Smoke On The Water - Montreux 50 years on

The Montreux Casino goes up in smoke, Dec 4 1971

50 years ago this evening, “some stupid with a flare-gun” caused the Montreux casino fire that was the inspiration for Deep Purple’s best-known song Smoke On The Water.

In December 1971, Deep Purple were in Switzerland to record what would become their classic album Machine Head. On December 4^th they attended a show at the Montreux Casino, on the shore of Lake Geneva. During the show, by Frank Zappa’s band The Mothers Of Invention, a member of the audience fired a flare into the wooden rafters of the casino roof.

There is an audio recording of the concert where Zappa can be heard calmly telling the audience to head for the exits. The evacuation was completed safely and there was no loss of life. The casino building was totally ruined by the fire.

The Montreux Casino as it was

As the smoke drifted across the lake, Purple's bass guitarist Roger Glover thought of the title...

We all came out to Montreux
On the Lake Geneva shoreline
To make records with a mobile
We didn't have much time
Frank Zappa and the Mothers
Were at the best place around
But some stupid with a flare gun
Burned the place to the ground

Smoke on the water
Fire in the sky

FZ surveys the scene

Zappa’s band lost most of their gear in the fire. Deep Purple, who were scheduled to begin recording at the casino the next day, managed to avoid losing their equipment, but had lost their recording location.

With nowhere to make their album, Montreux’s music festival promoter Claude Nobs came to the band's rescue. Glover said, “He put all his problems aside. We had no place to record, so he arranged to have us move into a small theatre near the smouldering remains of the casino.”

The ruins of the Casino

They burned down the gambling house
It died with an awful sound
And Funky Claude was running in and out
Pulling kids out the ground

Whilst at the theatre, they started messing around with a new riff. "We were doing the first take of this new song – well, it wasn’t a song yet, it was just a jam with a kind of rough arrangement to it," said Glover.

What they didn’t know was that the police were outside banging on the door trying to get in and stop them playing. Apparently they were keeping the whole town awake. "Montreux was then a very sleepy town, populated mostly by old ladies,” quipped Glover.

Deep Purple recorded their classic album in a hotel corridor

It became clear the band were not welcome in the lakeside town, especially after the events of the fire. Rock bands meant trouble to the Swiss, but Nobs helped Purple find “a place to sweat”.

When it all was over
We had to find another place
But Swiss time was running out
It seemed that we would lose the race

Thanks to Funky Claude, they were able to secure a place where they could make some noise - The Grand Hotel.

Glover recalled, “It was closed for the winter. A cold sort of place, I mean it was freezing cold. We had a carpenter put a couple of walls up. We threw some mattresses against the windows, brought in a couple of industrial heaters. And we recorded there.”

 The Stones' mobile truck at the hotel

The Rolling Stones’ mobile recording truck was parked at the rear of the hotel. Engineer Martin Birch set up an intercom so he could communicate with the band in the hotel corridor. Here's Take 2 of Highway Star, the first track on the album.

"We were still short of a song, so it was suggested that we work up the song we had jammed at the theatre. It became a song about the adventure of coming to try and record, and the place burning down and ending up doing it in a hotel corridor."

We ended up at the Grand Hotel
It was empty, cold, and bare
But with the Rolling truck Stones thing just outside
Making our music there

Guitarist Ritchie Blackmore came up with the classic riff and in its simplicity, Blackmore has likened it to the famous introduction to Beethoven’s fifth symphony.

"What Beethoven does with just very few notes, that riff does too. But it’s got a hint of Eastern mysticism in it, just by the semitone lift. Instantly recognisable and yet like nothing else," said Glover.

The Grand Hotel, Montreux, November 2021

Blackmore also pointed out that everyone plays the famous riff wrong. Blackmore plays it in fourths, plucking two strings at a time, rather than block chording it.

Glover and singer Ian Gillan wrote the lyrics. "We never thought for a minute it was going to have the kind of future it has had,” said Glover. “We didn’t think that much of it. We put all our efforts into another song on the album, Never Before."

Purple"s run of hit singles in 1970 and '71 - Black Night, Fireball and Strange Kinda Woman - came to a halt with Never Before, one of the new tracks recorded in Montreux. For some reason it didn't sell. It probably didn't make the playlists on major radio stations, perhaps because it was a little different from what you'd expect of Purple; neither rock nor pop. 

The rebuilt Montreux Casino, November 2021

Nonetheless, the album sold well and Purple picked up further sales momentum when the live version of Smoke On The Water, from the album Made In Japan, was released in the US in 1973.

Given the limitations of space and comfort at the Grand Hotel, it is remarkable that Deep Purple were able to make such a great record as Machine Head. It showcases not only a consistently high quality of songwriting, but also a band that rocks (Highway Star, Space Truckin) and swings too (Lazy, Maybe I'm A Leo).  

And then there is Smoke On The Water - a riff they must be sick of playing after all these years. But for better or worse, it's what most people know them for. And it's got a great story behind it.

With a few red lights, a few old beds
We made a place to sweat
No matter what we get out of this
I know, I know we'll never forget Smoke on the water
Fire in the sky

The Lake Geneva shoreline, November 2021

Last month, my wife and I visited some friends in Vevey, the next big town along the lake from Montreux. 

We walked along the promenade, sampling the delights of the Christmas market in Montreux. We visited the rebuilt Casino, which houses the recording studio that was owned by Queen for many years. 

And there, on the water, was the same view of the Lake Geneva shoreline from the Machine Head album, minus the smoke.

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See also on this blog:

1970 - Deep Purple Get Heavy with 'In Rock'

Most-viewed Youtube clips - Tommy Bolin live, 1976

There's a lot to like in the 'ZAPPA' movie

Electric Ladyland - The Genius of Jimi Hendrix

What Is Led Zeppelin's Best Acoustic Song?

The Who - Who's next - Lightning In A Bottle

Worth watching:
Rick Beato dissects Smoke On The Water

1970 - Deep Purple get heavy with 'In Rock'

This one's for my mate Clem. When we were teenagers we'd go round to his house after school, dim the lights and put on Deep Purple In Rock at full volume.

This was my education in rock drumming. While Clem flailed away at a tennis racquet, I used a pair of Clem's mother's knitting needles and beat the hell out of her sofa cushions. She still reminds me about the state I left them in.

'In Rock' was the first album proper by the second incarnation of Deep Purple. They'd had a hit single in 1968 - 'Hush'  - but no follow-up success and by 1969 Deep Purple were treading water.

Guitarist Ritchie Blackmore wanted to move more into heavy rock, which was now popular on the back of Cream's success and Led Zeppelin's early concerts. Black Sabbath were also coming through at this time and American groups like Vanilla Fudge, Iron Butterfly and Mountain were creating their own heavy rock sounds.

Getting to know you: Purple's first photo together

Blackmore and Lord, as the accepted leaders of the band, made a decision to replace original singer Rod Evans and bassist Nick Simper and bring in some new blood. When they approached singer Ian Gillan from the band Episode Six and his bandmate Roger Glover, Deep Purple Mark II was born.

But then far from releasing a heavy rock album, they came out with a live orchestral recording. It could easily have backfired on them, but in some weird way it actually raised their profile again.

Jon Lord had composed the Concerto for Group and Orchestra and the band's management probably thought this would be a good publicity stunt. A performance with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra was arranged for 24 September 1969 at the Royal Albert Hall in London.

Two worlds collide

The rest of the band were not at all keen on the idea of playing with an orchestra. Ian Gillan said he only wrote the lyrics on the day of the concert.

For their part, the orchestra considered playing with a rock band was beneath them and put little effort into the rehearsals.

The conductor, Malcolm Arnold, scolded them for their snobbish behaviour. He is reported to have said, "You're supposed to be the finest orchestra in Britain, and you're playing like a bunch of cunts!"

Despite these problems, a recording of the show was released in December 1969 and did gain the group a higher profile, but as a classical rock group. 

Deep Purple In Rock was the perfect antidote to that. 

Blackmore was adamant that Purple needed to shake off the orchestral tag and the best way to do that was to play as loud as possible. He is said to have told the band, "If it's not dramatic or exciting, it has no place on this album".

Roger Glover remembers, "We were playing our instruments as hard as possible. Amps and speakers were being driven hard. If I had to pick one image that sums up Deep Purple In Rock, it would be the VU meters always in the red."

 

 Speed King, the first track on 'In Rock'

Everything louder than everything else

The album kicks off with Speed King and just about the heaviest opening imaginable; everyone playing as loud and as fast as they can for a minute, until the music tumbles down to just the sound of Lord's church-like organ. As that initial furious burst of energy dissipates, you can hear Blackmore's amps crackling. As a statement of intent, it couldn't have been clearer.

The centrepiece of In Rock was the track Child In Time, a climactic song featuring Lord, Ian Gillan's incredible screamed vocal and a ferocious solo from Blackmore. It became a staple of their live act. The live version on Made In Japan from 1972 shows the group absolutely on fire.
Child In Time, recorded for Granada TV in the UK

Halfway through the sessions for In Rock, Martin Birch took over as the recording engineer. "The chemistry between the band and Martin was instant," recalled Glover.

Ian Gillan also recognised Birch's affinity for the music: "Martin was the only engineer who bothered to go out into the room to hear what the band sounded like. When we called him a 'catalyst' on the record sleeve, I think that was very true." Birch became the band's mainstay producer after that.

The review of In Rock in Melody Maker, by Roy Carr, called it "magnificent" and "a stunningly good album".

Carr highlighted the band's ability as players and Gillan's powerful singing, also praising Blackmore's "masterly guitar work, which is completely in context. His sympathy with the mood of each work throughout the album is quite remarkable".

Jon Lord's "exciting work at the organ" was another highlight for Carr. In summary he said that In Rock was "a magnificent album which no enthusiast of today's music dare miss."

In the Melody Maker interview piece from August 1970 (reproduced below) Ian Gillan explained how Deep Purple rose above the other heavy groups by working on the varied dynamics.

Blackmore killed off any idea that Purple were a classical group: "It was one album, which gave us a lot of publicity....the classical thing is dead and buried as far as we are concerned." I have discovered that this interview is also the inspiration for the quote in Cameron Crowe's movie Almost Famous where the lead singer character played by Jason Lee says to a the Rolling Stone reporter "and the chicks are great".

Years later, DJ Alan 'Fluff' Freeman was deputising for Simon Bates on his BBC Radio One morning radio show. Bates had a regular daily section where you had to guess the year all the records were made. Freeman had 1970 on this day and was scheduled to play Deep Purple's hit Black Night. But instead (by mistake? I think not) he played the B-side, Speed King.

Knowing Fluff's admiration for all things heavy, I'm convinced he did it deliberately.

Meanwhile, the housewives of England will have got the shock of their lives. He didn't take it off either - played the whole thing - Not 'arf!

"Guitar-smashing Ritchie Blackmore" and the story of a
cancelled French gig, that would be echoed later in Montreux.
At this time, Blackmore was still alternating between the
 Gibson 335 and his newly acquired Fender Stratocaster.

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ALSO ON THIS BLOG: Smoke On The Water - Montreux 50 years on

My most-viewed Youtube clips: 2. Tommy Bolin live 1976 - 'Delightful'

I put this together using whatever photos I could find of Tommy Bolin and the band, which included drummer Narada Michael Walden, fresh from his time with the Mahavishnu Orchestra.

Michael had just released his first solo album, The Garden of Love Light, which features Jeff Beck and Carlos Santana. Tommy's band took the track 'Delightful' and played a beautiful version of it here, catching the groove just right. There's a later show on the CD this was taken from (First Time Live) which is much quicker, and loses the groove as a result.

So here we have just about the best example of Tommy Bolin's short-lived band. For their first gig on April 28, 1976 (Deep Purple had split up in March) the TB Band played at La Paloma Theater in Encinitas, San Diego. 

The band members are Norma Jean Bell (sax), Reggie McBride (bass), Mark Stein (keys) and Narada Michael Walden (drums). The song 'Delightful' is from the first solo album by NMW, The Garden of Love Light.

And it's obviously captivated folks, to judge from the comments on the YT page. Over 200,000 views last time I checked. Enjoy.

IF YOU LIKE MY BLOG, PLEASE HIT THE FOLLOW BUTTON ON THE SIDE PANEL

THANKS

See also on this blog:

Smoke On The Water - Montreux 50 Years On 

1970 - Deep Purple get heavy with 'In Rock'