The Bizarre Story of Worlds Most Famous Guitar Riff

Рет қаралды 127,072

Жыл бұрын

We're exploring the events that led to Deep Purple's most iconic hard rock album Machine Head. Join me in my trip through Montreux to find the amazing sights and story behind Smoke on the Water!
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Hi, my name is Paul Davids! I am a guitar player, teacher, producer, and overall music enthusiast from the Netherlands! I try to inspire people from all over the world with my videos, here on KZfaq.
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Пікірлер: 259

@garageworker Жыл бұрын

The lady who opened doors for you is an MVP. People like that who take time to show others history are amazing.

@jed1166 Жыл бұрын

In 2014, I rode the train from Geneva, to Crans-Montana… riding on the lakes edge, and past the Hotel, I felt a real sense of history, and THE riff was stuck in my head for days… cool!

@itsrob2321 Жыл бұрын

I was 10 years old when my older brother bought the album, Machine Head. I would listen to the record with head phones on, read the album notes, and enjoy that masterpiece. When I was 15, of course we played Smoke on the Water in our first band. How could you not? Great job Paul on the story!

@maxschwitzky2592 Жыл бұрын

Best ad for an electric guitar course! 🤩

@chrishalemusic Жыл бұрын

Glad to see this song getting discussed I feel like Deep Purple largely gets forgotten in guitar circles.

@Turquoise636 Жыл бұрын

True, one can learn a lot by playing Blackmore's solos

@TheLocalFuzz Жыл бұрын

Not by me!

@youreallygotmenow4855 Жыл бұрын

'forgotten in guitar circles'? Who do you usually talk about music with? Mickey Mouse? 😂 Blackmore is still regarded as one of the most important rock guitar players of all time fifty years after the release of Machine Head! I mean, he's rightly revered as one the fathers of hard rock guitar as we know it and every guitarist on Earth still plays his riffs and melodies to this very day. Talk about being 'forgotten' lol.

@chrishalemusic Жыл бұрын

@@TheLocalFuzz Same here.

@chrishalemusic Жыл бұрын

@@youreallygotmenow4855 so yeah I’m saying I agree with what you’re saying about Blackmore. I feel strongly that Deep Purple is on my Mount Rushmore of bands and Blackmore had stronger influence than most of us can imagine. I guess Im saying that if you go to top ten lists or online guitar channels you rarely hear the name Deep Purple. Every musician I’ve played with absolutely knows, but overall in the guitar culture I don’t hear their name often enough.

@user-lw1dh6vm6d Жыл бұрын

The king of riffs. The starting point for countless of guitarists. This riff is pure genius. Simplicity is its power.

@jeffwinzeler4814 11 ай бұрын

Hey Paul - thank you for laying out the story. I moved from the US to the Montreux area in 2020 and it is so great to see the history of Deep Purple, Queen, and others that have contributed to the town's reputation for music. Love the original clips and interviews you included for the story, and watching you fulfil a guitarist dream - playing Smoke on the Water in the very place it happened. Cheers!

@stevehughes275 Жыл бұрын

Thanks for this im a huge Deep purple, Ritchie Blackmore fan 👍

@RandalSmith Жыл бұрын

When they rebuilt the Casino, they put in a country bar in the basement, complete with swinging batwing doors. I played there in the mid-nineties, I believe it was September of 1994 but I could be wrong, I’ve slept since then. It was an experience I’ll never forget. Switzerland is a beautiful country, one which I’d love to see again. The lake, the city and the Alps combine to make one of the most unforgettable places on earth.

@frankgoodmanbuzzholland7517 Жыл бұрын

Fascinating storytelling. Paul Davids does it again!

@grahamrhodes5985 Жыл бұрын

This is the BEST documentary production I have ever seen. Paul, you deserve an Oscar, a Grammy, or whatever the highest corresponding award would be. THANK YOU SOOOO MUCH!

@Timberwolf69 Жыл бұрын

I knew the basics of this story, but never was sure about what of it was legend and what was true. Now I know. Thanks, Paul.

@MillionYearProgram42 Жыл бұрын

It's everyone's first song on the guitar! Love this man keep it up Paul!

@CristiNeagu Жыл бұрын

Not mine, actually. The first thing I played on the guitar was a riff my dad misremembered from a Shadows song, and which I only mangled further as a novice. I couldn't even tell you the name of the song, to be honest.

@howlinguts Жыл бұрын

Paul, you always make creative and interesting work. This is a great documentary, slicing together archive footage with interviews and surprise locations. Damn fine!

@NdeeSevn Жыл бұрын

So fun to see you filming my hometown, I can't wait to see the other videos you made during that weekend !

@DonTheGuitarGuy Жыл бұрын

Great stuff. The "Rolling Truck Stone" mobile recording unit is now in Calgary Alberta, fully restored and in operation backstage (a museum I think?) where you can use it.

@Saturax Жыл бұрын

Sweet lady for opening up the doors of the hotel!

@coolguitarchannel Жыл бұрын

Awesome video! Dig the Deep Purple love!

@RosewoodMahogany Жыл бұрын

What an awesome guitar! Sounds like its made of very rare old wood!

@dejawuguitars6767 Жыл бұрын

Haha, that's how the underground sounds! 😄

@sector13studios Жыл бұрын

Some call Deep Purple Rock or Hard Rock but call them one of origins of Heavy Metal. No matter what you call it Smoke on the water is one the greatest songs in Rock history because of the story behind it and the fact it is a kick ass song.

@augustomacchioli2172 Жыл бұрын

Long Live Deep Purple..the best band from the 70's..very underrated! But they were fantastic!

@scillyautomatic Жыл бұрын

Great story and great video! Thanks, Paul!

@rdb9936 Жыл бұрын

Paul, this was great. I’ve been a massive Purple fan for years and didn’t know some of the stuff you covered in this video! Would love to see more of this docu style videos!

@stijn4771 Жыл бұрын

Pfoh Paul, de top 2000 docu's zijn er niks bij. Wat top! Doe dit vaker, want dit heeft erg veel potentieel samen met je gitaarkennis. (English: There's a famous tv programme in the Netherlands which makes music documentaries and I'm basically saying he is already surpassing that level and that this could be something special together with his guitar knowledge)

@gregoneil3523 Жыл бұрын

Great riff and great album. Eagle Music have Classic Album DVD of the making of this album. And DP are still rocking out on tour in Europe at this time.

@loisheirich6319 Жыл бұрын

Can't believe I got to see you there! Thanks for taking a pic with me, it was really nice of you (Shout out to Martina who appears at 0:34, she's on Martin Miller's group which did a show in the Casino of Montreux that day) Bye bye from Switzerland

@EdgarMiraflores Жыл бұрын

No way!! You're in Montreux?? Wish I had seen you, I live here!!

@charaiveti-charaiveti 10 ай бұрын

i never knew the full story of this iconic song, and paul delivered it in his passionate and elevated manner - thanks, paul! and speaking of elevation, yep, i'm one of the humble students of the electric elevation course, how could i not be?

@robcreel4257 Жыл бұрын

This story never gets old. I do have to say the first song I learned on acoustic was Stairway. The first song on the electric guitar was Smoke on the Water.

@stevefielding8324 Жыл бұрын

Thanks Paul brilliant as always!

@b0kkeee Жыл бұрын

I really love this path your channel has taken! It's time for a full documentary by you!

@auslanderbassmusic 10 ай бұрын

This video is a real serious documentary packed into video shorter then 10 minutes! To be able to see and show as all this is a really nice history lesson. This should be in school programs!

@timtime9167 Жыл бұрын

This was very interesting. Excellent job.

@TomStrahle Жыл бұрын

This was great. I love these stories. And you got to go to Montreux!!!

@scottkidwellmusic9175 Жыл бұрын

Thanks, Paul! Appreciate the tour and history lesson. I'd play it under those circumstances, too. I don't know that I'd play it ever again, after all the times I've played it in cover/ bar bands over the years... Be good to you 🤍

@Goofypikz Жыл бұрын

Great to see/ hear the full story behind that iconic riff. Thanks!

@batphink2655 Жыл бұрын

A great video Paul and what a beautiful location and that theater wow just gorgeous!

@warren4110 Жыл бұрын

I’ve known 90% of this story for years; however, I’ve never seen the locations. This beautiful, informative video has filled in all the gaps. Thankyou!

@lanceperkins4555 Жыл бұрын

Fascinating history, thank you for sharing your quality content. So inspiring.

@yoanboschung9466 Жыл бұрын

It's crazy tha you were at the MIGS ! I didn't know you were coming, I was here on sunday. It's so funny to see those very familiar landscapes on one of my favorite KZfaqr ! Thanks for the cool video Btw 😍

@Hobbietone Жыл бұрын

Thank you Paul.

@GreatFalls18u Жыл бұрын

Great video! Iconic album. Nice job Paul.

@smileridedrum Жыл бұрын

Great video, great tribute to the history of hard rock music!!!

@fte4319 Жыл бұрын

Great, thanks a lot! We are living in interesting times, most of the veteran musicians that created so many big songs are still alive, as well as the technicians, producers and so on and the stories can be captured and shared. Even more fun to watch if these stories are done in the way Paul does it. 😀👍

@thomasarth2458 Жыл бұрын

My uncle is a big Zappa fan who lived in Geneva at the time (lives in Canada now) and was at the concert when the fire happened.

@wildniscamper7276 Жыл бұрын

0:40 "fire on the lake"🤣🤣🤣 awesome

@ROKZLEON Жыл бұрын

Always enjoy your storytelling. Well done!!! 👍🏻

@chriskona7652 Жыл бұрын

Super cool mini documentary. I love it!

@tommycopelandmusic Жыл бұрын

It’s so interesting hearing the backstory behind songs, especially one as legendary as Smoke on the Water! Thank you for posting this, Paul!

@offcourserock Жыл бұрын

Amazing video! 🤘

@aoestarreicha Жыл бұрын

Lovely video, thank you Paul!!

@SilvaAdventures Жыл бұрын

Just wonderful! Thanks for producing this!

@metramaks Жыл бұрын

Thanks for another awesome video, Paul! And please, cover more Deep Purple songs.

@chapodepaille28 Жыл бұрын

The first time i saw Deep Purple was in Montreux in 2016, first act was Dweezil Zappa, the son of Franck. It felt cool.

@joshuatidy-bl9ue Жыл бұрын

Love the riff

@steelfabric Жыл бұрын

History coming back to life again. Thanks, mate. Really enjoyed this.

@sirhilaryflange Жыл бұрын

I visited Lake Geneva a few weeks ago, made a visit to the now re-built casino…such an iconic song

@stevenpitcher5585 9 ай бұрын

I like the use of Bruce Dickinson's delivery of the "Funky Claude" line, from the Rock Aid Armenia compilation.

@mjdejong Жыл бұрын

I would have loved to have been a fly on the wall on that trip. Great video Paul!

@aheldfl Жыл бұрын

Same bday as Ritchie so this history lesson was a big thrill for me. Thanks...and this was also a mild reminder to get back to section 2 of your Electric Elevation course.

@johnbohland Жыл бұрын

What a great video. Thank you Paul.

Жыл бұрын

Brilliantly done👏👏

@pauldritsas6047 Жыл бұрын

Awesome Paul!!

@deeperwithgod7932 Жыл бұрын

So good!

@sorliej Жыл бұрын

Awesome!

@EthanWilkinss Жыл бұрын

Great video Paul! 👌🏻

@grobbler1 Жыл бұрын

Thank you for this very cool mini-documentary. There is a (much-delayed) book due out this year, called 'Fire In The Sky,' which is the story of the recording of Machine Head and Smoke On The Water. It's by Simon Robinson and Stephen Clare from The Deep Purple Appreciation Society.

@nellatrab Жыл бұрын

Hey Paul...I saw Deep Purple at the July 2008 Montreux Jazz Festival, right where you are...as well as many other great acts that week. A trip I will never forget! Very nice work. Thanks for the memories 🙂

@NicCom-di4tr Жыл бұрын

I really can not understand how this video has below 100.000 views. I think it was very informativ and very nicely done.

@nicksilver_music Жыл бұрын

Shot in the field, what a video production, amazing 👏

@seanhallahan14 Жыл бұрын

Great vid! Thank you.

@douglaspate9314 5 ай бұрын

I know the story though loved to hear it from your perspective. Beautiful. And I still have the vinyl, received as my 14th bday present in 1972!

@ccolson4072 Жыл бұрын

Babe wake up, Paul Davids uploaded.

@halcyonOH Жыл бұрын

great song

@the_original_Bilb_Ono Жыл бұрын

3:10 The pictures text reads _"He saved saved several young people.."_ saying "saved" twice. Dang it! Lmao i do that too.

@Jeremiah-dv5mf Жыл бұрын

Loved this video it looked like a beautiful place and was pretty cool 👍

@steveangell7724 10 ай бұрын

Love this. I’ve known this song since I was about 12 thanks to my Dad copying the 1980 Deepest Purple vinyl onto a cassette in the early nineties; from then on Deep Purple were ‘my’ first band! I’ve been able to tell the story of the song to people but now I need to go see the places for myself. I’ll be driving past Montreux later this month on a work trip so maybe I should go there and find the plaque and maybe meet that kind lady and get into the room! Another great video Paul 💪🏻

@Hallalo Жыл бұрын

Cool that you’re visiting Montreuxs! My parents have a flat in Switzerland and Montreux is only 1 hour away from the flat. Montreux is the France part of the Switzerland and Bern or the “Berneroberland” is the last stain of the German based Switzerland. We went to Montreux last year in August and visited also the studio where Freddie Mercury recorded with Queen. So many legends played by this Lake… greetings from western Germany!!

@TheLocalFuzz Жыл бұрын

Hopefully this video will inspire many viewers to listen closer to Deep Purple. They are, for my money, the most underrated band in history.

@villehytonen7279 Жыл бұрын

And Ritchie one of the most underrated guitar players. He is never even mentioned when talking about the worlds best guitarists.

@lonewolfsystems Жыл бұрын

Thanks!

@sledzeppelin 10 ай бұрын

“Some stupid with a flare gun” is the most hilarious lyric ever.

@erictruska1745 Жыл бұрын

As a current student of your acoustic course, I have to say you’re an amazing teacher. I look forward to learning more in you’re newest course when I finish this one. Please please do more of these kind of videos (Jimi Hendrix please🙏) LASTLY, I have always want to learn more jazz and thought it would be a good idea for you to put out a Christmas Jazz course. Food for thought. Thanks!

@martinablazeska Жыл бұрын

0:34 omg it's me, hi 🙋🏻‍♀️🙈

@villehytonen7279 Жыл бұрын

Sadly, stories like this are not made anymore. Legendary.

@strat0871 Жыл бұрын

I knew the story, but it's much better told at the right place ! Cheers from France.

@bigl6322 Жыл бұрын

Yup…. I bought a six string electric guitar in a pawn shop for $50 in 1974 and learned that riff… (me and the other 9 bazillion)… Excellent to be able to put imagery in my head to go with all that… I knew a lot of the pieces (did not have the Claude reference- there’s the rock star for sure) but to see the actually view they had when writing that..wow.. I actually just dug into your electric guitar course last night. I’ve liked your teaching style every since your “anyone can play funk” video. Being a self taught ADD individual, I have some patchy music theory and understanding, but it looks like you have some stuff there I can get without knowing how many augmented 13th’s are breaking over the bar on the back beat…. Thanks for posting this!! Edit… shared this with a friend who had seen an interview with Richie Blackmore in which he shared that the riff was just Beethoven inverted and he owed Beethoven a lot of money…lol Today years old when I learned this… doh!!…

@Lynx-iu2de Жыл бұрын

Always a good day when Paul Davids uploads.

@alphamegaman8847 Жыл бұрын

Lucky You!🎸🥰 Mike in San Diego.🌞🎸🚀🖖

@mjallenuk Жыл бұрын

Solid choice of musical history to delve into

@calvinpillay9993 Жыл бұрын

I absolutely loved the version he used

@emanuelediiorio-gp7wl 6 ай бұрын

It wasn't a flare gun. It was a match that got caught in a sort of bamboo ceiling. The parents of my daughters mother were there that night. Kurt and Agnes Sigrist (he is a swiss artist who just turned 80). Kurt has told me the story many times, it happened right in front of him. A guy was lighting matches and throwing them around. One of the matches got caught in this bamboo ceiling. When Kurt saw the fire he took Agnes by the hand and they left the building way before Frank told the audience.

@DDE_ADDICT Жыл бұрын

awesome history lesson

@jimmcdougall9973 Жыл бұрын

A great, short history, of one of the greatest guitar riffs ever. Well done Paul!

@dimeone1 10 ай бұрын

@pauldavids that was great! Thank you for sharing this awesome vid!

@user-mn8mn4vt9u Жыл бұрын

Welcome to Montreux, Paul. It's a beautyfull place. I will be there in July again at the Montreux Jazz Festival 2023. An I recommand your newst course. Thanks for your good job. Greetings from Switzerland.

@maximmovie6712 Жыл бұрын

Geweldig filmpje man

@michaelkarlsson5966 Жыл бұрын

Thank you Paul for doing this! I've read and heard this story about how "Smoke on the water" was made but I've never seen anyone doing what you've done: visit the place and show us the buildings. Thank you! :)

@GitarrenimNetz Жыл бұрын

Such an beautiful idea and so well made . i know why you are on my fife besst YT Guitar Channels ever - Greetings from Germany ToKo

@mykhedelic6471 Жыл бұрын

Not the biggest DP fan, they certainly had some tracks, but Machine Head is a solid, excellent album. It's great fun, killer.

@saxophool Жыл бұрын

I made my own pilgrimage to Montreux trying to find the sights named in the song. Every hotel in Montreux claimed to be "the" Grand Hotel. Finally, a cute gal at the tourism shed who was not even born until long after the record was made pointed me to the now residential hotel shown in this video. (A short bus ride outside town.) Montreux is a beautiful, wonderful place. Recommend it to all.😎