Deep Purple is famous for the song ‘Smoke On The Water’, which contains one of the most famous guitar riffs of all time. Ritchie Blackmore is considered incredibly successful for this; however, limiting his guitar-playing ability to just that one riff is unfair. Blackmore (and Deep Purple) have brought a lot to the world of rock music thanks to his impeccable technique, which makes his style of guitar instantly recognisable.
He has never limited himself to one particular style of music. When he was initially learning guitar, he started learning classical forms of music, as he was always excited about people playing traditional prose, given he was so invested in the melody that these passages of music brandished.
“My interest in classical music overall is what led me in the direction of trying to combine blues, rock and classical ideas into the stylistic statement,” he said. “At the age of 15, I saw a band that did rocked-up classical tunes, called Nero and the Gladiators. They all wore togas, and you would think they must have looked really silly, but it worked.”
You can certainly hear elements of classical music in Deep Purple’s sound. Their use of orchestral sound and Blackmore’s ability to navigate melody while still keeping that rock-heavy sound are undeniable; however, when it comes to their classic album In Rock, one band, in particular, inspired the direction they wanted to move in.
After touring with Mountain, the band was shocked by how heavy their sound was with just three members, making them want to pursue a heavier style of music. “I really loved Leslie West’s playing,” said Blackmore before reflecting on the first time he heard ‘Mississippi Queen’.
“I remember being in a place in Germany, and Ian [Paice] and I were out drinking together,” he said, “In those days, you could go to a club and listen to the new records in their entirety that had just come out. Paice and I heard, ‘Mississippi Queen’, and we both went white! We were thinking, ‘Who the hell is that?!’ It had such a big sound! For three guys, it was incredibly heavy.”
The large sound of Mountain inspired the band’s future plans. After touring with them, Blackmore argued with Deep Purple, saying that they needed to embrace the rock side of their sound more and move away from the orchestral nature of some of their previous records.
“We were trying to find our way as a band, some sort of ‘category’. Jon [Lord] was into the classical stuff, and, although I love classical music, I wanted to follow up the Deep Purple album,” he said, “The last one with the original line-up, with something heavier, out-and-out rock. I said, ‘If that doesn’t work, let’s go back to playing with orchestras’.”
The decision to go down a similar route to Mountain led to the album In Rock, which is widely considered one of Deep Purple’s very best. Without touring with Mountain, we may have never got a record as timeless.
