One of my favorite songs is Deep Purple’s “Burn”. It’s a song that hasn’t been performed live since 1992, you don’t hear on the radio a lot. Now, for all you young guitar slingers – here’s a little history lesson. You probably know Deep Purple for their signature song “Smoke on the Water”. You might know Woman from Tokyo or Highway Star as well. What you might now know is that the singer that made those songs famous was Ian Gillan – who was fired from the band in 1973. He was replaced by a young singer by the name of “David Coverdale” until 1976. The album “Burn” was recorded in 1973, and the title track “Burn” was what they opened each show with while David Coverdale was singer (replacing Highway Star as opening number).
In 1976 Deep Purple broke up and David Coverdale went on to found the band we all know him for – “Whitesnake”. Ian Gillan did return Deep Purple again (except for the time he was fired “again” from 1989-1992), but he would never sing a single song from the Coverdale era, which is why “Burn” was never performed live again, except during the 1989-1992 era when Joe Lynn Turner was lead singer. There’s your classic rock history lesson for the day kiddies, read the Wikipedia page about “Deep Purple’s Burn” for more info. This video is from the “California Jam” where Deep Purple played “Burn” as the opening number only 2 months after the album was released.