Smoke on the water
| Smoke on the water | |
|---|---|
| Deep Purple | |
| publication | 1972 |
| length | 5:42 (album) 3:54 (single) |
| Genre (s) | Rock , hard rock |
| text | Ian Gillan |
| music | Ritchie Blackmore , Roger Glover , Jon Lord , Ian Paice |
| album | Machine head |
| Cover version | |
| 1989 | Rock Aid Armenia |
Smoke on the Water is a 1971 song by the British rock band Deep Purple that appeared on the 1972 album Machine Head . The song reached number four on the American Billboard charts, is one of the best-selling and best-known works of rock music with over 12 million copies sold, and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame .
According to a US poll, Smoke on the Water is the most famous song after their national anthem . Ultimate Classic Rock magazine listed Smoke on the water as # 1 in the Top 10 Deep Purple Songs . There are numerous quotes and cover versions, including a new recording by the fundraising project Rock Aid Armenia .
Emergence
On December 4, 1971, Deep Purple was in Montreux to record a new album in a mobile recording studio they had rented from the Rolling Stones . They took up quarters in a building that belonged to the Montreux Casino (the “gambling house” to which the text refers). That evening Frank Zappa and The Mothers of Invention gave a concert at the casino, during which a fire broke out. Allegedly a Swiss fan had a flare gun shot to the ceiling of the concert hall ( "some stupid with a flare gun" it says in the text). The whole complex together with the equipment of the Mothers was destroyed. The “Funky Claude” mentioned in the song was Claude Nobs , the director of the Montreux Jazz Festival , who helped the visitors to save themselves from the fire (“Funky Claude was running in and out / Pulling kids out the ground”) ). The title of the song, the working title of which was originally Durh, Durh, Durh , refers to the smoke that spread over Lake Geneva and which was observed by the musicians of Deep Purple in their hotel. There is a bootleg from the Zappa concert entitled Swiss Cheese / Fire!
Deep Purple now had the expensive recording studio, but no longer had a place to record. While looking for suitable premises, Nobs found The Pavilion theater for the band . After Deep Purple began recording, neighbors complained about the noise and the police ordered the recording to stop. Finally, after a week of searching, the band rented the almost empty Montreux Grand Hotel , where the salon was converted into a recording studio. Almost all of the recordings for the most successful Deep Purple album Machine Head took place here. Smoke on the Water , however, was the only song that was not recorded at the Grand Hotel; it wasn't completed until later, after the basic track for the song was the only result of the abandoned Pavilion recordings.
music
The piece is notated in G minor and in 4/4 time throughout. The distinctive leitmotif consists of two-quart notes from the lead guitar . The reef builds exclusively on levels I, III and IV as well as the reduced level V.
This riff, which for many guitar beginners is probably the first one they master on their instrument, is initially played twice by Ritchie Blackmore alone on the electric guitar (left in the stereo panorama), where he uses so-called double stops, i.e. depressing two strings at the same time and hits.
In the third repetition, in addition to a riff doubling by Jon Lord on his distorted Hammond organ (on the right in the stereo panorama), drummer Ian Paice with a sixteenth- note rhythm on the hi-hat , which he does in the fourth round by snare hits on the beats 2 and 4 added.
On the fifth repetition, Paice adds the kick drum on the same beats and Roger Glover starts with eighth notes on the electric bass. This is followed by a last run with the previous instrumentation , with Paice now playing continuous eighth notes on the bass drum before Ian Gillan begins with the first verse of the song.
In live performances, including those on the album Made in Japan , a solo by the Hammond organ is added. The song then ends in an imitating solo duel between organ and electric guitar. This concept was retained in live performances after the Mk II occupation.
success
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Smoke on the Water was part of the Machine Head album , which was released in spring 1972. The song wasn't released as a single until a year later, however, and peaked at number 4 on the US Billboard Hot 100 in the summer of 1973 .
The piece became an integral part of Deep Purple's concerts, where it was mainly used for the virtuoso interplay between Lord's organ and Blackmore's guitar. A live version can be heard on the double live album Made in Japan , as well as on the DVD Perihelion. During Gillan's interlude with Black Sabbath in 1983, Smoke on the Water was regularly played as an encore on tour.
New recording by Rock Aid Armenia
On December 7, 1988 at 11:41 am local time, the Spitak earthquake struck northern Armenia . Jon Dee, an Australian campaign activist, saw footage and pictures from the disaster area and later described:
“ The material I got from Armenia was really terrible. Entire communities had been wiped off the map. The streets were full of people lamenting the loss of family members. Schools had collapsed and many children had been killed. The saddest pictures were of people carrying small coffins with dead babies in them. The disaster zone was a cold and hopeless place. "
Dee started the aid project Rock Aid Armenia with the plan to re-record Smoke on the Water with well-known musicians. David Gilmour was enthusiastic about the idea and allowed that Dee tried to win more musicians for the project with reference to his participation. Ultimately, Bryan Adams , Geoff Beauchamp , Ritchie Blackmore , Bruce Dickinson , Geoff Downes , Keith Emerson , Ian Gillan , David Gilmour, Tony Iommi , Alex Lifeson , Brian May , Paul Rodgers , Chris Squire and Roger Taylor re-recorded the title together. The 1972 original singer Ian Gillan, Iron Maiden's Bruce Dickinson and Paul Rodgers each performed the vocal part of a verse.
The recording in the Metropolis Studios in Chiswick , London , began on July 8, 1989. In a total of five sessions, which took place at irregular intervals until September 24, 1989, the single was produced by Gary Langan and Geoff Downes . On December 30, 1989, she reached number 39, her top position in the British charts. A radio mix enriched with keyboards was also made, which appeared on the 1990 released The Earthquake album . The proceeds of the All-Star-Music-Project went to the reconstruction of the devastated region in Armenia.
In 2010, 21 years after its initial release, Jon Dee released the accompanying DVD EP Smoke on the Water - The Metropolis Sessions . It contained a remix of the song created by Dee and Josh Wermut in 2010, as well as the original mix from 1989, the radio mix from 1990 and a recording of Ian Gillan's vocal recording for the 1989 television documentary. The DVD contained the video clip from 1989 and the contribution The Making of Smoke on the Water .
Regarding his motives for the re-release, Dee wrote:
“ Two years ago I was informed by Ara Tadevosyan about the current situation in the earthquake region. Life is still very difficult for the people there and we found that a children's music school in Gyumri could still not be rebuilt. So we decided to bring the project back to life. Every penny of the money we make will go towards rebuilding this school. "
The Who Cares project, launched by Ian Gillan and Tony Iommi in 2011, is dedicated to the same goal, bringing constancy to efforts to rebuild the school.
More cover versions
The track was recorded as a cover version or played live by many artists, including Iron Maiden , Metallica , AC / DC , Black Sabbath , Paul Di'Anno (ex-Iron Maiden), Six Feet Under , Metalium , the Polish heavy metal -Band Acid Drinkers , Korean thrash metal band Crash , Canadian artist Nash the Slash (re-titled Dopes on the Water ), Angra and many others. It was performed live at the G3 concerts and is included on the live album G3: Live in Tokyo . Weird Al Yankovic recorded the title for his first polka medley Polkas on 45 .
The R & B singer Pat Boone played the song in 1997 for his album In a Metal Mood: No More Mr. Nice Guy , where Ritchie Blackmore as lead guitarist participated and Dweezil Zappa contributed a solo. The German techno musician Uwe Schmidt recorded the song under the pseudonym Señor Coconut in 2003 for his album Fiesta Songs . In 2007 the song appeared on the Made in Japan album, which was covered live by Dream Theater . Carlos Santana recorded the title in 2010 for his album Guitar Heaven: The Greatest Guitar Classics of All Time and hired Jacoby Shaddix , the singer of the group Papa Roach , for the vocals .
Guitar Hero
Smoke on the Water is part of the Guitar Hero , Guitar Hero II, and Guitar Hero: Greatest Hits (Smash Hits) editions .
In the literature
The writers Peter Simm and Silvia Sussmann named their book, published in 2008, in reference to the song “ Final Chord” or “Smoke on the water” .
literature
- Ian Gillan, David Cohen: The Autobiography of Deep Purple's Lead Singer . Blake Publishing, 1998, ISBN 1-85782-320-6 .
- Herbert J. Hopfgartner: Four notes for eternity . In: "Salzburger Nachrichten", December 3, 2011 (topic, page VIII).
- Jürgen Roth, Michael Sailer: Deep Purple. The story of a band. Hannibal, Höfen 2005, ISBN 3-85445-251-9 .
- Dave Thompson: Smoke on the Water: The Deep Purple Story. ECW Press, Canada, 2004, ISBN 1-55022-618-5 .
- Didi Zill, Michael Rudolf: Deep Purple. Photographs. Schwarzkopf & Schwarzkopf, Berlin 2002, ISBN 3-89602-406-X .
Web links
- Smoke on the Water on last.fm
- Rock Aid Armenia website
swell
Individual evidence
- ^ Jürgen Roth, Michael Sailer: Deep Purple. The story of a band. Hannibal, Höfen 2005, ISBN 3-85445-251-9 , p. 219.
- ↑ The Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll
- ↑ Almost as well known as the national anthem, Deep Purple are coming to Emden - hit "Smoke On The Water" , NWZ online, December 23, 2005
- ↑ Ultimate Classic Rock, Top 10 Deep Purple Songs
- ↑ Pop songs and their backgrounds .
- ^ "Smoke on the Water": The fire that became music history , SRF, August 11, 2015
- ↑ Charts UK Charts US .
- ↑ a b Liner Notes for the Re-Release of Smoke on the Water , 2010