This was to be the theatre’s final concert before the casino complex closed down for its annual winter renovations, which would allow Deep Purple to record there. On the eve of the recording session, a Frank Zappa and The Mothers of Invention concert was held in the casino’s theatre. The lyrics tell a true story: on 4 December 1971, Purple were 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 “a mobile” in the lyrics) at the entertainment complex that was part of the Montreux Casino (referred to as “the gambling house” in the song lyric). There are two solos in the song the first was performed on guitar by Ritchie Blackmore, and the second was performed on an organ by Jon Lord until the song fades out. Blackmore usually plays the main riff using a finger pluck or occasionally a plectrum upstroke (to accentuate the tonic). Jon Lord doubles the guitar part on a Hammond C3 organ played through a distorted Marshall amp, creating a tone very similar to that of the guitar. To make records with a mobile, we didn’t have much time We all came out to Montreux, on the Lake Geneva shoreline The riff, played on a Fender Stratocaster electric guitar by Blackmore, is later joined by hi-hat and distorted organ, then the rest of the drums, then electric bass parts before the start of Ian Gillan’s vocal.

It is a four-note blues scale melody in G minor, harmonised in parallel fourths. “Smoke on the Water” is known for and recognizable by its central theme, developed by guitarist Ritchie Blackmore. In 2004, the song was ranked number 434 on Rolling Stone magazine’s list of the 500 greatest songs of all time, ranked number 4 in Total Guitar magazine’s Greatest Guitar Riffs Ever, and in March 2005, Q magazine placed “Smoke on the Water” at number 12 in its list of the 100 greatest guitar tracks.

It was first released on their 1972 album Machine Head. “Smoke on the Water” is a song by the English rock band Deep Purple.

Smoke on the water tab