As demonstrated by the songs “Smoke on the Water,” “Black Night,” and “Burn” by Deep Purple and “Man on the Silver Mountain,” “Stargazer,” and “Kill the King” by Rainbow, Ritchie Blackmore is undoubtedly the author of some of the greatest rock riffs ever.
And two of Blackmore’s former teammates in Purple, drummer Ian Paice and bassist Roger Glover, talked about what made “the man in black” such a unique guitarist in a recent interview with Ultimate Classic Rock.
But as he was writing a specific Deep Purple classic, Blackmore set some guidelines. However, as Paice said, he ultimately consented to play ball.
Do you remember when we were doing ‘Space Truckin’,’ he was vehemently opposed to playing anything that sounded like Chuck Berry. He wouldn’t do it. Couldn’t stand it. But we got him to compromise and he played four to the bar [Paice imitates the rhythm]. That’s as far as he would go. But because he did that, it became so much heavier. When he simplified it down again, it suddenly took on a power all of its own.”
Glover also added some interesting viewpoints about Blackmore’s playing, including a gift for realizing when a riff was getting too elaborate.
“Well, it’s a guitar-based band, I mean, let’s face it. It’s very difficult for anyone to write guitar riffs. If you’re a keyboard player, bass player, or drummer, it’s impossible. It has to be led by him. He’s the sort of focal point of most of the songs. He was brilliant. Totally off-the-cuff.”
