Big Wally’s Classic Rock N Recall: Deep Purple

Deep Purple has been and will always be one of my favorite classic rock bands, and the band that as of this writing I would like to see the most. Unfortunately, unless I can afford a plane ticket to Europe, there's a snowballs chance, that I will get to see them on their 'Now What?' world tour.

Many people know that Ritchie Blackmore was in Rainbow, but most don't know that he was a session guitarist in Germany and was asked to come and audition for this new 'SuperGroup.'

Did you know that Deep Purple's song, 'Smoke on the Water,' was about an actual fire  in December 1971. The band travelled to Switzerland to record Machine Head. The album was due to be recorded at a casino in Montreux, using the Rolling Stones Mobile Studio, but a fire during a Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention set, caused by  a man firing a flare gun into the ceiling, burned down the casino. . The album was later recorded in a corridor at the nearby empty Grand Hotel.

Here's a bit more info, behind the scenes, on Deep Purple.