Early Development
Deep Purple had been on tour overseas in late 1968 to promote their second album, The Book of Taliesyn. Their two so-far released singles and albums had yet to make an impact in Britain when they returned there on 3 January 1969. Their English label EMI pressured the band to make a successful single on their home-court, so there was not much time for restitution after coming home. "Kentucky Woman" had, as their previous single "Hush" not fared well there, even if it had been a hit in the States and done even better in Canada. The band themselves had come up with much more solid original material the second time around, wanting to unleash the full potential for each song. Hence, making a song that would easily fit the three-minute range was becoming difficult. However, they could not release a new album without such a single to promote it.
The band had tried to record a new single to fit the smash-criteria in December, while in America, but nothing had come of it, so they eventually gave up. After returning to England, they settled in studio again in early 1969, and the new single contender, "Emmaretta" was completed on January 7, after four takes needed. It was scheduled as a B-side. They needed a new A-side, so after experimenting a bit with different ideas, "The Bird Has Flown" was yielded. It was a more progressive and complicated work than "Emmaretta", so the song itself took a bit longer time to finish, which they did later on the 7th. Following this short visit to the studio, the band set up for a series of one-nighters across Britain the following February and March. "Wring That Neck" from their previous album, which had yet to be released in the UK, was issued there as the single B-side to promote the touring band.
Read more about this topic: Deep Purple (album)
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