Ritchie Blackmore facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Ritchie Blackmore
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Blackmore performing in 2017
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Richard Hugh Blackmore |
| Also known as | The Man in Black |
| Born | 14 April 1945 Weston-super-Mare, Somerset, England |
| Origin | Heston, Middlesex, England |
| Genres | |
| Occupations |
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| Instruments | Guitar |
| Years active | 1960–present |
Richard Hugh Blackmore (born 14 April 1945) is a famous English guitarist. He was a founding member and the lead guitarist of Deep Purple. This band played a style of hard rock music. It mixed exciting guitar riffs with organ sounds. Ritchie Blackmore is known for creating many guitar riffs. He also played solos that mixed classical music ideas with blues styles.
After leaving Deep Purple in 1975, Blackmore started a new hard rock band called Rainbow. This band blended baroque music influences with hard rock. Over time, Rainbow's music became more like catchy pop and mainstream rock. Rainbow broke up in 1984, and Blackmore rejoined Deep Purple until 1993. In 1997, he formed a folk rock group called Blackmore's Night. He started this band with his wife, Candice Night. Their music focused more on vocals.
As a member of Deep Purple, Blackmore was added to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in April 2016. Magazines like Guitar World and Rolling Stone often call him one of the greatest and most important guitar players ever.
Contents
Ritchie Blackmore's Early Life
Blackmore was born in Weston-super-Mare, England. His family moved to Heston, Middlesex, when he was two years old. When he was 11, his father gave him his first guitar. He had to promise to learn to play it well. So, he took classical guitar lessons for one year.
In an interview, Blackmore said he started guitar because he wanted to be like musician Tommy Steele. He said he did not like school or his teachers. He left school at age 15. Then, he became an apprentice radio mechanic at Heathrow Airport. He also took electric guitar lessons from a professional guitarist named Big Jim Sullivan.
Ritchie Blackmore's Music Career
Starting in the 1960s
In 1960, Ritchie Blackmore began working as a session musician. This means he played guitar for other artists' recordings. He also played in several bands. He was first a member of an instrumental band called the Outlaws. They played in studios and live concerts. Like many bands then, they used different names for more shows. He also played for singers like Glenda Collins and Heinz.
In late 1967, Blackmore joined a new band called Roundabout. He met Jon Lord through a friend. After the band's members were complete in April 1968, Blackmore suggested a new name: Deep Purple. This was his grandmother's favorite song. This first Deep Purple lineup made three albums.
Deep Purple and Rainbow in the 1970s
Deep Purple's second album, In Rock (1970), changed their sound. It went from progressive rock to hard rock. This lineup included singer Ian Gillan and bassist Roger Glover. They made four studio albums, with two reaching number one in the UK. Many of their songs came from jam sessions. All five members shared songwriting credit.
Guitarist Steve Vai praised Blackmore's ideas. He said Blackmore brought blues to rock playing like no one else.
The third Deep Purple lineup had David Coverdale on vocals and Glenn Hughes on bass. Blackmore left Deep Purple in 1975. He wanted to start a new group called Rainbow. In 1974, Blackmore took cello lessons. He said playing a different instrument felt fresh. It was an adventure not knowing exactly what he was doing.
Blackmore formed Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow in 1975. It was later shortened to Rainbow. The band's first album, Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow, came out in 1975. Rainbow's music was partly inspired by medieval and baroque music. This was because Blackmore started playing the cello. He wrote many of the main melodies for singer Ronnie James Dio. After the first album, Blackmore got new musicians for the second album, Rising (1976). Dio left Rainbow later due to "creative differences." Blackmore wanted the band to have a more commercial sound.
Blackmore continued with Rainbow. In 1979, they released Down To Earth. This album featured singer Graham Bonnet. The album made the band's sound more commercial. It had their first big hit, "Since You Been Gone".
Rainbow and Deep Purple in the 1980s
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The next Rainbow album, Difficult to Cure (1981), introduced singer Joe Lynn Turner. The main song on this album was a version of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony. Blackmore said, "I found the blues too limiting, and classical was too disciplined." The band's sound became even more commercial. This meant some older fans did not like it as much. Rainbow's next album was Straight Between the Eyes (1982). It included the hit song "Stone Cold". Then came Bent Out of Shape (1983), with the song "Street of Dreams". Rainbow broke up in 1984.
In 1984, Blackmore rejoined the "Mark Two" lineup of Deep Purple. They recorded new music. Their first album, Perfect Strangers (1984), was very successful. However, their second album, The House of Blue Light (1987), sounded more like Rainbow's music. It did not sell as well.
The 1990s and New Projects
Deep Purple recorded another album called Slaves and Masters (1990). It featured former Rainbow singer Joe Lynn Turner. Later, the "Mark Two" lineup reunited again in 1992. They made the album The Battle Rages On.... This album brought back the classic Deep Purple sound. Blackmore left the band for good in November 1993.
Blackmore formed Rainbow again in 1994 with new members. This lineup, with singer Doogie White, lasted until 1997. They released one album, Stranger in Us All, in 1995. It was meant to be a solo album. But the record company wanted it to be a Rainbow album. This was Rainbow's eighth studio album. It was Blackmore's last hard rock album. Rainbow disbanded again after their final concert in 1997. Blackmore later said he did not want to tour much.
Over the years, Rainbow had many different musicians. Blackmore was the only member who stayed the whole time. Rainbow sold more than 28 million albums worldwide.
In 1995, Blackmore started a new folk rock project. He worked with his girlfriend, Candice Night, who became the singer. This project became their duo, Blackmore's Night. Their first album, Shadow of the Moon, came out in 1997. Blackmore mostly played acoustic guitar. He wrote many of Night's gentle vocal melodies. Their music mixes original songs and covers. It is inspired by medieval music and Night's lyrics about love and medieval times. Their second album, Under a Violet Moon (1999), continued this folk-rock style.
2000s to Today
Later albums, like Fires at Midnight (2001), sometimes used more electric guitar. But they kept their main folk rock style. A live album, Past Times with Good Company, came out in 2002. They also released a Christmas album, Winter Carols, in 2006. Blackmore's Night avoids big rock tours. They play in smaller, more personal venues. They have released eleven studio albums. Their latest is Nature's Light in 2021.
A reunited Rainbow played three concerts in Europe in June 2016. They played songs from both Rainbow and Deep Purple.
Ritchie Blackmore's Equipment
In the 1960s, Blackmore played a Gibson ES-335 guitar. But from 1970, he mostly used a Fender Stratocaster. He used it until he formed Blackmore's Night in 1997. The middle pickup on his Stratocaster was screwed down and not used. Blackmore sometimes used a Fender Telecaster Thinline for recordings. He was also one of the first rock guitarists to use a "scalloped" fretboard. This means the wood between the frets is curved like a "U" shape.
When playing solos, Blackmore mixed blues scales with classical music ideas. He often put his guitar pick in his mouth. Then he would play with his fingers.
In the 1970s, Blackmore used many different Stratocasters. One of his main guitars was a white 1974 model. It had a rosewood fingerboard that was scalloped.
His amplifiers were originally 200-Watt Marshall Major amps. These were changed by Marshall to sound more like Blackmore's favorite Vox AC30 amp. Since 1994, he has used ENGL tube amps.
From 1970 to 1997, he used effects like a tape echo and a treble booster. He also used a wah-wah pedal sometimes. He had a special tape machine for echo and delay effects. Other effects he used were a Uni-Vibe, a Dallas Arbiter Fuzz Face, and an Octave Divider.
In the mid-1980s, he tried Roland guitar synthesizers.
Blackmore has tried many different pickups in his Strats. Since the early 1990s, he has used Lace Sensor (Gold) "noiseless" pickups.
Ritchie Blackmore's Influences and Tastes
Blackmore named Jeff Beck as his favorite guitar player. He also liked Jimi Hendrix, Yes guitarist Steve Howe, and Bob Dylan's musician Mike Bloomfield.
Blackmore said that Eric Clapton's music helped him develop his own style of vibrato around 1968 or 1969.
In 1979, Blackmore said he liked popular music, including ABBA. He believed musicians should play what they want. He also thought classical music was good for the soul. He encouraged kids to give classical music a chance. He said the guitar sometimes frustrated him. He felt that the rock and roll business had become like a circus. He said the only music that truly moved him was disciplined classical music.
Ritchie Blackmore's Artistry
Blues Roots
In his guitar solos, Blackmore combines blues scales with ideas from European classical music. He often played with his fingers, sometimes holding his pick in his mouth.
Classical Music Influence
Blackmore loved classical music. He is known for bringing classical ideas into rock music. He especially liked Baroque composer Johann Sebastian Bach. For example, he used a Bach-like chord progression for the "Highway Star" guitar solo.
Blackmore also used "exotic" scales from classical music. He was a pioneer in using the harmonic minor scale in the 1970s. This helped set the stage for neoclassical metal. The harmonic minor became a favorite scale for guitarists like Yngwie Malmsteen. Blackmore also used the Gypsy scale in Rainbow's "Gates of Babylon".
Ritchie Blackmore also liked using chord progressions called the "cycle of 4ths." This was common in Baroque music, especially by Bach. A good example is the second half of the "Burn" solo.
Rhythm Guitar Style
One of Ritchie Blackmore's trademarks is writing memorable riffs using fourths. His most famous riff, the intro to Deep Purple's "Smoke On the Water", is an example. Other Deep Purple songs like "Mandrake Root" and "Burn" used this idea. Rainbow songs like "Man On A Silver Mountain" also did. Riffs using fourths became very popular in hard rock and heavy metal after Blackmore.
Blackmore often arranged songs with simple verses. He used single-note riffs or played octaves and their basslines. This left space for keyboard players. "Smoke On the Water" is a great example of this.
Blackmore was also known for borrowing musical ideas from other artists. He said he got inspired by other songs and wrote something similar. For example:
- The "Black Night" intro riff is partly from Ricky Nelson's 1962 song "Summertime."
- "Speed King" from In Rock was based on two Jimi Hendrix songs, "Stone Free" and "Fire."
- The "Lazy" track from Machine Head was inspired by Cream's "Steppin' Out."
- "Burn"'s main riff is similar to George Gershwin's 1924 song "Fascinating Rhythm."
- "Mistreated" from the Burn album was based on Free's "Heartbreaker."
Solo Guitar Style
Sweep picking was first used in rock by Ritchie Blackmore. It can be heard in "April," the last song from Deep Purple's album of the same name. Blackmore used this technique again in Rainbow's "Kill the King."
Ritchie Blackmore is known for changing between different keys and modes in the same solo. For example, in "Smoke on the Water"'s solo, he suddenly switches from a G minor blues scale to a C Dorian. Experts say this sudden change works well, even if it is a bit unusual. The solo from Rainbow's "Man on the Silver Mountain" also changes between modes.
Ritchie Blackmore's Personal Life
In May 1964, Blackmore married Margit Volkmar from Germany. They lived in Hamburg in the late 1960s. Their son, Jürgen (born 1964), played guitar in a tribute band called Over the Rainbow. After their divorce, Blackmore married Bärbel, a dancer from Germany, in September 1969. They divorced in the early 1970s. Because of these marriages, he speaks German very well.
He moved to the US in 1974. He lived in Oxnard, California, for a year. During this time, he listened to a lot of early European classical music. He said, "I listen very carefully to the patterns that Bach plays." He married Amy Rothman in 1981, but they divorced in 1983. In 1984, he bought his first car. He learned to drive at 39 years old.
Blackmore and Candice Night started living together in 1991. They got engaged for almost 15 years before marrying in 2008. Their daughter Autumn was born in 2010, and their son Rory in 2012. He has many German friends. He also has a collection of about 2,000 CDs of Renaissance music.
Ritchie has said he is spiritual, but not religious. He believes that "religion usually involves money."
Ritchie Blackmore's Legacy
Readers of Guitar World magazine voted two of Blackmore's guitar solos among the 100 Greatest Guitar Solos of all time. Both were recorded with Deep Purple. "Highway Star" was ranked 19th, and "Lazy" was 74th. His solo on "Child in Time" was ranked 16th in a 1998 Guitarist magazine poll. On 8 April 2016, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as an original member of Deep Purple. He did not attend the ceremony.
In 1993, music expert Robert Walser called him "the most important musician of the emerging metal/classical fusion." He is seen as a pioneer for the "guitar shredders" who became popular in the mid-1980s.
Blackmore has influenced many guitarists from the 1980s. These include Akira Takasaki, Paul Gilbert, Randy Rhoads, Yngwie Malmsteen, and Brian May.
He was played by Mathew Baynton in the 2009 movie Telstar.
Discography
Images for kids
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Live in Norway, 1977
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In San Francisco, 1985
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Blackmore in Hamburg, 1971
See also
In Spanish: Ritchie Blackmore para niños
