Wild Crazy Stuff! I did not know that.

Always thought it was Frank Zappa's own studio that burnt down. But now you know the real story.

Classic 'Water' helps Gillan stay afloat
August 29, 2006

It's funny that Ian Gillan is touring as "the voice of Deep Purple." Quite frankly, we'd forgotten the band's signature tune had words beyond the chorus. But what a tale they tell.
"Smoke on the Water" is easily one of the most famous guitar riffs in rock 'n' roll. It's basic, easy and primal -- which is why it's one of the first things teenage boys figure out in the rite of passage of learning to play an electric guitar.
Its simplicity is borne of the fact that, like so many cultural sensations, so little thought went into writing it. The song was a trifle the hard-rock band knocked out early in the troubled 1971 sessions for the album "Machine Head." It wasn't even released as a single until that album had been out for a year. It reached No. 4, and it's been a touchstone ever since.

It's even a true story, a simple account of something that happened on the eve of the recording sessions -- 35 years ago:
We all came out to Montreux on the Lake Geneva shorelineTo make records with a mobile. We didn't have much time.
In December 1971, Deep Purple had arrived in Montreux, Switzerland, to record their album, using "a mobile" recording studio rented from the Rolling Stones. The work would take place in the Montreux Casino ("the gambling house").
Frank Zappa and the Mothers were at the best place aroundBut some stupid with a flare gun burned the place to the ground.
The night before the band was set to record, the casino hosted a concert by Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention. During the show, a Swiss fan ("some stupid") allegedly fired a flare gun into the ceiling of the theater. The theater and casino burned to the ground. (The Zappa show wound up on some bootlegs later.)
Smoke on the water, a fire in the sky.Smoke on the water.
The band was staying at a hotel on Lake Geneva on the opposite shore from the casino. The "smoke on the water, fire in the sky" is what they saw. Bass player Roger Glover says the title phrase came to him several days later.
They burned down the gambling house. It died with an awful sound.Funky Claude was running in and out, pulling kids out of the ground.
"Funky Claude" refers to Claude Nobs, director of the Montreux Jazz Festival, who was "running in and out" helping audience members escape the fire.
When it all was over, we had to find another place.Swiss time was running out. It seemed that we would lose the race.
The band went in search of "another place" to record, the mobile equipment in tow. Nobs secured them into a theater. Neighbors complained about the racket and police shut them down, but not before they had laid the basic tracks for a new song, so far without any lyrics.
Smoke on the water, a fire in the sky.Smoke on the water.
Those tracks would become "Smoke on the Water." Gillan originally shrugged off the song's title, saying people would think it was a drug song. "Only later did it suggest itself as the vehicle by which we could tell the story of the fire," Glover has said. The guitar riff sealed the deal.
We ended up at the Grand Hotel. It was empty, cold and bareBut with the Rolling truck Stones thing just outside making our music there.With a few red lights an' a few old beds, we made a place to sweat.No matter what we get out of this, I know ... I know we'll never forget.Smoke on the water, a fire in the sky.Smoke on the water.
They "ended up at the Grand Hotel" and created a makeshift studio out of the "cold and bare" hallways and stairwells and finished the record, released the following year and entering the U.S. Top 10 in 1973 based on the success of "Smoke."
Thomas Conner

Summer is gone, again.

Sorry for the lack of updates during the summer, but you know how it is, summer can be especailly busy. It has also flown by. I've got kids what do you want.
But I will make this pledge to my loyal readers, more blogs in the next few months. I have alot to write about, who doesn't with Bush still in office, and I'll be getting those out.
If there is anythiong you would like to see here, please email me.
Oh by the way ISU starts FB next Thursday. No TV of course.
Go Clones!
Charlie

My friend and brother is gone.

I think Doug was friends with everyone he ever met. Anyone that woud drive around us goofballs in college had to have a heart of gold. I will never forget him.

Douglas Stout

Peoria - Douglas W. Stout, 37, formerly of Peoria, Ill., died peacefully Saturday, Aug. 12, 2006, at his home in Toledo, Ohio, following three years courageously living with ALS.
Doug was born in Singapore on May 30, 1969, to Ronald and Fira Stout of Sterling, Kan., and married Cay Mateyko, originally from Cincinnati, Ohio, on Dec. 31, 1997.
Doug and Cay have two wonderful children, Jackson and Jami. Doug's sister, Kim, resides in Bloomfield, Mich., with her husband, Kyle, and their two children. Also surviving is Doug's grandmother, Anita Oden of Sterling, Kan.
A 1987 graduate of Dunlap High School in Peoria, Ill., Doug graduated in 1992 from Iowa State University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Industrial Engineering. Doug was a member of Sigma Alpha Epsilon Fraternity.
After college graduation, Doug worked for Bechtel Corporation in its Pipeline Division and spent his early years traveling the world managing pipeline projects. Doug met his wife, Cay, in 1997 while both were on business in Bangkok, Thailand. In 1999 Doug began working for Welded Construction in Perrysburg, Ohio, as a Senior Project Engineer.
Doug remained close to his high school and college friends, as evidenced by the 150 people who attended his surprise 35th birthday party in 2004 on a roof top at Wrigley Field.
Doug and Cay have become strong advocates for ALS related causes including independent living services that create dignity rather than dependence.
Funeral services will be held at 11 a.m. on Friday, Aug. 18, at Epworth United Methodist Church, 3077 Valleyview Drive at Central Avenue in Toledo, Ohio.
Memorials can be directed to ALS Association of Northern Ohio or Hospice of Northwest Ohio.
Doug will be buried in Sterling, Kan., among family members who preceded him.
Online condolences may be sent to www.walkerfuneralhomes.com. Arrangements handled by Walker Funeral Home, (419) 841-2422.