LAMONT’S MUSIC NOTES-MAY 21, 2019…IT WAS 46 YEARS AGO TODAY DEEP PURPLE RELEASED THE SINGLE ‘SMOKE ON THE WATER.’ SURPRISINGLY, THE BAND DID NOT THINK THE SONG WAS A HIT, AND RELEASED 2 OTHER SONGS FROM THE GROUP’S 1972 ALBUM ‘MACHINE HEAD’ AS SINGLES (‘NEVER BEFORE’ & ‘HIGHWAY STAR’). HOWEVER, A YEAR LATER IN 1993, TE RECORD COMPANY RELEASE ‘SMOKE ON THE WATER’ AND IT TOOK OFF. THE SONG HAS BEEN RANKED AS # 494 IN “ROLLING STONE” MAGAZINE’S LIST OF THE TOP 500 SONGS OF ALL-TIME, AND AS HIGH AS NUMBER 4 AS ONE OF THE GREATEST GUITAR RIFFS OF ALL-TIME BY “TOTAL GUITAR” MAGAZINE.
THE SINGLE HAS SOLD CLOSE TO A COMBINED 2 ½ MILLION COPIES AND DOWNLOADS.
ON THE STRENGTH OF ‘SMOKE ON THE WATER’ THE ALBUM ‘MACHINE HEAD’ WAS BY FAR THE BAND’S MOST SUCCESSFUL RECORD COMMERCIALLY. IT STAYED ON THE AMERICAN CHARTS FOR A TOTAL OF 118 WEEKS AND SOLD OVER 2 MILLION COPIES IN AMERICA AND 5 MILLION COPIES WORLDWIDE.
THE ALBUM WAS RECORDED UNDER INCREDIBLE CONDITIONS. THE BAND WAS IN SWITZERLAND TO RECORD MACHINE HEAD RIGHT AFTER A FRANK ZAPPA CONCERT, BUT SOMEONE FIRED A FLARE GUN AT THE CEILING DURING THE ZAPPA SHOW AND IT SET THE PLACE ON FIRE. DEEP PURPLE WAS IN THE AUDIENCE FOR THE SHOW, AND LEAD SINGER IAN GILLAN RECALLS 2 FLARES BEING SHOT OFF BY SOMEONE SITTING BEHIND HIM WHICH LANDED IN THE TOP CORNER OF THE BUILDING AND QUICKLY SET IT ON FIRE. FRANK ZAPPA STOPPED THE SHOW AND HELPED ENSURE AN ORDERLY EXIT.
THE REST OF THE BAND WAS ACROSS THE STREET AND WATCHED THE FIRE FROM A NEARBY RESTAURANT, AND WHEN THE FIRE DIED DOWN, A LAYER OF SMOKE COVERED LAKE GENEVA, WHICH THE CASINO OVERLOOKED. THE IMAGE GAVE ROGER GLOVER THE IDEA FOR A SONG TITLE ‘SMOKE ON THE WATER’, AND GILLAN WROTE THE LYRICS FOR THE SONG TO RECORD ON MACHINE HEAD.
HERE’S WHAT I CONSIDER THE GREATEST RIFF IN ROCK, DEEP PURPLE PERFORMING ‘SMOKE ON THE WATER’
