One morning, bassist Roger Glover woke up with the line вЂSmoke on the WaterвЂ™ in his head. The inside of the hotel was soundproofed with mattresses and the musicians had to go through the balconies to listen to the recordings in another room. It is said that the roadies resisted just long enough for the guitar riff to be recorded on tapeвЂ¦ Lausanne double bass player LГ©on Francioli in the ruins of the Casino В©Alain Bettex 1971Д¬laude Nobs then had the idea of going in the Grand Hotel in Territet, which was not used during the winter. But the recording session was short-lived: the police arrived following complaints from the neighbourhood.

ItвЂ™s here that guitarist Ritchie Blackmore first improvised the famous riff on his Fender Stratocaster. He found a plan B: the вЂњPavillon des SportsвЂќ, now known as the Petit Palais. Casino concert hall in flames В©Alain Bettex 1971ДЄfter the fire at the Casino, Claude did everything he could so that Deep Purple could still record their album in Montreux. Twenty years later, she would become the programmer of the Montreux Jazz Festival and invite Deep Purple to perform many times. As a sidenote, a girl named Michaela Maiterth, then aged 13 years old, was there that night and discovered her passion for live music. The location was perfect: the musicians did not want a standard recording studio and they were already familiar with the Montreux Casino, having performed there in 1969. The hard rock band was in Montreux to record their next album at the Casino with a mobile studio borrowed from the Rolling Stones. Claude Nobs and Jean-Paul Marquis В©1971 Alain Bettex

He didnвЂ™t know it yet, but the British band will single-handedly turn the tragedy into gold, the fire into a worldwide hit and, of course, Monsieur Nobs into вЂњFunky ClaudeвЂќ. No casualties were reported, but for Claude Nobs, it was a disaster: the venue that hosted his jazz festival every summer (he had just celebrated its 5th edition there), as well as the pop concerts organised throughout the year with bands such as Pink Floyd or Led Zeppelin, collapsed before his eyes.Д«arely recovered from the shock, Claude was faced with an urgent challenge: finding a new recording venue for Deep Purple. The flames invaded the building, the smoke was visible far and wide. вЂњFire!вЂќ On that famous 4th of December 1971, around 4.15pm, Frank ZappaвЂ™s concert at the Montreux Casino was interrupted. On December 4, 1971, a fire in a small Swiss town gave birth to a worldwide hitвЂ¦ We look back at this incredible story that put Montreux and its Festival on the map. Home вЂњSmoke On The WaterвЂќВ 50th AnniversaвЂ¦

Smoke on the water bass