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Orange turns purple
Orange Amplifiers is launching the Glenn Hughes Signature Crush Bass 50 amp. This model of the amp was originally released in 2016 in 25- 50- and 100 watts lineup. Apart from the purple trim, the signature model does not appear to have any significant modifications from the stock amp.
Here is Glenn demoing the amp back in 2016:
Unauthorized copying, while sometimes necessary, is never as good as the real thing
I don’t understand why Glenn doesn’t use Hiwatts like he did in Purple? I know he owns at least one, and the amps are still available.
July 13th, 2021 at 20:21Still milking the Deep Purple past…
July 15th, 2021 at 05:04Monika @2
July 15th, 2021 at 12:03Deep Purple is like a big fat cow that everyone with links to the band is milking it big time but since Glenn Hughes is the most versatile talented member of DP family tree then I have no issue with him milking it.
BTW the biggest cow milking members are Mr Gillan, Mr Glover and Mr Paice who toured for nearly 27 years with a live songs mainly from MK2 with the added Hush.but that’s only from the fact point of view. I love all DP members full stop.
Peace
He played on three excellent studio albums of DP and at their largest gig ever. He can milk all he wants if you ask me.
But the focus of his presentation is really “Glenn, the bass player” as opposed to “Glenn, the singer or ex-DP member”.
And it’s ok that he waves his bassist flag, because even among DP fans his qualities as a bassist are rarely recognized (much less sufficently lauded here), not that he brags about bis bassist skills (as he could, he is that good). It’s interesting how he says “bass playing is intuition”. Mk III would have sounded a whole lot different to Mk II even if Glenn had never sung a note and just played the bass instead of Roger.
BTW, I own an Orange “Little Terror” (it still has 500 watts going over four 12″ speakers) bass rig (which enticed Glenn to switch from Hughes & Kettner amps he played before – no relation). It’s a true rocker’s amp, a one-trick-pony delivering an abrasive, pushy and altogether dirty “unclean” sound. Similar to what Hiwatt amps once did, which were never ‘nice-sounding’ either, but provided a middish roar described in muso circles as “classic British sound”. If you dig that particular sound – Glenn seems to relish it, his sound in the last 10 years has become so “orangy”, he might as well be running demonstration clinics for them 24/7 – you’re all set; if you are looking for versatility and audible nuances, however, go buy another brand!
July 15th, 2021 at 16:04@2 yea i kinda agree but not about the amp, could care less
July 15th, 2021 at 20:39@3 no way on Misters Gillan, Glover and Paice sorry could never agree to that statement , fact or not
Orange has an enviable reputation for British excellence & a decent sound to boot. I enjoyed the latest Hughes demonstration, the earlier clip I skipped through in sections. All good though. I am not sure where the ‘milking Purple’ comment relates to though. Unless it was in the first clip bits I skipped, but that is irrelevant. He is a quality bass player Glenn Hughes. Cheers.
July 15th, 2021 at 22:21I guess it’s the endorsement that counts, Orange made an amp to his specs and he gets the gear for free. I remember John Entwistle got Rotosound strings for free for the ad The Who did on The Who Sell Out, along with Keith Moon getting endorsed for the Premier Drums ad on the same album. Ian Paice could probably still play Ludwig, but I’m sure Pearl looks after him as well.
July 16th, 2021 at 08:27I have listened to both clips. No doubt about it, Glenn Hughes is an excellent bass player. As for “milking” the Purple legacy, he is fully entitled to do so. Remember, he was scouted and hand-picked to join Purple by the original three virtuosos of the band – Blackmore, Lord & Paice. Whether or not one favours Mark III and/or IV music; Hughes left an indelible imprint on Deep Purple. And his work in it gained him a place in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. He is as legit a Deep Purple member as any other.
July 16th, 2021 at 15:33You can take the boy out of Deep Purple.
July 18th, 2021 at 01:05But you can take the Deep Purple out of the boy.
The problem with Roger is that he’s never outrageous or says anything divisive, hence he gets a lot less air time here than Glenn! ; – )
That said, Glenn was poached (he didn’t apply with them) by DP after they had stalked him at several Trapeze gigs. With the exception of his (DP-royalties-fuelled) later runaway cocaine habit, there was nothing he ever did with Purple live or in the studio that could not be witnessed at these Trapeze gigs (or by listening to a Trapeze album). They knew how he played bass, they knew how he sang (how he flaunted his steely falsetto given any chance to do so) and they knew how he was no shrinking violet on stage, but that they were taking the undisputed frontman of a trio and sticking him into a five-man-set-up with an extra-singer and three other strong und space-demanding instrumentalists.
As a replacement to Roger, Glenn was – depending on your view – either a very odd or a very brave choice. But he was Purple’s choice and it’s not like he overnight-surprised them with how he played and sang as well what kind of music he liked. If they were genuinely baffled at how Glenn was as a musician in 1974/75, then only because their due diligence before hiring him was poor. Or because they bit off more than they cold chew.
July 18th, 2021 at 14:36Having seen and HEARD Glenn’s actual Orange rig recently up close with him, I can assure everyone that his bass experience is the just the bomb. It was something to behold in his bass tech’s hands. But when Glenn let rip, holy shit!!! He deserves an amp in his name. If you want the real thing, shell out some $6,000 and go for it… There’s probably no better rock bassist out there today. And few of his generation that can sing ANYWHERE NEAR what he musters. If the Daisies are in a town near you… Go see them.
July 18th, 2021 at 16:56@ 10 – I wasn’t intentionally going to go anywhere else with the Orange amp comments, but as it has now been dragged into the Glenn Hughes bass playing comments with DP, I will say a few things. Not that that is a bad thing of course, it makes for interesting reading, other peoples thoughts & comments. Regarding 1973-76 Purple, mistakes happen, if anyone views Hughes becoming a member of DP a ‘mistake’. In hindsight of course it may have been, for whatever reason. Blackmore may be many things, but a fool isn’t one of them. He knew where he was travelling & he quickly departed what was increasingly becoming a hedonistic over the top & out of control machine, and that was before Bolin joined!. Of course Blackmore always had other ideas as to what he wanted to do, but funk & soul rock definitely wasn’t one of them. Hughes should have been shown the door after the Burn tour perhaps, it didn’t happen & Blackmore disappears, so to speak. That woeful song on Burn, ‘What’s Going on Here’ is where DP were heading unfortunately. The rest of the album is very good though & Stormbringer has 4-5 excellent tracks. Then after Blackmore departs, Lord & Paice regret keeping the machine oiled & careering out of control, not to worry, it was what it became & then it went away. It is like many things in life involving different personalities, one never really knows the other until another side appears, ie Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde. @ 11 – Yes, Glenn Hughes is a very good bass guitarist, the trouble is from my perspective is that he hasn’t played live with many class acts throughout his career, only DP back in the day for me. Sure he records with a few quality musicians here & there but his live band playing doesn’t resonate with many because he isn’t ‘out there’. Maybe it is his vocal at certain times also. Great rock bass players today for me are Geddy Lee, Les Claypool & Tony Levin, just a few who spring to mind. Obviously it is my taste in music that permeates throughout this comment. I see Hughes as a more of an ‘underground’ player, he does many things but not many hear of it. He has done ok in the business though & no doubt has earned decent respect from fellow musicians & music aficionados. Cheers.
July 19th, 2021 at 06:16Regarding the DP Burn album, I forgot to mention that other very ordinary to embarrassing song ‘Lay Down Stay Down’. We could hear a slip in the quality of Purple there with that song & the one I mentioned previously & we know what other slips followed. Not to worry, a Rainbow appeared on the horizon, thank the Gods. Cheers.
July 19th, 2021 at 06:35But Herr McGregor, if there was ever a band that crowded their albums with “fillers”, it was Herr Blackmore’s Regenbogen!!! Songwriting was inconsistent for much of Rainbow’s tenure. Half to three quarters of the songs of the Joe Lynn Turner era put you to sleep.
But what do I know, I like both Lay Down, Stay Down (great piano solo by Lordy!) and What’s Goin’ On Here.
It’s true, Glenn is a bit of a musician’s musician. If his career – except for his Purple stint – has been somewhat below the average rock listeners radar it is perhaps for his erratic behavior rather than lack of appreciation by his brethren. Glenn played with the band that featured later Judas Priest and Whitesnake members, he attracted the attention of top notch musicians like Pat Thrall, Keith Emerson, Joe Bonamassa and Joe Satriani and – wait for it … – he is the one and only person ON EARTH that got invited to auditions of/had job offers from BOTH
– Black Sabbath (he took their offer, perhaps a mistake)
AND
– Earth, Wind & Fire (he declined their offer, another mistake).
Try to beat that … : – )
Plus: Glenn is inspirational! After his first gig in Copenhagen with Mk III he shook a young fan’s hand – only 9 years old and pressing his nose against the window of Glenn’s hotel – who later on formed an obscure band in California with his buddies Cliff, Dave and James. If he hadn’t done that, maybe that outfit called Metallica wouldn’t even exist!
July 19th, 2021 at 14:07@3
Dunno about milking the past, but speaking about the recent developments, Mk VIII guys’ two latest albums went Top 10 in the UK. Their last one topped charts in six countries, too, I believe. I don’t think it happened just due to Mk II past glories…
July 19th, 2021 at 19:52Anybody who saw and heard Glenn with Trapeze in the early 70ies, knew what he was in for; if he was looking for someone emulating Roger Glover, he was in the wrong place.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q7m-ENiMnOg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VmXieqPdF2M
July 19th, 2021 at 22:45MacGregor @12&13
July 20th, 2021 at 00:26Your comments are so true but it’s fragmented so I can’t work out your direction of your analysis.
Just to keep things simple and and focused Glenn Hughes is a very talented bass player and an incredible singer who writes songs from the heart but he is not the perfect match to DP arrangement as Ian Gillan alway claims that DP is an instrumental band so they write the music first then Ian and Roger sit down and write the lyrics that fits in. For me Glenn is the most talented member of DP and to be honest if it wasn’t for RJD incredible voice and writing skills, Ritchie would have never created the first 3 Rainbow albums with such wealth of music. So to keep things simple I put Glenn Hughes at the top of DP family tree but that only my opinion and I love all DP members including JLT.
Peace
@12 đź‘Ť
July 20th, 2021 at 11:05Agree with 12, except for joining Black Sabbath. Glenn was told he was singing on a Tony Iommi solo album which ended up being Seventh Star, under the confusing moniker Black Sabbath featuring Tony Iommi, which was a compromise between Iommi and the record company.
July 21st, 2021 at 00:07I saw Glen Hughes at The Wall Street Theater in Norwalk, CT, on April 24, 2019. It was a good show, but pretty low/disappointing turnout. It was about eight people in my group, and my Norwegian friend, Peter, walked to the front of the stage and grabbed the setlist. I was happy for him since he, in addition to his full time job, is a bass player, and a really good one. Plus, he loves Glen.
July 21st, 2021 at 02:28I remember going home and thinking: 1) why was the turnout so low? ; and 2) why does Glen keep trashing Deep Purple, yet the whole setlist was based on DP material?
I enjoyed the show…
“Why does Glen keep trashing Deep Purple, yet the whole set-list was based on DP material?”
Honestly, I don’t think he ever did trash DP. That is something that is always claimed, but where is the evidence after 45 years?
He is (justly) proud of his work on Burn, Stormbringer and CTTB, so proud he remixed tracks on the first two. I wish they would let him remix the California Jam gig so we’d finally have a proper version of it.
I have never heard him say a bad word about any ex- or current DP-member. He’s repeatedly lauded Paice’s, Lord’s, Blackmore’s and Bolin’s skills as musicians. He’s friends with DC. He’s played with Joe Lynn Turner (I was at one of those Hughes Turner gigs, it wasn’t bad at all) and almost formed a band with Steve Morse in the 80ies (cocaine got in the way). Just as no other DP member has every criticized his singing or bass playing, Lord has said that (unlike Bolin) Glenn could be coked out of his head – as he was at California Jam – and still function on stage, it was just his personality off stage that became increasingly difficult to deal with.
He has at all points of his solo career performed Purple songs AMONG his own, newer material (as he does with Trapeze songs, a band whose work only the most devoted are familiar with). Only in the last phase of his solo career – before joining the Daisies – did he take the Mk III songs (which no one else played, Whitesnake’s one-off Purple Tour excepted) on the road and I for one am thankful he did so, I never got to see Mk III and his performance of the material was cutting edge and vibrant.
So where has he trashed DP?
He’s no friend of the classic Mk II sound, he is honest about that and he is entitled to not like it. (There have always been people that considered the Mk 2 recipe too white and one-trick-pony’ish: Largely straight rhythms, synchronized guitar/organ riffs repeated over and over/hammered into your head, extensive solos and a few flashy neo-classical runs, falsetto vocals screamed over the whole thing, mostly without proper choruses – that is how much of DP’s material sounds to some people, believe it or not.) Coming from Trapeze and the Black Country it was just not funky/earthy enough for him. Purple brought him and DC in to make their sound funkier and bluesier, because Ritchie wanted Purple to become Free once he no longer had the taste for the In Rock-frenzy he (co-)invented. Had Purple wanted to continue with an Mk II sound, they would have made David Byron a job offer and not DC and Glenn!
Glenn has criticized Purple’s management in the past, that is NOT criticizing the band, its musicians or their musical achievements. He didn’t like how Mk VIII and their management ran the RRHF event – I agree with him, that was an opportunity wasted. They way they did it was clumsy and workmanlike at best.
And at one point, the Purple management had issues with his concert advertising, the size of letters, the Stormbringer DP logo, “playing the music of Deep Purple Mk III” etc. Frankly, I thought that was laughable. Anybody who knows who Glenn Hughes is also knows that Glenn isn’t Roger Glover and had nothing to do with the iconic Mk II phase. You show me someone sane who went to those gigs expecting to see Ian Gillan sing Child in Time. ; – ) The way the Purple management acted was very petty.
Make no mistake: Having someone like Glenn in the band is a handful/task I’m sure and the erraticity of his post-Purple career speaks volumes. He’s not a rock you can build your church upon like that nice, balanced, caring and committed guy from Wales who pre- and succeeded him. But paining Glenn as Mr Anathema to DP isn’t the full picture either.
July 22nd, 2021 at 20:16Glenn has never trashed Purple’s legacy, Purple gave him a career. I saw him almost 3 years ago at Penn’s Peak in Northeast Pennsylvania. There were only about 2-3 hundred people in attendance, in a theatre that seats over 1,800. Glenn and his band were absolutely amazing, his singing and bass playing were among the best I’ve seen, and I’ve seen Entwistle, Squire, Geddy Lee, Greg Lake to name a few.
July 23rd, 2021 at 02:25I think the reason he’s playing smaller clubs and theatres is because after Purple and throughout much of the 80’s he really blew his career. He was a drug addict and was undependable. Most promoters wouldn’t want to touch him with a 10 foot pole. Just read his autobiography.
It’s a shame because now that he is clean he should be playing in front of bigger audiences, I think to do that he should open for bigger more established arena bands and continue from there.
The long addiction fueling his erraticity even more is certainly much to blame.
But for all his indisputable talents, Glenn is also not an easy sell: Patterning yourself after Stevie Wonder and dragging an ex-Deep Purple tag around at the same time is kind of unique. I’ve written it before, Glenn’s existing audience prefers him hard rock with a little funk thrown in (he’d like to throw in more!), but the people who dig funk will forever be scared away by some old white guy who once co-sang Smoke On The Water. There goes the Jamiroquai and Prince audience!
Both Glenn’s singing and bass playing style is very idiosyncratic and he wants to do both, sing lead (because that is where his heart is) AND play bass (he has stated that singing without playing bass feels weird to him). He’s also the front man type and a busy songwriter. That in turn limits the number of slots he had to join established bands post-DP as the full GH package. Yes, there are bands fronted by a bass-playing singer (not many), but could you see GH having taken the seat of Phil Lynott in Thin Lizzy, John Wetton in Asia or Martin Turner in Wishbone Ash? They would have all sounded like Glenn Hughes solo projects! : – )
Glenn leaves too much of a stamp in anything he does to be able to replace anyone in an established band with an established sound. It’s what created issues with DP and he’s still doing it too, just listen to how the sound of the Dead Daisies changed with his advent.
Thinking about it … if he had cut and dyed his hair blond plus, of course, decided to save the rain forest single-handedly, Glenn might have given what’s-his-name in that obscure band called Law Enforcement or such a run for the money!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ppdqN9zOow8
Seriously, Glenn’s only chance of continuing on a level as with DP was setting up a new band (fronted by him, not necessarily a solo-project) post-DP in a time-slot of , say, five years. Hughes Thrall had that potential chance, but his (and Thrall’s) addiction ruined it. When he came out of rehab a decade later, it was really too late for him. Forty+ year old veterans don’t turn into overnight sensations in the rock and pop biz.
I do hope though that staying with the (obviously well-funded) Daisies will be a retirement package of sorts for him. (Darn, why has no billionaire ever asked me to play bass for him in his hobby band?) Musically, it’s the most promising thing he has done since Hughes Thrall.
July 23rd, 2021 at 12:36Uwe and Sidroman,
July 24th, 2021 at 01:28You make many very valid points.
In retrospect, I should have not stated that Glenn has kept trashing DP. He is a phenomenal bassist and I love him, especially on Stormbringer, even though I am more drawn to Roger overall (perhaps because of his laid-back personality).
It is a well-known fact, however, that DP and Glenn went through a dispute over royalties that lasted more than four decades, which, unfortunately, may have had an impact on some of the questionable comments by both sides over the years.
The turnout at the show I attended was truly disappointing, perhaps even embarrassing, for someone of Glenn’s caliber. Someone near our group wondered out loud, why was there such a low turnout for someone affiliated with DP and who had somewhat recently been inducted into the RRHOF? Hard to explain. Perhaps a bad job by the promoters?
As for the show, it was fantastic. The band was truly on fire and they did an awesome job overall including the Mark II material of which there was plenty. The disappointing turnout, perhaps, influenced my thinking after the show…
I do wish, on the other hand, Glenn had been a bit more complimentary of the living, breathing DP over the years. I, also, wish he had been more vocal about the RRHOF’s glaring omission of Nick Simper, Steve Morse and even JLT (I do kot have any problems with S&M).
Having said that, one thing’s for sure: I do not regret going to see him, and will certainly do so again if given the opportunity.
Albania,
July 25th, 2021 at 02:00Good points also. I love Slaves and Masters as well.
As for the Rock and Roll HOF induction, Ian Gillan took it upon himself to name all the members of Purple who weren’t included in the HOF induction. I personally think everyone should be in there with maybe the exception being Joe Satriani because he filled in on live dates, but never recorded with the band. The Nick Simper ommision was just plain weird if you ask me, especially with Rod Evans bogus Purple in 1980, and Rod losing his royalties on the Mk1 albums in court, and yet Rod was included. I thought it would have been hilarious if Rod showed up at the induction ceremony, because no one seems to know his whereabouts after 1980 lol.
I have been watching early 70’s Curved Air live clips & they used Orange amps, the guitarist & keyboard player Francis Monkman & also the bassist. It also looks like violin player Darryl Way may be miked through them. Fantastic band indeed. Cheers.
July 27th, 2021 at 08:11Yeah, Curved Air were good & special.
Wishbone Ash played Orange amps in the 70ies too. After all, those amps had an eye-catching classic Pop Art design that set them apart from yet another Marshall stacks backline as was prevalent then.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0mA0W7h7Arw
https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-9pe8jVBA6rQ/WA0M0Hug5-I/AAAAAAAABls/mfdS8EVAfa8bwD62bauPud9-sYx0jCLkwCK4B/s1600/andy35.jpg
Actually, they (or what’s left of them) are back to doing it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VMlT4c_Csb4
July 28th, 2021 at 17:34Ah, Wishbone Ash that early 70s to mid 70’s, There’s The Rub my favourite album. Pilgrimage & their debut also, Argus only in bits & pieces. That Orange amp clip, wonderful along with Persephone. Another band that has splintered & some original members don’t get on, a shame when that happens. Cheers.
July 28th, 2021 at 21:17I remember Glenn once stating that Trapeze were a better band than Deep Purples – obviously nonsense! Talented man but outside of Purple I’ve always found his songwriting a little hit and miss, too many fillers. He needs others who are also good writers to help inspire and elevate his own writing. Always felt Gillan and Glover were more consistent songwriters. I’ve just found his ego increasingly tiresome over the years and found my interest in him wane. Howiver, I do my best to keep updated on what he’s up to.
August 10th, 2021 at 21:41