Shades of Deep Purple - The Later Rehearsals and Demo Recordings

The Later Rehearsals and Demo Recordings

After an agreed set list, the band began the finesse-rehearsals. Ritchie Blackmore convinced a friend of his, Derek Lawrence, to produce. He and Blackmore had cooperated some years before. Lawrence ran an independent production company that recorded singles and sold the results over to the United States. Lawrence had seen some of their sessions and was very impressed with what he saw.

Deep Purple's employer, HEC, was set in contact with American record-label, Tetragrammaton. The Americans were looking for a British band to work with on their new label. HEC set their talented deployers in full action and arranged for the band to cut some demos in between March and April. Two of their previously developed songs, "Hush" and "Help" were recorded for this purpose, as well as two newcomers: "Love Help Me" and "Shadows", both written by the band. "Help" was previewed for EMI, who had offered them a deal concerning distribution in Europe. The demos (except "Shadows", which was dropped) were previewed by Tetragrammaton, who after careful consideration chose "Hush" as their commitment.