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Deep Purple “Lazy”

“Lazy”

In March of 1972 Deep Purple released Machine Head. Machine Head was the biggest commercial success album that the band has ever done. With such classic radio main stay hits like “Space Truckin”, “Highway Star” and there biggest hit single “Smoke on the Water”. How many people do you know that play a guitar that can’t play this tune? Not many I bet. Shit I don’t even play a instrument and I can play the beginning guitar notes on this tune.

For those handful of people in the world that might not have heard “Smoke on the Water” the album Machine Head was recorded in Montreux, Switzerland with the Rolling Stones Mobile Studio and was Deep Purple’s 6th album.

My favorite song on the album happens to be Lazy. How can you go wrong when the first lyrics don’t start out until well after the 4 minute mark and you get Ian Gillan singing “You’re lazy just stay in bed”. Now that’s something we all want to do everyday. Lazy starts off with the late Jon Lord playing the Hammond Organ for the first minute and twenty seconds. In the first 10 to 15 seconds you might think that he is playing at a funeral but then he starts to take you out of that world and into the world of rock and roll, not to fast but just fast enough to let us know what what might be coming up later. At a the 50 second mark you begin to hear the distinct sound of Lazy appearing. Somewhere around the 1:20 mark you can hear Ritchie Blackmore’s guitar coming in with a little help from Ian Paice and his symbols. Blackmore tease you with some guitar licks for about a minute while Roger Glover quietly joins in on the bass. At about the 2:20 mark Ritchie starts jamming away tempting Jon Lord to match him on the organ. The next couple minutes of them trading licks is the best part. All the while Roger Glover and Ian Paice are keeping the rhythm going. 3 minutes to go now so it’s time for Ian Gillan. With about 1:30 left Ritchie Blackmore rocks us out.

20 thoughts on “Deep Purple “Lazy””

  1. CB’s favorite cut from the album. An all time favorite to boot. Never get tired of it. Jon Lord kills it. His opening is the hook. Then the rest of the band joins in. What a cool song. A little harp for good measure. Love the comments. Great pick! (Listened to it twice while I was commenting)

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  3. Literally one of my favorite songs of all time. One day I’ll do a blog post on this album. When I first heard this song I was out of work. I wanted money – I wanted bread – but I was out of work. So the lyrics got me. But boy, that music. The thing about this song is that it swings. Blackmore’s solo is, of course, genius. And then 7 or so minutes in, bam! Full stop. Blackmore goes into a classic blues ending on guitar. Great stuff. If anybody is playing anything like this anywhere today please let me know.

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    • Jim funny you talk about when you were out of work and the lyrics got you. I was out of work for a couple years back in the 80’s and that’s when I fell in love with the tune. Lazy and Child in Time both showcase Deep Purple’s (mainly Lord and Blackmore) music talents. Joe Bonamassa and I think Jimmy Barnes? do a great version of this tune if you ever have a chance to check in out. I’ll add a link to the widget in a few for it if your interested in hearing it.

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      • So I cheated a little bit and decided to start the weekend early. So far on catching up with stuff recommended by fellow bloggers I’ve listened to an insane jazz/fusion trio, an 8-piece Latin horn band covering Sabbath (!), and now the Barnes/Bonamassa cover of “Lazy.”: All outstanding. That was exciting to see those guys work out on that tune. I will say though that as good a player as Joe is, I’m gonna give Blackmore the edge on this one if only on tone. Tone is key for guitar players and they spend their lives chasing it.

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