Mandrake Root

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

“Mandrake Root”
Song by Deep Purple
Album Shades of Deep Purple
Released July 1968
Recorded May 11-13, 1968
Genre Rock
Length 6:09
Label Parlophone (UK)
Tetragrammaton (US)
Writer Rod Evans
Ritchie Blackmore
Jon Lord
Producer Derek Lawrence
Shades of Deep Purple track listing
"Prelude: Happiness/I'm So Glad"
(4)
Mandrake Root
(5)
"Help!"
(6)


"Mandrake Root" is a song by Deep Purple that featured on their debut album Shades of Deep Purple.

It is one of the few Mk I tracks that was a regular feature of Mk II's early setlist, as it provided a vehicle for lengthy organ and guitar solos from Jon Lord and Ritchie Blackmore respectively. For the guitar solo, Blackmore would frequently throw his guitar into the air, play it with his feet, or perform similar crowd pleasing tricks. The track was retired from the setlist by 1972, but the instrumental section of this track was later incorporated into live versions of "Space Truckin'".

The studio version is just under six minutes long. Most full recordings of live arrangement exceed the twenty minute mark.

One of the guitar riffs in the vocal section of the song bears a resemblance to the Jimi Hendrix track "Foxy Lady".