Smoke on the Water

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" Smoke on Air " is a song by the British rock band Deep Purple. It was first released in their 1972 album Machine Head . In 2004, the song was ranked 434 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest tracks of all time, ranked number 4 on Guitar's Biggest Guitar Riff Guitar , and on March 2005, Q placed "Smoke on the Water" at number 12 on the list of 100 greatest guitar tracks.

Video Smoke on the Water

Composition

"Smoke on the Water" is known and recognized by its main theme, developed by guitarist Ritchie Blackmore. It is a melody of a four-tone blues scale in G minor, harmonized in fourth parallel order. The riff, played on Fender Stratocaster's electric guitar by Blackmore, then joins the hi-hat and distorted organ, then the rest of the drum, then the electric bass section before starting Ian Gillan's vocals. The opening lyrics are:

Jon Lord doubled the guitar parts on the Hammond C3 organ played through a distorted Marshall amplifier, creating a tone very similar to a guitar. Blackmore usually plays the main riff using finger picking or sometimes a plectrum upstroke (to accentuate the tonic).

During the August 1972 show in Tokyo, Japan, Blackmore played the intro as follows:

-------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------- -
------ 8-10 _---- 8-11-10 __------ 8-10_-8 -----
--- 10-8-10_-10-8-11-10 __--- 10-8-10_-8-10 __
--- 10-- ----- 10 ------------- 10 --------- 10 __

There are two solos in the song; first performed on the guitar by Ritchie Blackmore, and the second performed on the organs by Jon Lord until the song faded.

Maps Smoke on the Water

History

The lyrics tell the true story: on December 4, 1971, Purple was in Montreux, Switzerland, to record an album using a mobile recording studio (hired from the Rolling Stones and known as Rolling Stones Mobile Studio - referred to as "Rolling Truck Stones thing" and "a mobile" in the lyrics) in the entertainment complex which is part of the Montreux Casino (referred to as "gambling house" in song lyrics). On the eve of the recording sessions, Frank Zappa and The Mother of Invention concerts were held at the casino theater. This was the last concert of the theater before the casino complex closed for an annual winter renovation, which would allow Deep Purple to record there. At the beginning of Don Preston's synthesizer solo on "King Kong", the place was suddenly on fire when someone in the audience fired a flare gun towards a rattan-covered ceiling, as mentioned in the "some stupid with a flare gun" line. Although there were no major injuries, the resulting fire destroyed the entire casino complex, along with all of Mother's equipment. "Smoke on the water" which became the title of the song (credited to bass guitarist Roger Glover, who told how the title occurred when he awakened from a dream a few days later) refers to the smoke from the fire that spreads upward. Lake Geneva from a casino that burns when Purple members watch from their hotel. "It's probably the biggest fire I've seen until then and probably I've seen in my life," Glover says, "It's a big building, I remember there was a bit of panic coming out, because it did not look like a lot of fire at first. caught, it goes up like a firework display ". The "Funky Claude" ran in and out refers to Claude Nobs, the director of the Montreux Jazz Festival that helped several spectators escape from the fire.

Left with an expensive mobile recording unit and no place to record, the band was forced to search the city for another place to set up. One of the promising places (invented by Nobs) is a local theater called The Pavilion, but as soon as the band is loaded and start working/recording, the neighbor is offended by the sound. The band can only put backing tracks for one song (based on the Blackmore rival and temporarily named "Title No.1"), before the local police close it.

After about a week of search, the band rented the Montreux Grand Hotel almost empty and changed the lane and stairs into a temporary studio, where they put most of the songs for what would be their most successful commercial album, Head Machine < i> (dedicated to Claude Nobs).

The only song from Machine Head that was not recorded entirely at the Grand Hotel was "Smoke on the Water" itself, which had been partially recorded during the failed Pavilion session. The lyrics were composed later, mainly by Gillan and based around the Glover title, and vocals recorded at the Grand Hotel.

Due to the incidents and exposure Montreux received when "Smoke on the Water" became an international hit, Purple formed a lasting bond with the city. The song is honored in Montreux by a statue along the shores of the lake (right next to the statue of Frontman Queen Freddie Mercury) with the band's name, song title, and riff in musical notes. The new casino in Montreux displays a note from the riff as a decoration on the fence overlooking the gambling hall.

On the episode of Classical Album on Machine Head, Ritchie Blackmore claims that bandmates are not fans of the "Smoke on the Water" riff, which they think is too simple. Blackmore countered by making comparisons with the first movement of the Beethoven 5th Symphony, which revolves around setting the same four notes.

"The remarkable thing with that song, and the Ritchie riff in particular," says Ian Paice, "is that someone has never done it before, because it's so simple and amazingly satisfying."

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Impact

"Smoke on the Water" was included in Machine Head, released in early 1972, but was not released as a single until a year later, in May 1973. ("Never Before" and "Space Truckin" are single first released from the album.) The band members have said they did not expect the song to be a hit, but the single reached number 4 on the Billboard pop single charts in the United States during the summer of 1973, number 2 on the Canadian RPM chart, and pushed the album up 10. The live show of the song, featuring an extended interplay between Blackmore guitars and Hammond organ Jon Lord will be the centerpiece of the live Deep Purple show, and a version of the song from the live album Made in Japan becomes its own small hit later in the year 1973.

The main songwriter includes a song in his next solo effort after Deep Purple has split up. Ian Gillan in particular featured a jazz-influenced version in an early solo concert. Band Gillan adopted a feedback approach, from Gillan guitarist Bernie Torme. The song was also featured live by Ritchie Blackmore's post-Deep Purple Rainbow band during their 1981-83 tour, and again after Rainbow was awakened briefly in the mid-1990s and during three European concerts in June 2016.

During Ian Gillan's duties with Black Sabbath in 1983, they performed "Smoke on the Water" as the number of regular repertoires on the encores during their joint tour. It remains one of the few closing songs Black Sabbath ever played directly.

The song is popular amongst novice guitarists, but Blackmore himself has shown that most of the people who try to play it do it unduely. Actually playing using "all quarters" (or stop doubles) as determined by Blackmore, the chord-driven power variations on the main recognizable riffs are not difficult, and consequently are often played by learners.

"Smoke on the Water" has earned the following ratings:

• 434 in Rolling Stone The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time (2004)
• 37 in VH1's 40 Greatest Metal Songs
• 12 on Q 100 Guitar Best Song Album (March 2005)
• 11 in VH1's " 100 Greatest Hard Rock Songs " (January 2009)
• 4 in the Total Guitar magazine's "Top Guitar Tops" The Biggest Guitar Riff ever "

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Diagram

Certification

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Alternate version

• The 1997 version of Roger Glover Remix that appeared on the 25th Birthday edition of Machine Head showed a version of the song with an alternative Blackmore guitar solo recorded at the time, and included Ian Gillan sentence "Break a leg, Frank", among other comments. This is a reference to an injury suffered by Frank Zappa for being attacked onstage by a member of the audience at a concert in London, six days after the Montreux fire. The broken leg is one of the injured.
• The version that appears in Deep Purple in Concert also includes Gillan's "Break a leg" comment.

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Credit and personnel

• Ritchie BlackmoreÃ, - guitar
• Ian GillanÃ, - main vocal
• Roger GloverÃ, - bass guitar
• Jon LordÃ, - Hammond organ
• Ian PaiceÃ, - drum

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Rock Aid Armenian Version

Rock Aid Armenia, a charity project to help victims of the 1988 Armenian earthquake made a recording of charity from Deep Purple's "Smoke on the Water", with vocalists singing verses. The single made it to the UK Top 40 Singles Chart.

The song was recorded by a contemporary elite group of prog rock, hard rock and heavy metal musicians who gathered at the historic Metropolis Studios in Chiswick, London. Recording started on July 8, 1989 and completed more than 5 different sessions.

The rock musicians involved in the recording include Bryan Adams, 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. John Paul Jones and Jon Lord are credited as "helping" behind the scenes with the track. The song's producers are Gary Langan and Geoff Downes. Coordinate talent for records supervised by Jon Dee, with David Gilmour being the first to join after a call from Dee. Ian Gillan's manager, Phil Banfield, also helps recruit talents.

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In popular culture

In

event

• Leicester Tigers use this song to run out at the start of every home game.
• In March 2011, "Smoke on the Water" was chosen by leaving German Defense Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg for the show as part of his official military farewell ceremony.
• On September 16, 2012, at the Sunflower Jam charity concert at Royal Albert Hall, Ungu drummer Ian Paice performed the song with guitarist Brian May of Queen, bassist John Paul Jones from Led Zeppelin, and Bruce Dickinson of Iron Maiden and Alice Cooper.

In game

The iconic nature of the song has led to inclusion in some music-related video games.

• The chiptune version is featured in the Rock n 'Roll Racing war game video game .
• This is a playable song in the Japanese Nintendo DS rhythm game just Daigasso! Band Brothers .
• This song appeared in Konami Guitar Freaks 4th Mix .
• The cover version of "Smoke on the Water" is one of the playable songs for PlayStation 2 Guitar Hero .
• The same cover version is a downloadable song on Guitar Hero II for Xbox 360.
• This is a feature in Guitar Hero Smash Hits as the master track.
• It's available on Wii Rayman Raving Rabbids 2 as a minigame, without Verse 3.
• This is also shown in Rock Band 3 as the master track.
• This song is available as a downloadable song for the Rocksmith guitar game .
• This is a playable song in PlayStation 2 SingStar Rocks! .
• This song can be played in the online game Stick Dudes Gone Wild: Rock Band .

On television

• This song has featured prominently in the final episode of season 1 Better Calls , â € Å"Marcoâ € (April 6, 2015). First, Marco hummed while waiting in the passage for Slippin 'Jimmy and his sign. Next, Jimmy stirred him on the steering wheel, when he left the courthouse in Albuquerque, after interviewing for a partnership path job. Finally, the song plays before the closing credits. In Better Call Saul season 2 episode 1, Jimmy sang an intro song after choosing an office and refused a new job.
• This song has been featured in several episodes of The Sopranos , including "Joining the Club".
• In CBS Two Half Men , Jake Harper plays this song several times throughout the series.
• This is a 2 episode 6 season feature on Supernatural event.
• This song stands out in the episode of season 13 Simpsons , "Weekend in Burnsie."
• Beavis and Butt-Head prominently feature a titular character that voices the guitar riff.
• This song is featured in Final season 2 of Scream Queens .

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In the world record

• In 1994, in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, 1,322 guitarists gathered to play world-renowned riffs at the same time for a place in the Guinness Book of World Records.
• On Sunday 3 June 2007, in Kansas City, this record ended with 1721 guitarists. Only 20 days later, in the German city of Leinfelden-Echterdingen by the group 'Party Blues In Bb' with over 1,800 other people involved.
• The record was again featured on May 1st, 2009, in Wroc? aw, Poland, when 6,346 guitar players, joined the current Deep Purple guitarist, Steve Morse, performed the song during the Thank You Jimi Festival.

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Further reading

• Christe, Ian (2003). Animal Voice: History of Complete Headbanging of Heavy Metal . HarperCollins. ISBNÃ, 0-380-81127-8.
• "Smoke On The Water - story". Deep-Purple.net .

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References

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External links

• Lyrics of this song in MetroLyrics

Source of the article : Wikipedia