Lyr Req: Smoke on the Water (from Bob Wills)

Subject: Smoke on the Water by Ted Wills
From: GUEST,BigDaddy
Date: 13 Sep 01 - 04:14 PM

Anybody have the lyrics to this WWII song? Cowpie has a somewhat garbled version. This is another one I have on a 78RPM that I can't access right now. Some of you might enjoy "making it your own" in the light of recent events. "There'll be smoke on the water, on the land and the sea, when our army and navy overtake the enemy. There'll be smoke on the mountains where the heathen gods stay. And the sun that is risin' will go down on that day." "There'll be a sad day comin' for the foes of all mankind, they must answer to the people....everybody who must fear them will rejoice on that great day, when the powers of dictators shall be taken all away." And so on. The tune is the same as that used on the opening song "The Grand Ole Opry," from the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band's "Will the Circle Be Unbroken" album.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Smoke on the Water by Ted Wills
From: GUEST,BigDaddy
Date: 13 Sep 01 - 06:11 PM

...that's Bob Wills...as in Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys. I must be going through that there male mentalpause...

Subject: Lyr Add: SMOKE ON THE WATER (Z Clements/E Nunn)
From: GUEST,Gene
Date: 14 Sep 01 - 01:45 AM

You can play a REAL AUDIO of a version at Rose the Record Lady's site. You can find her site using www.google.com. Her excellent site may be discontinued shortly


SMOKE ON THE WATER
Words & music by Earl Nunn & Zeke Clements, ©1944.
As recorded by Red Foley, charted 1944.

There will be a sad day comin' for the foes of all mankind.
They must answer to the people and it's troublin' their mind.
Ev'rybody who must fear them will rejoice on that great day
When the powers of dictators shall be taken all away.

CHORUS: There'll be smoke on the water, on the land and the sea
When our army and navy overtakes [sic] the enemy.
There'll smoke on the mountains where the heathen gods stay,
And the sun that is risin' will go down on that day.

For there is a great destroyer made of fire and flesh and steel
Rollin' t'ward the foes of freedom; they'll go down beneath its wheels.
There'll be nothin' left but vultures to inhabit all that land
When our modern ships and bombers make a graveyard of Japan. CHORUS

Hirohito 'long with Hitler will be ridin' on a rail.
Mussolini'll beg for mercy; as a leader, he has failed.
But there'll be no time for pity when the screamin' eagle flies.
That will be the end of Axis, they must answer with their lives. CHORUS


I also have the Bob Wills and Boyd Heath versions.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Smoke on the Water by Ted Wills
From: DougR
Date: 14 Sep 01 - 01:53 AM

Didn't Roy Acuff make a recording of this one too?

DougR

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Smoke on the Water by Ted Wills
From: GUEST,BigDaddy
Date: 14 Sep 01 - 09:16 PM

Wow! Thanks, Guest Gene. I really appreciate that. I've never heard a Roy Acuff version, Doug R, but wouldn't be surprised.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Smoke on the Water by Ted Wills
From: DougR
Date: 15 Sep 01 - 11:23 PM

I think the Red Foley recording was the lead hit, wasn't it Guest Gene? During WW2, many artists recorded the same song on 78RPM with another song on the other side of the record.

DougR

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Smoke on the Water by Ted Wills
From: GUEST,Gene
Date: 16 Sep 01 - 12:02 AM

FOUND ON-LINE

ZEKE CLEMENTS-MEMBER OF HALL OF FAME

Birth Name: Zeke Clements
Induction Year: 1971
Date of Birth: 9/6/1911
Date of Death: 6/4/1994
Place of Birth: Empire, AL
Former Occupations: Coal Miner

Career Milestones:

Late 1920s--first performed on Chicago's National Barn Dance

1931--left the Oklahoma Cowboys (which he joined soon after he joined the National Barn Dance) and got a daily morning show on WSM in Nashville

1933--first appeared on the Grand Ole Opry as a regular with The Bronco Busters

1937--discovered by Walt Disney during an appearance in Hollywood, CA, and signed on to do the voice for "Bashful" in the animated feature "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs"

1937-1938--started seriously writing songs

1939--brought his songs to Nashville to show songwriter/publisher Fred Rose

Early 1940s--toured Army camps doing USO shows during W.W.II and wrote his first hit song "Smoke on the Water"

1944--"Smoke on the Water" became the top country song of the year, recorded by Red Foley

1945--founded Liberty Records in Los Angeles to distribute the records of Nashville artists such as The John Daniel Quartet, Paul Howard and himself (sold the label 2 years later)

1947--joined the cast of The Louisiana Hayride on KWKH in Shreveport

Smoke on the Water
Co-writer: E. Nunn
Recorded by Artists:
Red Foley, Bob Wills, Boyd Heath

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Smoke on the Water by Ted Wills
From: Cappuccino
Date: 16 Sep 01 - 11:18 AM

Moving from folk and western swing to rock, I'm always more and more amazed how many Deep Purple riffs and titles turn out to have been used somewhere before. I can think of several cases where they might give back the royalties, and here's another...

- Ian B