Archive for October 25th, 2009
One of the most recognizable guitar riffs in music would not have been written if it weren’t for the stupidity of someone attending a concert by Frank Zappa and The Mothers Of Invention. The concert was in a casino in Montreux, Switzerland.
Released in the album Machine Head in 1972, Smoke On The Water would not be released as a single until 1973. The song refers to a fan shooting a flare gun into the ceiling of the casino. The ceiling was made of rattan and quickly began burning which then burned the rest of the casino complex down. The title of the song is from the smoke of the fire over Lake Geneva.
The familiar riff is played by Ritchie Blackmore and was the only song which he used a Gibson ES-335 electric guitar, instead of his usual Fender Stratocaster Guitar.