Thank you, Claude, for all you’ve done.”īlackburn road ha scritto:Nel novembre prossimo sarò "on the Lake Geneva shoreline" per lavoro e vorrei passare dal Grand Hotel de la Suisse a Montreaux, facendo tutto il giro del lago. The project could never have been completed had it not been for the brilliant efforts of the man who made things happen. “The words are a biographical outline of the making of our album Machine Head.
‘Funky Claude was running in and out, pulling kids out the ground,’ as it says in the lyrics of Smoke On The Water. He went down into the basement to lead out the frightened kids trapped there.
“He became known as ‘Funky’ Claude after his bravery when the blaze took hold. The lunches at his house were memorable – he was always the perfect host. Gillan says: “Claude became a good friend. The pair first met after the casino fire in 1971 that inspired Purple’s classic track. He mothered it from infancy to what it has grown into: internationally, the most highly respected and enjoyable annual event of its kind.” “No doubt on his way to move things along in the right direction, because the Montreux Jazz Festival was his baby. Flying by, he waved over his shoulder and called out ‘Hi, Ian, see you later!’ – then he was gone. The elevator doors opened and out whooshed Claude on a scooter had it been anyone else I would have been surprised. The singer recalls a recent meeting with Nobs: “I had just checked in to The Palace Hotel in Montreux prior to our appearance at the festival. The co-founder and organiser of the Montreux Jazz Festival was immortalised in Purple’s 1973 song Smoke On The Water – and Gillan also regarded him as a close friend. Deep Purple frontman Ian Gillan has paid tribute to ‘Funky’ Claude Nobs, who died last week after a skiing accident.