

Left with an expensive mobile recording unit and no place to record, the band was forced to scout the town for another place to set up. Ĭlaude Nobs (2006), the "Funky Claude" mentioned in the song Swiss police named Zdeněk Špička, a Czechoslovak refugee living in Épalinges, as a suspect in the case, but he fled Switzerland shortly after. But, when it caught, it went up like a fireworks display." The "Funky Claude" running in and out is referring to Claude Nobs, the director of the Montreux Jazz Festival who helped some of the audience escape the fire. I remember there was very little panic getting out, because it didn't seem like much of a fire at first. Glover said that, "It was probably the biggest fire I'd ever seen up to that point and probably ever seen in my life. The "smoke on the water" that became the title of the song (credited to bassist Roger Glover, who related how the title occurred to him when he woke from a dream a few days later) referred to the smoke from the fire spreading over Lake Geneva from the burning casino as the members of Deep Purple watched from their hotel. Although there were no major injuries, the resulting fire destroyed the entire casino complex, along with all the Mothers' equipment. At the beginning of Don Preston's synthesiser solo on "King Kong", the place suddenly caught fire when somebody in the audience fired a flare gun towards the rattan-covered ceiling, as mentioned in the "some stupid with a flare gun" line. This was the theatre's final concert before the casino complex closed down for its annual winter renovations, which would allow Deep Purple to record there. On the eve of the recording session, a Frank Zappa and The Mothers of Invention concert was held in the casino's theatre. The lyrics tell a true story: on 4 December 1971, Deep Purple were in Montreux, Switzerland, to record an album ( Machine Head) using a mobile recording studio (rented from the Rolling Stones and known as the Rolling Stones Mobile Studio-referred to as the "Rolling truck Stones thing" and "a mobile" in the lyrics) at the entertainment complex that was part of the Montreux Casino (referred to as "the gambling house" in the song lyric).

Another version of Smoke on the water was recorded on the album "Made in Japan", a live album that containedĪ long Ian Paice's drum solo, an historical performance that still is a reference for every rock drummer.-Opening verse and chorus of "Smoke on the Water", recollecting the fire. The trascription of Smoke on the water in the music sheet, one of the most famous Deep Purple's songs, taken from the 1972 album "Machine head", is a good example He's been the only drummer in the band history, though all the changes in Deep Purple's line-up. One of the most famous drummers in rock history, Ian Paice has been a main element in the sound of Deep Purple, the English band who invented hard rock.īorn in Nottingham (UK), Ian Paice was a precocious talent and in 1967, at only 19, he was a founding member of Deep Purple. Learn Rock music sheets, Smoke on the Water Video drum lessons online: Ian Paice Smoke on the Water In the Rock music sheets of this drum lesson dedicated to Ian Paice you'll find the transcription of Smoke on the Water.
