Burn (Deep Purple song)

"Burn"
"Burn"
	The 1974 US single
Single by Deep Purple
from the album Burn
B-side	"Coronarias Redig"
Released	March 1974 (Japan); May 1974 (US)
Recorded	November 1973 ; Montreux, Switzerland
Genre	Hard rock; heavy metal;
Length	6:05; 4:33 (single edit)
Label	Warner Bros. (US)
Songwriter(s)	David Coverdale; Ritchie Blackmore; Jon Lord; Ian Paice;
Producer(s)	Deep Purple
Deep Purple singles chronology

"Burn" is a song by English rock band Deep Purple. It was released on the album of the same name in 1974. In the US and Japan it was also released as the second single by the Mark III lineup, after "Might Just Take Your Life".

History

"Burn" served as the band's concert opener for the next two years, taking over from "Highway Star".^[1] It opened Deep Purple's televised set at the California Jam festival two months after its release, on 6 April 1974.

After Deep Purple's 1976 split-up, Coverdale formed his own band, Whitesnake^[2] which over the years has featured Deep Purple members such as Jon Lord and Ian Paice, and has performed Deep Purple songs from the lineups he was part of, Mark III and IV, such as "Burn", "Mistreated", "Might Just Take Your Life" and "Stormbringer".

After the Deep Purple 1984 reunion, the song was no longer played, as Mark II vocalist Ian Gillan rejoined the band, and would not sing songs from the Mark III and IV eras. The band did perform "Burn" live in 1991, during the time in which Gillan was briefly replaced by Joe Lynn Turner. Deep Purple also played the "Burn" riff during "Speed King" medley in live performances in 1993.^[3]

Glenn Hughes has regularly performed "Burn" live, both as a solo artist and with the band Black Country Communion. In a Billboard magazine interview Eddie Van Halen named "Burn" one of his all-time favourite guitar riffs.^[4]

Song structure

Both David Coverdale (all verses & chorus) and Glenn Hughes (chorus & bridge) sing lead vocals on "Burn". Ritchie Blackmore (guitar) and Jon Lord (organ, synthesizer) both have solos (guitar and organ/synthesizer) in the full-length version of the song.

Charts

Weekly chart performance for "Burn”
Chart (1974)	Peak position
US Bubbling Under Hot 100 (Billboard)^[5]	5

Personnel

David Coverdale – vocals, composer
Glenn Hughes – bass, vocals
Jon Lord – Hammond organ, ARP Odyssey, composer
Ritchie Blackmore – guitar, composer
Ian Paice – drums, composer

References

^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 11 March 2007. Retrieved 9 October 2020.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
^ "Artists". Officialcharts.com. Retrieved 7 June 2021.
^ YouTube — Deep Purple Official (26 January 2017), Deep Purple - Speed King (Live)
^ "Six solid reasons Deep Purple are the ultimate rock band". BBC. Retrieved 3 August 2019.
^ Whitburn, Joel (1998). Bubbling Under Singles & Albums. Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin: Record Research Inc. p. 62. ISBN 0-89820-128-4.