hugely inventive slice of musical history

This concert really is the pinnacle of all the movies of the 70s bands live.

Deep Purple as headliners at the California Jam in 1974, just after David Coverdale and Glenn Hughes had joined the line-up (replacing Gillan and Glover). 

Not only content with reworking classics such as Smoke on the Water and Space Truckin', this set also features the pick of the tracks on Mark III's first album, 'Burn'. I'd have given anything to be there in the crowd when Blackmore and Coverdale pulled all the stops out for a jaw-dropping rendition of 'Mistreated'.

The camera work is brilliant and the sound crisp and clear on this recording, right down to the guitar smashing and the exploding speakers at the height of the final number. Better yet, you get some sense of the atmosphere which is what all good videos of gigs should strive to achieve.

Very probably the best concert movie yet made, and for Purple followers, unmissable.

Recorded and aired live by ABC-TV on 6th April 1974 at the Ontario Speedway near Los Angeles CA. Video produced by Tony Edwards. One of the most controversial rock festivals of the seventies had to be the 'California Jam-Festival, which included E.L.P, Black Sabbath, Eagles, Rare Earth and of course the headliner: Deep Purple. 200,000 visitors witnessed the havoc caused when, during the performance, Ritchie Blackmore started to destroy ABC's tv cameras! The track "Lay down, stay down" was also done but was later edited off by some strange reason. The concert was subsequently released on CD in 1996.

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Streaming Stars, Then and Now

Ontario Motor Speedway, Ontario, California, USA

Rock Flashback: California Jam

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