Ian Gillan was first with his group The Ian Gillan Band. In 1975 guitarist Ritchie Blackmore left, but the riff was taken over by Tommy Bolin.ĭeep Purple split in 1976 but Smoke On The Water was now a firm favourite with audiences, and when the musicians formed their own groups they all played the song live. Smoke On The Water stayed in their live set even after Ian Gillan left the group in 1973 and was sung by David Coverdale. It was also issued in Japan and most other countries (see the Japanese sleeves here) but incredibly the single was not issued in Britain until after the group had split. Radio stations in America picked up on this and it was a huge American hit in early 1973. Then they had the idea to issue an edited single of Smoke On The Water. A massive album hit in Europe, their American label Warners didn't want to release this at first. Smoke On The Water was then recorded for a live album, Made In Japan, in August 1972. Smoke On The Water was too long for a single and the group were sure another album track, Never Before, would be a hit. It was first played live for a small audience at the BBC on March 6th 1972, when the group recorded a special show for the radio to promote the new album. Ian Gillan who wrote the lyrics about their experiences over the Smoke On The water backing track.ĭeep Purple performed several tracks from the album live, some before they were recorded, but Smoke On The Water was the last track to be added to their concert set in mid-1972. The first one he suggested that they jam with.Finally Deep Purple hired the nearby empty Grand Hotel and recorded the rest of the album in a cordoned off area of the corridors with mattresses to deaden the noise. Sessions with a few ideas in his head, and the famous Smoke riff was The group set up the Rolling Stones Mobile and began recording in another hall, and the first backing track they laid down was the Smoke On The Water riff, before police closed down the session after neighbours complained about the volume. As the smoke drifted across the lake nearby, the sight inspired Roger Glover to jot down the song title Smoke On The Water. The group escaped with everyone else, and watched the hall burn down. The band's roadies saved Deep Purple's gear, parked outside the hall where they were going to start recording their new album the next day. Smoke On The Water was written and recorded during sessions for Deep Purple's seminal rock album Machine Head in Montreux, Switzerland in December 1971.ĭeep Purple were watching a Frank Zappa matinee concert in the Montreux Casino concert hall when a flare gun was discharged into the ceiling and started a fire which quickly engulfed and destroyed the venue. They needed one more song, so they put together Smoke On The Water using Gillan’s lyric and the riff guitarist Ritchie Blackmore came up with.More people search this site looking for information on Smoke On The Water than any other single aspect of Deep Purple's history this special page on the Deep Purple Appreciation Society website will cover all aspects of this amazingly popular rock anthem. The band was relocated to the Grand Hotel in Montreux, where they recorded the album using the Rolling Stones’ mobile studio. This image gave bass player Roger Glover the idea for a song title: “Smoke On The Water,” and Ian Gillan wrote the lyric about their saga recording the Machine Head album. The band was going to start recording their Machine Head album there right after a Frank Zappa concert, but someone fired a flare gun at the ceiling during Zappa’s show, which set the place on fire.ĭeep Purple watched the blaze from a nearby restaurant, and when the fire died down, a layer of smoke had covered Lake Geneva, which the casino overlooked. This song took inspiration from a fire in the Casino at Montreux, Switzerland in 1971. BONUS CLIPS BELOW – Deep Purple perform Smoke on the Water live in Sydney and the story behind the song
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