IRON MAIDEN Guitarist ADRIAN SMITH On Hearing DEEP PURPLE's Machine Head Album For The First Time - "I Just Couldn't Believe What I Was Hearing; It Sort Of Changed My Life"
November 17, 2020, 4 years ago
Adrian Smith, Iron Maiden's lead guitarist and self professed Compulsive Angler, has been keeping busy over the past year writing a book about his fishing adventures around the world, including numerous stories about his 30-year career with Iron Maiden, called Monsters Of River And Rock. He recently guested on Blue Fish Radio to discuss the book and his career with Iron Maiden. Check out the interview below.
On how Deep Purple's Machine Head album influenced his life
Smith: "I put the album on a little record player, and I just couldn't believe what I was hearing. That was it, really. It sort of changed my life. I thought, 'Well, I'd love to be out doing that one day.' The fishing had kind of tapered off. In those days, I couldn't imagine my heroes, like Ritchie Blackmore from Deep Purple, and people like that going fishing. So I thought, 'Well, I'll give it up and I'll give all my time to try and make it as a professional musician.' So that's what I did."
Listen to "E317 Iron Maiden Adrian Smith Monsters of River and Rock" on Spreaker.
Machine Head is Deep Purple's sixth studio album, released in March 1972. It features the hit songs "Smoke On The Water", "Highway Star" and "Space Truckin'" and the classic line-up of Ritchie Blackmore (guitar), Ian Gillan (vocals), Roger Glover (bass), Jon Lord (keyboards) and Ian Paice (drums).
