[hand] [face]
The Original Deep Purple Web Pages
The Highway Star

40 years ago today…

David Coverdale; photo © Aleksandra Pruenner, image courtesy of Frontiers RecordsDavid Coverdale writes on his webstite:

It was 40 years ago this very day, December 9, 1973, when I had the indescribable honour of walking onstage with the extraordinary talents of Ritchie Blackmore, Jon Lord, Ian Paice & Glenn Hughes at the KB Halle in Copenhagen, Denmark for the very first time.The ‘Burn’ album had yet to be released, but, it showed the balls of the guys in the band to go out & play brand new, unheard songs to a rapturous Danish audience. An unforgettable experience for me. Thank you ALL for an amazing journey that continues today…

David Coverdale
Lake Tahoe
Dec 9, 2013

Thanks to Classic Rock for the info.



34 Comments to “40 years ago today…”:

  1. 1
    Mads Rud Larsen says:

    KB Hallen*

  2. 2
    Mads Rud Larsen says:

    😉

  3. 3
    Michele Mick Ritchie Teso says:

    Burning DC 🙂

  4. 4
    Pål Hanson says:

    What a gig that was, I was there and remember how my mates and I really did not know what to expect, “Burn” being a really god album, but just how would they fare live!?! It was answered with one of the best shows we got from Mk. III in Denmark and it will remain with me forever!! Ohh the power and beauty of youth! I had just turned 14 in November, and had seen every MK II show in Copenhagen bar one, so could DC carry the Purple legacy left by Gillan? He could, they could!

    But man, to think it was 40 years ago today, blows me away. One of my best mates who where with me at that show left us back in 2008, but the memory of the show and us rocking and rolling along with Purple, are truly happy memories.

  5. 5
    Paulo Rabello de Lima says:

    Great album, great band and great singer.

  6. 6
    Nick Martinez says:

    everthing made possible by mark II

  7. 7
    Mandi Albania says:

    david coverversion ^_^

  8. 8
    Don Berry says:

    I got to see DP Mark III twice in 1974 & 1975, great band, probably my favorite after Mark II. It’s too bad a certain somebody had to up and quit to chase rainbows, lord (not Jon!) only knows what heights they might have achieved had Mark III stayed together. (Nothing against Rainbow, they were a great band also, but I always thought Mark III could have been even bigger than they were).

  9. 9
    Janbl says:

    Thanks David.

    I was there, first row (until it broke), my very first concert, but not last.
    Over the years this band in most constellations has given me many good moments.
    Is it really 40 years? I do not feel 40 years older.

    Janbl

  10. 10
    Wolfgang Buschmann says:

    yeaaah,war nee geile zeit

  11. 11
    Henrik Hyttel Eriksen says:

    I was there ….

  12. 12
    purpletemple says:

    What a fantastic journey for a fantastic singer! Forevermore!

  13. 13
    Eric Winroth says:

    Saw the show in gothenburg later! Brilliant!!!!

  14. 14
    James Mccall says:

    i have seen deep purple 10 times and white snake 6 times

  15. 15
    The Highway Star says:

    One of the best shows from mk 3 in Copenhagen? This one represented 50% of the shows mk 3 did in Copenhagen…

  16. 16
    Jesper says:

    Last song ever played in the now burned down KB hallen was actually “Burn” performed by Black Country Communion featuring Glenn Hughes.

  17. 17
    Nenad Stojic says:

    david legend forever!!!1

  18. 18
    MacGregor says:

    Nick Martinez @ 6 – you should have stated the complete story, not just part of it! Everything made possible from MK1 first perhaps? As everyone knows, no MK1 = no MK2 = no MK3 = no MK4 etc, etc!
    Great band MK3, excellent material indeed, many of the songs were better than a lot of the MK2 songs! Oh my, the holier than thou MK2 rabid followers will cringe at that very truthful comment. A few rock music followers I have known over the decades actually prefer the MK3 songs that they heard, stronger songs was one of the comments they used to say. They did also like some of the MK2 material, particularly In Rock & a few songs here & there from Fireball & Machine Head also! Each to their own as we say!
    True musicians always look to excel, move forward, create different music with different musicians, Blackmore has always been one of many leading musicians from that ‘golden’ era who did this! Jon Lord also! Kudos to them for it, better than flogging the proverbial dead horse so to speak! MK 2 were a spent force in 1973 for various reasons. It couldn’t go any further at that particular time, pretty simple really!
    40 years eh, sheeesh, time flies when your having fun! Cheers!

  19. 19
    gareth says:

    Burn is a really brilliant album.heavy,bluesy and funky…a great mix

  20. 20
    joey says:

    Deep Purple 1974 Nassau Coliseum N.Y. U.S.A. My very first concert. I was 16 back then, when the lights go dim and Deep Purple come out from backstage and Blackmore starts the opening riff of Burn. Wow!!!! It does not get any better than this for a first live concert. Superb!!!

  21. 21
    al says:

    @ 7 you mean David Coverplant ? I’m assuming that is not a nice remark that he would like to hear.

  22. 22
    Daniel Nedelchev says:

    What a great musitions and rock’n roll kings!

  23. 23
    Wiktor says:

    Who knows what heights Mark III could have achieved… Well, I Think we have the answer to that, and its called “Stormbringer”…
    Two years later Blackmore released “Rainbow Rising” need I say more.

  24. 24
    byron says:

    Burn is a masterpiece and the title track is awesome.So much potential in this Mk3.Saw them in 74 and 75(“last concert in Paris”).Glenn didn’t stop drinking!

  25. 25
    alf * says:

    Thanks David you`re a greateful and higfh heart man and best mucisian.

  26. 26
    Les Hedger says:

    Wish I could have been there!! Burn was, and is, one of the very best Purple albums!!! It introduced the world to one of the Greatest Rock Singers!!

  27. 27
    Tracy(Zero the Hero)Heyder says:

    Nicely stated Mr. Coverdale. Plus you did very well yourself after Purple’s demise in 1976 by trucking forward and developing your own first rate outfit in the name of Whitesnake, whereby you recruited none other than Ian Paice and Jon Lord which further imbedded the Deep Purple ‘legacy’ (yeah, you all know where this dig is aimed) and continued on with some incredible music and albums from then on. Your gratitude exuded here regarding your first moments with Purple and what it means to you are well noted and obviously heart felt. Nicely done.

    !Ch-BeerZ?

  28. 28
    Ivica says:

    For me, Ian Gillan will always remain the first voice DP, their trademark
    but
    David interpretation of the song
    “Solder of Fortune”, I marked my earliest youth, what a vocal interpretation of the twenty-three year old boy!? .. also” Mistrted” with “Made in Europe” etc etc
    great talent, passion, emotion…
    all characteristics that are performed in this band
    Long Live David

    Deep Purple big family

  29. 29
    Per says:

    The first show in Aarhus on Sat Dec 8 was actually cancelled due to “airplane problems” in the UK and we had to go home very disappointed. It was also a sold-out gig like CPH the following day. In Dec 73 you could not drive on Sundays in DK due to shortage of gasoline. But DP made it to KB-Hallen. Next day they recorded Coronarias Redig (instrumental because of lack of lyrics?)
    The second show in CPH for Mk3 was March 75 in Brøndbyhallen, where the setlist was similar to “The Final Concerts”. In interviews it was noted that a break/”holiday” was coming up.

  30. 30
    tom fox says:

    hello Joey (20)
    well maybe except my first concert mk 2 at birmingham town hall year before -opened with highway star!mk 3 year later was memorable too-i had just seen liverpool beat newcastle in the FA cup final at wembley -just walked into birmingham odeon as Ritchie cranked out the opening riff to Burn!
    cheers
    Tom

  31. 31
    Jack says:

    I saw Whitesnake along with Judas Priest in 2005 at the Sports Palace in Mexico City, and Whitesnake opened up with the Burn/Stormbringer medley!!! Wow!!! Thanx David for all the music!!! Burn is an awesome album, one of Purple’s finest!!!

  32. 32
    Anthony says:

    Burn is a cracking album and not just a cracking Purple album. It has Ritchie all over it and in fact Glenn ‘funky’ Hughes was kept in check on this album and not allowed ( on the whole ) to play his funky vibes. Well we all know he was given free reign on ‘Stormbringer’ to strut his stuff.

    The title track Burn is up there with Highway Star as the ultimate Purple song and Ritchie’s Gershwin influenced riff is fabulous!

  33. 33
    MacGregor says:

    Anthony @32- Yes, Burn is a classic album indeed & the title track is a killer track & quintessential Purple, as is Mistreated, Sail Away & You Fool No One, all are indeed classic Purple, as good as any MK2 IMHO! Also the instrumental A200, plus the bonus Coronarias Redig is also on it, brilliant stuff! Maybe in hindsight (as they say, is a glorious thing) Hughes should have been shown the door after Burn.
    Having said that, I purchased the 35th anniversary edition of Stormbringer last weeekend & listening to the DTS quad mix, it sounds great! However, I do tend to only play the title track, Lady Double Dealer, The Gypsy & Soldier Of Fortune usually. Holy Man is a wonderful song also! Blackmore plays really well on the album Stormbringer, considering he was not ‘into’ many of the songs! Cheers.

  34. 34
    joey says:

    @30 TOM. Funny thing is when I bought tickets for the concert, I though Gillan and Glover were still with the band. I was kind of crushed to find out they were not!!! I found out at work. I took a job during school break in a printing press factory that printed the cover of Burn. Reading the sleeve is how I found out about Hughes and Coverdale. I knew of Glenn because my older cousins were Trapeze fans so I went out and bought the three lp’s of Trapeze and listened to see how Glenn would fit DP. BURN did not disappoint me. All these years later, it’s great to have NOW WHAT?! Love it, cant wait for more and live dates in USA early 2014. Cheers

Add a comment:

Preview no longer available -- once you press Post, that's it. All comments are subject to moderation policy.

||||Unauthorized copying, while sometimes necessary, is never as good as the real thing
© 1993-2024 The Highway Star and contributors
Posts, Calendar and Comments RSS feeds for The Highway Star