Ritchie Blackmore, a name synonymous with ground-breaking rock music, and one of the founding members of Deep Purple, has long been revered as a guitar virtuoso. Known for his distinctive playing style and intricate techniques, Blackmore’s words of wisdom reflect his experience and perceptions of the music industry. Here are 20 intriguing quotes from the man himself that give an insight into his fascinating musical journey:
Ritchie Blackmore Quotes
- “For me, tone is the most important thing. I can tell how a guitarist is playing just from his accompanying.”
- “There’s only one way out of this and that’s to play until it hurts. The stage is a magic circle where only the most real things happen, a neutral territory outside the jurisdiction of Fate where stars may be crossed with impunity.”
- “I get very paranoid about certain notes. I have to play them perfect, and I can’t hit the note straight on, I have to slide into the note. It has to do with the classical training. You don’t just hit the notes in classical; you have to wind up and prepare for each note.”
- “The major scale and the minor scale there is only one step different and yet that gives you a completely different sound.”
- “I was impressed by Hendrix. His attitude was brilliant. Even the way he walked was amazing.”
- “When I was eleven, I had an Uli Jon Roth moment, and it’s never left me. It was the way he was with the audience and the way he would use his fingers and his sort of sense of humor about guitar playing. It just impressed the hell out of me.”
- “I have a quest for a sound, and I still haven’t got it. I’m not talking about a sound that you hear so much as a sound that is in my head.”
- “My whole life is playing music. I never hang out with anybody. I don’t go out and socialize. I am the most unsociable person you will ever meet.”
- “I’m not really a team player. And I always had this idea that the guitar was a bit like the Sword in the Stone; it’s a very individual thing.”
- “The most important thing to a lot of people, is to belong to something that’s hip or whatever. To be a part of something that’s not society, just a clique.”
- “I’m a workaholic. I could be rehearsing some part for days.”
- “I was very introverted. I had glasses. I suddenly realized I had to get contact lenses. I got a small perm. And I could play the guitar.”
- “The only way you can conquer me is through love, and there I am gladly conquered.”
- “I’ve been misunderstood many times. My style is odd, I’ll admit, but it suits me. People just didn’t understand where I was coming from.”
- “I love to play smaller crowds with the RAINBOW stuff. That’s why RAINBOW is so low key now.”
- “I like to play in a shambolic style.”
- “There’s a grey cloud that always follows me. When things are going too good, I’m worried, waiting for it to change.”
- “I never got that commercial rock thing, I suppose, the stuff that’s played on the radio. That’s why it’s easy for me to make fun of, I suppose.”
- “I always believed in the music we did and that’s why it was uncompromising.”
- “Deep Purple should have been Joe Lynn Turner on vocals, that’s all. I would like to have done another album with him.”