Glenn Hughes And His Five Favourite Deep Purple Songs

Burn Baby Burn

In the lead-up to his upcoming tour of Australia, where Glenn Hughes will perform a set of classic Deep Purple tracks, we asked him to narrow his focus down a bit and tell us his five favourite songs of the band's to play and why.

Burn

This song was majestically written in the dungeon of Clearwell Castle, in the Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire, UK. As you can imagine being in a 18th century castle, this song literally raised the roof and shook the foundations. Performing Burn live through all of the decades has given the audience and myself a huge lift. Something happens in Burn every night when it seems louder than every other song in the show; it's like an increase in intensity and energy. I'm honoured to have co-written one of the '70s most epic rock songs. This is Deep Purple MK3's signature song and is still played live and on the radio around the world to millions of people.

Gettin' Tighter

This was written by myself and the late, great Tommy Bolin at my house in Beverley Hills, in the Summer of 1975, just after Tommy joined the band. This rock groove song came about while Tommy and I were jamming, and when we played the tape back, we found this gem amidst the jamming, and developed it from there. It happens to be one of my favourite Purple songs that I still play live because not only does it give me an opportunity to go into an extended bass solo, it's also a tip of the hat to the California Jam era when I incorporate the 'Dance To The Rock And Roll' section in the middle of the live version. I always dedicate this to Tommy each night, the memories come back and it's nice to bring the love home on this song.

Might Just Take Your Life

Starting with Jon Lord's strident Hammond stabs, this is a propulsive, marching song which breaks down into the deep groove of the verse where David Coverdale and I split lead vocals and get those unmistakable MK3 harmonies going. This song has so much swagger and movement, a massive chorus... it draws you in instantly and doesn't let go. It is still a fan favourite and I love to play it and hear them singing along.

You Keep On Moving

Written by David [Coverdale] and myself in the Summer of 1973, just after we'd both just joined Purple. It was originally written to go on Burn, but it was never recorded so it never made it on the album. We revisited it for Come Taste The Band where it ended up being the last recorded song by MK4, and also the last track on the album, so a very poignant song to play live. A soulful and melodic song to sing, with that simple but instantly recognisable bass line introduction. A beautiful piece.

This Time Around

This was written with my brother Jon Lord, late one night in the autumn of 1975 in Musicland Studios, Munich whilst recording Come Taste The Band. Jon and I were alone, and when he started playing the introduction chords, I immediately started to sing the melody. It was so simple, so haunting, yet it came together so quickly. I wrote the lyrics there and then, and the whole thing was written, both music and lyrics, in about an hour. I performed this live at the Royal Albert Hall in the Spring of 2014 at the Jon Lord memorial concert, and I was overcome with love. I'm so grateful to have written this with Jon as I believe that this is a timeless piece of music, and every time I sing it live, I'm carrying the message of Eternal Love.