HIGHWAY STAR
Ritchie Blackmore, Ian Gillan, Roger Glover, Jon Lord, Ian Paice
The lead single from the album . Chart: (no). Time - 6:09. Released in U.S.A. March 1972.
Recorded at Rolling Stones Mobile Studio, Grand Hotel, Montreux, Switzerland, December 6-21 , 1971. Produced by Deep Purple. Engineered by Martin Birch.
Part of it was inspired by Bach's classical works. Deep Purple had been playing the song live before it was recorded or released. In fact, they first played it in concert the night they wrote it. The song itself did not chart at the time, but has received considerable airplay on rock radio in the years since. - Larry -
Ian Gillan - lead vocals, harmonica |
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Roger Glover - 2011:The Quietus
"Yes, that is true (written on the spot in response to a journalist asking you guys how to write a song). It was on a bus going down to Portsmouth and in those days to get a bit of publicity, we'd invite journalists to travel down with us. And there was a journalist called Richard Green who was known as The Beast. And I think he started talking about how songs get written. And songs were written in those days from jams. And I suppose it started out as a bit of a joke. Ritchie got a guitar and started playing and Ian started warbling about cars and I came up with the title, I was looking out of the window thinking, ‘Well, here we are on the highway... Highway Star!' You know? And it just got thrown together and in fact I think we performed it that night, a sort of embryonic version of it. Most great songs you hardly have to work on."
Ritchie Blackmore - Guitar Player
That was one of the only solos that I worked out completely at home. Most of my solos were improvised on the spot, but that one was arranged before I went into the studio.
YOU TUBE STUDIO TRACK VIDEO YOU TUBE LYRIC VIDEO YOU TUBE LIVE 1972, Made In Japan Nobody gonna take my car I'm gonna race it to the ground Nobody gonna beat my car It's gonna break the speed of sound Ooh it's a killing machine It's got everything Like a driving power big fat tyres And everything I love it and I need it, I bleed it Yeah, it's a wild hurricane Alright, hold tight I'm a highway star Nobody gonna take my girl I'm gonna keep her to the end Nobody gonna have my girl She stays close on every bend Ooh she's a killing machine She got everything Like a moving mouth body control And everything I love her, I need her, I seed her Yeah, she turns me on Alright, hold on tight I'm a highway star Nobody gonna take my head I got speed inside my brain Nobody gonna steal my head Now that I'm on the road again Ooh I'm in Heaven again I got everything Like a moving ground, an open road And everything I love it and I need it, I seed it Eight cylinders all mine Alright, hold on tight I'm a highway star Nobody gonna take my car I'm gonna race it to the ground Nobody gonna beat my car It's gonna break the speed of sound Ooh it's a killing machine It's got everything Like a driving power Big fat tyres and everything I love it and I need it, I bleed it Yeah, it's a wild hurricane Alright, hold on tight I'm a highway star I'm a highway star I'm a highway star