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mahatmakanejeeves

(61,614 posts)
Wed Dec 4, 2024, 10:52 AM Dec 4

On this day, December 4, 1971, a fire started at the Montreux Casino in Montreux, Switzerland.

Last edited Wed Dec 4, 2024, 11:24 AM - Edit history (1)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/December_4

• 1971 – During a concert by Frank Zappa and The Mothers of Invention at the Montreux Casino, an audience member fires a flare gun into the ceiling, causing a fire that destroys the venue. The incident served as the inspiration for Deep Purple's 1973 song Smoke on the Water.

Montreux Casino

{snip}

History


The casino—originally called "Kursaal"—in the early 20th century

Montreux Casino was built in 1881 and was modified in 1903. Throughout the 20th century, the site hosted many great symphony orchestras and well-known conductors. By the late 1960s, jazz, blues and rock artists began to perform there.

In 1967, the casino became the venue for the Montreux Jazz Festival, which was started by music promoter Claude Nobs. The three-day festival was held there annually and featured performers such as Keith Jarrett, Jack DeJohnette, Bill Evans, Nina Simone, Jan Garbarek, Etta James and Ella Fitzgerald. Originally featuring almost exclusively jazz artists, in the 1970s the festival began to include blues, soul, and rock artists such as Black Sabbath, Pink Floyd and Deep Purple.

1971 fire

On December 4, 1971, Montreux Casino was destroyed by a fire that began during a concert by the Mothers of Invention after a fan had shot a flare gun. A recording of the outbreak and fire announcement can be found on a Frank Zappa bootleg album titled Swiss Cheese/Fire!

English rock group Deep Purple, who had planned to record Machine Head at the venue, were forced to seek an alternate recording location. Their song "Smoke on the Water" was written about the incident:

We all came out to Montreux on the Lake Geneva shoreline / To make records with a mobile - We didn't have much time / Frank Zappa & the Mothers were at the best place around / But some stupid with a flare gun burned the place to the ground / Smoke on the water, a fire in the sky...

Frank Zappa calmly urged the concert attendees to evacuate, and the fire brigade was on scene in less than five minutes. The fire quickly spread out of control but, due to the orderly evacuation and the swift assistance of firefighters, no one was killed in the incident.

{snip}
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On this day, December 4, 1971, a fire started at the Montreux Casino in Montreux, Switzerland. (Original Post) mahatmakanejeeves Dec 4 OP
So fifty + years later, the song and lyrics now make sense. Thank you for the post. chicoescuela Dec 4 #1
The ole flare gun in the ceiling trick. Sneederbunk Dec 4 #2
Went To Montreux ProfessorGAC Dec 4 #3
December 10, 1971 Frank Zappa was thrown off the stage in London and months in a wheelchair with permanent injuries. PufPuf23 Dec 5 #4

chicoescuela

(1,644 posts)
1. So fifty + years later, the song and lyrics now make sense. Thank you for the post.
Wed Dec 4, 2024, 11:13 AM
Dec 4

I used to play this at max volume and may account for my less than stellar hearing.

ProfessorGAC

(70,599 posts)
3. Went To Montreux
Wed Dec 4, 2024, 08:34 PM
Dec 4

Had a conference there.
There is a rebuilt casino but it's way more modern, so the didn't try to reproduce the beautiful building in your picture. That's where most of the papers were delivered & presentations made.
One afternoon, I walked over to The Grand Hotel, which had been recently reopened after renovations.
I walked the halls, just imagining where Deep Purple holed up to record Machine Head.
For a fan, it was a great experience.

PufPuf23

(9,282 posts)
4. December 10, 1971 Frank Zappa was thrown off the stage in London and months in a wheelchair with permanent injuries.
Thu Dec 5, 2024, 11:34 PM
Dec 5

What a month of rock and roll touring for Zappa.

When Frank Zappa was nearly killed on stage by a jealous boyfriend

The figure of “jealous lover” has been a constant in literature and pop culture. From rom-com to thriller, each genre has exploited this concept to expose the dramatics of romantic love. When we witness an on-screen theatrical face-off between the insecure boyfriend and the crush, it may tickle us to the core or make our eyes roll thinking “these don’t happen in real-life!”. However, we must not forget that art and literature are not always fabricated, they draw largely from real incidents. The story of Frank Zappa’s fateful night in London is one such example.

On December 10, 1971, The Mothers of Invention were playing at the Rainbow Theatre in London. As the versatile lead singer, instrumentalist and composer Frank Zappa started a cover of The Beatles song ‘I Want to Hold Your Hand,’ he was attacked by a member of the audience. 24-year-old Trevor Howell emerged from the crowd like a shooting meteor and flew at Zappa before he could register the angered audience member. Zappa fell off the stage as a result of the attack and landed on the concrete-floored orchestra pit.

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In his 1989 autobiographical book The Real Frank Zappa Book, Zappa while re-tracing the scarring incident said, “The band thought I was dead…My head was over on my shoulder, and my neck was bent like it was broken. I had a gash in my chin, a hole in the back of my head, a broken rib, and a fractured leg. One arm was paralyzed.” The 15-foot fall also crushed Zappa’s larynx which affected his vocal range making him transform into a low and husky style. It could have been so much worse for the singer.

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December was indeed a doomed month for Zappa and his band. A week prior to this event, a crazy fan fired a gun during the band’s performance at the Montreux Casino in Geneva, Switzerland. As if this wasn’t enough, the venue’s heating system blew up which started a devastating fire. It engulfed the band’s instruments, injured several people and burnt down the venue to the ground. Two back-to-back incidents affected the band deeply. Following the Rainbow theatre misadventure, the Mothers of Invention had to cancel their live performances and couldn’t hit the roads for six months.

Zappa recovered a great deal from the shock but was bound to a wheelchair for almost a year and suffered from chronic back pain because of the ordeal. His fractured leg though became functional, was shorter than the other one. But Frank Zappa, being the creative genius he was, did not miss this opportunity to write a song named ‘Dancin’ Fool’ which had the following lines: “Ì don’t know much about dancin’, that’s why I got this song. One of my legs is shorter than the other and both my feet’s too long.”

https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/frank-zappa-attacked-by-fan-london-1971-death/

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