Sometimes you have to listen close

Listen here to a combination of both versions

Astrud Gilberto / Deep Purple

Not always the re-used music is instant recognizeable. In this case there is a link between Astrud Gilberto and Gil Evan’s version of “Maria Moite/Maria Quiet” and Deep Purple’s “Smoke On The Water”. After listening to both songs the connection surfaces. Total different styles of music and syncopation in rhythm and melody.

Deep Purple guitar player Richie Blackmore took the melody of the 1965 song by Astrud Gilberto and used it for his 1972 creation. It became the biggest hit for Deep Purple. Ritchie is in interviews more convinced that the song has a connection to Beethovens ‘Fifth”.

In flames

To make the story even more interesting is that “Smoke On The Water” tells the story of a Frank Zappa gig that ended up with the concert location going up in flames. A casino in Switserland, at the Montreux lake. On the other side of the lake was a hotel, from where members of Deep Purple did see that happen. Complete with smoke on the water. The casino would have been used by Deep Purple after the Zappa show for a recording session for a new album. Those recordings did not proceed of course…

Macedonian sleeve of the Deep Purple record

The sleeve shown here is bought in Macedonia. It contains a West-European, a Cyrillic and an unknown font. This makes record collecting fun, could not resist to buy it on a market in Skopje.