“They said, ‘We did a little thing for you, but we don’t know if it will make the album. I said, ‘You’re crazy – this is the single!’” the epic life of ‘Funky’ Claude Nobs, the man who inspired Deep Purple’s Smoke On The Water

Deep Purple’s Ian Gillan singing onstage in 1971 with an inset of promoter Claude Nobs.

Since it was established in 1967, the Montreux Jazz Festival has been one of the most iconic events in the rock calendar, with everyone from Jethro Tull, Queen, Aretha Franklin, Frank Zappa and Deep Purple taking the stage in the Swiss city. As one of its founders, Claude Nobs – aka ‘Funky Claude’ – was central to the festival until his death in 2013 at the age of 76. In 2006, Classic Rock sat down with Nobs to look back on the illustrious history of Montreux, his friendship with Led Zeppelin, and the true story of Smoke On The Water

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