Seven ages of rock - a history of rock music over the past 50 years

Deep Purple release 'Machine Head'

13 April 1972

The album was due to be recorded at the abandoned Grand Hotel in Montreux, Switzerland using The Rolling Stones mobile recording studio set up. The idea was that the band wanted to capture the essence of playing live in a studio recording, and wanted to exploit the acoustic of the Grand Hotel's cavernous halls.

Deep Purple went to go and see Frank Zappa in concert nearby and almost got caught in a fire started by a fan with a flare gun that burned down the building. The events inspired the writing of "Smoke On The Water" which included one of the most famous riffs in rock history.

Interestingly the band were slow to realise the potential of the song, and it was a year before they released it as a single. This album shows Deep Purple in spellbinding form with their classic line-up; Ritchie Blackmore, Ian Gillian, Roger Glover, Jon Lord, and Ian Paice are all captured here at their best. It was this album that helped the band win themselves an international audience.