LAMONT’S MUSIC NOTES-MARCH 25, 2019…ON THIS DATE IN 1972 DEEP PURPLE RELEASES THE ALBUM ‘MACHINE HEAD’ AND I WAS HOOKED ON ROCK N’ ROLL.
‘MACHINE HEAD’ WAS THE 6TH STUDIO ALBUM FROM DEEP PURPLE AND BY FAR THE BAND’S MOST SUCCESSFUL COMMERCIALLY. IT STAYED ON THE AMERICAN CHARTS FOR A TOTAL OF 118 WEEKS AND SOLD OVER 2 MILLION COPIES IN AMERICA.
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.
THE BAND WAS RELOCATED TO THE GRAND HOTEL IN MONTREUX, WHERE THEY RECORDED THE ALBUM USING THE ROLLING STONES MOBILE STUDIO. ALSO INCLUDED ON THIS ALBUM IS A SONG MANY CONSIDER TO THE FIRST EVER “SPEED METAL” SONG ‘HIGHWAY STAR’, ‘SPACE TRUCKIN’
‘MAYBE I’M A LEO’ & ‘LAZY’
MACHINE HEAD HAS SOLD OVER 2 MILLION COPIES IN THE UNITED STATES ALONE, AND
OVER 7 MUSIC PUBLICATIONS CONSIDER THIS AS ONE OF THE TOP ROCK ALBUMS OF ALL TIME
HERE’S HIGHWAY STAR
LAZY
SMOKE ON THE WATER
AN INCREDIBLE LIVE VERSION OF SPACE TRUCKIN’
AND HERE’S FANTASTIC AUDIO OF A LIVE VERSION OF ‘MAYBE I’M A LEO’ FROM AN APPEARANCE ON THE BBC FROM 1972
