Black Night

Album: Deep Purple In Rock (1970)
Charted: 2 66
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • Bands often complain about record companies putting pressure on them to produce a hit song, but in many cases, these tactics work. That was the case here, as Deep Purple bass player Roger Glover explained in a 1988 interview with Metal Hammer. Said Glover: "I love the way that song was born. It happened one night in the studio after we finished Deep Purple In Rock and the management were screaming for a single, because there wasn't an obvious single on the album. So we thought that we'd humor them, because we never thought of ourselves as a singles band. We spent a whole afternoon trying to get a riff and nothing happened. Round 7:30 we decided to go down to the pub and stayed there until closing time and came back to the studio completely drunk wherupon Ritchie (Blackmore) picked up the guitar and started playing what was to become 'Black Night' and we said 'yeah, that sounds great let's do that.'"
  • According to Glover, the guitar riff was "inspired" by Ricky Nelson's 1962 version of "Summertime."
  • All Deep Purple fans know the song "Black Night," a rare hit single from a heavy metal band, but what inspired it? Lyric-wise it does not amount to much, but according to Ian Gillan in Wait For The Ricochet: The Story of Deep Purple In Rock, the title came from a song recorded by Arthur Alexander.

    Arthur Alexander (1940-93) was a black songwriter from the American Deep South who was more influential than famous. However, the "Black Night" he recorded in 1964 was written by another unheralded black songwriter, also from the Deep South. Jessie Mae Robinson née Booker (1918-66) was the first black woman to become a member of the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers. "Black Night" was recorded by Charles Brown in December 1950 and as a downtempo piano-based jazzy number with a saxophone; it was released in 1951. The Arthur Alexander version is distinctly uptempo. >>>
    Suggestion credit:
    Alexander Baron - London, England

Comments: 4

  • Stargrazzer from UkMy elder brother used to play this a lot on his record deck, and I can even remember learning to play the main riff & can still manage it ~53 years later!
  • AnonymousBlack knight was a ufo doing the rounds in 1956
  • Cj Thomson from Sarasota, Fl. My all time favorite Deep Purple song.
  • Paul from Rothesay, Nb, NbClassic Purple! Check out Blues Magoos "We Ain't (Got Nothing Yet)" from 1966. There are similarities.
see more comments

Editor's Picks

James Bond Theme Songs

James Bond Theme SongsMusic Quiz

How well do you know the 007 theme songs?

Dexys (Kevin Rowland and Jim Paterson)

Dexys (Kevin Rowland and Jim Paterson)Songwriter Interviews

"Come On Eileen" was a colossal '80s hit, but the band - far more appreciated in their native UK than stateside - released just three albums before their split. Now, Dexys is back.

Director Wes Edwards ("Drunk on a Plane")

Director Wes Edwards ("Drunk on a Plane")Song Writing

Wes Edwards takes us behind the scenes of videos he shot for Jason Aldean, Dierks Bentley and Chase Bryant. The train was real - the airplane was not.

Metallica

MetallicaFact or Fiction

Beef with Bon Jovi? An unfortunate Spandex period? See if you can spot the true stories in this Metallica version of Fact or Fiction.

Director Paul Rachman on "Hunger Strike," "Man in the Box," Kiss

Director Paul Rachman on "Hunger Strike," "Man in the Box," KissSong Writing

After cutting his teeth on hardcore punk videos, Paul defined the grunge look with his work on "Hunger Strike" and "Man in the Box."

Spooner Oldham

Spooner OldhamSongwriter Interviews

His keyboard work helped define the Muscle Shoals sound and make him an integral part of many Neil Young recordings. Spooner is also an accomplished songwriter, whose hits include "I'm Your Puppet" and "Cry Like A Baby."