PAT BOONE - SMOKE ON THE WATER

SMOKE ON THE WATER

PAT BOONE

SONGWRITER: DEEP PURPLE

COUNTRY: U.S.A.

ALBUM: IN A METAL MOOD: NO MORE MR. NICE GUY

LABEL: HIP-O RECORDS

GENRE: SWING

YEAR: 1997

In a Metal Mood: No More Mr. Nice Guy is a 1997 album by Pat Boone in which Boone covers hard rock and heavy metal songs in a jazz/big band style. Boone promoted the album by appearing in leather clothing (and, at that year's American Music Awards, wearing a dog collar). He succeeded in propelling Metal Mood onto the Billboard record charts (making it Boone's first hit album in 35 years), but it did not please some of his older, longtime fans who considered the heavy metal genre in bad taste, or worse. The album has since become somewhat popular as a joke gift to metal fans (as often indicated in reviews given to it) although some serious sites have given it good reviews on its own merits. The album featured guest appearances from well-known rock musicians such as Ronnie James Dio and Ritchie Blackmore.

In October of the same year, and in a similar vein, Steve Lawrence and Eydie Gormé covered Soundgarden's "Black Hole Sun" in a lounge-jazz style on the 1997 compilation album release, Lounge-A-Palooza. This idea of giving rock hits a "standards" treatment was imitated later by Boone's contemporary Paul Anka in the 2005 album Rock Swings, which also featured Anka doing a cover of "Black Hole Sun".

We all came out to Montreux

On the Lake Geneva shoreline

To make records with a mobile

We didn't have much time

Frank Zappa and the Mothers

Were at the best place in town

When some stupid with a flare gun

Burned the place to the ground

Smoke on the water

A fire in the sky

Smoke on the water

They burned down the gambling house

It died with an awful sound

Funky Claude was running in and out

Dragging kids out the ground

When it all was over

We had to find another place

Swiss time was running out

It seemed that we would lose the race

Smoke on the water

A fire in the sky

Smoke on the water

We ended up at the grand hotel

It was empty, cold and bare

And with the rolling truck stones thing just outside

We made our music there

With a few red lights and a few old beds

We made a place to sweat

No matter what we get out of this

I know I know we'll never forget

Smoke on the water

A fire in the sky

Smoke on the water.