That’s how one of the most popular songs in the history of rock music came to be – if you listen closely to the song, the lyrics is the story in itself. Smoke on the water Chords by Deep Purple. Glover and singer Ian Gillan wrote the lyrics of the song that told the story of the chaotic disaster that went on in Switzerland as the band was about to commence their recording sessions. Even during the chaos of going on outside, the band recorded their first track with the simple four-power chord riff inspired by a classical influence, the intro to the first movement of Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony. The band then moved on to record their album at the out-of-season Grand Hotel. Bassist Roger Glover had a eureka moment when he saw a layer of smoke from the fire cover Lake Geneva and came up with the title “Smoke On The Water”. Thankfully, nobody got seriously hurt but the Casino along with all of Frank Zappa’s equipment and instruments were burned down.ĭeep Purple evacuated to the nearby restaurant where they watched the fire die down.
The whole Casino complex was set ablaze prompting the show to be stopped immediately and the audience to exit the concert venue. The concert was interrupted mid-performance when a flare gun was fired by an audience member and broke fire into the venue’s highly-flammable rattan ceiling. Learn to play Guitar by chord / tabs using chord diagrams, transpose the key, watch video lessons. The riff, played on a Fender Stratocaster electric guitar by Ritchie Blackmore, is later. This song is known for and recognizable by its central theme, a four-note 'blues scale' melody harmonized in parallel fourths. It was first released on their 1972 album Machine Head. Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention band were performing one night at the Montreux Casino and Deep Purple was in the audience. Smoke on the water Guitar chords and tabs by Deep Purple. Smoke on the Water is a song by the British hard rock band Deep Purple. They were to use the Rolling Stones Mobile Studio located at the Montreux Casino where they have performed at previously. It all began when Deep Purple came to Montreux, Switzerland in 1971 to record what was to be their breakthrough album, “Machine Head”. The irony of the popularity of Deep Purple’s iconic single is the fascinatingly dark and disastrous story behind the creation of the song that not many people know about.