"Smoke On The Water," The Event Happened Today '71

The event that was the inspiration for Deep Purple's song, "Smoke on the Water," happened today in Montreaux Switzerland, Dec. 4th 1971. It was during a Frank Zappa & The Mothers of Invention, someone fired a flare gun into the ceiling at the venue, the Montreaux Casino Theatre. The place caught on fire, Deep Purple happened to be in Montreaux looking for a place to record, they witnessed the fire from their Hotel, across Lake Geneva (hence, "Smoke on The Water.") Deep Purple went on to record "Machine Head," their landmark album in the hallways of the aging Montreaux Grand Hotel, using the Rolling Stones Mobile Recording Smoke on The Water Deep PurpleUnit