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Smoke on the Water: The Deep Purple Story
It is now 35 years since Deep Purple first came together and today ― 14 musicians, 17 albums, and millions of record sales later ― the group remains a monster. Smoke on the Water is the first book in more than 20 years to tell the story of this remarkable band, from their grandiose inception in 1968 to the release of their latest album in 2003. Drawing from candid interviews with band members, associates, and fans alike, it traces the group through some of the most turbulent times that any band has survived, placing the band’s own music in vivid context and illustrating just how profoundly this one group helped change the world.
- GenresMusic
402 pages, Paperback
First published June 1, 2004
About the author
Dave Thompson
268 books41 followersEnglish author Dave Thompson has spent his entire working life writing biographies of other people, but is notoriously reluctant to write one for himself. Unlike the subjects of some of his best known books, he was neither raised by ferrets nor stolen from gypsies. He has never appeared on reality TV (although he did reach the semi finals of a UK pop quiz when he was sixteen), plays no musical instruments and he can’t dance, either.
However, he has written well over one hundred books in a career that is almost as old as U2’s… whom he saw in a club when they first moved to London, and memorably described as “okay, but they’ll never get any place.” Similar pronouncements published on the future prospects of Simply Red, Pearl Jam and Wang Chung (oh, and Curiosity Killed The Cat as well) probably explain why he has never been anointed a Pop Culture Nostradamus. Although the fact that he was around to pronounce gloomily on them in the first place might determine why he was recently described as “a veteran music journalist.”
Raised on rock, powered by punk, and still convinced that “American Pie” was written by Fanny Farmer and is best played with Meatloaf, Thompson lists his five favorite artists as old and obscure; his favorite album is whispered quietly and he would like to see Richard and Linda Thompson’s “I Want To See The Bright Lights Tonight” installed as the go-to song for the sad, sappy ending for every medical drama on TV.
Kurt Cobain, Phil Collins, Alice Cooper, Joan Jett, David Bowie, John Travolta, Eric Clapton, Jackson Browne, Bob Marley, Roger Waters and the guy who sang that song in the jelly commercial are numbered among the myriad artists about whom Thompson has written books; he has contributed to the magazines Rolling Stone, Alternative Press, Mojo and Melody Maker; and he makes regular guest appearances on WXPN’s Highs in the Seventies show.
However, he has written well over one hundred books in a career that is almost as old as U2’s… whom he saw in a club when they first moved to London, and memorably described as “okay, but they’ll never get any place.” Similar pronouncements published on the future prospects of Simply Red, Pearl Jam and Wang Chung (oh, and Curiosity Killed The Cat as well) probably explain why he has never been anointed a Pop Culture Nostradamus. Although the fact that he was around to pronounce gloomily on them in the first place might determine why he was recently described as “a veteran music journalist.”
Raised on rock, powered by punk, and still convinced that “American Pie” was written by Fanny Farmer and is best played with Meatloaf, Thompson lists his five favorite artists as old and obscure; his favorite album is whispered quietly and he would like to see Richard and Linda Thompson’s “I Want To See The Bright Lights Tonight” installed as the go-to song for the sad, sappy ending for every medical drama on TV.
Kurt Cobain, Phil Collins, Alice Cooper, Joan Jett, David Bowie, John Travolta, Eric Clapton, Jackson Browne, Bob Marley, Roger Waters and the guy who sang that song in the jelly commercial are numbered among the myriad artists about whom Thompson has written books; he has contributed to the magazines Rolling Stone, Alternative Press, Mojo and Melody Maker; and he makes regular guest appearances on WXPN’s Highs in the Seventies show.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
October 18, 2021
" [...] this is the story of a band as it forms, develops, succeeds, and survives in a world filled with other bands; a document of the ideas, interactions, and inspirations that, for over forty years, have shaped and sharpened, shattered and shadowed the musicians whose names will forever be associated with the one group that they all have in common."
(From the author's Introduction; note the super cool alliteration!)
Deep Purple would certainly be included in any list of Top 20 bands in the history of rock music, probably in Top 10 lists for many people. Arguably, this is the band which brought the so-called "hard rock" genre into existence, and provided one of the main stimuli for the emergence of "heavy metal."
Smoke on the Water, with its unforgettable guitar riff, is the most famous song by Deep Purple. (The riff is attributed to Ritchie Blackmore, who said that he composed it as an interpretation of inversion of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony.) While the riff is indeed extremely catchy, and I often subconsciously hum it when in a good mood, I am not a particular fan of this song. I admire Deep Purple mainly for another work, Child in Time, a 10-minute piece of art rock, innovative, dynamic, and exhilarating, one of the best examples of progressive genre in rock. One can watch Deep Purple performing Child in Time live in 1970, in the so-called "official" version, on YouTube. The entire performance is stunningly brilliant, particularly, Ian Gillan's vocals, Jon Lord's keyboard work, and Ritchie Blackmore's guitar.
Dave Thompson's Smoke on the Water. The Deep Purple Story (2004) presents a meticulously researched, extremely detailed history of the band, from 1967 to 2002, and, additionally, individual histories of many musicians that at one time or another were members of the band.
There were eight incarnations of Deep Purple, meaning eight different sets of the band's personnel (they are named "Mark I" through "Mark VIII.") For me - and, likely for the majority of Deep Purple's fans - Mark II was the "real" Deep Purple - the three musicians mentioned above plus Roger Glover and Ian Pace. Deep Purple existed in the Mark II setup three times. First time was the peak period for the band, between 1969 and 1973, when Child in Time , Smoke on the Water, and many other famous songs were recorded. The tensions between Ritchie Blackmore and Ian Gillan caused the singer and Roger Glover to leave the band. They re-joined the band in 1984 but left again in 1987. The second reunion happened in 1993, but it lasted only a few months not only because of the differences in creative and artistic visions but also because of a deep personal animosity between Blackmore and Gillan.
Luckily, the personalities of Blackmore and Gillan do not dominate the author's narrative; he writes in depth about other members of the band, both permanent and temporary. A lot of space is dedicated to Jon Lord, a great keyboardist, and the one member in the band that kept pulling it toward classical music. He was the singular force behind the famous Concerto for Group and Orchestra; he composed the music and persevered in convincing the band to overcome the initial communication difficulties with classical musicians. The concerto was recorded in 1969, and it features the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (conducted by Malcolm Arnold), in addition to the band. In 1970, Mr. Lord followed with another merger of rock with classical - the Gemini Suite (this time with London Symphony Orchestra).
Mr. Thompson's biography of the band is superbly informative. In addition to the detailed narrative, it contains the discography of the band, solo discographies, and the list of records, for the total of 80 pages of appendices. I strongly recommend the book, which probably deserves a higher rating than mine. I am only interested in the 1969 - 1973 "progressive period" of the band's musical output. It is a good read, although perhaps too packed with details.
Three-and-a-half stars.
(From the author's Introduction; note the super cool alliteration!)
Deep Purple would certainly be included in any list of Top 20 bands in the history of rock music, probably in Top 10 lists for many people. Arguably, this is the band which brought the so-called "hard rock" genre into existence, and provided one of the main stimuli for the emergence of "heavy metal."
Smoke on the Water, with its unforgettable guitar riff, is the most famous song by Deep Purple. (The riff is attributed to Ritchie Blackmore, who said that he composed it as an interpretation of inversion of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony.) While the riff is indeed extremely catchy, and I often subconsciously hum it when in a good mood, I am not a particular fan of this song. I admire Deep Purple mainly for another work, Child in Time, a 10-minute piece of art rock, innovative, dynamic, and exhilarating, one of the best examples of progressive genre in rock. One can watch Deep Purple performing Child in Time live in 1970, in the so-called "official" version, on YouTube. The entire performance is stunningly brilliant, particularly, Ian Gillan's vocals, Jon Lord's keyboard work, and Ritchie Blackmore's guitar.
Dave Thompson's Smoke on the Water. The Deep Purple Story (2004) presents a meticulously researched, extremely detailed history of the band, from 1967 to 2002, and, additionally, individual histories of many musicians that at one time or another were members of the band.
There were eight incarnations of Deep Purple, meaning eight different sets of the band's personnel (they are named "Mark I" through "Mark VIII.") For me - and, likely for the majority of Deep Purple's fans - Mark II was the "real" Deep Purple - the three musicians mentioned above plus Roger Glover and Ian Pace. Deep Purple existed in the Mark II setup three times. First time was the peak period for the band, between 1969 and 1973, when Child in Time , Smoke on the Water, and many other famous songs were recorded. The tensions between Ritchie Blackmore and Ian Gillan caused the singer and Roger Glover to leave the band. They re-joined the band in 1984 but left again in 1987. The second reunion happened in 1993, but it lasted only a few months not only because of the differences in creative and artistic visions but also because of a deep personal animosity between Blackmore and Gillan.
Luckily, the personalities of Blackmore and Gillan do not dominate the author's narrative; he writes in depth about other members of the band, both permanent and temporary. A lot of space is dedicated to Jon Lord, a great keyboardist, and the one member in the band that kept pulling it toward classical music. He was the singular force behind the famous Concerto for Group and Orchestra; he composed the music and persevered in convincing the band to overcome the initial communication difficulties with classical musicians. The concerto was recorded in 1969, and it features the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (conducted by Malcolm Arnold), in addition to the band. In 1970, Mr. Lord followed with another merger of rock with classical - the Gemini Suite (this time with London Symphony Orchestra).
Mr. Thompson's biography of the band is superbly informative. In addition to the detailed narrative, it contains the discography of the band, solo discographies, and the list of records, for the total of 80 pages of appendices. I strongly recommend the book, which probably deserves a higher rating than mine. I am only interested in the 1969 - 1973 "progressive period" of the band's musical output. It is a good read, although perhaps too packed with details.
Three-and-a-half stars.
December 14, 2011
Not overly exciting but interesting to learn about a band I didn't know about. Wikipedia may be quicker
Read
January 31, 2011Interessante, ma 40 anni di carriera sono davvero troppi... l'autore è bravo, ma non ha modo di fare più di un veloce resoconto cronachistico delle mille tappe della band, senza soffermarsi ad emozionarsi su alcuni momenti, o a riflettere su altri. Un lungo articolo, non un romanzo. Qualche capitolo in più su quello che è successo in quei corridoi d'albergo a Montreaux, nel dicembre 1972, sarebbe stato meglio che non leggere piccoli dettagli sui progetti alternativi di Hughes...
December 28, 2012
Not as enlightening as I had hoped as to the interpersonal issues the band has faced over the years, but it was a fun read never-the-less.
Read
October 15, 2017Interessante, ma 40 anni di carriera sono davvero troppi... l'autore è bravo, ma non ha modo di fare più di un veloce resoconto cronachistico delle mille tappe della band, senza soffermarsi ad emozionarsi su alcuni momenti, o a riflettere su altri. Un lungo articolo, non un romanzo. Qualche capitolo in più su quello che è successo in quei corridoi d'albergo a Montreaux, nel dicembre 1972, sarebbe stato meglio che non leggere piccoli dettagli sui progetti alternativi di Hughes...
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews