |
| Studio | Montreux,Switzerland |
| Genre | |
| Length | 4:34 19:54 (Made in Japanversion) 4:52 (The 1997 Remixesversion) |
| Label | EMI(UK) Warner Bros.(US) |
| Songwriter(s) | Ian Gillan Ritchie Blackmore Roger Glover Jon Lord Ian Paice |
| Producer(s) | Deep Purple |
"Space Truckin'"is a song by English hard rock bandDeep Purple.It is the seventh and final track on theMachine Headalbum and its lyrics talk of space travel.
GuitaristRitchie Blackmoreclaims inClassic Albums: Deep Purple – The Making of Machine Headthat the song composition started with the half-step riffs in the refrain, which were inspired by thetheme musicfor theBatmanTV programme composed byNeal Hefti.Blackmore asked singerIan Gillanif he could write any lyrics over the riff, and the rest of the song evolved from there.
Live performances
[edit]When it was first performed live, the band appended an instrumental that was originally part of the song "Mandrake Root"from theirfirst albumbut gradually evolved into a showcase forJon Lord'sHammond organand Ritchie Blackmore'sguitar solos.This usually took the length of the overall song to over twenty minutes, and it was always performed as the last number of the main set. A good example of this arrangement can be found on theMade in Japanalbum, wherein Blackmore also quotes the "cello" solo of "Fools" offFireball.
Jon Lord played his solo through aring modulatoror played some of it on anARP synthesizer.Meanwhile, Ritchie Blackmore usually split the guitar solo into two halves, a quiet section with just drums, then a loud section with the full band. The second half was often when Blackmore would smash his guitar, play it with his feet or throw it into the air. One of the most infamous incidents where that happened was at theCalifornia Jam festival in 1974,where he dropped one guitar over the edge of the stage, smashed a second against a TV camera, then set his amplifier on fire, which then subsequently exploded.
When Deep Purple reformed in 1984, this extended arrangement was reworked, and later included snippets of other songs.
On the remastered version of their 1982 albumLive in London(recorded in 1974), there is a 31-minute-long live version of the song. It consists of a lot of improvising from the band members and in one part of the song they play the main riff from "Child in Time".
Cover versions
[edit]- British heavy metal bandIron Maidencontributed a cover of "Space Truckin'" for the tribute albumRe-Machined: A Tribute to Deep Purple's Machine Headto celebrate the 40th anniversary of Deep Purple's 1972 releaseMachine Head.[2]
- American thrash metal bandOverkilldid a cover of "Space Truckin'" for their 1999 cover-album,Coverkill.
- American guitaristAce Frehleyhas covered "Space Truckin'" for his 2020 albumOrigins Vol. 2.[3][4]
In pop culture
[edit]- The song appeared in the filmLords of Dogtown,[5]the documentaryWarren Miller's Dynastyand the video gameGuitar Hero: Van Halen.
- The 1997 remix of the song was featured in the first and last episodes ofAsh vs Evil Dead.[6]
- "Space Truckin'" played in orbit as a wake-up call for the Red Team on Flight Day 3 of the crew ofSTS-107;it was specially played for Mission SpecialistKalpana Chawla,who was later one of the seven crew killed in theSpace Shuttle Columbiadisaster.A fan of the band, she traded e-mails with group members while in space. GuitaristSteve Morse,vocalistIan Gillan,bass guitaristRoger Glover,drummerIan Paiceand keyboardistDon Aireywere recordingBananaswhen the disaster occurred. Chawla had taken three CDs onboard Columbia: Deep Purple's landmark 1972 albumMachine Head,1996'sPurpendicularandRainbow's 1979 albumDown to Earth(Glover and Airey were members of Rainbow at the time). To honor her, Deep Purple closedBananaswith "Contact Lost".[7]
- "Basically, this is 'Smoke on the Water', but in space, "remarkedTim WheelerofAsh."All Deep Purple's songs seem to be about being in a gang and, true to form, this is too – but, this time, they're intergalactic travellers. The lyrics are utter nonsense, but it doesn't matter. It's just a real stomper of a song with a great riff. I likeJon Lord's organ sound. It's so distorted, it's like a guitar. "[8]
Personnel
[edit]- Ian Gillan– vocals
- Ritchie Blackmore– guitar
- Roger Glover– bass guitar
- Jon Lord– keyboards
- Ian Paice– drums, percussion
References
[edit]- ^https://www.superseventies.com/spdeeppurple1.html[bare URL]
- ^Philip Wilding (13 November 2012)."Various Artists: Re-Machined: A Tribute To Deep Purple's Machine Head".Metal Hammer.
- ^"Ace Frehley announces" Origins 2 "details, releases Deep Purple cover of" Space Truckin' "".The Rockpit. 29 July 2020.
- ^Munro, Scott (28 July 2020)."Watch Ace Frehley explore the cosmos as he covers Deep Purple's Space Truckin'".Classic Rock.Retrieved4 April2024.
- ^"Overview:Lords of Dogtown".AMG.Retrieved15 May2010.
- ^"Music from Ash vs Evil Dead".Tunefind.com.Retrieved7 June2021.
- ^"Deep Purple's: Space Truckin' actually went into space".The Hamilton Spectator.9 February 2012.Retrieved28 November2019.
- ^"Sci-fi rocks".Q.August 2007. p. 117.
