Fire At The Casino with Frank Zappa
computeruser
Frank Zappa:
The 1971 European winter tour gets the award for being the most
disasterous. On December 4, we were working at the Casino de Montreux
in Geneva, Switzerland, right on the edge of the lake- just in front
of Igor Stravinsky Street- a venue noted for its jazz festivals.
In the middle of Don Preston's synthesizer solo on "King Kong," the
place suddenly caught fire. Somebody in the audience had a bottle
rocket
or a Roman candle and had fired it into the ceiling, at which point
the
rattan covering started to burn (other versions of the story claim the
blaze was the result of faulty wiring).
There were between twenty-five hundred and three thousand kids packed
into the room- well over capacity. Since more kids were outside,
trying to get in, the organizers had cleverly chained the doors shut.
When the fire began, the audience was left with two ways out: through
the front door, which was pretty small, or through a plate-glass
window off to the side of the stage.
I made an announcement- something like: "Please be calm. We have to
leave here. There is a fire and why don't we get out?"
You'd be surprised how well people who speak only French can
understand you when its a matter of life and death. They began filing
out
through the front door.
As the room was filling with smoke, one of our roadies took an
equipment case and smashed the big window. The crew then began helping
people to escape through it into some kind of garden place below. The
band escaped through an underground tunnel that led from behind the
stage
through the parking garage.
A few minutes later the heating system in the building exploded, and
Some people were blown through the window. Fortunately, nobody was
killed and there were only a few minor injuries- however, the entire
building, about thirteen million dollars' worth, burned to the ground,
and we lost all our equipment.
Don Preston said later :
That incident was very strange to me. First of all the tour schedule
was printed on a box of matches. Second, on the day before the fire,
in the middle of my solo on 'King Kong', someone ran out on the stage
and issued a fire warning. On the next night, in the middle of my solo
on 'King Kong', someone threw a firecracker up to the ceiling, which
was covered with dry palm leaves, and started the fire.
"Smoke On The Water"
In the April, 1999 issue of Guitar magazine there is an interview with
former Deep Purple guitarist Ritchie Blackmore. In the article Ritchie
mentions Zappa two separate times. In the first instance while
discussing the abuse Blackmore had to handle from the record company
he says:
"As Frank Zappa would say, "I smell a rat""
The next quote follows:
Q: Can you elaborate on the story told in "Smoke on the Water"?
A. "We were sitting there watching Frank Zappa play and suddenly
someone had one of those flare guns and decided to let it off. It set
the roof on fire.
Frank turned around and said, "Now everybody clam down." He then threw
down his guitar and jumped out the window. It was quite funny. He
wanted to be the first one out. We then had about 15 minutes before
the place was gutted, which was frightening."
If memory serves when Frank told the story he was more like a traffic
cop and made sure all the kids got out first. Ritchie never took
drugs, but did tend to drink so maybe his recollection of Zappa
leaping out a window is blurred, so the question is: what really
happened? Did Zappa throw down his guitar and leap out the window
while Blackmore sat calmly and observed as the place burned down or is
this like the Kurosawa film Rashamon, where everyone remembers things
somewhat differently?
Arthur Brown And His "Fire"
Arthur Brown was kind of an English version of Screamin' Jay Hawkins
(but
without the soul) in the late '60's. In America he had one single from
an
LP produced by (of all people) Peter Townsend. The single was called
"FIRE". So....when some poor Swiss dude sees that he's about to become
toast and starts screaming "Fire," Kaylan believing it's a joke goes
into
his line "Live right here on stage, Arthur Brown ladies and
Gentlemen."
In a weird side-bar to all this, Arthur Brown moved to Austin Texas in
the
'80's, and was in a band with Jimmy Carl Black! Arthur Brown used to
set
himself on fire and go out onstage...early shock-rock.
What's "Smoke on the Water" about?
There is indeed a story behind this, undoubtedly Deep Purple's most
well known song.
***
"Smoke on the Water" and Montreux
There is indeed a story behind this, undoubtedly Deep Purple's most
well known song.
The lyrics actually tell the story of the recording of Machine
Head . Deep Purple were originally all set to record the album at the
Casino in Montreux, Switzerland. On December 7, 1971, Deep Purple had
set up camp in Montreux to record an album using a mobile recording
studio rented from the Rolling Stones at the entertainment complex
that was part of the Casino. (referred to as "the gambling house" in
the song lyric. The famous Mountain Studios did not yet exist at that
time). On the eve of the recording session a concert featuring Frank
Zappa and the Mothers of Invention was held in the casino's theatre.
But it burnt down during the concert, after some stupid had fired a
flare gun into the Casino's ceiling. It destroyed the entire complex.
On the near side of the rain-slicked road a crowd of well-dressed
people stood shivering, huddled together, watching as flames leapt
from the doors and windows. On the far side of the road, in a muddy
field close to the Casino, two roadies ran to the side of a 32-foot-
long mobile trailer, stopped next to the cab, tried to figure out how
to open the locked door without a key, then picked up a stone, smashed
the side window, scrambled into the front seat, revved up the engine,
and drove the trailer out of reach of the spreading blaze in the
direction of the lake. (The Casino is situated just near the lake of
Geneva) Hours later, when the 250-foot-high flames died down and the
crowd had dispersed, Montreux's casino had been leveled to the ground.
In the ashes were the charred remains of $48,000 worth of amps and
instruments: every last bit of the equipment that Frank Zappa and the
Mothers had been playing onstage when the fire broke out. The actual
Zappa concert has turned up on one of the Beat the Boots recording
called "Swiss Cheese" and "Fire".
Purple were in the audience. And in a hotel nearby, the exhausted
members of Deep Purple, just wondered where they would be able to
record their album, "Machine Head" (on Warner Bros. Records).
The next day, bassist Roger Glover, organist Jon Lord, drummer Ian
Paice, guitarist Ritchie Blackmore, and lead singer Ian Gillan combed
Montreux to find a building they could convert into a studio. After
being thrown out of the Pavilion by the police because they were
raising too much racket, they passed up the use of a bomb shelter, a
cavernous cellar that had once protected war treasures, and a chateau
in the mountains, they finally found what they were looking for - the
luxurious but nearly empty Grand Hotel, which not only had hallways
spacious enough for the band, and a management that wouldn't toss them
out, but offered a spiral staircase that could double as an echo
chamber. the recording eventually commenced during December 1971. They
recorded the album with the Rolling Stones Mobile Studio, also
mentioned in the lyrics.
"We actually went to the Casino in Montreux to record, but as you
know it burnt down," says tall and powerful looking Jon Lord as he
settles into an overstuffed chair in his London hotel room. "Our
roadies just that morning decided not to put our equipment into the
Casino, so we were really lucky. Frank Zappy lost everything in the
fire. I think there was one molten cowbell left. So we went all over
Montreux to find a place to record and finally settled on an old hotel
which was empty for the winter except for one deaf old lady."
A quick lick between the mattresses:
"We cordoned off a corridor and put mattresses in and built a
little studio," he recalls, stroking his mustache. "It was so easy and
relaxed because we could record when we liked and didn't have to worry
about booking studio time. It gave the LP a much more immediate feel
and a continuity we haven't got on any of the other LP's. This is much
more how we are, and our first three LP's were the most
unrepresentative of a group's sound onstage I've ever heard. The album
combines the best points of "In Rock" and "Fireball", our last album
(both on Warner Bros. Records). It's exciting and musically valid.
Most important is that it was done in three weeks instead of the usual
six months."
The flames that reduced the Montreux Casino to black ash still spurt
furiously from "Machine Head's fifth track, 'Smoke on the Water'. The
rhythmic squeals of Ritchie Blackmore's guitar leap like tongues of
fire into the intro, then rise higher as Jon Lord's throaty organ and
Ian Paice's rumbling bass enter one by one to feed them fuel. Finally,
the soft, charcoal grit of Ian Gillan's voice eases the story of the
Montreux fire into the rocking blaze:
We all came out to Montreux
On the Lake Geneva shoreline
To make records with a mobile,
We didn’t have much time.
Frank Zappa and the Mothers
Were at the best place around
Some stupid with a flare gun
Burned the place to the ground.
(image from 'LE MATIN' NEWS August 1st 2004, casino fire
retrospective)
But as the four members of Deep Purple worked in the cluttered
hotel corridor, surrounded by used mattresses and wardrobes jerry-
rigged to work as sound baffles, fire was not the basic element they
used to give "Machine Head" its fist-like impact. Rhythm - brutal,
throbbing, primitive rhythm - was the raw material with which they
built each track, whether it was the slow pulsation of flame in 'Smoke
on the Water' or the hammer blasts that raced like an engine through
the auto song 'Highway Star'.
Time for some interest:
Back in his London hotel room, Jon Lord stands up for another group
that relies heavily on rhythm. "As a matter of fact, I thought the
last Grand Funk album wasn't at all bad," he says, leaning forward so
that his long hair swings down past his cheeks and throws his face
into shadow. "You can run the terrible risk in this business of
attracting the wrath of certain people. That awful word 'hype' gets
thrown at you. I had been on the road for seven years and that was a
heavy scene trying really hard. From when Deep Purple started we never
hyped a record into the chart, and our first hit album, "In Rock",
came two years after we had formed the band. That doesn't sound like
hype to me. But King Crimson and ELP got the same treatment. But what
do they want?" Jon smiles. "Do they want us to starve and slap up and
down the M1 highway in a Commer van for another ten years? We've paid
our dues, and now we would like some interest on those dues." In the
case of "Machine Head", the dues were a little stiffer than usual.
They included three weeks rental of the Stones mobile unit, the price
of a few dozen used mattresses, the loss of $48,000 worth of Frank
Zappa's equipment, and the destruction of one large, elegant, and
overly-flammable Swiss casino
Who's "Funky Claude" ?
Funky Claude in the lyrics is Claude Nobs, who helped them out. He
started the Montreux Jazz Festival in Montreux in 1968, and he is a
very important man in the music business.
As stated in the lyrics, he helped saving some kids during the fire at
the Casino. He was also the man who found the Grand Hotel for them.
There's a picture of him on the gatefold sleeve on the original LP
release of the album.
"Break a leg , Frank!"
Actually, these were troubled times for Frank Zappa, who first lost
all of his gear in the fire in Montreux. A couple of days later, when
he played in London, a fan tore him off stage, and Zappa broke his leg
as he fell into the orchestra pit.
This, again, led to Ian Gillan dropping the comment "Break a leg,
Frank!" near the ending of Smoke on the Water at a March 1972 concert
recorded for the BBC, available on the excellent EMI 2CD set Deep
Purple in Concert.
The song itself was created more or less spontaneously; Roger Glover
had the picture of the smoke spreading over the Lake Geneva in his
head, and the line Smoke on the Water eventually stuck. He suggested
to Ian Gillan that they should use it as a song title, but Ian
shrugged it off, saying people would believe it was a drug song. Then
Ritchie suddenly came up with the later hierostratically famous (and
notorious!) riff, and things fell into place.
Here's the story about the lyrics and the title, in Roger Glover's own
words:
"The only deviation to the story that IG has sometimes claimed is
that it was written on a napkin as the fire burned. Actually it came
to me in a sort of dream 1 or 2 mornings after the fire: I was alone
in my bed (in the Eurotel, not the Eden Au Lac as IG insists although
it's a better sounding name for the story) in that mystical time
between deep sleep and awakening, when I heard my own voice say those
words out loud. I woke up then and asked myself if I actually did say
them out loud, and I came to the conclusion that I did. I pondered
upon it and realised that it was a potential song title.
"This is how I characterized it later to IG but we both came to the
conclusion that it sounded like a drug song and it was promptly filed
away under "drug songs - not to be used." (what clean living boys we
were!)
"Only later did it suggest itself as the vehicle by which we could
tell the story of the fire. Even now, I've no idea where it came from
but it's difficult not to start believing in some divine providence
when one considers the subsequent history of the song.
"All I know is that I have always listened to my random thoughts
ever since."
– Roger Glover, Tue, 20 Aug. 1996
Deep Purple themselves didn't seem to notice that the song had any
potential, they hardly played it live early in 1972, and Never Before
was chosen as the first single from the album. (An edited version of
Lazy was chosen in the US.) It wasn't until 1973, when a single
consisting of two edits of Smoke on the Water, studio version one side
and Made in Japan version on the b-side, was released in the USA, that
the song became the rock anthem that it later has become, and helped
Deep Purple become one of the world's biggest selling artists.
pbuzb...@yahoo.com
> In the April, 1999 issue of Guitar magazine there is an interview with
> former Deep Purple guitarist Ritchie Blackmore. In the article Ritchie
> mentions Zappa two separate times. In the first instance while
> discussing the abuse Blackmore had to handle from the record company
> he says:
>
> "As Frank Zappa would say, "I smell a rat""
>
> The next quote follows:
> Q: Can you elaborate on the story told in "Smoke on the Water"?
>
> A. "We were sitting there watching Frank Zappa play and suddenly
> someone had one of those flare guns and decided to let it off. It set
> the roof on fire.
>
> Frank turned around and said, "Now everybody clam down." He then threw
> down his guitar and jumped out the window. It was quite funny. He
> wanted to be the first one out. We then had about 15 minutes before
> the place was gutted, which was frightening."
>
> If memory serves when Frank told the story he was more like a traffic
> cop and made sure all the kids got out first. Ritchie never took
> drugs, but did tend to drink so maybe his recollection of Zappa
> leaping out a window is blurred, so the question is: what really
> happened? Did Zappa throw down his guitar and leap out the window
> while Blackmore sat calmly and observed as the place burned down or is
> this like the Kurosawa film Rashamon, where everyone remembers things
> somewhat differently?
In an older interview Blackmore said that he had gotten bored with
Zappa's show and wandered off somewhere with a girl, and then found
out about the fire.
Pat Buzby
Chicago, IL
computeruser
>
> - Show quoted text -
Around the time of Ronnie James Dio's recent death I heard a story
about Blackmore always taking the plane, with groupies and Dio and the
rest of the band (Rainbow) would have to take the tour bus, and
Richie's left-overs.
This local news guy had drinks with Dio, when we was at the AOR
station. A drunken Dio was complaining about it into the night. It
must have been late seventies.
Maybe Richie always wandered off.
The old geezer
> This local news guy had drinks with Dio, when we was at the AOR
> station. A drunken Dio was complaining about it into the night. It
>
> Maybe Richie always wandered off...........
Who gives a F**Kin' S**T!!!!!!!!!!
It was almost 40 years ago!!! Duz it really matter any
more???????????????
Nobody remembers it anymore excepts a few old burnt out hippies in
this NG!!!
the old geezer
ND: PBR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (Got something to say, tuff guy?)
NP: Sigh Of Ages - Steve Roach
Not-So-Big Al
Poopie pants.
Hoodoo
(Central Daylight Time), spoke thusly:
> ND: PBR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (Got something to say, tuff guy?)
Although PBR is my favorite domestic beer (I lived in Milwaukee the
first 40 years of my life, after all) I'll respond to your comment by
saying...
PUSSY!
On page 66 of the August 2010 edition of 'Wired' magazine (weird Will
Ferrell on the cover) there is a photo and a few details about the
following beer:
Schorschbräu Schorschbock 43% - the Strongest Beer on Earth
http://www.benz-weltweit.de/derbraeuvomberch/index_eng.html
http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/6513/57856
http://www.ratebeer.com/beer/schorschbrau-schorschbock-43/122524/
--
Trout Mask Replica
KFJC.org, WFMU.org, WMSE.org, or WUSB.org;
because the pigoenholed programming of music channels
on Sirius Satellite, and its internet radio player, suck
The old geezer
> The old geezer <J...@aol.com>, on Mon Jul 19 2010 17:05:19 GMT-0500
> (Central Daylight Time), spoke thusly:
>
> > ND: PBR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (Got something to say, tuff guy?)
>
> Although PBR is my favorite domestic beer (I lived in Milwaukee the
> first 40 years of my life, after all) I'll respond to your comment by
> saying...
>
> PUSSY!
>
The MOST FAMOUS MOVIE QUOTE OF ALL TIME:
Dennis Hopper in "Blue Velvet" :
"Heneiken!? F**K That S**T!!! Pabst Blue
Ribbon"!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The old geezer
NP: Possible Planet - Steve Roach
ND: Dundee Honey Brown
Hoodoo
(Central Daylight Time), spoke thusly:
>> ND: PBR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (Got something to say, tuff guy?)
>
> Although PBR is my favorite domestic beer (I lived in Milwaukee the
> first 40 years of my life, after all) I'll respond to your comment by
> saying...
>
> PUSSY!
>
> On page 66 of the August 2010 edition of 'Wired' magazine (weird Will
> Ferrell on the cover) there is a photo and a few details about the
> following beer:
> Schorschbräu Schorschbock 43% - the Strongest Beer on Earth
> http://www.benz-weltweit.de/derbraeuvomberch/index_eng.html
> http://beernews.org/2010/05/schorschbrau-regains-lead-with-43-abv-beer-tv-report-stirs-up-controversy/
> http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/6513/57856
> http://www.ratebeer.com/beer/schorschbrau-schorschbock-43/122524/
The following oddball item is currently in the news:
22 July 2010 Last updated at 06:20 ET
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-north-east-orkney-shetland-10725024
Dead animal beer bottles at £500 each 'perverse'
http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/48446000/jpg/_48446989_brewdog_end_of_history_464.jpg
BrewDog's The End of History The End of History - featuring dead animals
- comes at £500 a bottle
A beer served in bottles made from stuffed animals has been criticised
as "perverse" and "pushing the boundaries of acceptability".
The End of History, made by BrewDog of Fraserburgh, Aberdeenshire, is
55% and £500 a bottle.
The bottles have been made using seven dead stoats, four squirrels and a
hare, said to have died of natural causes.
However Advocates for Animals and Alcohol Focus Scotland both condemned
the marketing.
BrewDog claims the beer is the world's strongest and most expensive.
Its co-founder James Watt said: "We want to show people there is an
alternative to monolithic corporate beers, introduce them to a
completely new approach to beer and elevate the status of beer in our
culture."
Advocates for Animals policy director Libby Anderson told the BBC
Scotland news website: "It's pointless and it's very negative to use
dead animals when we should be celebrating live animals.
"This seems to be a perverse idea.
"It's just bad thinking about animals, people should learn to respect
them, rather than using them for some stupid marketing gimmick."
She added: "I think the public would not waste £500 on something so
gruesome and just ignore it."
Barbara O'Donnell, director of services at Alcohol Focus Scotland, said:
"This is another example of this company pushing the boundaries of
acceptability all in the pursuit of cheap marketing tactics."
Controversial BrewDog has previously been criticised for 32% and 41%
strength beers.
Dave
> Hoodoo <ver...@objectmail.com>, on Wed Jul 21 2010 13:41:25 GMT-0500
> The bottles have been made using seven dead stoats, four squirrels and a
> hare, said to have died of natural causes.
If you're going to the trouble of using a dead stoat for a bottle to
contain a malt-based beverage, wouldn't you want to offer stout
instead of ale?
I mean, come on: Stoat Stout sounds better than Stoat Ale. This is
not rocket science, people.
On the other hand, they're selling dead animals full of beer, so
perhaps marketing is not their forte.
--Dave
Hoodoo
Reuters
Thu Jul 29, 10:59 am ET
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20100729/od_nm/us_dutch_beer_odd
AMSTERDAM (Reuters) – A Dutch brewer with a penchant for competition has
laid claim to creating the world's strongest brew: a beer that is some
60 percent alcohol by volume.
"You don't drink it like beer, but like a cocktail -- in a nice whisky
or cognac glass," brewer Jan Nijboer told Dutch news agency ANP.
Nijboer's Almere-based brewery, 't Koelschip (The Refrigerated Ship),
sells the new beer, which is 120 proof and dubbed "Start the Future," in
a one-third liter bottle for 35 euros ($45) each.
Nijboer told ANP he developed the new brew to keep up with Scottish
outfits that were also pushing the boundaries of beer's alcohol content.
His previous record-holder, a beer called Oblix that was 90 proof (45
percent alcohol by volume), was eclipsed by a Scottish beer that reached
55 percent.
That beer, dubbed "The End of History," was announced last week by a
small brewery called BrewDog. Only 12 bottles were made, each housed
inside a stuffed dead animal and sold starting at 500 pounds ($780) each.
"It has become a little competition," Nijboer said. "You should see it
as a joke."