By 1973, while Deep Purple had
achieved a colossal amount of success in a relatively
short period of time, beneath the surface, all was not
well. Deep Purple may have been in Rock, but cracks were
appearing. Their most recent album, Who Do We Think We
Are was mediocre at best.
Of course dissent in the Purple ranks was nothing new.
In 1971, guitarist Richie Blackmore and drummer Ian
Paice had teamed up with Thin Lizzy vocalist/bassist
Phil Lynott, under the band name Baby Face (studio time
was booked, though no tracks were ever released,
surprising, considering the calibre of the musicians
involved.)
Ian Gillan was first to quit the Purple fold. He wrote
to the band, telling them his “intention to leave the
group on 30th June 1973. This decision is not impulsive
but is made after at least six months of thought.”
Gillan also believed the band would break up completely
following his departure, he hoped that they’d quit while
they were ahead. Which is ironic considering almost four
decades later he still fronts Deep Purple! But,
nevertheless, at the time, a complete break up was very
feasible. Lord intended to team up with Tony Ashton
(something he would actually do, along with Ian Paice,
following the break up in 1976 of Deep Purple Mark 4).
Blackmore intended to revive the Baby Face band idea
along with Paice.
Management were not keen on this however, they didn’t
want the cash cow Purple had become to perish (remember
in those days, bands sold albums by the truckloads, they
weren’t a travelling tribute act geared to selling
needless memorabilia). So, Trapeze vocalist/bassist
Glenn Hughes was brought into the Purple camp, with then
bassist Roger Glover being forced out under unpleasant
circumstances. He was to become head of Purple Records
and concentrate on production (Working with the likes of
Judas Priest), before in the musical chairs typical of
metal, he returned to the music scene working with the
man who masterminded his firing, Ritchie Blackmore, in
Rainbow.
Now, it’s surprising, considering that Hughes was and is
a fantastic singer (though never was a talent more
wasted and pissed away, Hughes would go on, post-Purple
to work with the likes of Tony Iommi and Pat Thrall, but
the stature his incredible voice demanded was never
achieved, on the whole due to various addictions of
Hughes, though now thankfully he is clean and producing
good music again). So, an unknown singer, David
Coverdale was recruited (first choice Paul Rodgers
turned down the offer).
So, on 3 November, 1973, Purple flew to Montreux to
record a new album with the Rolling Stones Mobile.
Martin Birch, who would go on to produce classic albums
for the likes of Iron Maiden was engineer.
The resulting album, Burn, was a barnstorming return to
form. Stand out songs include the title track, which was
inspired by George Gershwin’s ‘Fascinating Rhythm’.
Coverdale had to adapt to Blackmore’s lyrical demands
which were more fantasy orientated (Coverdale preferred
singing about birds and booze, and why not!), something
that would in future be metal staples, and form the
cornerstone of the lyrics on the first three (i.e the
classic) Rainbow albums. Elsewhere, tracks like Might
Just Take Your Life (which would survive into
Whitesnake’s set), Lay Down, Stay Down, and the classic
Sail Away, which features some great shared vocals from
Coverdale and Hughes, and is personally one of my
all-time favourite songs. Also of note is the incredible
blues of Mistreated.
The futuristic instrumental A200 is notable, not just
for Jon Lord’s experiments in synthesizer sounds (which
sound slightly Doctor Who/BBC Radiophonic Workshop to
modern ears), and one of Blackmore’s best ever solos,
but for the titles inspiration, which came from a remedy
to an affliction bands often pick up on the road. The
said production boasted the advertising jingle: “Crabs
on crotch, lice on head. One thing’s sure to knock ‘em
dead. A200.”
Might Just Take Your Life was issued with a non-album
track, the awesome instrumental Coronaris Redig (which
can be found on the 30th Anniversary Edition of Burn).
Purple seemed unstoppable (not even a worldwide vinyl
shortage could stop them). Records sold fantastically
well, tours were sold out, and Ritchie entered the
history books by smashing a camera with his Stratocaster
at the huge California Jam.
But, the support band on the UK leg of the tour was a
little known band called Elf, whose singer Ronnie James
Dio became friends with Ritchie.
