Ross Brown Posted May 31, 2008 Share Posted May 31, 2008 We played Smoke on the Water last night. I used to hate this song. I thought it was dumb. This was the third gig we played it at and each time it blows me away. The room shakes, everyone in the place dances and our guitarist just tears it up. I mean he is on fire. I have never had so much fun playing as I did last night during that song. We play so many good songs. It makes me laugh that this one is the one that is currently lighting me up. I am simple and proud of it. "When I take a stroll down Jackass Lane it is usually to see someone that is already there" Mrs. Brown Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dcr Posted May 31, 2008 Share Posted May 31, 2008 Hey, that is a great song. Actually, it's common for a lot of that Deep Purple stuff to sound like your basic riff rock, except that (a) it ROCKS and (b) there's usually more going on there than you think. Those guys could all seriously play, and they seemed to have dialed in perfectly what can totally energize a huge mass of people. No shame in that!! If you haven't heard Made in Japan, you are really missing out on how insanely energetic, and full of wicked chops, these guys really were. That album has, for me, the definitive version of "Smoke on the Water." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EddiePlaysBass Posted May 31, 2008 Share Posted May 31, 2008 My girlfriend bought me the 25th anniversary edition of Machine Head for my birthday last week, and it totally blew me away !! I am beginning to think Roger Glover's a bit underappreciated by bass players worldwide. As dcr states, there's more going on there than you think. I got the jist of "Space Truckin'" rather quickly, but there's some fills that throw me off. As for Smoke, I only learned to play the intro and the chorus (well, the riff after the chorus). Everything else I always improvise and make up on the spot. High time I actually learn how to play it properly. Good to hear you're having fun "I'm a work in progress." Micky Barnes The Ross Brown Shirt World Tour Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil W Posted May 31, 2008 Share Posted May 31, 2008 Those things are popular for a reason. I grew up on Purple (in my adolescence) and I loved the way Roger Glower would always improvise the bass parts. I'm not sure I'd listen to it now but it'd be fun to play. http://philwbass.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ross Brown Posted May 31, 2008 Author Share Posted May 31, 2008 It was really amazing that everyone was just nuts about it. Still can't believe how much fun it was. "When I take a stroll down Jackass Lane it is usually to see someone that is already there" Mrs. Brown Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moot Posted May 31, 2008 Share Posted May 31, 2008 Great tune though exists under much ridicule. You never see a "No Smoke On The Water" sign in the music store do you? That has been in the fourth set of the bar band for 5 years. People do tear it up. "He is to music what Stevie Wonder is to photography." getz76 I have nothing nice to say so . . . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Basshappi Posted June 1, 2008 Share Posted June 1, 2008 First song I ever learned to play on bass. It did used to have the same stigma as Freebird. But I think enough time has passed that a band can really rock that song and audiences will love it. The last band I was in was working on it before we broke up so we didn't get the chance to play it for an audience. Nothing is as it seems but everything is exactly what it is - B. Banzai Life is what happens while you are busy playing in bands. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cthulhu Fhtagn Posted June 1, 2008 Share Posted June 1, 2008 I've played it at damned near every audition except for the jazz band. It hans't been played COMPLETELY to death like Freebird or Stairway. It's easy for a four piece to pull off. Everyone loves it (I've only played with one guitar that could actually get through the intro of Stairway and Freebird just doesn't sound right without a keys). I have been to bars where large, scary, drunk biker types on meth wanted Freebird or else, I've never had my life threatened over Smoke. Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
b5pilot Posted June 1, 2008 Share Posted June 1, 2008 It's a great song. Our audience loves it every time we dig it out. I also think that Roger Glover gets overlooked as a bass player. His bass has such a cool tone. In Highway Star that bass just chuggs like a runaway locomotive. So cool! Lydian mode? The only mode I know has the words "pie ala" in front of it. http://www.myspace.com/theeldoradosband Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rizzo9247 Posted June 1, 2008 Share Posted June 1, 2008 Yeah, listening to Glover's lines on Machinehead almost made me pick up the plectrum...almost Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul K Posted June 1, 2008 Share Posted June 1, 2008 I've played that tune in every single stinkin' garage band in junior high and high school. I've only played it about three times since. The only other tunes we all knew where "Wipeout" and "Suffragette City". Wham Bam Thank-you, Ma'am. IMHO, what makes Deep Purple so freakin' cool is the Hammond. THat organ sound just kicks all kinds of balls. Things are just the way they are, and they're only going to get worse. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jar546 Posted June 2, 2008 Share Posted June 2, 2008 Wasn't Highway Star considered the birth of speed metal? "The more I learn, the more I realize how much I don't know" by Me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dcr Posted June 2, 2008 Share Posted June 2, 2008 IMHO, what makes Deep Purple so freakin' cool is the Hammond. THat organ sound just kicks all kinds of balls. This is very true. On the surface, they're a guitar band. And make no mistake, they are...But that Hammond is what gives the whole thing its mass. You can hear that in live versions of Purple tunes, where they build the parts up slowly in layers. When that organ kicks in, man, THAT is when The Rock gets brought. And it makes you notice that it's what's bringing The Rock all the time anyway! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Davo-London Posted June 2, 2008 Share Posted June 2, 2008 You're making me come over all nostalgic-like. My Purple is all vinyl. I need a Purple CD! Davo "We will make you bob your head whether you want to or not". - David Sisk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil W Posted June 2, 2008 Share Posted June 2, 2008 I even gave away all my vinyl. All I need is a quick fix now and then though. http://philwbass.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Daddy from Motown Posted June 2, 2008 Share Posted June 2, 2008 In 40+ years of playing bass I have never played Smoke on the Water and I hope I never have to. Hush is the only Deep Purple tune I ever liked at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul K Posted June 2, 2008 Share Posted June 2, 2008 never played Smoke on the Water.... What year did SMTW com out, what year did you graduate from high school? I thought playing that tune back in the day was as ubiquitous as that Farah Fawcett poster or the Cheryl Ladd poster....... Things are just the way they are, and they're only going to get worse. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jcadmus Posted June 2, 2008 Share Posted June 2, 2008 It's one of those songs you hate to love, and that everyone likes to hear you play. Kind of like "Born To Be Wild." And I agree with the comment above Roger Glover -- his playing may not be technically complex, but he grooves hard, plays with such energy, and has great tone for Deep Purple stuff. But then, what do I know? My favorite bass player is Cliff Williams of AC/DC. "Tours widely in the southwestern tip of Kentucky" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil W Posted June 2, 2008 Share Posted June 2, 2008 I've never played Smoke on the Water. I'd never really played rock at all until I started doing covers bands maybe 8 or so years ago. I still haven't played anything remotely like heavy rock except Zeppelin or a kind of hip-hop/rock/pop vibe with a song on a singer I work with. http://philwbass.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RalphM Posted June 2, 2008 Share Posted June 2, 2008 "Smoke on the Water" by Deep Purple suffered the fate of many a popular song - over exposure. I mean, it was played to death on the radio! That doesn't detract from the song or the album - great stuff at the time. I still perform this tune in one of the bands I'm in and it still gets a big reaction, it still gets people dancing. Roger Glover's bass playing with Deep Purple was just fine, thank you. Granted, it's not "Jaco" or "Stanley" level but it's exactly what's required for Deep Purple's sound. "...some stupid with a flare gun burned the place to the ground." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil W Posted June 2, 2008 Share Posted June 2, 2008 "...some stupid with a flare gun burned the place to the ground." Ahhh! Is that what he's singing? You know, all those hundreds of times I listened as a boy, I never once had the remotest clue what Gillan was singing at least half the time. http://philwbass.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil W Posted June 2, 2008 Share Posted June 2, 2008 I like this Russian version: http://philwbass.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Griffinator Posted June 2, 2008 Share Posted June 2, 2008 "...some stupid with a flare gun burned the place to the ground." Ahhh! Is that what he's singing? You know, all those hundreds of times I listened as a boy, I never once had the remotest clue what Gillan was singing at least half the time. The song is the enshrining of the night some chucklehead thought it'd be a good idea to fire a flare gun into the ceiling of the Montreaux Casino Theater during the Mothers of Invention performance there in 1971. A bunch of loud, obnoxious music I USED to make with friends. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dcr Posted June 2, 2008 Share Posted June 2, 2008 "Rolling truck Stones thing" -- another great line. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EddiePlaysBass Posted June 3, 2008 Share Posted June 3, 2008 I love the line: "Funky Claude was running in and out / pulling kids out the ground" :grin: Apparently this Claude was their local manager of sorts, arranging the rehearsal rooms etc. "I'm a work in progress." Micky Barnes The Ross Brown Shirt World Tour Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kenfxj Posted June 3, 2008 Share Posted June 3, 2008 From BBC Home. For those interested... Push the button Frank. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Griffinator Posted June 3, 2008 Share Posted June 3, 2008 I love the line: "Funky Claude was running in and out / pulling kids out the ground" :grin: Apparently this Claude was their local manager of sorts, arranging the rehearsal rooms etc. Claude ran the Montreaux Jazz Festival every year it was in existence. A bunch of loud, obnoxious music I USED to make with friends. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil W Posted June 3, 2008 Share Posted June 3, 2008 "...some stupid with a flare gun burned the place to the ground." Ahhh! Is that what he's singing? You know, all those hundreds of times I listened as a boy, I never once had the remotest clue what Gillan was singing at least half the time. The song is the enshrining of the night some chucklehead thought it'd be a good idea to fire a flare gun into the ceiling of the Montreaux Casino Theater during the Mothers of Invention performance there in 1971. Yes, I knew that. But I'd still never been able to decipher the lyrics. There was no internet in those days or it'd have been easy. http://philwbass.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rizzo9247 Posted June 3, 2008 Share Posted June 3, 2008 One of my favorte lyrical mixups has to be when I heard someone singing the Beatles "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds". Instead of singing, "A girl with kaleidoscope eyes..", a guy sang, "A girl with Kaleidis goes by..." making it sound like some sort of disease Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ross Brown Posted June 3, 2008 Author Share Posted June 3, 2008 I think one of the things that set me off to a good place was that I could not tell you what I play. I have a very general plan but then the song just comsumes the moment. The guitarist does what he does and I support. He goes to a place... his eyes are closed, his mouth is mimicing the notes he is playing, his guitar is on fire. It is just such a natural rock song, as simple as it is. I didn't realize there were words... I guess that is what the singer was doing. He was in my way... "When I take a stroll down Jackass Lane it is usually to see someone that is already there" Mrs. Brown Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.