Fireball (Deep Purple song)

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"Fireball"
Fireball single.jpg
Cover of the 1971 Sweden single
Single by Deep Purple
from the album Fireball
B-side
  • "Demon's Eye" (UK)
  • "I'm Alone" (US)
Released25 October 1971 [1]
RecordedLondon, March 1971
Genre
Length3:25
Label
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)Deep Purple
Deep Purple singles chronology
"Strange Kind of Woman"
(1971) 		"Fireball"
(1971) 		"Never Before"
(1972)

"Fireball" is a song by the English rock band Deep Purple, from the album of the same name. It was also released as the band's second single of 1971, and peaked at No. 15 on the UK Singles Chart.[2]

Background[]

The song is one of several based on Ian Gillan's real life experiences: "She was a complete mystery to me. This is another tale of unrequited love", he explained.[3]

The song begins with the sound of an air conditioner being switched on, recorded by assistant engineer Mike Thorne. Roger Glover suggested to engineer Martin Birch that the sound of a machine starting up would be a good way to begin both the song and the album, but Birch could not think of anything available that would fit the purpose. Thorne suggested the sound of an air conditioning unit, and duly recorded it, to the band's delight. At the time the members of Deep Purple claimed that the sound was produced by a "special" synthesizer.[4] A promo clip was made for the song, consisting of the band miming to the studio recording in front of a dancing audience. The notes Jon Lord is seen playing do not correspond to the music, and Ritchie Blackmore plays his guitar with the back facing out.[citation needed]

Unusually for Deep Purple, the song does not contain a guitar solo. Instead, a bass solo played by Roger Glover is followed by a Jon Lord organ solo. "Fireball (Take 1 - Instrumental)", a bonus track on the remastered album, features a guitar solo near the end, after the fade-out of the original version. It is one of the few Deep Purple songs to feature Ian Paice using double bass drums. When performed live, before double pedals were available, a second bass drum was added to Paice's drum kit by a stagehand, and removed after the song's conclusion.

The song is considered a milestone of thrash metal. Czech heavy metal band Arakain covered the song on their album Legendy in 1995, as "Karambol". This version is a half-step lower than the original, and does not feature keyboards.[citation needed]

Personnel[]

References[]

  1. ^ Popoff, Martin (2016). The Deep Purple Family (2nd ed.). Wymer Publishing. p. 94. ISBN 978-1-908724-42-7.
  2. ^ "Deep Purple Official Charts". Official Chart Company. Retrieved 5 February 2017.
  3. ^ Fireball @ Wordography. - www.gillan.com.
  4. ^ Deep Purple: Fireball air conditioning Archived 22 May 2012 at the Wayback Machine. www.stereosociety.com.

External links[]

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