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Deep Purple

Deep Purple — how “Smoke on the Water” was born

Few rock songs have a story as dramatic as “Smoke on the Water.” What began as a disastrous night in Switzerland would become one of the most iconic riffs in rock history.

Roger Glover: “And — whoosh! — the whole building was on fire.”

In December 1971, Deep Purple traveled to Montreux, Switzerland, to record their new album Machine Head. Instead of using a traditional studio, the band rented the Rolling Stones Mobile Studio and planned to record inside the Montreux Casino.

The night before recording was set to begin, they attended a concert by Frank Zappa and The Mothers of Invention at the casino during the Montreux Jazz Festival. Then chaos erupted.

As Roger Glover recalls, someone in the audience fired a flare gun into the ceiling. Sparks flew. Panic spread. The crowd rushed out. Moments later, the historic casino was engulfed in flames.

From their nearby hotel bar, the band watched thick black smoke drift over Lake Geneva — a haunting image that would soon inspire a lyric.

A few days later, Glover woke up with the phrase “Smoke on the Water” echoing in his mind. When guitarist Ritchie Blackmore later introduced a powerful mid-tempo riff, the title felt inevitable. The band quickly began shaping the song around the real events they had just lived through.

Ian Gillan and Glover drafted the lyrics almost like diary entries, beginning with the now-famous line:
“We all came out to Montreux, on the Lake Geneva shoreline…”

“Funky Claude” in the song refers to Claude Nobs, founder of the Montreux Jazz Festival, who helped evacuate people from the burning building.

Ian Paice: From “the der-der-der song” to rock history

Before it had lyrics, the band jokingly called it “the der-der-der song” because of Blackmore’s unforgettable riff.

After the casino burned down, Claude Nobs found the band another location — the Pavillon ballroom — where they began rehearsing and recording. Jon Lord doubled the riff on Hammond organ with inverted chords, while Glover’s tight bassline gave drummer Ian Paice room to build dramatic crescendos.

Recording was anything but smooth. Police shut down sessions for being too loud. Eventually, the band moved into the nearly empty Grand Hotel, transforming hallways and rooms into makeshift studios. Mattresses were stuffed against walls for soundproofing — later immortalized in the lyric:
“Some stupid with a flare gun burned the place to the ground…”
 and references to “a few red lights and a few old beds.”

At the time, the band saw it as just another album track.

They had no idea it would become legendary.

A song that took on a life of its own

Warner Bros. initially felt the song was too long for radio play and edited it down without the band’s knowledge. But once released, “Smoke on the Water” connected instantly with audiences.

On the live album Made in Japan, the band expanded and explored the song further. Crowds began clapping along with the riff. It became a communal anthem — a musical trigger that could electrify any audience.

Decades later, the song remains one of the most recognizable guitar riffs ever written. As Ian Paice once reflected, sometimes it’s the audience — not the artists — who decide which songs become immortal.

More than 40 years after the fire in Montreux, Paice was approached by a chef in an Italian restaurant who quietly said:
 “I was the chef at the casino when it burned.”

The story had come full circle.

And the smoke still lingers — over water, and in rock history.