Smoke on the Water - What You Didn't Know?! ...About Deep Purple's Forbidden Riff!

In this episode, I want to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Deep Purple’s Machine Head Album and their iconic track, Smoke on the Water!

I’m pretty sure that nearly everyone is familiar with this song and its iconic riff. I jokingly refer to it as the “Forbidden Riff” because, as a guitar player, the proper “etiquette” requires you must NOT play this riff in a music store!!

The reality is that the riff (and song) is so great, that fans wanted to hear it and play it repeatedly to the point where it’s now unfairly labeled as being overplayed!

For the 50th anniversary of Machine Head, I wanted to bring a composer’s perspective to this song. Although released on March 25, 1972, you’ll have to watch this episode to understand why I say the harmony stems from 1100 A.D not the 1970s!

We’ll also talk about:

· Richie Blackmore’s influences - Renaissance through the Classical period (up to Beethoven)

· Ancient sounds of parallel Perfect 4th intervals

· Examples of other songs where Blackmore uses Perfect 4ths

· The Golden Ratio

· The powerful chorus and its Tertian movement

· The near-tragic inspiration behind the song

· How Frank Zappa is connected to the story

I cover all this and more in this episode! I hope you enjoy it.

Please like, subscribe, and share.

Don’t forget to leave me a comment on this episode as well as suggest other classic rock songs you’d like to break down!

THANK YOU!

Carl Baldassarre

Composer, Guitarist, Educator

www.CarlBaldassarremusic.com

#CarlBaldassarre
#DeepPurple
#ritchieblackmore