E' morto Claude Nobs

[GIORGIO.MARCATO]

"..Funky Claude was running in and out pulling kids out the ground.."

Un'altro lutto nella storia dei Purple.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claude_Nobs

[mteso]

Ragazzi il Tempo corre.....Non ci pensi fino a quando accade..

[fabio q]

..........un maledetto incidente.......

[The Lawyer]

... merda.

[Purplerock]

Per via dell'età la morte corre sempre più vicino ai nostri amici...in quella grande famiglia ci metto tutti...anche Ronnie, Cozy...Jon Lord poi è quello che più ci ha toccato da vicini..
Riposa in pace Funky Claude...

[dipparl]

Porca merda...

Mi spiace davvero tanto.

R.I.P. Funky Claude

[Simmons]

R.I.P. Funky Claude

[Ranfa]

purtroppo un'altro grande!

[skip75]

r.i.p.

http://youtu.be/bieE2-pckjs

[GIORGIO.MARCATO]

Deep Purple frontman Ian Gillan has paid tribute to ‘Funky’ Claude Nobs, who died last week after a skiing accident.

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.

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 elevator doors opened and out whooshed Claude on a scooter; had it been anyone else I would have been surprised. Flying by, he waved over his shoulder and called out ‘Hi, Ian, see you later!’ – then he was gone.

“No doubt on his way to move things along in the right direction, because the Montreux Jazz Festival was his baby. He mothered it from infancy to what it has grown into: internationally, the most highly respected and enjoyable annual event of its kind.”

The pair first met after the casino fire in 1971 that inspired Purple’s classic track. Gillan says: “Claude became a good friend. The lunches at his house were memorable – he was always the perfect host.

“He became known as ‘Funky’ Claude after his bravery when the blaze took hold. He went down into the basement to lead out the frightened kids trapped there. ‘Funky Claude was running in and out, pulling kids out the ground,’ as it says in the lyrics of Smoke On The Water.

“The words are a biographical outline of the making of our album Machine Head. The project could never have been completed had it not been for the brilliant efforts of the man who made things happen.

“We shall miss him terribly. Thank you, Claude, for all you’ve done.”

[blackburn road]

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.
Quando sarò lì, se i miei colleghi non saranno troppo noiosi, mi fermerò nel parcheggio dell'albergo in Rue de Bon Port. Andrò indietro nel tempo a quarantadue anni prima e, con calma, farò un brindisi a Jon e Claude, nel luogo che li ha consacrati per sempre nelle note di Machine Head.

Ciao,

Blackburn Road

[GIORGIO.MARCATO]

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.
Quando sarò lì, se i miei colleghi non saranno troppo noiosi, mi fermerò nel parcheggio dell'albergo in Rue de Bon Port. Andrò indietro nel tempo a quarantadue anni prima e, con calma, farò un brindisi a Jon e Claude, nel luogo che li ha consacrati per sempre nelle note di Machine Head.

Ciao,

Blackburn Road

Buona visita, prima o poi ci andrò anch'io. Ecco una cosa che ha scritto Roger Glover.. gran bel personaggio, Funky Claude...


MEMORIES OF CAUDE NOBS

The day of the fire at the Montreux Casino was a day that changed all of our lives. A day or so earlier, we had arrived in Montreux to be met by a charming gentleman by the name of Claude Nobs. We’d been aware of him previously as the promoter when we played a couple of gigs in Montreux before. Arriving in our hotel rooms we found welcome gifts from him – a couple of bottles of Swiss wine and a yellow tee shirt with the word Montreux on it. I still have it somewhere.

The Rolling Stones’ truck arrived in the evening; Ian Stewart came with the crew to make sure everything was working. We were all in the bar when Claude dropped by to advise us not to unload the gear that night because there was a show the following afternoon – a matinee performance by Frank Zappa and the Mothers, after which the place would be ours. And would we like to come to the show?

You all know the story… flare gun (apparently) fired into the bamboo-covered ceiling an hour or so into the concert - Frank saying ‘Arthur Brown, in person!’ - evacuating the building - Claude in charge - fire trucks, water-hoses - smoke over the lake…

The massive fire destroyed the casino, the exhibition space, the restaurants, clubs, etc. – and all of Frank’s equipment. Suddenly, our recording plans became obsolete. As the fire blazed we watched in shock from the relatively safe distance of the hotel bar. An hour or so after it started, Claude came to our hotel and, despite the fact that his life was going up in flames, expressed concern for our predicament. There is a photograph of that very moment on the inner gatefold of the vinyl Machine Head album. You can see the worry on his face. I was blown away by his attitude; with all that was going on, here he was, thinking of us!

It was he who sorted out La Pavilion as an alternative recording space (where we recorded the backing track that would become Smoke On The Water) and when that space became untenable, he worked unceasingly to help us find somewhere else. He was tireless. He felt responsible. That showed us what kind of man we were working with.

Invited to his amazing apartment in the town, we were exposed to his exquisite taste: interesting furniture from around the world, all kinds of art, intriguing curios and the latest, state-of-the–art sound system. He loved music. Wherever you looked there was some thing remarkable to see and wonder about.

Many years later, he invited us up the mountain to another house where he cooked us a delicious meal. I was surprised that he didn’t dine with us but merely joined us for dessert, so I asked him why. He replied that a good chef prepares a meal FOR his guests and needs to concentrate.

For the last few decades, he lived further up the mountain and his stunning home was open to all the performers at every Jazz Festival, amazing views over Lake Geneva, superb food, interesting guests, great music (he had a video theatre on the top floor where you could watch any one of thousands of performances from the Festival whilst sitting comfortably in converted aircraft seats), and of course his outstanding collection of antiques, art, curios, trains, musical instruments, etc.

Since 1971, he has been a fixture in our world, a good friend, and an inspiration on how to do things with style. That word sums him up – he had style. And that’s what he left behind; the Montreux Jazz and Blues (and everything else) Festival has style and is a fitting memorial to a special man.

Thank you and rest in peace, Claude.

RG, January 2013

[nobody's home]

Riposa in pace Claude! Voglio un album che ricordi degnamente Claude,Jon,Ronnie...Gli attuali Deep purple sono in grado di fare un capolavoro degli anni 2000...e dedicarlo a questi magnifici compagni d'avventura.....