“Smoke on the Water”
Single by Deep Purple from the album Machine Head
B-side	Smoke on the Water (Live in Japan)
Released	1972
Format	7"
Recorded	December, 1971
Genre	Hard rock, heavy metal
Length	5:42 (album version) 3:47 (single version)
Label	EMI (UK) Warner Bros. Records (US)
Writer(s)	Ritchie Blackmore Ian Gillan Roger Glover Jon Lord Ian Paice
Producer	Deep Purple
Deep Purple singles chronology
"Never Before" (1972) "Smoke on the Water" (1973) "Woman from Tokyo" (1973)
Machine Head track listing
"Never Before" (4) "Smoke on the Water" (5) "Lazy" (6)
UK single cover

"Smoke on the Water" is a rock song by British rock band Deep Purple. It was first released on the 1972 album Machine Head. In 2004, the song was ranked #426 on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time, and in March 2005, Q magazine placed "Smoke on the Water" at number 12 in its list of the 100 Greatest Guitar Tracks. Image File history File links Smoke_on_the_Water. ... A collection of various CD singles In music, a single is a short recording of one or more separate tracks. ... This article is about the rock band. ... Alternate cover 25th anniversary gatefold cover Machine Head is the third Mk II (sixth overall) Deep Purple studio album. ... “B-Sides” redirects here. ... Made in Japan is a live album by British hard rock band Deep Purple, released in December 1972. ... Year 1972 (MCMLXXII) was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... A 12-inch record (left), a 7-inch record (right), and a CD (above) Two 7 singles (left), two colored 7 singles (middle), and two 7 singles with large spindle holes (right). ... Look up December in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Year 1971 (MCMLXXI) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar) of the 1971 Gregorian calendar, known as the year of cyclohexanol. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Hard Rock redirects here. ... Heavy metal redirects here. ... In the music industry, a record label can be a brand and a trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos. ... For other uses, see EMI (disambiguation). ... Warner Bros. ... A songwriter is someone who writes the lyrics to songs, the musical composition or melody to songs, or both. ... Richard Hugh Blackmore, (born 14 April 1945) is an English guitarist. ... Ian Gillan (born 19 August 1945 in Hounslow, London), is an English rock music vocalist best known as the lead singer for Deep Purple. ... Roger David Glover (b. ... Jon Douglas Lord (born Leicester 9 June 1941) is an English composer, Hammond organ and piano player. ... Ian Paice Ian Anderson Paice (born June 29, 1948; Nottingham, England) made his name as drummer with seminal heavy rock band Deep Purple. ... In the music industry, a record producer (or music producer) has many roles, among them controlling the recording sessions, coaching and guiding the musicians, organizing and scheduling production budget and resources, and supervising the recording, mixing and mastering processes. ... This article is about the rock band. ... This article is about the rock band. ... A song that appears on the British rock group Deep Purples 1972 album Machine Head. ... Who Do We Think We Are! is a hard rock album by Deep Purple. ... Alternate cover 25th anniversary gatefold cover Machine Head is the third Mk II (sixth overall) Deep Purple studio album. ... A song that appears on the British rock group Deep Purples 1972 album Machine Head. ... Lazy is a song by British hard rock band Deep Purple from their 1972 album Machine Head, a live performance of the song can be found on the album Made in Japan, released later the same year. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Rock is a form of popular music, usually featuring vocals (often with vocal harmony), electric guitars, and a strong back beat; other instruments, such as the saxophone, are common in some styles, however saxophones have been omitted from newer subgenres of rock music since the 90s. ... This article is about the rock band. ... Alternate cover 25th anniversary gatefold cover Machine Head is the third Mk II (sixth overall) Deep Purple studio album. ... This article is about the magazine. ... ... Q is a music and entertainment magazinepublished monthly in the United Kingdom. ...

Composition

 Music sample:

Deep Purple - "Smoke on the Water" Image File history File links Deep_Purple_-_Smoke_on_the_Water. ...

30 seconds (of 5:42)

Problems listening to the file? See media help.

This song is known for and recognisable by its central theme, a four-note "blues scale" melody harmonised in parallel fourths. The riff, played on a Gibson ES-335 electric guitar by Ritchie Blackmore, is immediately joined by hi-hat and drums and electric bass parts before the start of Ian Gillan's vocal. Jon Lord doubles the guitar part on a Hammond B3 organ played through a distorted Marshall amp creating a very similar tone to the guitar. Blackmore uses two fingers to pluck so the pairs of notes can be played exactly simultaneously to match the organ's timing more closely. Smoke on the Water is the only song on Machine Head that is not played on his famous Fender Stratocaster. Blackmore cited that the reason for using the Stratocaster on the other tracks was, that it was harder to play than the Gibson. From then and on he always plays on the Fender Stratocaster. The Gibson ES-335 was the worlds first commercial semi-hollowbody electric guitar, released by Gibson Guitar Corporation in 1958. ... Two different electric guitars. ... Richard Hugh Blackmore, (born 14 April 1945) is an English guitarist. ... For other kinds of drums, see drum (disambiguation). ... A sunburst-colored Fender Precision Bass The electric bass guitar (or electric bass[1][2]; pronounced , as in base) is a bass stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers (either by plucking, slapping, popping, or tapping) or using a pick. ... Ian Gillan (born 19 August 1945 in Hounslow, London), is an English rock music vocalist best known as the lead singer for Deep Purple. ... Jon Douglas Lord (born Leicester 9 June 1941) is an English composer, Hammond organ and piano player. ... The Hammond organ is an electric organ which was invented by Laurens Hammond in 1934 and manufactured by the Hammond Organ Company until the 1970s. ... Stratocaster redirects here. ... Stratocaster redirects here. ...

History

The lyrics of the song tell a true story: on December 4, 1971, Deep Purple had set up camp in Montreux, Switzerland to record an album 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 "the mobile" in the song lyrics) at the entertainment complex that was part of the Montreux Casino (referred to as "the gambling house" in the song lyric). On the eve of the recording session a Frank Zappa and The Mothers of Invention concert was held in the casino's theatre. During the gig a fire broke out: "In the middle of Don Preston's synthesizer solo on "King Kong", the place suddenly caught fire. Somebody in the audience had fired a flare gun into the ceiling, at which point the rattan covering started to burn"^[1][2], as mentioned in the "some stupid with a flare gun" line. The resulting fire destroyed the entire casino complex, along with all the Mothers' equipment. 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 suddenly 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 the fire from their hotel across the lake. 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. is the 338th day of the year (339th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1971 (MCMLXXI) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar) of the 1971 Gregorian calendar, known as the year of cyclohexanol. ... Montreux is a resort town in the Canton of Vaud, Switzerland, on Lake Geneva with a population of about 20000. ... Rolling Stones redirects here. ... The Rolling Stones Mobile Studio is a mobile recording studio owned by the musical group the Rolling Stones. ... Montreux Casino (Casino de Montreux) is a casino located in Montreux, Switzerland, on the shoreline of Lake Geneva. ... Frank Vincent Zappa[1] (December 21, 1940 – December 4, 1993) was an American composer, musician, and film director. ... The Mothers of Invention were a rock and roll band active from the 1960s to the 1990s. ... Roger David Glover (b. ... Lake Geneva or Lake Léman (French Lac Léman, le Léman, or Lac de Genève) is the second largest freshwater lake in Central Europe (after Lake Balaton). ... Claude Nobs was born on 8 February 1936 in Montreux Switzerland. ... The Montreux Jazz Festival is the best-known music festival in Switzerland. ...

Claude Nobs (2006), the "Funky Claude" mentioned in the song

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. One promising venue (found by Nobs) was a local theatre called The Pavilion, but soon after the band had loaded in and started working/recording, the nearby neighbours took offence at the noise, and the band was only able to lay down backing tracks for one song (based on Blackmore's riff and temporarily named Title nº1), before the local police shut them down. Image File history File links Metadata Size of this preview: 800 × 531 pixelsFull resolution (2240 × 1488 pixels, file size: 935 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) (c) 2006 Yvan Hausmann @ MJF I, the creator of this work, hereby grant the permission to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the... Image File history File links Metadata Size of this preview: 800 × 531 pixelsFull resolution (2240 × 1488 pixels, file size: 935 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) (c) 2006 Yvan Hausmann @ MJF I, the creator of this work, hereby grant the permission to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the...

Finally, after about a week of searching, the band rented out the nearly-empty Montreux Grand Hotel and converted its hallways and stairwells into a makeshift recording studio, where they laid down most of the tracks for what would become their most commercially successful album, Machine Head. Alternate cover 25th anniversary gatefold cover Machine Head is the third Mk II (sixth overall) Deep Purple studio album. ...

Ironically, the only song from Machine Head not recorded in the Grand Hotel was "Smoke on the water" itself, which had been recorded during the aborted Pavilion session; only the lyrics were composed later, and the vocals were laid down in the Grand Hotel.

After 1973, vocalist Ian Gillan and Roger Glover quit the band, and were replaced by David Coverdale and Glenn Hughes, who split the vocals between each other. For this song, they divided it so that Coverdale sang the first verse, Hughes sang the second verse, and they both sang the third verse and choruses in harmony. However, rather than sing the third verse with the original lyrics, they chose instead to repeat the first verse every time they sang it. For the song by James Blunt, see 1973 (song). ... Ian Gillan (born 19 August 1945 in Hounslow, London), is an English rock music vocalist best known as the lead singer for Deep Purple. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... For the Village People member see Glenn Hughes (American singer). ...

When Steve Morse joined the band, it became Deep Purple tradition to have him play a solo preceding the song in concert. This solo would consist of a medley of solos, licks, and riffs from many various classic rock songs. Rather than blend them into one another, Morse separates most of the licks by playing some one-handed tapping in between them. Steve Morse Steven J. Morse is a rock guitarist and guitar virtuoso, best known for his position as guitarist in the Dixie Dregs and Deep Purple. ... This article is about the music technique. ...

Impact

"Smoke on the Water" was included on Machine Head, which was released in early 1972, but was not released as a single until nearly a year later (the band has said that they did not expect the song to be a hit); the single would reach #4 on the Billboard pop single chart in the U.S. in the summer of 1973, and propel the album to the top 10. Live performance of the tune, featuring extended interplay between Blackmore's guitar and Jon Lord's Hammond organ would become a centerpiece of Deep Purple's live shows, and a version of the song from the live album Made in Japan became a minor hit on its own later in 1973. Jon Douglas Lord (born Leicester 9 June 1941) is an English composer, Hammond organ and piano player. ... The Hammond organ is an electric organ which was invented by Laurens Hammond in 1934 and manufactured by the Hammond Organ Company until the 1970s. ... Made in Japan is a live album by British hard rock band Deep Purple, released in December 1972. ...

The principal song-writers understandably included the song within their subsequent solo endeavours after Deep Purple split up. Ian Gillan in particular performed a jazz-influenced version in early solo concerts. The band Gillan adopted a feedback-soaked approach, courtesy of Gillan guitarist Bernie Torme.The song was also featured live by Ritchie Blackmore's post-Deep Purple band Rainbow during their tours 1981-83, and again after Rainbow were resurrected briefly in the mid 1990's. The Ian Gillan Band is a side project band of former Deep Purple member Ian Gillan. ... Bernie Torme is a rock guitarist born in Dublin, Ireland. ...

During Ian Gillan's stint with Black Sabbath in 1983, they performed "Smoke on the Water" as a regular repertoire number on encores during their only tour together. It remains one of the few cover songs that Black Sabbath have ever played live. For other uses, see Black Sabbath (disambiguation). ...

The song is popular among beginner guitarists, but Blackmore himself has demonstrated that most who attempt to play it do so improperly. Actually played using "fourths" as stated by Blackmore (or double stops), a power chord-driven variation on the main recognizable riff is not difficult and consequently is constantly played by learners.

According to Dimebag Darrell Abbott’s brother, Vinnie Paul Abbott, "Smoke on the Water" was the first song Dimebag learned on the guitar and the first song they played together. Dimebag Darrell Lance Abbott (August 20, 1966 – December 8, 2004) (also credited as Diamond Darrell) was the guitarist in the heavy metal bands Pantera and Damageplan. ... Vinnie Paul (Vincent Paul Abbott) was born on Wednesday, March 11, 1964 in Dallas, Texas, USA. He is a heavy metal drummer and producer. ...

Alternative versions

• The remixed CD re-issue of Machine Head features a version of the song with an alternate Blackmore guitar solo recorded at the time.
• The version that appears on Deep Purple in Concert includes Ian Gillan uttering the phrase "Break a leg, Frank". This is a reference to injuries that Frank Zappa had sustained as a result of being attacked onstage by an audience member at a concert in London, six days after the Montreux fire. A broken leg was among those injuries. The phrase can, also, be heard on the Roger Glover Remix of the song included on the Anniversary Edition reissue of Machine Head.
• There is a remake of this song featuring Ian Gillan, Ritchie Blackmore, Brian May, David Gilmour, Bruce Dickinson, Tony Iommi, Keith Emerson, Chris Squire, Rodger Taylor, Paul Rodgers, Bryan Adams and Alex Lifeson all done for the Rock for Armenia charity.
• Legendary R&B/swing singer Pat Boone covered the song in his 1997 album In a Metal Mood: No More Mr. Nice Guy, with Blackmore doing a guest appearance as lead guitarist.
• An orchestra from Japan has performed an eerie version of the song, played on traditional Japanese instruments.
• Mattias "Ia" Eklundh has covered the song instrumentally on the album "The Road Less Traveled".

Deep Purple In Concert is an album by British hard rock band Deep Purple, recorded in 1970-1972, first released in 1980 in the UK, with the current US edition being made available in 2001. ... Alternate cover 25th anniversary gatefold cover Machine Head is the third Mk II (sixth overall) Deep Purple studio album. ... Richard Hugh Blackmore, (born 14 April 1945) is an English guitarist. ... For the Australian film composer, see Brian May (composer). ... For the Canadian writer and television journalist, see David Gilmour (writer), for the jazz guitarist see David Gilmore. ... For the record producer in the Saturday Night Live skit, see More Cowbell. ... Frank Anthony Tony Iommi (born February 19, 1948, in Aston, Birmingham, England) is a guitarist best known for his tenure in the heavy metal band Black Sabbath. ... Keith Noel Emerson (born 2 November 1944 in Todmorden, Yorkshire) is a British keyboard player and composer. ... Christopher Russell Edward Squire (born 4 March 1948), better known as Chris Squire is an English musician and the bassist and backing vocalist for the progressive rock group Yes, and is the only member of the group to appear on every album (co-founder Jon Anderson appeared on all but... Paul Rodgers, (born December 17, 1949) is an English rock singer-songwriter best known for being a member of Free and Bad Company. ... For other persons of the same name, see Brian Adams. ... Alex Lifeson, OC (born August 27, 1953), is a Canadian musician, known as the guitarist for the rock group Rush. ... Charles Eugene Patrick Pat Boone (born June 1, 1934) is a singer whose smooth style made him a popular performer of the 1950s. ... Morgan Scott Peck, M.D. (May 22, 1936 – September 25, 2005) was an American psychiatrist and best-selling author. ...

Legacy

"Smoke on the Water" has received the following rankings:

• #426 on Rolling Stone Magazine's The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time
• #37 in VH1's 40 Greatest Metal Songs ^[3]
• #12 in Q magazine's 100 Greatest Guitar Tracks (March 2005)

The song is honored in Montreux by a sculpture along the lake shore (right next to Freddie Mercury's statue) with the band's name, the song title, and the riff in musical notes. The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time was the cover story of a special issue of Rolling Stone magazine published in November 2004. ... Q is a music and entertainment magazinepublished monthly in the United Kingdom. ...

The song has been covered by heavy metal band Soulfly, Power Metal band Metalium, Korean Thrash Metal band Crash, Brazilian Progressive Power Metal Angra, and many others, and was recorded by the supergroup Rock Aid Armenia. It was performed by rock act G3 and featured on the release G3: Live in Tokyo. On his album Children of the Night, Canadian rocker Nash the Slash featured a parody entitled "Dopes on the Water". Barenaked Ladies quoted the misheard lyric "Slow motion Walter, the fire engine guy" in the song "Tonight Is the Night I Fell Asleep at the Wheel" on their 2000 album Maroon. The song is also sampled in "Everybody Jump 2007" by electronic group Anti-Funky. Soulfly is a heavy metal band formed in 1997. ... For other artists by this name, see Crash. ... Angra may mean: Angra (Azores) or Angra do Heroísmo, a district in the Azores Angra (band), a Brazilian heavy metal band Angra dos Reis, a town in Brazil Angra Nuclear Power Plant in Brazil This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists pages that might otherwise share... This article is about the term in rock music. ... Front cover of The Earthquake Album Rock Aid Armenia was a joint humanitarian effort by an elite group of contemporary hard rock and heavy metal musicians who gathered at the historic Metropolis Studios in Chiswick, London on July 8, 1989 for a project to raise money to help those affected... G3 countries. ... Main articles: History of Canada, Timeline of Canadian history Canada has been inhabited by aboriginal peoples (known in Canada as First Nations) for at least 40,000 years. ... Nash the Slash Nash the Slash is a Canadian progressive rock, classical, and alternative musician. ... Barenaked Ladies (often abbreviated BNL or occasionally BnL) is a Canadian alternative rock band currently composed of Jim Creeggan, Kevin Hearn, Steven Page, Ed Robertson, Tyler Stewart, and formerly Andy Creeggan. ... A mondegreen is the mishearing (usually accidental) of a phrase as a homophone or near-homophone in such a way that it acquires a new meaning. ... Year 2000 (MM) was a leap year starting on Saturday. ... Maroon (2000) is the sixth full-length album by Barenaked Ladies and their fifth studio album. ...

In 1994, in Vancouver, Canada, 1,322 guitarists gathered to play the world-famous riff all at the same time for a place in the Guinness Book of World Records. On Sunday June 3rd, 2007, Kansas City radio station, 99.7 KY beat the previous record with 1,721 guitarists^[4]. For other uses, see Vancouver (disambiguation). ... The Guinness Book of Records (or in recent editions Guinness World Records, and in previous US editions Guinness Book of World Records) is a book published annually, containing an internationally recognized collection of superlatives: both in terms of human achievement and the extrema of the natural world. ... Kansas City satellite map The Kansas City Metropolitan Area is a fifteen county metropolitan area is anchored by Kansas City, Missouri straddling the border between the states of Missouri and Kansas. ...

The iconic nature of the song has led to its inclusion in several music-related video games. "Smoke on the Water" is one of the playable songs for the PlayStation 2 game Guitar Hero and is also a downloadable track in Guitar Hero II for the Xbox 360. It is a playable song in the PlayStation 2 game SingStar Rocks! and in the Japan-only Nintendo DS rhythm game Daigasso! Band Brothers. It is also available on Wii's Rayman Raving Rabbids 2 as a minigame, without Verse 3. The song also appears in Konami Guitar Freaks 4th Mix. Computer and video games redirects here. ... PS2 redirects here. ... Guitar Hero is a music video game developed by Harmonix Music Systems and published by RedOctane for the PlayStation 2 video game console. ... GH2 redirects here. ... It has been suggested that Xbox 360 Elite be merged into this article or section. ... PS2 redirects here. ... SingStar Rocks is a PlayStation 2 karaoke game published by Sony Computer Entertainment Europe and developed by SCEE and London Studio. ... The Nintendo DS (sometimes abbreviated NDS or more commonly DS) is a handheld game console developed and manufactured by Nintendo. ... Open source music video game StepMania A music video game, also commonly known as a music game or rhythm game, is a video game where the gameplay is oriented almost entirely around the players ability to follow a musical beat and stay with the rhythm of the games... Daigasso! Band Brothers is a DJ style music game for the Nintendo DS where players can play the parts of multiple music instruments in one song, allowing them to play any part of a MIDI-style song. ... The Wii (pronounced as the pronoun we, IPA: ) is the fifth home video game console released by Nintendo. ... Rayman Raving Rabbids 2 is the second installment of the Rayman Raving Rabbids party franchise, in which the Rabbids attempt to invade Earth and have set up headquarters near a local shopping mall. ... Konami Corporation ) (TYO: 9766 NYSE: KNM SGX: K20) is a leading developer and publisher of numerous popular and strong-selling toys, trading cards, anime, tokusatsu, slot machines and video games. ...

In School of Rock, Dewey Finn (Jack Black) teaches "Smoke on the Water" to Zach Mooneyham (Joey Gaydos). Apple, Inc. incorporated this scene in its commercial for Apple TV. School of Rock is a 2003 American comedy film starring Jack Black. ... For other persons named Jack Black, see Jack Black (disambiguation). ... Joseph Joey Gaydos (born April 18, 1991) is an American musician and actor from Michigan. ... Apple Inc. ... Apple TV is a digital media receiver designed, marketed and sold by Apple. ...

The Simpsons character Otto Mann refers to the song when he claims that rock music is about "far off lands, deals with the devil, and smoke in relation to water". The song is also referenced in an episode when Homer smokes medicinal marijuana and sings the song with the lyric "I am hungry for a candy bar, I think I'll eat a Mounds." The name of the song is also referred to in the The Simpsons episode Smoke on the Daughter. Simpsons redirects here. ... Otto Mann (born January 18, 1963) is a fictional character on the animated TV series The Simpsons, voiced by Harry Shearer. ... Homer Simpson is also a character in the book and film The Day of the Locust. ... Mounds is a candy bar made by Hersheys, and is the sister product of Almond Joy. ... Simpsons redirects here. ... Smoke on the Daughter is the fifteenth episode of The Simpsons nineteenth season aired on March 30, 2008. ...

Animated characters Beavis and Butthead often play the initial riff on air guitar whenever they are pleased with something or are just bored. Beavis and Butt-head is an animated comedy show that aired on US TV station MTV from 1993 to 1997. ... It is believed that air guitar possibly originated from early Iron Maiden fans in the late 1970s. ...

The song is also referenced extensively in an episode of Two and a Half Men. Two and a Half Men is an Emmy Award-winning and Golden Globe-nominated American television sitcom, which premiered CBS on Monday, September 22, 2003, at 9:30 p. ...

The music to the song was used in a television commercial for the 2008 Dodge Avenger, when a Dodge scientist, testing gear shifts from three different cars, discovers that he can play the opening riff to "Smoke on the Water" with the gearshifts. It has also been used in the UK on a TV ad for Strongbow cider. The examples and perspective in this article or section may not represent a worldwide view. ... DODGE AVENGERS SUCK MONKEY PENIS The Dodge Avenger is actually three different cars: The Dodge Avenger coupe (1995-2000) The Dodge Avenger Concept from the 2003 North American International Auto Show The Dodge Avenger (JS) sedan released in 2007 for the 2008 model year. ... Dodge is a North American brand of automobiles and light to heavy-duty trucks from Chrysler, sold globally. ... Some Strongbow cider in a Pint glass Strongbow is a brand of mass-produced cider manufactured in England by Bulmers. ...

The song is also played following touchdowns at New York Jets games, and is the tune Leicester Tiger Rugby Union Team run out when playing at home at Welford road. City East Rutherford, New Jersey Other nicknames Gang Green, the Green and White, Jersey Jets Team colors Hunter green and white Head Coach Eric Mangini Owner Woody Johnson General manager Mike Tannenbaum League/Conference affiliations American Football League (1960-1969) Eastern Division (1960-1969) National Football League (1970–present) American...

References