This paper proposes a novel high-performance deep learning framework for load recognition. The framework consists of a deep-shallow model and a fast backpropagation (FBP) algorithm. In the deep-shallow model, power-related wave patterns are perceived by a convolutional neural network (CNN), and feature statistics of the power consumption data are analyzed by a sparse feed-forward neural network. The new architecture improves model interpretability and prevents information loss problems in CNNs. The architecture also greatly boosts the convergence speed and significantly enhances the test set accuracy of a neural network. Compared with conventional CNN models utilized by many load recognition applications, the FBP algorithm consisting of four sub-algorithms converges faster at the start of the training process and reduces at least 87.5% of the filter gradient computations on average. The deep-shallow-fast model that combines the deep-shallow model and the FBP algorithm attains 97.62% accuracy on the test set in the load recognition task. To fully utilize the training data, a data augmentation technique is invented that transforms the voltage and current time series into an image-like 4-D tensor. Experiments illustrate that the proposed framework is much more accurate and converges considerably faster than the conventional CNN model that many deep-learning-based load recognition applications are based upon.