Album · Compilation
The Early Years
The Early Years is a Deep Purple compilation released in 2004 on EMI. It gathers material from 1968 and 1969, the band's first stretch on record, and adds unreleased mixes alongside fresh mixes of tracks from the same period.
That puts it squarely in the years of Shades of Deep Purple, The Book of Taliesyn and the self-titled third album, before Deep Purple in Rock in 1970 reshaped the group's sound. For anyone who knows the band mainly through their later hard rock records, it offers a way to hear how they sounded at the very beginning, with some versions of songs that may be new to even devoted listeners.
The Early Years: tracklist and credits
14 tracks · 1:17:42Tracklist
- 1And the Address (remix)Ritchie Blackmore and Jon Lord4:36
- 2Hush (Monitor mix)Joe South4:15
- 3Mandrake RootBlackmore, Evans, Lord6:13
- 4I’m So Glad (remix)7:08
- 5Hey Joe (remix)Billy Roberts7:16
- 6Kentucky Woman (alternate take)Neil Diamond5:33
- 7Listen, Learn, Read OnBlackmore, Evans, Lord, Paice4:04
- 8ShieldBlackmore, Evans, Lord6:04
- 9Wring That Neck (BBC session)Blackmore, Lord, Paice, Simper4:43
- 10AnthemRod Evans and Jon Lord6:31
- 11Bird Has FlownBlackmore, Evans, Lord5:35
- 12Blind (remix)Jon Lord5:31
- 13Why Didn’t RosemaryBlackmore, Evans, Lord, Paice, Simper5:04
- 14Lalena (instrumental)Donovan5:10
- Produced by
- Derek Lawrence
- Recorded at
- Pye Studios, De Lane Lea Studios, Maida Vale Studios: Studio 4
- Recorded
- 1968–1969
- Mixed by
- Derek Lawrence, Peter Mew
- Engineered by
- Barry Ainsworth
- Label
- EMI
- Length
- 1:17:42
Line-up
- Ritchie Blackmore · electric guitar
- Jon Lord · Hammond organ, background vocals, mellotron, harpsichord
- Ian Paice · drums (drum set)
- Nick Simper · electric bass guitar, background vocals
- Rod Evans · lead vocals
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More from Deep Purple
Full discography →
Murmullo – Hush
1968
Shades of Deep Purple
1968
Shades of Deep Purple
1968
The Book of Taliesyn
1968
Deep Purple
1969
Deep Purple
1969
Concerto for Group and Orchestra
1969
The Bird Has Flown
1970
Black Night
1970
Deep Purple in Rock
1970
Fireball
1971
Hits
1972
Never Before
1972
Stereo Pop Special‐12
1972
Machine Head
1972
Purple Passages
1972
Made in Japan
1972
Abril
1973
Space Truckin’
1973
Who Do We Think We Are
1973
Mark I&II
1973
Black Night
1974
Deep Purple in Rock
1974
Вокально-Инструментальные Ансамбли
1974
Burn
1974
Stormbringer
1974
Lay Down Stay Down
1975
Child in Time
1975
24 Carat Purple
1975
Come Taste the Band
1975
Made in Europe
1976
Come With Me / Smoke on the Water / Woman From Tokyo
1977
2 + 2, Vol. 43
1977
Smoke on the Water
1977
Last Concert in Japan
1977
New Live & Rare
1977
Powerhouse
1977
The Deep Purple Singles A’s & B’s
1978
When We Rock, We Rock and When We Roll, We Roll
1978
New Live & Rare: Vol. 3
1980
Deepest Purple: The Very Best of Deep Purple
1980
In Concert
1980
Live in London
1982
Perfect Strangers
1984
Smoke on the Water
1985
Lady Double
1985
Smoke on My Mega‐Mix
1985
The House of Blue Light
1987
Bad Attitude
1987
Perfect Strangers
1988
Nobody’s Perfect
1988
Live in Stockholm
1988
Scandinavian Nights
1988
Slaves and Masters
1990
In the Absence of Pink: Knebworth 85
1991
Knocking at Your Back Door: The Best of Deep Purple in the 80’s
1991
Smoke on the Water
1993
The Gemini Suite
1993
The Battle Rages On…
1993
Smoke on the Water: The Best of
1994
Come Hell or High Water
1994
On the Wings of a Russian Foxbat: Live in California 1976
1995
Purpendicular
1996
California Jamming
1996
Deep Purple Mk III: The Final Concerts
1996
Live at the Olympia ’96
1997
Smoke on the Water
1998
Abandon
1998
30: Very Best Of
1998
Shades 1968–1998
1999
Friends & Relatives
1999
Total Abandon: Australia ’99
1999
Days May Come and Days May Go: The California Rehearsals, June 1975
2000
The Very Best of Deep Purple
2000
Smoke on the Water & Other Hits
2001
This Time Around Live in Tokyo 75
2001
Deep Purple The Soundboard Series 2001
The Soundboard Series
2001
Live at the Rotterdam Ahoy
2001
Live at Inglewood 1968
2002
Listen, Learn, Read On
2002
Deep Purple The Best of Deep Purple: Live in Europe 2003
The Best of Deep Purple: Live in Europe
2003
Bananas
2003
Deep Purple The Platinum Collection Sampler 2005
The Platinum Collection Sampler
2005
The Platinum Collection
2005
Rapture of the Deep
2005
Live at Montreux 1996
2006
Kneel & Pray
2006
Deep Purple Original and Remixed Hits 2007
Original and Remixed Hits
2007
Live in Concert at the 2006 Montreux Festival
2007
Phoenix Rising
2011
Live at Montreux 2011
2011
All the Time in the World
2013
Now What?!
2013
Above and Beyond
2013
Live in Verona
2014
Deep Purple Out of Hand 2015
Out of Hand
2015
Long Beach 1976
2016
Time for Bedlam
2017
All I Got Is You
2017
Infinite
2017
Johnny’s Band
2017
Throw My Bones
2020
Whoosh!
2020
Turning to Crime
2021
Lazy Sod
2024
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2024
Things I Never Said
2025
SPLAT!
2026
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Releases and pressings
How we know the release date only month precision available
| Source | Date | Note |
|---|---|---|
| MusicBrainz | 2004 | |
| Wikipedia infobox | 1 March 2004 | |
| Wikidata | 2004 | |
| UK / Europe release | 2004 | earliest UK or European date |
1 editions
| Date | Country | Label | Barcode | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | XE | EMI | 724359661124 | original |
Cover art sources
coverartarchive · cropped: cropped from 1600x1591 to 1591x1591
| Source | Size | Verdict |
|---|---|---|
| coverartarchive ✓ | 1600×1591 | cropped: cropped from 1600x1591 to 1591x1591 |
| fanarttv | 1000×1000 | upscaled |