Alternate Smoke – Deep Purple On The Vault

Deep Purple fans shouldn't miss today's Vinyl Vault for a seldom heard version of a fan fave, Smoke On The Water.  The live version that became such a big hit was recorded on the first of three nights in Japan, back in August of 1972.  As you can guess, the band played it all three nights, with varying results.  Ritchie Blackmore couldn't seem to get the simple riff right the second night, so it's intro was comically massacred.  Plus it's just neat to hear how the band changed up certain parts from night to night.  Join me around 5:20pm for it, and as we remember Jon Lord, the classic keyboardist we lost last week (who incidentally, aced the track that night).  On-line too!

Blackmore, back in the day.