Rocky Road

Anatomy of a Song - Smoke on the Water

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jec01

A

Many of you have seen Marc Myers' excellent "Anatomy of a Song" series in The Wall Street Journal. The latest installment appears today, covering "Smoke on the Water".

BTW, there's a book out anthologizing many of Myers' previous articles:

https://smile.amazon.com/Anatomy-Song-History-Iconic-Changed/dp/080212559X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1494874705&sr=1-1&keywords=marc+myers+anatomy+of+a+song

It's a very enjoyable read.

Happy listening,

Jim

"The passage of my life is measured out in shirts."
- Brian Eno

https://www.wsj.com/articles/anatomy-of-a-song-smoke-on-the- (Open in New Window)

Follow Ups:

The first paragraph is nice - 1973shovel 15:39:15 05/15/17 (2)
But that's all I'm able to see.

"Suddenly, I'm not half the man I used to be. 'Cause now I'm an amputee" J. Lennon
- RE: The first paragraph is nice - raya 02:16:50 05/16/17 (1)
  Me too. When will these dying papers realize how much they lose by doing this silly subscription thing.
  - Yeah, sorry about that - jec01 07:27:56 05/16/17 (0)
    Here's a quick synopsis: The band was searching for a hospitable recording venue that was big enough "to capture our stage sound accurately", as Ian Paice puts it. They settled on the Casino in Montreux, but shortly before the recording session somebody set off a flare at a Frank Zappa concert and the building caught fire. "Smoke on the water and fire in the sky" refers to the experience of sitting at a bar in a lakeside hotel in Montreux, watching their recording venue burn to the ground. According to Roger Glover, "Ian Gillan and I wrote the words while sitting on a bench in the corridor.... We wrote the words in about 20 minutes." The immortal power riff emerged from a pre-recording jam session.
    
    There's more. If you can lay your hands on yesterday's print edition of the WSJ, it's worth reading.
    
    Happy listening,
    
    Jim
    
    "The passage of my life is measured out in shirts."
    - Brian Eno

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