On February 15, 1974, Deep Purple released its eighth album Burn. It was the first album to feature new lead singer David Coverdale as well as bassist Glenn Hughes, guitarist Ritchie Blackmore, keyboardist Jon Lord, and drummer Ian Paice. The album’s title track is pure 70s rock and roll, with lyrics that reference a witch being accused of starting fires with the wave of her hand and the mob shouting “Burn!”
“Burn” and Deep Purple played a big role in making me a music fan. In 2000, my family and I went on a trip out east to Vermont that included a stop at Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and staying at my aunt and uncle’s house. I vividly recall sitting at the computer with my cousin and listening to bands such as Deep Purple, Black Sabbath and Pink Floyd and being in awe of this raw rock and roll that I was hearing. It started me down a path of discovering music, with a lot of help from my dad.
The song has been covered countless times over the years by a variety of acts. One of the latest is Ginny Luke, who puts a wholly special take on it by playing the electric violin. The song, which also features guitarist Nili Brosh, does a fantastic job at capturing the great qualities of the song that made me fall in love with it originally while adding a new flavor that made me appreciate it and fall in love with it again in a new light.
It’s such a thrill when Ginny sent us a solo performance of “Burn” for our Water Tower Sessions series. I think the performance really showcases her immense talent playing electric violin. A truly special honor to share it with you.
Here’s the studio version of the song for reference:
And the original Deep Purple version:
Make sure to check out my interview with Ginny as well as Alex’s review of Ginny’s album Devil at My Heels.
You can follow Ginny on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter and listen to her music at her YouTube page.
Joshua is co-founder of Scummy Water Tower. He’s freelanced for a variety of newspapers, magazines, and websites, including: Rolling Stone, The Boston Globe, Chicago Sun-Times, Guitar World, MTV News, Grammy.com, Chicago Magazine, Milwaukee Magazine, MKE Lifestyle, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, A.V. Club, SPIN, Alternative Press, Under the Radar, Paste, PopMatters, American Songwriter, and Relix. You can email him at josh@scummywatertower.com.
