The Mule (song)
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"The Mule" | |
---|---|
Warner Bros. Records (US) | |
Songwriter(s) | Ritchie Blackmore, Ian Gillan, Roger Glover, Jon Lord, Ian Paice |
Producer(s) | Deep Purple |
"The Mule" is a song by English
Ian Gillan introduces "The Mule" as "It's all about Lucifer and some of his friends, most of whom are sitting around here somewhere tonight." (From the Live in Concert 1972/73 DVD), however on his website he also states "Yes, the Mule was inspired by Asimov."[2] The reference is to the character of The Mule, in the Foundation series by Isaac Asimov, specifically in Foundation and Empire.
Studio version
The song opens with the sound of a
AllMusic writes "The Mule" is perhaps Purple's finest instrumental. [3]
- Recording accident
Roger Glover remembers:
In an effort to achieve a phlanging effect the tape had been reversed and was in the "record" mode... Half the drums had been erased from the middle to the end of the song. The drums used for the recording had been packed and were on their way to Europe for the next tour dates. A kit was hastily rented and Ian had to overdub new drums onto half the song.[4]
Live performances
"The Mule" was played by Deep Purple during their 1971, 1972 and 1973 tours, and was recorded live for the Made in Japan album in August 1972. During this live performance, and most others, Paice played a 6-minute drum solo. On the recording heard on Made in Japan, Gillan starts the song by saying:
"Alright...everything up here...please. And a bit more monitor if ya got it."
[guitar noise] "Ah?" [echoing kettle drum] Ritchie Blackmore can faintly be heard saying, "You want everything louder than everything else?" then Gillan saying,
"Yeah, can I have everything louder than everything else...alright...ha ha"
And ends it with:
"Ian Paice on drums! YES!"
The opening guitar riff is repeated at the end of the song. Though the song was never played live between 1973 and 1976, Blackmore played the song's guitar riff after Paice's drum solo, which was moved to "
Personnel
- vocals
- Ritchie Blackmore – guitar
- Roger Glover – bass
- Jon Lord – organ
- Ian Paice – drums
References
- ^ Barton, Geoff (October 23, 2018). "Deep Purple: every album, ranked from worst to best". Classic Rock Magazine. Retrieved June 18, 2019.
and the deeply proggy The Mule.
- ^ "Caramba - Q&a". Gillan.com. Retrieved 7 June 2021.
- ^ "Fireball - Deep Purple | Songs, Reviews, Credits". AllMusic. Retrieved 7 June 2021.
- ^ Album liner notes in anniversary booklet, page 6