Deep Purple: “Burn” (1974)
In case you needed more proof that most rock bands couldn’t hold a candle to Purple, here it is.
Kronomyth 9.1: The stuff of witch nightmares are made.
A witch takes revenge on a town by burning it down. That’s the idea behind Burn. I’m old enough to remember the Black & Blue tour with Black Sabbath and Blue Öyster Cult, but BOC always had more in common with Deep Purple (and, yes, I realize that the Purple and Blue tour doesn’t sound nearly as cool). For the single, Warner Bros. edited the original album track to fit under four minutes by removing much of the guitar solo (which is one of Ritchie Blackmore’s best) and Jon Lord’s organ solo. The B side was a nonalbum instrumental, Coronarias Redig, with a funky undercurrent that reminds me a little of Alan Parsons Project’s “Wouldn’t Want to Be Like You.” The single was also released in Japan with a longer A side and a different B side, “Might Just Take Your Life,” which was actually an A side in most of the world. I know, sometimes this site is just intentionally confusing.
Original 7-inch single version
A1. Burn (edited version) (Ritchie Blackmore/Jon Lord/Ian Paice/David Coverdale) (3:42)
B1. Coronarias Redig (Jon Lord/Ritchie Blackmore/Ian Paice) (4:50)
Original 7-inch single version (Japan)
A1. Burn (Ritchie Blackmore/Jon Lord/Ian Paice/David Coverdale) (4:45)
B1. Might Just Take Your Life (Ritchie Blackmore/Jon Lord/Ian Paice/David Coverdale) (4:36)
The Players
Produced by Deep Purple; “Coronarias Redig” mixed by Ian Paice.
The Plastic
Released on 7-inch single in May 1974 in the US (Warner Bros., PUR 7809) and Japan (Warner Bros., P-1287W) with regional picture sleeve. (*First appeared in 5/18/74 issue of Billboard.)
