Deep Purple - Black Night (1970) (Track of the Day)

Lyrics: [Intro] [Verse 1] Black night is not right I don’t feel so bright I don’t care to sit tight [Chorus] Maybe I’ll find on the way down the line That I’m free, free to be me Black night is a long way from home [Verse 2] I don’t need a dark tree I don’t want a rough sea I can’t feel, I can’t see [Chorus] Maybe I’ll find on the way down the line That I’m free, free to be me Black night is a long way from home [Guitar Solo] [Verse 3] Black night, black night I don’t need black night I can’t see dark light [Chorus] Maybe I’ll find on the way down the line That I’m free, free to be me Black night is a long way from home [Guitar Solo/Outro] “Black Night“ is a song by English hard rock band Deep Purple, released as a single in June 1970 and later included on the 25th Anniversary version of their 1970 studio album, Deep Purple in Rock. It became a hit following its release, peaking at No. 1 on UK New Musical Express, Melody Maker and Top Pops charts, and remains Deep Purple’s highest charting UK single. It topped the charts in Switzerland, and is one of only two singles from the band to chart in Ireland, peaking at No. 4, thus making it the group’s only Irish Top 10 hit. It was also the second non-album single penned by the band and also reached number 6 in South Africa. Once Deep Purple in Rock had been completed, EMI asked for a single to be recorded to help promote the album. Though Roger Glover states that Ricky Nelson’s 1962 hard rocking arrangement of the George Gershwin song “Summertime“ was the basis for the Mk II Deep Purple single “Black Night,“ it is also similar to Blues Magoos’s 1966 psychedelic hit song “(We Ain’t Got) Nothin’ Yet.“ In the BBC documentary Heavy Metal Britannia, keyboardist Jon Lord supports Glover’s statement about the song’s origin, stating “Black Night was nicked from the bass line in Ricky Nelson’s Summertime“ and then proceeds to play the bassline riff on his grand piano.