During the Zappa concert, as keyboardist Don Preston began a synthesizer solo, “some stupid with a flare gun burned the place to the ground.” The fire spread rapidly, taking out the casino, the band’s equipment and anything else it could claim. Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention were booked to play that theater and the idea was that, after they vacated the premises-which were about to close down for the winter after their gig-Deep Purple would make their recording. Here’s the story behind “Smoke on the Water.” On December 4, 1971, Deep Purple was in Montreux, Switzerland, planning to cut an album using a mobile recording studio rented from the Rolling Stones (“the Rolling truck Stones thing” of the lyrics) at an entertainment complex on the Lake Geneva shoreline that included the Montreux Casino and a theater. But younger listeners, who may have gravitated toward the tune while learning to play guitar-or just heard it on classic rock radio-might not have a clue what Ian Gillan was singing about. Presumably, most who heard it around the time it was released-first on Deep Purple’s 1972 Machine Head album and then as a single, which reached #4 in Billboard the following year-were familiar with the true tale it told it was big news at the time. You can’t not break into an embarrassingly manic air guitar pose as soon as you hear it!īut it’s the backstory that makes “Smoke on the Water” even more intriguing. “Smoke on the Water” 7-inch picture sleeveĮvery rock fan knows Deep Purple’s “Smoke on the Water.” For one thing, it has one of the most memorable signature opening riffs-four notes, in G minor, played on a Fender Stratocaster by Ritchie Blackmore-that any band has ever devised. David Bowie’s ‘Berlin Trilogy’: ‘Low,’ ‘Heroes’ and ‘Lodger’ Reconsidered.Radio Hits in December 1967: Things Were ‘Different’.The Heartbreak Kid: A Cringe-Inducing Classic.Radio Hits of 1968: It’s a Gas, Gas, Gas.2021 in Review: Best Boxed Sets, Collections & Reissues.Chrysalis Co-Founder Chris Wright on Label’s Rise.13 Classic Triple Albums: When Rockers Expanded the Limits.Alan Parsons Sets 2nd New Live Album: Listen.2021 in Review: The Best Music Books of the Year.10 Totally Cool Classic Rock/Soul Songs.The Pretenders’ 1st 2 LPs Reissued: Review.Billy Joel’s 2022 Schedule Extends MSG Residency.Joni Mitchell, Berry Gordy Get 2021 Kennedy Center Honors.Peter Asher + Albert Lee: Like Seeing Old Friends.Steely Dan’s Slyly Subversive ‘Royal Scam’ Reconsidered.13 More ‘Lost’ British Invasion Hits of the ’60s.
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