Happy Birthday Ritchie Blackmore! (April 14, 1945)

(Title image created by DALL-E 3)

Hi WA Friends!

Let's celebrate Ritchie Blackmore's birthday, the man who has been called the "Dark Knight" and the "Prince of Darkness" (not a reference to Satanism)!

I published this post a day early because our WiFi might be offline tomorrow. I could have used the new WA blog post "schedule" function, but I wanted to be sure that the title image was oriented just right since it is Ritchie we are talking about! Lol 😎

A Little History

Ritchie Blackmore was born on April 14, 1945, in Weston-super-Mare, England. He received his first guitar from his father at age 11. His name became synonymous with rock and heavy metal guitar innovation in the early 1960s and then rock-renaissance music. His early influences included the pioneering rock and roll sounds of Gene Vincent and Buddy Holly.

Ritchie's professional journey actually started with session work and playing in bands such as The Outlaws and "Screaming Lord Sutch’s Savages."

However, his most significant and influential role came as a founding member of Deep Purple in 1968. Blackmore's fiery licks and precise guitar playing with Deep Purple helped define the "Hard Rock" genre. The band's classics like "Smoke on the Water" and "Highway Star" are still staples in rock music history, showcasing his aggressive playing style and innovative use of guitar scales and arpeggios.

After leaving Deep Purple in 1975, Blackmore formed Rainbow, which further explored his interests in classical music and softer rock elements. Rainbow's success continued with hits like "Since You Been Gone" and "Man on the Silver Mountain."

His foray into medieval folk rock in the 1990s with Blackmore’s Night, alongside his wife Candice Night, displayed his versatility and continued passion for blending different musical styles.

Equipment (for WA "Gearheads" Lol)

(Courtesy of me & ChatGPT)

• Guitars:
• • Early Career (1960s):
  • • Fender Stratocaster
    • Gibson ES-335
    • Gibson SG
    • Fender Telecaster
  • Deep Purple Era (1970s):
  • • Heavily modified Stratocasters (based on 1970s models):
    • • Scalloped fretboards for high-speed playing
      • Seymour Duncan pickups commonly used
      • Increased bridge pickup output
      • Middle pickup commonly removed
  • Rainbow Era (late 1970s - early 1980s):
  • • Fender Stratocaster
    • Gibson SG
    • Jackson Soloist
• Amplifiers:
• • Primarily Marshall stacks (Plexi models like the Super Lead 100) for their high-gain sound
  • Hiwatt Custom 50 DR103
  • Fender Twin Reverb
• Effects:
• • Wah-wah pedal (specific models vary)
  • Distortion pedals (likely fuzz pedals in the early days, transitioning to overdrive/distortion later)
  • Delay pedals (specific models vary, but tape echo commonly used)

Fender Signature Stratocaster Models:

Richie's guitars have a scalloped fretboard (which was later adopted by Metal player Yngwie Malmsteen). Fender recreated this for his signature Strat.

Ritchie never uses the middle pickup on his guitars because he does not like the sound, and it interferes with his picking style, so he lowers them down flush with the top of the pickguard or removes them from the guitar. His signature guitar has a dummy (non-functional) middle pickup.

There have been two versions of Ritchie's signature guitar. Here is the latest version.

• Fender Ritchie Blackmore Stratocaster (current model):
• • Based on Blackmore's heavily modified Stratocasters
  • Olympic White finish
  • Scalloped rosewood fingerboard (24.75" scale length)
  • Seymour Duncan Quarter Pound™ Flat single-coil bridge & neck pickup
  • Dummy pickups in the middle position (non-functional)
  • Vintage-style synchronized tremolo bridge system

I love the early 1970s Strats with the large headstock, the bullet truss rod, and the three-bolt neck plate with the micro-tilt adjustment! They have a sound and playability all their own! My first Strat, which I had custom-built by Fender with an Olympic White body finish in high school, was built like that, but I heavily modified it over the years.

Honors and Awards

(Courtesy of ChatGPT)

• Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Deep Purple in 2016.
• His riff in "Smoke on the Water" was voted as the number 4 "Greatest Guitar Riff Ever" by BBC Radio 2 in 2014.
• He won the "Best International Guitarist" award from Metal Hammer Germany in 1991.
• Won numerous reader's choice awards from guitar magazines throughout his career

Most rock guitarists play the two-note power chord for the iconic riff to "Smoke On The Water" incorrectly. Listen closely, and you will hear that the fifth note goes below the root, not above it!

Discography

(Courtesy of ChatGPT)

I highly recommend you check out everything Ritchie recorded, but if you listen to only one album from each category below, then start with Machine Head (1972), Long Live Rock 'n' Roll (1978), and Fires at Midnight (2001).

Deep Purple (Studio Albums):

• Shades of Deep Purple (1968)
• The Book of Taliesyn (1968)
• Deep Purple (1969)
• In Rock (1970)
• Fireball (1971)
• Machine Head (1972)
• Who Do We Think We Are! (1973)
• Burn (1974)
• Stormbringer! (1974)
• Come Taste the Band (1975)

Rainbow (Studio Albums):

• Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow (1975)
• Rising (1976)
• On Stage (1977)
• Long Live Rock 'n' Roll (1978)
• Down to Earth (1979)
• Difficult to Cure (1981)
• Straight Between the Eyes (1982)
• Bent Out of Shape (1983)

Blackmore's Night:

If you like medieval/renaissance music in the rock style, you need to check out Blackmore's Night, which is his current band that features the vocals of his wife, Candice Night. Really fabulous stuff!

Studio Albums

• Shadow of the Moon (1997)
• Under a Violet Moon (1999)
• Fires at Midnight (2001)
• Ghost of a Rose (2003)
• The Village Lanterne (2006)
• Dancing with Minstrels and Knights (2009)
• Autumn Sky (2010)
• Secret Voyage (2013)
• Nature's Light (2021)

Live Albums

• Past Times with Good Company (2002)
• A Knight in York (2012)
• Celebrating Twenty Years of Blackmore's Night (2017)

Compilation Albums

• The Best of Blackmore's Night (2000)

Other Projects:

• Various guest appearances and solo projects

Ritchie And William Shatner Did Some Songs Together!

Did you know that William Shatner teamed up with Ritchie Blackmore to cover the classic B.B. King tune The Thrill Is Gone? The rendition appears on William’s album, The Blues, which is available for purchase on Shatner's website.

Here's a link to The Thrill Is Gone:
https://youtu.be/SYMsP1-NgSg

William, Ritchie, and Candice Night also did "Space Oddity (Ground Control To Major Tom)" together.
https://youtu.be/RtjOEmIxtQw

Tell Me What You Think!

Have you heard of Ritchie's music before reading this post?

Which Rock band do you like best, Deep Purple or Rainbow?

Have you listened to anything by Blackmore's Night?

My signed "Deepest Purple" album

Happy Birthday, Ritchie! 🎂 AND ...

Keep On Rockin' 🤘
Frank 🎸

~65% Human-written content