Pictures of Home

Song infobox
Name = Pictures of Home


Artist = Deep Purple
Album = Machine Head
Released = March 1972
track_no = 3
Recorded = December 6 - 21, 1971 Montreux, Switzerland
Genre = Hard rock
Length = 5:08
Label = EMI (UK)
Warner Bros. Records (US)
Writer = Ian Gillan
Ritchie Blackmore
Roger Glover
Jon Lord
Ian Paice
Producer = Deep Purple
prev = "Maybe I'm a Leo"
prev_no = 2
next = "Never Before"
next_no = 4

Pictures of Home is a song by the British rock group Deep Purple, from their 1972 album Machine Head. It begins with a drum introduction by Ian Paice and features a fast paced, driving guitar riff and bass line with several instrumental solos.

History

"Pictures of Home" is "probably" Jon Lord's favorite song from Machine Head. Blackmore says that he was inspired by a short wave radio channel, "probably from Bulgaria or Turkey" when writing the main riff. Ian Gillan's lyrics were a result of studio paranoia and home sickness. It is the only song from Machine Head that was not performed live during Deep Purple's 1972 tour.

Blackmore refused to play the song live. Since his replacement with Steve Morse in 1994, the song has become a recent feature in Deep Purple's live shows. It has been the opening song throughout the current Rapture of the Deep Tour.