“Smoke on the Water” by Deep Purple

“Smoke on the Water” is known primarily for its iconic guitar riff. But the lyrics are also quite interesting, being based on a storyline whereas Deep Purple witnessed the destruction of a venue known as the Montreux Casino, located in Switzerland, in 1971.

First Verse

As alluded to at the beginning of the first verse, they were actually there to record an album utilizing a mobile studio (which they had rented from the Rolling Stones). Concurrently, Frank Zappa was also in the house alongside his band, the Mothers of Invention, to perform a show, which Deep Purple went to watch. And what happened is that an attendee, apparently caught up in the rapture of the performance, decided to shoot a flare gun up into the ceiling. Well unfortunately, said ceiling was supported by wooden rafters, and the Montreux Casino proceeded to promptly burn away.

Verse 2

So for instance, “the Funky Claude” mentioned in the second verse was a notable industry figure in Switzerland who was also at the event and, as noted, helped to save some lives. He also proceeded to assist Deep Purple in “find(ing) another place” to record their album. That proved to be a process in and of itself. And as also revealed in the second verse, the band began to lose hope that they would be able to finish the album on time.

Verse 3

But Ian Gillan and the crew do emerge victorious in the third verse, in large part due to capabilities of the aforementioned “Rolling-truck-Stone-thing”. The delay caused by the disaster was directly attributable to the creation of “Smoke on the Water” in more ways than one.

For starters, this song was the direct result of Deep Purple anxiously facing the afore-referenced deadline and needing to come up with one last track ASAP. Secondly, the titular term does alludes to the aforenoted fire, with the Montreux Casino being located near a waterbody, i.e. “on the Lake Geneva shoreline”. So as the blaze raged, the band bore witness to the event from a restaurant not too far away. It is from there that they actually saw that a blanket of smoke was hovering over Lake Geneva – or as artistically put in the lyrics the “smoke on the water”.

Deep Purple

Deep Purple is a band of rock-and-rollers, originating in late-1960s’ London. They have remained active throughout the years and experienced their most-pronounced success during the 1970s. But that said, Deep Purple still has a tendency to perform impressively chart-wise. For instance, their albums “Infinite” (2017) and “Whoosh!” (2020) respectively peaked at numbers 6 and 4 on the UK Albums Chart.

“Smoke on the Water” is from “Machine Head”, Deep Purple’s sixth-studio album, which was released on 25 March 1972. Three members of the band from those days – Ian Paice, Ian Gillan and Roger Glover – are still down as of the writing of this post. 

Back then, they were joined by Ritchie Blackmore, who permanently quit the band in 1993, as well as Jon Lord, who passed away in 2012.

Success of “Smoke on the Water”

Chart-wise, this song most notably peaked at number 4 on the Billboard Hot 100. It charted in about a dozen countries overall, in addition to being certified gold in the US in 1973, which by current RIAA standards would be considered platinum.

It was a live rendition of “Smoke on the Water” that helped the song hit in the United States. Well apparently, that live version attributed to Warner Bros. deciding to trim the song down from its original album length of nearly six minutes to about a more radio-friendly four minutes, which is the duration of the single version of the track. And to note, the aforementioned live rendition can be found on Deep Purple’s 1972 outing “Made in Japan”.

There is also what is known as the Rock Aid Armenia version of this song. That recording was a supergroup effort. This is because Ian Gillan and Ritchie Blackmore recruited other musicians – such as Brian May, Bryan Adams and Roger Taylor – for the cause. And said cause was to benefit victims of the 1988 Armenian earthquake.

More Success

It should also be noted that “Smoke on the Water” consists of what is considered to be one of the most famous guitar riffs in the history of rock music, as rendered by Ritchie Blackmore. Indeed in 1994, a group of over 1,300 guitarists gathered to play it simultaneously in the name of establishing a Guinness World Record. 

When Blackmore created that riff, he was actually trying to emulate Beethoven’s “Symphony No. 5”, though in reverse.

Another testament to just how widely regarded this song is would be the fact that it once held a place on the “500 Greatest Songs of All-Time”. This is a highly-regarded list compiled by Rolling Stone magazine.

More Facts about “Smoke on the Water”

The aforementioned quintet which comprised Deep Purple at the time are credited with writing “Smoke on the Water”. And they are collectively acknowledged under the band’s moniker as the producer of the track.

The labels behind this song are Warner Bros., earMusic and Purple Records UK. The latter label is an entity that was founded by Deep Purple’s people.

“Funky Claude”, who is mentioned in the second verse, is a reference to one Claude Nobs (1936-2013). He worked for major record labels like Warner and Atlantic. What he is most remembered for is co-founding the Montreux Jazz Festival in 1967.

THE FIRE AT THE CASINO AT MONTREUX, SWITZERLAND IN 1971

There was a fire outbreak during a concert organized on the 4th of December 1971, by The Mothers of Invention at the Montreux Casino.

This Casino in Montreux was a popular venue for most of the major events in Switzerland. It was built in 1881 and had been a site of entertainment for the Montreux Jazz Festival. Several rock “n” roll artists and symphony orchestras were hosted there.

The Casino was full with a capacity of 2000 people on the night of this concert. In the middle of the concert, just when American singer and multi-instrumentalist Frank Zappa had begun singing the song “King Kong”, a fan with a signal pistol (flare gun), fired two shots into the ceiling of the casino. A little while after that, some sponsors of the concert noticed a flare of smoke from the ceiling.

Attempts were made to quench the fire using fire extinguishers but were not successful. Some parts of the ceiling that were ablaze fell to the floor of the casino causing a spread and trapping the fans inside. Luckily, they were able to escape through the large glass window and door around the building.

No fatalities or serious injuries were recorded but the casino was completely destroyed by the fire.

The Montreux Casino was rebuilt and back in operation by the mid-1970s. It is still functioning to this day.