“Space Truckin'” by Deep Purple – The Story Behind the Song
“Space Truckin'” by Deep Purple is one of the most requested songs on The Power Lunch. It has that signature Ritchie Blackmore guitar that just shreds through the entire song. I love the momentum and cadence of this song. So, what’s it about?
Many of the Mark II line-up of Deep Purple (Ian Gillan, Ritchie Blackmore, Roger Glover, Jon Lord, and Ian Paice) started with an idea from Ritchie Blackmore. “Space Truckin'” was one of them. The riff Ritchie created came about from a finger exercise he based on the Batman theme song. You can’t make this stuff up.
Origin of ” Space Truckin'” by Deep Purple: The Lyrics
As for the lyrics, Ian Gillain said in an interview with Songfacts, “It’s not literal – nothing in that song is literal. It’s all a play on words.”
Remember when we did the moonshot
And pony trekker led the way
We’d move to the Canaveral moon-stop
And everynaut would dance and sway
We got music in our solar system
We’re space truckin’ round the stars
Come on let’s go space truckin’
Well, obviously, Ian is correct. But the song still takes us on an amazing action-packed journey through outer space. Machine Head, in general, is a magnificent album. It begins on Earth with “Highway Star” and wraps in outer space with “Space Truckin’.” This final track is 4:31 but the band’s live versions were much longer. Deep Purple’s double-disc live album, Made In Japan has a performance from Osaka take takes up the entire Side 4 of the release, clocking in at more than 20 minutes.
How The Ablum, Machine Head, Came About
Machine Head was recorded in a hotel. Do you remember the story of “Smoke On The Water?” Deep Purple was supposed to record at the Montreux Casino in Switzerland, but the day before their arrival, the casino burned to the ground during a Frank Zappa concert. With nowhere to record, Deep Purple ended up recording the entire album in the Grand Hotel where they were staying. Since the conditions were less than ideal, the band worked quickly and wasn’t too picky about retakes and such. What the album lacked in technical perfection was more than made up for in raw energy from the performances of Deep Purple’s band members.
“Space Truckin'” by Deep Purple Has Actually Trucked Through Space
Kalpana Chawla was one of the astronauts on the Space Shuttle Columbia in 2003. Chawla knew Steve Morse, Deep Purple’s guitarist, and she brought Machine Head with her. The mission was ill-fated and the shuttle did not make it back safely. Steve Morse wrote a song called, “Contact Lost” for Deep Purple’s album, Bananas. in memory of Chawla and the other astronauts.
Here’s a video of “Space Truckin’ by Deep Purple. It’s a live performance from New York recorded fifty years ago. Man, to have been at this show. The band is on top of their game.
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