"Speed King" is a song by British hard rock band Deep Purple from their 1970 album Deep Purple in Rock. The song is one of the loudest from the album. A live version from In Concert was released as the B-side of the US release of the single "Black Night".

"Speed King" is not a cover, however many of its lyrics are borrowed from popular oldies, including "Rip It Up", "Good Golly Miss Molly", "Tutti Frutti", and "The Battle of New Orleans". The song was the first song to be written by vocalist Ian Gillan, who wrote the lyrics by writing down a mix of lines from Elvis Presley, Little Richard and Chuck Berry songs in the order that they came to mind. Possibly because of this, the song was never played without him. However, during the years that he has been in the band, it has been one of the band's staple live performances.

The song opens with a guitar solo by guitarist Ritchie Blackmore featuring large usage of the whammy bar. He is soon joined by bassist Roger Glover, organist Jon Lord and drummer Ian Paice. The four of them jam together for a minute, before the guitar, bass and drums leave the song, and Lord plays a classically inspired organ solo. On the original U.S. edition of Deep Purple in Rock, the intro was cut out (This version also appears on the compilation The Very Best of Deep Purple). The version on the compilation Deepest Purple starts with the organ intro. The organ solo lasts a few seconds, before the more recognizable section of the song begins, with Gillan's vocals coming into the song. After the second verse, a keyboard-guitar battle is played between Blackmore and Lord. This is followed by a guitar solo by Blackmore, mainly consisting of one lick played several times in different keys. As usual, Blackmore multi-tracked the solo, so that in the finished recording, the lick played in the solo can be heard being played in two different keys simultaneously (or, at times, in the same key). After the solos, Ian Gillan comes in with a very high-pitched scream and the song returns to the third verse, after which the chorus is played twice. During the last 40 seconds of the song, the band jams on the closing notes.

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