“Smoke on the Water” is one of the most iconic songs in rock history, instantly recognizable by its legendary guitar riff. What makes it unique is that the lyrics tell the true story of how the song itself came to be.
The True Story Behind the Song
The lyrics of “Smoke on the Water” recount a dramatic event that Deep Purple witnessed while they were in Montreux, Switzerland, in December 1971, to record their album Machine Head.
- The Incident: The band had rented the Rolling Stones Mobile Studio and planned to record at the Montreux Casino’s entertainment complex. The night before they were scheduled to start, they went to a concert there by Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention.
- The Fire: During Zappa’s performance, someone in the audience fired a flare gun into the rattan ceiling, as described in the line: “Some stupid with a flare gun / Burned the place to the ground.”
- The Inspiration: The entire casino burned down. As the band watched the fire from their hotel across Lake Geneva, the smoke from the blaze spread across the water. This image inspired bassist Roger Glover to utter the phrase “smoke on the water,” which became the song’s title.
- The Hero: The line “Funky Claude was running in and out / Pulling kids out the ground” refers to Claude Nobs, the director of the Montreux Jazz Festival, who bravely helped people escape the burning building.
- The Recording: Left without a place to record, the band eventually set up their mobile studio in the empty Grand Hotel for the rest of the album, though the initial backing track for “Smoke on the Water” was recorded during a brief, noisy session at a different local theater (the Pavilion) before police shut them down.
The Iconic Riff
The simple, four-note guitar riff, composed by guitarist Ritchie Blackmore, is one of the most famous and widely learned riffs in popular music. It’s often the first song aspiring guitarists learn. The riff is played in parallel fourths and is one of the foundations of hard rock music.
The song was initially considered a mere album track and was not released as a single until over a year after the album’s release in 1972. However, it became a massive international hit, cementing its place as a classic.