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Sun 21 Aug 2022 07:46:46 PM CDT : 1661129206 Burn! Burn is simply the awesomest song ever created by anyone anywhere at any time. With that out of the way, since the fact that the awesomest muscian of all time is one of the instrumental focal points, perhaps the point. Obviously Deep Purple wasn't Deep Purple without Jon Lord supplying the other half. Without Ritchie Blackmore and Jon Lord Purple was just a band named Deep Purple. Blackmore may have been unhappy with the personnel changes (Coverdale and Hughes replacing Ian Gillan and Roger Glover) but it still worked until he left. When he returned it worked agin. Until he left again, this time for good. While studio versions of almost all songs sound a little sterile compared to the live performances this one is pretty good in its original form. I remember the first time I heard it, unwrapping the 8-track in the parking lot and plugging it into the player. That opening hooked me almost fifty years ago and hasn't ever let go. I actuall like if more than the muore famous Smoke on the Water. For a studio recording it was very good, as all Purple albums were. The performance was of course the standard. They way to do it. The magic is in the hooks and riffs, and the opening riff is every bit as memorable as "Smoke on the Water", while Jon Lord's hot-rodded Hammond organ evokes memories of "Highway Star". Obviously no matter how good the sound, the live performances that followed are much better. I still listen to the original recording a lot though. As Smoke on the Water is best enjoyed on the "Made in Japan" album, and so is Highway Star, Burn (not yet recorded at the time of the Japanese recording) would played many more times over the years, with many high-quality recordings by Purple (but not with Ian Gillan, as he apparently didn't like doing songs originally recorded during his absence) avilable. They did perform it during Gillan's second vacation, with Joe Lynn Turner doing the vocal duties, but I haven't located a recording, official or otherwise. Here are some of the official ones: Made in Europe (1975/6) - Opening track. I'll give these a listen again and comment. Last Concert in Japan (1977) - Again, the opener. Live in London (1974, released 1982) - The same. King Biscuit Flower Hour Presents: Deep Purple in Concert (1976, released 1995) - The Coverdale era, so it is the opener. California Jamming (from the 1974 California Jam, released 1996) - The infamous Cal Jam (due to Blackmore's uh, anyway, at the end) is one of the best. Classic performance â la "Made in Japan" which had been released just a couple of years earlier. Live in Paris (1975) Was not released until 2001. This Time Around: Live in Tokyo (released 2001) The Best of Deep Purple: Live in Europe contains both MKII and MKIII lineups, so Burn makes an appearance. Perks and Tit (released 2004) was recorded in '74 and so.... Phoenix Rising from 2011 is a collection of 75/76 performances by the MKIV lineup. There are a number of other live recordings I haven't heard. Looks like someone figured if the material is there, might as well do something with it. OK, one of the blurbs for "Perfect Strangers" (the reunion with Blackmore was "destiny brought them together" which prompted the response from (probably more than one critic) that it was more likely having a regular paycheck again. Whatever, it worked. For a while, but then before long Blackmore had had enough of Gillan and departed, and Purple was effectively over. They just didn't know it. Jon Lord stayed, but it wasn't the same. Lord would stay until around 2002, but one only has to look at historical sales to see them go off a cliff with Blackmore's departure. Luckily, Blackmore would accumulate a lot of concert recordings, most of them very good and (being the late '70s onward) most with video. The Dio era stuff is quite good, and the religious wars (Dio vs Turner) notwithstanding, it's all worth checking out. OK, now for my favorite covers. Mostly live, but there are some studio versions I may stick in, one of these days. |
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