DEEP PURPLE Members Look Back On "Pretty Hostile" Police Situation While Recording "Smoke On The Water" - "They Were Outside Hammering And Taking Out Their Guns," Says RITCHIE BLACKMORE
March 13, 2023, a year ago
The making of Deep Purple's classic album, Machine Head, is the cover feature of the new issue of Classic Rock magazine.
Says Classic Rock: "How many times does a freak accident change the course of hard rock history? Not all that often, we’d wager. But had a suspended ceiling in a Swiss casino not caught fire, then Deep Purple’s sixth studio album would have been a very different beast altogether. I’m referring, of course, to Machine Head, and its signature song 'Smoke On The Water'. In the new issue of Classic Rock we discover the inside story on the making of a true classic, in the band’s own words."
Drummer Ian Paice recalls in the interview, as per Music-News.com: "There was no sound-proofing and we were recording at night. A hell of a racket!"
Guitarist Ritchie Blackmore continued: "We did 'Smoke On The Water' there, and the riff I made up in the spur of the moment. I just threw it together with lan Paice. Roger Glover [bassist] joined in. We went outside to the mobile unit and were listening back to one of the takes, and there was some hammering on the door. It was the local police, and they were trying to stop the whole thing because it was so loud. We knew that they were coming to close everything down. We said to Martin Birch, our engineer: 'Let's see if we have a take.' So they were outside hammering and taking out their guns ... It was getting pretty hostile."
Get the new issue of Classic Rock, here.
