It was December of 1971 and Deep Purple was in Deep Trouble. They were all set to record their newest album, when the location they'd chosen for recording was accidentally set ablaze and burned completely to the ground.

This is the Rolling Stones' mobile recording studio. This picture is probably from the 1980s, given the computer screen over the mixing desk. The studio went through two major upgrades during its years of service; this was after the first one.

It took a little scrambling, but they managed to locate a hotel that had closed for the season and were able to use it for recording. The only problem was, the mobile recording studio couldn't be placed close to the recording space, so they had to run cables along walls, through a window, under a door, down a corridor, across a balcony, and who-knows-wherever else. This also meant that the band members had to traverse this route every time they wanted to hear their work played back. Ultimately they got tired of climbing all over the hotel and decided on-the-fly whether a particular take was any good.

The last song they recorded was one that they wrote pretty quickly, combined with an abandoned riff that Ritchie Blackmore had recorded without any particular project attached to it. It told the story of the fire, and the band's travails in locating another place to record.

Deep Purple didn't think the song had a lot of potential, but when they finally released it, it became one of rock and roll's great iconic tunes, and a touchstone for novice guitar players everywhere. And the town of Montreux, where everything took place, commemorated the event with a memorial marker.

I have practically no doubt that your podcatcher software has the show by now, but if you're the type to listen here on the page, or you like the whole DIY download thing, here's your chance:

And I do ask that you take the time to leave a review in iTunes, or Google Podcasts, or Stitcher, or wherever finer podcasts are downloaded for you. Thanks so much!