who sang lead vocals on smoke on the water
Smoke on the Water "Smoke on the Water" is known for and recognizable by its central theme, developed by guitarist Ritchie Blackmore. It is a four-note blues scale melody in G minor, harmonised in parallel fourths. The riff, played on a Fender Stratocaster electric guitar by Blackmore, is later joined by hi-hat and distorted organ, then the rest of the drums, then electric bass parts before the start of Ian Gillan's vocal. The opening lyrics are:
On Top of Old Smoky The tune of "On Top of Old Smokey" familiar to most people today was also paired with a completely different set of words in a folk song called "The Little Mohee", about a frontiersman who falls in love with an Indian maiden (or, in some versions, a sailor who falls in love with a South Seas maiden).[15] This tune was collected by the American fieldworkers Loraine Wyman and Howard Brockway in Pine Mountain, Kentucky[16] from a singer named Mary Ann Bagley,[17] and published by them in 1916, hence a year before the Sharp/Karpeles version mentioned above.[18]