1,683 guitarists play “Smoke on the Water”

More than 1,680 guitar players turned out, tuned up and took part in what organizers say was a world record rendition of Deep Purple's "Smoke on the Water" - a song that was the first many of them ever learned.Some came from as far away as California and Germany on Sunday to take part in a Kansas City radio station's effort to break a Guinness world record for the most people playing the same song simultaneously. The record had been 1,323 people playing the same song in Vancouver, British Columbia, in 1994.



Preliminary numbers show 1,683 people played the popular early '70s guitar riff on Sunday at Community America Ballpark."I thought it was going to be kind of cheesy," said Hannah Koch, of Prairie Village, who came clad in an elf costume. "But after I got here, I got caught up in the excitement of it."One of the participants, John Cardona of Hanford, California, said he brought felt-tip pens so he could get others to sign his guitar.