GUITARIST RITCHIE BLACKMORE ON WHY HE HAS DECIDED TO MAKE A BRIEF RETURN TO PLAYING ROCK MUSIC, “YOU START TO SEE YOUR FRIENDS PASS AND JUST FEEL IT’S TIME TO PLAY SOME OF THE OLD SONGS”
Nancy Dunham of Noisey spoke with guitarist Ritchie Blackmore. Highlights from the interview appear below.
On playing rock music again:
“I am doing four dates in June, which will be all rock,” Blackmore says, speaking to us alongside Night. “I have the band basically together and it will be [the best of] Rainbow and Deep Purple. It’s just having fun but it’s only four dates in Europe. I don’t want to do anymore because I take what I’m doing now much more seriously.”
Noisey: When I first heard All Our Yesterdays [from Blackmore’s Night] I thought of some of the people you have lost recently including Ronnie James Dio.
Ritchie: Yes, Ronnie Dio. I had not seen him in 30 years, so it was kind of like an old friend that I knew a long time ago. So it didn’t [impact me] as much as Jon Lord’s passing; he and I put Purple together… Ronnie was a good friend of mine in the beginning. Although I ended with Ronnie not as friends, we did some great music together. And he was very serious, great singer and musician. Sometimes I would ask him, “What are you hearing in this riff?” I would sing it to him very quietly, and he would grasp it immediately and know exactly what I was talking about… He was very easy to work with as far as knowing how to sing and where to go.
Noisey: I know you’ve said many things about Jon including ‘Without Jon there would be no Deep Purple.’ What should people know about him on a personal level?
Ritchie: Jon was always a gentleman, sort of like Rex Harrison. Anyone who met him found him full of old-style charm.
Noisey: Thinking of Jon, I must ask why you decided to do the Deep Purple and Rainbow dates now?
Ritchie: I turned 70. And arthritis is starting to set in. Jon’s not around. So many others aren’t around. You start to see your friends pass and just feel it’s time to play some of the old songs. Nostalgia is a big reason to do it, but not the only reason.
Read more at Noisey.
source: noisey.vice.com
I hope this is available on DVD, although I suspect it may come to the states, depending on demand. It’s nice that he mentions Ronnie’s ability to add just the right vocal melodies that Richie wanted. Why does he say “I have the band basically together”, and doesn’t say who they are? I hope his version of the band isn’t watered down, and designed to promote his medieval gigs. Ya know, jousting, mutton legs and all. Although, If he did Highway Star on a Lute, that would be interesting 😉
Four dates? Don’t overdo it Sir Ritchie! It’s too easy to make fun of this guy. I’ve had fun doing it, but I’ll suspend that for now and say, as a guitarist and songwriter, the work Ritchie did on classic Deep Purple and Rainbow albums is iconic. Just look at the solo to “Stargazer”: He starts the solo using a weird scale pattern and played it with a slide! Who thinks of that? Absolutely genius guitarist who’s a major influence of countless guitarists over the decades.
“I have the band basically together and it will be [the best of] Rainbow and Deep Purple. It’s just having fun but it’s only four dates in Europe. I don’t want to do anymore because I take what I’m doing now much more seriously.”
I am afraid Ritchie is the only one that takes his Hobbit music seriously. Gondolf hates Ritchie too.
Freaking Europe only ! Dammit. I`m glad I got to see him on the perfect strangers tour but would have liked to see him rock one more time. Hopefully he gets a great reception and extends the tour for some dates in the states. Man I`m a poet and didn`t know it. Make a rhyme every time. I`m losing it,lol
I’m old enough and fortunate enough to have seen Rainbow 3 times back in the day,(twice with Ronnie and once with JLT) If this does come to the states, I’ll be first in line to grab tickets,regardless of who is backing the man up.( like T says,unless it’s the “mutton and mead ensemble” )The word Maestro doesn’t even fit his abilities on a Stratocaster…