Several months after the innovative remake of "You Keep Me Hanging On," England's answer to Vanilla Fudge was this early version of Deep Purple, which featured vocalist Rod Evans, and bassist Nick Simper, along with mainstays Ritchie Blackmore, Jon Lord, and Ian Paice. This, their second album, followed on the heels of "Hush," a dynamic arrangement of a Joe South tune, far removed from the flavor of one of his own hits, "Walk a Mile in My Shoes." Four months later, this album's cover of Neil Diamond's Top 25, 1967 gem "Kentucky Woman," went Top 40 for Deep Purple. Also like Vanilla Fudge, the group's own originals were creative, thought-provoking, but not nearly as interesting as their take on cover tunes…
"Known as "Monsieur 100,000 Volts" for his dynamic stage presence, Gilbert Bécaud was one of France's most popular singers during the 1950s and '60s, and enjoyed a career of more than four decades in show business. (…) his primary impact came as a singer. In an era when cabaret vocalists remained largely stationary on-stage, Bécaud's energetic showmanship drove his audiences into a frenzy, as they strove to match his boundless enthusiasm. He became a regular presence at Paris' legendary Olympia concert theater, where he performed over 30 times – more than any other artist. A notoriously heavy smoker, Bécaud succumbed to lung cancer in 2001, but kept performing almost right up to the end.