Deep Purple's In Rock at 50: In Praise Of Metal For The Ear

I'd like to take time out from the many crises facing the world, including the disturbing suppression of free speech here in the States, to celebrate one of the foundational recordings in the rock-and-roll metal genre. Deep Purple's In Rock album turns 50 years old today. Were it not for the fact that the song "Smoke on the Water" (from the album Machine Head) forever branded Purple as the band known for that famous riff, In Rock in my humble opinion would be more widely recognized as the band's signature piece of music. 

Deep Purple's 1970 In Rock album cover. From left to right, the band members were Ian Gillan (vocals), Ritchie Blackmore (guitar), Jon Lord (keyboards), Roger Glover (bass), and Ian Paice (drums). Though not an explicitly political band, Purple's  idea of British rockers  as enshrined on Mt. Rushmore  can be read as an ironic statement of how pop stars had replaced politicians as icons in that turbulent time. 

How Joe Biden Can Unite Factions: The Pope-A-Dope Strategy

[Full Disclosure: While I am not a practicing Catholic, I still consider myself to be a member of the Church. Growing up I attended 16 years of Catholic School, including St. John's University in NYC. --Tony Palmeri]

Given that he's running for the presidency in the middle of a global pandemic, depressed economy, and the most widespread racial justice protests since 1968, it's not surprising that Joe Biden's religious background has received limited media attention. Yet if he does prevail in November, Mr. Biden would be only the second Catholic ever to occupy the White House. The first of course was John Fitzgerald Kennedy. Biden takes his faith seriously, and in 2005 said, "The next Republican that tells me I'm not religious, I'm going to shove my rosary down their throat." 

Back in the day, anti-Catholic bigotry made it virtually impossible for Catholic candidates to capture the presidency. New York Governor Al Smith, Democratic party nominee for president in 1928, could not overcome hysterical reactions to his Catholicism in some parts of the country; in the deep south the Ku Klux Klan campaigned actively for Republican Herbert Hoover. Political historian Allan Lichtman concluded that “the religious issue was by far the most important influence on voting.” (cited in Jay Dolan, "The Right of a Catholic to Be President," Notre Dame Magazine, 2008). 

Above: Sample Ku Klux Klan rhetoric used against Al Smith in 1928. Klansmen argued that if a Catholic were elected President, he would take orders from the Pope. Such  sentiments had widespread support in the United States for many years.