Fireball (Deep Purple song)
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2023}}
{{Use British English|date=October 2010}}
{{More citations needed|date=December 2009}}
{{Infobox song
| name = Fireball
| cover = Fireball single.jpg
| alt =
| caption = Cover of the 1971 Sweden single
| type = single
| artist = Deep Purple
| album = Fireball
| B-side = {{ubl|"Demon's Eye" (UK)|"I'm Alone" (US)}}
| released = 29 October 1971{{cite web|url=https://www.discogs.com/release/7542371-Deep-Purple-Fireball/image/SW1hZ2U6MjAxNTg1MzU=|title=Promo Disc}}
| recorded = London, March 1971
| studio =
| venue =
| genre =
- Heavy metal{{cite book|first=Bob |last=Stanley|title=Yeah Yeah Yeah: The Story of Modern Pop|chapter= Some Kind of Monster: Metal|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9emZAAAAQBAJ&pg=PT7|date=13 September 2013|publisher=Faber & Faber|isbn=978-0-571-28198-5|page=566}}
| length = 3:25
| label = *Harvest (UK)
- Warner Bros. (U.S.)
| writer = *Ritchie Blackmore
| producer = Deep Purple
| prev_title = Strange Kind of Woman
| prev_year = 1971
| next_title = Never Before
| next_year = 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.{{cite web |url=http://www.officialcharts.com/artist/27669/deep-purple/ |title=Deep Purple Official Charts |publisher=Official Charts Company |access-date=5 February 2017}}
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.[http://www.gillan.com/wordography-32.html Fireball @ Wordography]. – www.gillan.com.
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.[http://www.stereosociety.com/fireball.shtml Deep Purple: Fireball air conditioning] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120522014141/http://www.stereosociety.com/fireball.shtml |date=22 May 2012 }}. www.stereosociety.com. A promo clip was made for the song, consisting of the band miming to the studio recording in front of a dancing audience.
The song features a rare instance of Ian Paice playing a double-bass drum, thus it often appeared as an encore in the band's live show so the crew would have time to add the extra bass drum to Paice's stage kit.
Personnel
- Ian Gillan{{snd}}vocals, tambourine
- Ritchie Blackmore{{snd}}guitars
- Roger Glover{{snd}}bass
- Jon Lord{{snd}}organ
- Ian Paice{{snd}}drums
Charts
References
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{{Deep Purple}}
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Category:Songs written by Ritchie Blackmore
Category:Songs written by Ian Gillan
Category:Songs written by Roger Glover