According to Wikipedia, Fireball was released in the States 50 years ago today. So my 25th Anniversary Edition is 25 already!
Then again, the US version had Strange Kind of Woman instead of Demon’s Eye as it was in on the UK edition. That’s not right. It means, the proper 50th Anniversary of Fireball has to wait till September.
I discovered Fireball later than the other Mark II classics, and it is the only Purple album with whose lyrics I’d got acquained before I actually heard it. It so happened that one of my brother’s bandmates brought him the songbook that, in turn, somebody else lent him for several days. The book looked like this:
At the time (that is, the late 1970s) we had no access to photocopier, so we copied the book by hand, or rather, by two hands: my brother did the scores, I did the texts, which included the lyrics and also the band’s bio. My knowledge of English back then was below elementary. Of course, I remembered some words even though I was not sure how to pronounce them. The album itself remained elusive for a couple of years after that, until the day I listened to an unmarked magnetic tape reel of rather dodgy quality and by-now forgotten origin. I heard a country-style song which I liked and suddenly realised that I recognise some of these words. Farmer’s daughter? Judge’s daughter? Could it be...? I unearthed my handwritten book. Yes, here it was: Anyone’s Daughter. And the rest? I rewound the tape to the beginning and listened to the end. Bingo: complete Fireball, starting with, well, Fireball!
Purple’s last prog-rock effort, Fireball remains one of my favourite albums. The band is at the peak of their powers, the songs are diverse and well-crafted, the title track is speedier than Speed King, and even Ritchie Blackmore finally plays in tune.
The sound quality of the aforementioned 25th Anniversary Edition CD is great. If you don’t care about bonus tracks, just stop after No One Came, because that’s where the the original album ends. For those who prefers the American LP version, Strange Kind of Woman is also here, followed by I’m Alone, another great song hitherto only available on The Deep Purple Singles A’s & B’s.
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