The story of Smoke on the Water of the Deep Purplesong characterized by what we could define hands down the most recognizable guitar riff in history, is steeped in legend. A Swiss concert that was about to end in tragedy. The smoke on the water. The Fifth Symphony of the dear Ludovico Van (as Alex DeLarge of would call it Clockwork Orange).
The year is the 1971, the month that of December. A particular period for all humanity. A few days before Intel he had created the first ever commercial microprocessor, and the Russians had landed on Mars in a probe. Not only that: in October i Pink Floyd had finished filming the famous Live in Pompeii, i Led Zeppelin they had given the world Led Zeppelin IV (yes, that of Stairway to Heaven) e John Lennon had released his solo masterpiece: Imagine.
In this chaos of artistic and social ferment, on December 4th, Deep Purple are at Montreux CasinoSwitzerland, on Lake Geneva, to record Machine Head thanks to the help of a mobile study lent to them by Rolling Stones. The album would be released in March of the following year. It so happened that on that same December 4th, in that same casino, a concert was scheduled by Frank Zappaon tour with his Mothers of Invention. Deep Purple goes to listen to him.
That Frank Zappa concert that came close to tragedy (but inspired Deep Purple)
As mentioned, the concert was held at the Montreux Casino, right where Deep Purple should have recorded the album a few days later. Unfortunately, after that evening, about the casino only the ashes remained. Already because someone in the audience, halfway through Frank Zappa’s lineup, had the brilliant idea of shooting a flare. A very violent fire ensued, which destroyed the entire venue and much of Zappa’s instrumentation.
After exiting the building, Deep Purple witnessed the flames from a nearby restaurant, and as the fire died down, a layer of smoke covered Lake Geneva, overlooked by the casino. This image gave the bassist Roger Glover the idea for a song title: Smoke On The Waterliterally Smoke on the water.
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Meanwhile the band had to reorganize the recording sessions: the casino had gone up in smoke (literally) and then it was decided to transfer operations to Grand Hotel di Montreux. The unexpected cost the band time. All the time the band didn’t have, as their Swiss passport was due to expire within a month. From 6 to 21 December Deep Purple worked on the record. Tirelessly. But the material was too little for an LP: at least one song was missing.
It was then that it was officially born Smoke on the Water. And: one of the most iconic songs in music history was born as a record filler.
Having little time available (the sentence of the text “Swiss time was running out” symbolizes the very fact that their Swiss passports were about to expire), Deep Purple also kept the recordings at night. Not being able to do it at the hotel, they rented a ballroom called Pavilion, also in Montreaux. However, the neighbors called the police, who interrupted the recordings of the instrumental Smoke on the Water. The rest of the song was recorded at the hotel in the following days.
In short, that trip to Switzerland was revealing itself both magical and cursed.
The riff of Smoke on the Water it is an inversion of Beethoven’s fifth
As absurd as it may seem, the most famous rock guitar riff in history doesn’t come from rock influences. On the contrary. The guitarist Ritchie Blackmore he had actually remade himself to the famous one Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony. Specifically to the first movement, what, according to Beethoven, represents “fate knocking on the door”. Blackmore decided to reverse the order of Beethoven’s notes, and to interpret them in an atypical way: harmonizing in fourths.
For those of you non-musicians, suffice it to know that pop and rock music generally use harmonies with third and fifth intervals. Think of the vocal harmonies of Beach Boys or gods Beatlesor to the more common guitar chords (generally composed of the notes tonic, third and fifth of the scale). For the riff of Smoke on the Water Blackmore, taking up the medieval musical tradition, prefers the fourth to the third and fifth. The result is a bichord (a chord made up of only two notes, tonic and fourth in this case), with tones gloomy and dark.
In the video that you find below you can watch Blackmore himself explaining the differences and assonances with Beethoven.
The meaning of Smoke on the Water by Deep Purple: the lyrics
The lyrics of the song tell and summarize all the misadventures of the Swiss epic, and are full of irresistible references to the events that took place.
We all came out to Montreux
On the Lake Geneva shoreline
To make records with a mobile
We didn’t have much time
Singer Ian Gillian tells us that we arrived in Montreaux to record an album on Lake Geneva. The band didn’t have much time due to the strict Swiss passport laws of the time. The phrase “to make records with a mobile” refers to the fact that Deep Purple had borrowed the Rolling Stones’ mobile studio for the recordings.
But Frank Zappa and the Mothers
Were at the best place around
But some stupid with a flare gun
Burned the place to the ground
This verse tells us about Frank Zappa’s concert with the Mothers of Invention. Concert which, as we know, risked ending in tragedy because of “some fool with a flare gun that flattened the place”.
Smoke on the water
And fire in the sky
The iconic chorus describes the scene: smoke on the lake water and flames in the sky.
They burned down the gambling house
It died with an awful sound
Funky Claude was running in and out
Pulling kids out the ground
Il Funky Claude mentioned in the text is Claude Nobsco-founder of the prestigious Montreux Jazz Festival, who helped save people from the casino fire and scrambled to find Deep Purple another recording location.
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
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At that point the band had to find a new location to record the album, but this cost them time. As mentioned above, the sentence “Swiss time was running out” it refers precisely to their Swiss passports which were about to expire. The risk was of having to leave the country without completing the registrations. There is also a play on words in this sentence, as the Swiss are known for their proverbial punctuality (in fact they say “like a Swiss watch“)
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
Ian Gillian tells us how it ended: Deep Purple moved to the Grand Hotel, a cold and bare place, with a truck parked outside: the famous Rolling Stones mobile studio.
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
In the last verse, Ian Gillan says he recorded the song in the Grand Hotel “with some red lights and some old beds”. The singer explained to Songfacts the meaning of the last verse: the hotel was too bright for their liking, so they fitted some red light bulbs to create atmosphere. Acoustics were another issue, so they used their bed mattresses to dull out the sound. They then improvised what are now called in technical jargon bass trap.
1,721 guitarists play the iconic riff together
On June 3, 2007 in Kansas City, Kansas, 1,721 guitarists gathered to play Smoke on the Water’s iconic riff together. The reason? Break the world record for the most guitarists playing at the same time. The song was played in full, though only the lead guitar performed the solo. The event was attended by guitarists from all over the world.