Glenn Hughes is one of those musicians who always has his fingers placed in a lot of pies, keeping his music life stimulating for both his fans and himself. From power trio Trapeze in the 70’s to Deep Purple versions 3 and 4, to Black Country Communion, California Breed, The Dead Daisies … hell, he even had a stint with Black Sabbath. Then there’s his acclaimed solo career on top of it all. In 2016 Glenn was inducted into the Rock n Roll Hall of fame as a member of Deep Purple. His powerful rock voice is as lauded as his bass playing, which incorporates his distinctive blues rock and funk flavours.
Glenn Hughes is about to fly to Australia with his band to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Deep Purple’s 1974 album Burn. Ahead of the tour Australian Musician editor Greg Phillips caught up with Glenn for a chat.
Deep Purple’s Burn album was the band’s 8th studio recording and was the first to feature both Glenn Hughes and singer David Coverdale, after former singer Ian Gillan and bass player Roger Glover had left. Gillan’s departure was due to tension between he and guitarist Ritchie Blackmore and Glover had been unhappy that his song ideas weren’t being considered.
The band assembled at Clearwell Castle at Gloucestershire (established in the mid-15th century) in September 1973 for a two week stint of writing and rehearsals. Burn was then recorded in October in Montreux, Switzerland. What is now known as the Quiet Room at Clearwell Castle (a popular wedding venue these days) became a recording and rehearsal complex in the seventies. Bands such as Led Zeppelin, Badfinger, Deep Purple, Queen and Whitesnake recorded albums there.
“It was written at a castle in England called Clearwell Castle in Gloucestershire,” Hughes tells me. “So we were writing an album in the crypt of a castle, a 15th century castle. Can you believe it?”
To elevate the gothic atmosphere of the surrounds, guitarist and the band’s dedicated prankster Ritchie Blackmore hooked up speakers to Glenn’s bedroom in the castle and pumped out ghostly sounds while he tried to sleep.
“He set my room up when I got there with … he wired it up so he could spook me out and he did that on the first night,” recalls Hughes.
When Blackmore wasn’t pranking fellow band members, he was writing killer guitar licks. The album’s title track Burn was the last song written for the record.
“We were lacking a dramatic piece to open the album,” says Glenn, “so we went back after the pub one night and jammed that song out and here it is one of the greatest rock songs ever… When we were in the room together, it was immediate … whether Ritchie had it (the guitar riff) before, whether he was keeping it back, whether he was saving it, I dunno, it’s just so big that we had a lot of fun with it.”
Being the bass player and one half of the rhythm section of the band, the musical relationship with the drummer is incredibly important. I was keen to get Glenn’s thoughts on the percussion style of the legendary Ian Paice …
“He’s a great drummer, a different kind of drummer from what I was used to. Ian’s very straight down the middle, snare drum heavy, really great snare drum player, but Ian was a great, still is a great, great drummer.”
The main vocalist on the Burn album David Coverdale has been keeping a low profile lately due to a an infection of the sinus and trachea and a fall which resulted in two torn rotator cuffs. I took the opportunity to ask Glenn about his good friend.
“He’s doing great. I mean, I heard from him this morning. Funny enough, David and I have been very close through everything. He’s always been by my side and long may that continue.”
The upcoming ‘Glenn Hughes Performs Classic Deep Purple Live – Celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the album BURN’ shows begin on October 5 in Canberra. In regard to the setlist, Glenn tells me he won’t be performing the entire Burn album but will cherry-pick some of the record’s strongest songs.
“I’m going to do about four or five songs and the rest of it is from the period that I was in the band that are great live songs,” he says and confirms that Stormbringer, the title track of the album that followed just ten months after Burn will be one of them. Recent concerts overseas on this tour have included Mistreated, Sail Away, Might Just Take Your Life, and You Fool No One from the Burn album.
Joining Glenn on the Australian tour will be a fabulous band
“Soren Anderson, my guitar player of 17 years is with me. I love him. I think everybody will love him in Australia. Drummer, Ashley Sheen has been with me for seven years, possibly one of the greatest drums alive right now. I can’t wait for a Australians to see this guy. On the keyboards is Mike Mangan from Los Angeles. Mike has been with me on and off the last 10 years. It’s a great band.”
Hughes will bring three basses with him to Australia including his new signature Purple O Bass from Orange Amplification.
“Yeah, of course, the O Bass. And the Orange amps … I’m an Orange man, so it’s all about Orange for me.”
In January this year, Orange Amplification launched the Glenn Hughes Signature O Bass again, this time in a striking purple finish. After an initial run in 2015 to huge public and critical acclaim, the Orange O Bass was reintroduced with some tweaks. Upgrades from the standard O Bass include a Seymour Duncan SPB-1 Bass Pickup installed and Chequerboard binding around the body and headstock for a classic and distinctive feel and look.
I asked Glenn if there’d been much back and forth with prototypes of the original O Bass?
“Not really. It was pretty much straight down the middle. I mean, they came to me with the idea and they came to me with the specs of the bass and we worked on the neck, which is important. So man, I’ve got to tell you, the sound of the bass is unbelievable. Absolutely unbelievable.”
Yeah. I was going to ask you, what were the main factors they had to get right for you to be happy to put your name to the bass?
“Well, it just sounds like a Glen Hughes bass. I play both my (Bill) Nash bass and the O Bass in the show. The O bass has got so much more attack, so much attack sounds great.”
Searching for a scoop I asked Glenn if he’d be attending the 2025 NAMM Show in Anaheim and if there might be any new signature products in the works. He told me there were but wasn’t giving anything away in regard to release dates.
“There’s going to be a new Glenn … well, I have my combo out there and there possibly might be … they want to start working on a Glenn thousand watt amplifier. So let’s see what happens through that.”
Harking back to the Burn album, I wondered if Glenn had changed anything about the way he records his bass parts since 1974?
“It’s basically back to the same. Back in the Burn days, it was recorded live and I think at some point in the nineties people were doing Pro Tools and adding on stuff like that, but I’ve been making live bass playing recordings for 20 years now. It’s the only way to go for me live.”
It’s no secret that Glenn Hughes is in the midst of making another solo album, so asked for an update on that project.
“This is the first solo album in eight years, Greg, and I have to say, I think any artist will always tell you this is the greatest thing I’ve ever done, but I have to tell you … this is the greatest thing I’ve ever done. It’s a soulful rock album… It’s just me and my band and I chose not to have any star guests on this one.”
Apart from the Burn 50th anniversary shows, when Glenn comes to Australia, he’s also presenting some ‘In Conversation’ shows, where he chats about his career and fans are able to ask the great man questions.
“I have done them before in Australia in 2017. They were fantastic. So for me to interact with people that want to check out and what I’m doing, it’s a fun way of letting them know how I do stuff, so I look forward to it.”
And what does Glenn Hughes do on his downtime on tour?
“Read, walk! I do like to walk five miles every other day, exercise, cardio, read books, swim whenever I can. I’ve got a very busy schedule, as you can imagine, but I like Australia. I genuinely love the people there. We have a lot of, they like to laugh in Australia, which I love, so I like to mingle a bit, so it’s a good place for me to come to.”
What other projects do you have happening at the moment and going into 2025?
“There’s not really a lot going on because I’ve been so busy this last year. I’ve just done 18 months touring and I’ve had a couple of months of this summer to rest and I finish. I go from Australia to Dubai. Then after Dubai I come home for a few days and I fly to Budapest in Hungary to perform with an orchestra. This particular show with an orchestra… I love it. I’m doing orchestra shows next February as well, and again in April.”
“You have to play quieter with an orchestra and I like to keep the same arrangements. You can’t really go off the chart with an orchestra. It’s got to be completely written out and that’s somewhat difficult for me. I like to be spontaneous.”
Glenn, we’ll let you get to the next gig. It’s been great to chat and we look forward to seeing you very soon.
“Thank you, Greg. Please give my love and respects to everyone in Australia. I can’t wait to see them all.”
GLENN HUGHES Australian Tour Dates
Sat 5th October – Canberra – The Baso
Sun 6th October – Brisbane – The Zoo
Thur 10th October – Sydney – Factory Theatre
Sat 12th October – Melbourne – Croxton
Sun 13th October – Adelaide – The Gov
GLENN HUGHES IN CONVERSATION
Thur 3rd October – Sydney – Crowbar
Fri 11 October – Melbourne – The Espy