Highway Star – Deep Purple | Top 40 Chart Performance, Story and Song Meaning
Chart Performance: Pop(#7); 1973
Story Behind The Song By Ed Osborne
In December, 1971, Deep Purple arrived in Switzerland with the Rolling Stones’ 16-track mobile studio in tow to capture the band’s dynamic live show on tape. Their plans were dramatically thwarted when the Montreux Casino caught fire halfway through a Frank Zappa set and burned to the ground.
Hastily moving into the Grand Hotel, Deep Purple set about recording their seventh album. Adversity quickly turned into opportunity as they began to flesh out a Ritchie Blackmore riff into a song that would immortalize the blaze, Smoke On The Water (#4; 1973).
However, it was Highway Star that epitomized the Purple at its best: a driving beat, power vocals from Ian Gillan, and intense dual soloing between guitarist Ritchie Blackmore and organist Jon Lord.
The resulting album, Machine Head – released in March of 1972 – proved to be DP’s breakthrough, racking up multi-platinum sales and critical acclaim as a seminal heavy metal classic.
This content and all Song Meaning articles were created and written by Top 40 Contributing Editor Ed Osborne. © 2024 Ed Osborne. All Rights Reserved. In addition to these song meaning articles, Ed has written our “Year in Music 1960s-1990s” articles.
Produced by:
- Deep Purple
Lyrics Written by:
- Ritchie Blackmore
- Ian Gillan
- Roger Glover
- Jon Lord
- Ian Paice
Ed Osborne
Hi. I got my first record at age two and never looked back, spending a decades-long career in radio and the music business. Even after years of reading about and listening to all types of music, I am still fascinated by it. Apart from that, I’m endlessly intrigued by art, nature, and the inner lives of people (and dogs).