In a new interview with Igor Miranda, Glenn Hughes touched on his relationship with Ritchie Blackmore and revealed whether or not he ripped off a Deep Purple hit.
During his time with the band, Blackmore contributed to one of the band’s current hits, ‘Burn.’ Since its release, many fans and music critics have compared the song to another by another artist written in the 1940s. The discussion suggests that Blackmore ripped off the song to make an addition to the hit song.
Having been the topic of discussion for years, Hughes clarified whether or not his bandmate did rip off the song:
“Look, we wrote the classic part of ‘Burn,’ you know the very bark influence Jon Lorde vibe. Then we came to this section where we hadn’t, so I suggested to play those chords and I sang, ‘You know we have to.’ That’s a Glenn thing, as you can hear, but it works really well. That middle section where I come, I call it the bridge section, was something that Purple had never done before. So I thought it was a unique thing.”
Who First Realized The Resemblance
Following the discussion about the same track, the interviewer pointed out the circulations about the song being ripped out from ‘Fascinating Rhythm,’ by George Gershwin. Apparently, it was another rocker who first brought it up. Clarifying whether or not it was more common to borrow things from the songs of other musicians, Hughes continued:
“I mean, I don’t think Ritchie ripped it off from ‘Fascinating Rhythm.’ It does kind of sound like it. I don’t think he did it deliberately, but when we listen to those two songs, Gene Simmons is the one that told me about that, so it’s Gene’s fault for talking about it. But yes, indeed, it does sound a little bit like that.”
When Hughes entered Deep Purple, he had the chance to play with Blackmore for two years before both of their departures from the band. Hughes went on by reflecting on their partnership with Blackmore:
“It was great. Ritchie and I were very close back in that period. I was at his house, and we were very friendly. I only have beautiful things to say about Ritchie. We hear a lot of crazy stories about him, but genuinely, underneath all the stories, all the gossip, and all the rumors, he’s a good, kind, funny man.”
Earlier Comments About the Song
In a post Hughes shared in 2019 on Facebook, the rocker shared a picture of him with Gene Simmons and wrote in the caption about the first time Simmons suggested the hit sounds like ‘Fascinating Rhythm.’ The post’s comments have been filled with fans and followers who realized the resemblance.
Earlier, Hughes talked about the same matter in an interview and clarified that every artist borrows from others and that it’s a classic example of how Blackmore may have taken something from the earlier years.
You can see the interview below.
