Deep Purple drew inspiration from early American rock, and the lyrics of this song are made up of bits from songs by Little Richard, Elvis Presley and Chuck Berry. The first verse borrows from Richard's songs "Good Golly Miss Molly," "Tutti Frutti" and "Lucille." The second verse is pulled from the soul classic "Rip It Up," as well as Elvis' "Hard Headed Woman" and Berry's "Some People." Deep Purple would later pay tribute to Little Richard when they named their 1987 album The House of Blue Light, after a line in "Good Golly Miss Molly."
According to Deep Purple lead singer Ian Gillan's autobiography, this song was called "Kneel and Pray" for some time.
Deep Purple played this song live for about eight months before they recorded it. In concerts, it was usually their opening number. The song got bumped on September 13, 1971 when the band decided they wanted a new song to open their shows, wrote "Highway Star" on the tour bus, and performed it that night.
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