The Story Behind a Signature Heavy Metal Hit

Many songs have told stories (true or otherwise), but there is arguably one band that made a hit about the very song they were recording.
Smoke on the Water.jpg
Deep Pruple's hit Smoke on the Water, from their 1972 LP Machine Head, is regarded as a staple in the history of rock. Its signature riff is an inversion of Beethoven's fifth symphony, and has become very famous and identifiable to this day.

The story

 Each of the song's three verses tell a part of the story. What had happened was the band rented out the Rolling Stones' mobile to studio record an album. The evening when the recording started, Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Innovation were playing at the Montreux Casino, which was set to close for its winter rennovation to allow Purple to record there. However, an audience member shot a flare gun at the cieling and the whole casino ("the gambling house), burned down to the ground.

Who was Funky Claude?

 The "funky Claude" in the second verse, refers to Claude Nobs, director of the annual Montreux Jazz Festival held on the Lake Geneva shoreline since 1967. Many rock bands such as Yes and Jethro Tull have played (and even recorded a live album) there. Deep Purple also played a show at the 2007 festival and released it on the live album They All Come Down to Montreux.

The Grand Hotel

 The band tried to find another place to record their album. Although Claude Nobs found the Pavillion for them, the nearby residents took offense at the noise and only the backing tracks, and one riff, were made. The bulk of Machine Head were made at the Montreux Grand Hotel.

Machine Head has since been a commercially successful LP and even dedicated to Claude Nobs.

The Riff Is Hard

 Most people learn to play the Smoke riff as beginner guitarists using roughly the first six frets of the top E string. Blackmore himself has observed that the playing is wrong. The song should be played using all-fourths (or double stops).

The song ranks at #4 on Guitar Magazine's Top 20 Greatest Riffs Ever.

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