Glenn Hughes...what a powerhouse of a bass player!

[Ivan May]

Born in 1952, Glenn Hughes started playing the piano and guitar at an early age. He switched to playing bass in his first band, an R&B group called Finders Keepers, before going on to play with funk rock band Trapeze, which opened a few shows for The Who and Jethro Tull in the early seventies. After that band's collapse, he went on to play bass for Deep Purple, joining the group in 1973, where he had the task of replacing original bassist Roger Glover. (Eventual Whitesnake vocalist David Coverdale also joined during this time, replacing original lead singer Ian Gillan).

 

Hughes vocals and bass playing are showcased on tracks such as Burn and Might Just Take Your Life, and, after Blackmore left to join Rainbow, Hughes and Coverdale took over the groups direction, hiring James Gang guitarist Tommy Bolin for 1975's rather hated Come Taste the Band. Most of the Deep Purple members were also addicted to drugs during this time, and the group eventually splitting in 1976, before Hughes guested on a Tommy Bolin solo project around the same time, before Tommy Bolin's tragic death from a drug overdose in 1976 at age 25. Hughes declined an invitation to join Whitesnake when they formed in 1978, but he did sing on Black Sabbath's 1986 album Seventh Star (which is essentially a Tony Iommi solo album credited to the Black Sabbath name). I have Seventh Star in my record collection.

As a bassist, Glenn Hughes lists among his influences Paul McCartney, Jack Bruce, Lemmy Kilmister, John Entwistle, Jet Harris and Duane Eddy. He is known by fans as "The Voice of Rock" due to his soulful and wide-ranging singing voice. Glenn Hughes also played on Pat Travers debut album and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame in 2016, as a Deep Purple member, where he finally earned his dues as a skilled bassist. He primarily used Orange amps, and his basses included a natural Fender Precision Bass, several Yamaha basses, a Yamaha nylon string acoustic guitar (both he and Geezer Butler have played Yamaha basses), a 1973 Rickenbacker 4001 in Fireglow finish (which he eventually gave to Black Sabbath bassist Geezer Butler, who used it on the Never Say Die! tour in 1978), a salmon pink 1962 pre CBS Fender Jazz Bass, and a sunburst, block inlay CBS Fender Jazz Bass.

 

 

 

 

 

[lug]

For something a little more current, check out Black Country Communion, a band consisting of Hughs, Joe Bonamassa, Jason Bonham and Derick Sherinian.