Today is Ritchie Blackmore's birthday.
as a treat, enjoy this gem: a live sensational acoustic improv.
as sensual as it gets....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kHlTGVi4lgY&feature=related
I've watched Ritchie through the different phases of Deep Purple and then into his Rainbow days, back into DP and beyond.
The signature chords now played by every band in every high school and college across the land were Blackmore's opening lead on Smoke on the Water. It is instantly recognized, and I can hear the
"da da da, da da dada, da da da ,da da" in my head. Cover bands at school dances were required to know that song...or they weren't allowed to play. At least that's the way I remember it.
Other than "Louie Louie" its probaby the most familiar, and most likely the one thing every aspiring guitar player wants to learn to play.
If you don't know the tune, you have lived under a rock for a very long time, or are deaf. Those are the only excuse. heck, even my mother knows the tune (although I can honestly say I think she believes its the melody to a high school cheer)
It is a part of the American landscape. Ritchie Blackmore created something that morphed. I find some comforting humor in that.
And then there is this Ritchie Blackmore.
The clip above is Ritchie digging deep and drawing on all of his classical, jazz and spanish influences to create something beautiful and timeless and: acoustic.
It is romantic and moving. The trills are especially lovely, and the quiet between the notes are just as emotional as the quick vibrato. I strain to listen for every note. None are thrown away. There is movement, like an ocean wave where it finally crashes and releases.
like I said, as sensual as it gets,,,
Showing posts with label Deep Purple. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Deep Purple. Show all posts
Saturday, April 14, 2012
Monday, April 9, 2012
Steve Morse: Keep Dreg-ing my Heart Around
So, it was a Sunday night, DirecTV has HDNet, which features music and other things, and the info says "Deep Purple, They All Come Down to Montreux" 2009
Now Deep Purple is part of the triumvirate of hard rock bands, joining Zeppelin, and Black Sabbath.
DP has gone through many lineup changes, vocally and with lead guitar. Those stories later...
It was Ritchie Blackmore who created the distinctive and most recognized riff of all time :Smoke on the Water on Machine Head...(which he said he stole from Beethoven's Fifth-who is the original heavy metal writer by the way, more on that another day)
The love/hate relationship with Blackmore and DP was on again, off again, and by the early '90's, it was permanently over, and that meant only one thing: STEVE MORSE would be in my living room.
"Click" The surround sound is adjusted to rock concert & I have front row seats.
Ian Gillan's vocals and the heartbeat of Roger Glover & Ian Paice were there, (for a real treat check out Gillan/Glover's album "Accidentally on Purpose" 1988)
Be still my heart. Steve still remains one of the most versatile of all guitarists. Rock, funk, jazz, fusion, classical, a hint of country: its all there. From the days of the Dixie Dregs (now playing in the background FYI) Steve was an enigma. The Dregs were jazz/fusion and purely Morse.
He is a virtuoso. Clearly, there is no better word for it.
It was demonstrated once again as I watched him move to the center of the stage and play with pure abandon. I think what makes my heart sing with him, is watching him smile throughout...its as though the music is effervescent: it fizzes up inside and he sparkles... there is this joy that connects man and instrument and he begins a medley of instrumentals from the Page/Hendrix/Howe/Blackmore notebooks. Clearly Steve is now a step above even these (apologies to the aforementioned, but it is what it is) They opened the doors, Morse waltzed through and created something completely his own: and more.
The harmonics send shock waves down the spine and make the toes curl.
He is a man without pretense, and should rightfully be one of the most egotistical of them all...but he is not.
Having met him years ago, that was the one thing that stood out most in my mind as we talked. (hey, I was in radio and I was fortunate enough to interview an array of artists in those days. I know now I was the luckiest woman on earth)
We talked about him as a musician, but he seemed to take great pleasure in talking about flying, being a pilot...and I remember thinking that that same ability to glide above the earth, through the expanse of space and clouds was where his music and his playing were born, and when I hear him, I soar along beside.
Steve Morse: gives music wings.
Now Deep Purple is part of the triumvirate of hard rock bands, joining Zeppelin, and Black Sabbath.
DP has gone through many lineup changes, vocally and with lead guitar. Those stories later...
It was Ritchie Blackmore who created the distinctive and most recognized riff of all time :Smoke on the Water on Machine Head...(which he said he stole from Beethoven's Fifth-who is the original heavy metal writer by the way, more on that another day)
The love/hate relationship with Blackmore and DP was on again, off again, and by the early '90's, it was permanently over, and that meant only one thing: STEVE MORSE would be in my living room.
"Click" The surround sound is adjusted to rock concert & I have front row seats.
Ian Gillan's vocals and the heartbeat of Roger Glover & Ian Paice were there, (for a real treat check out Gillan/Glover's album "Accidentally on Purpose" 1988)
Be still my heart. Steve still remains one of the most versatile of all guitarists. Rock, funk, jazz, fusion, classical, a hint of country: its all there. From the days of the Dixie Dregs (now playing in the background FYI) Steve was an enigma. The Dregs were jazz/fusion and purely Morse.
He is a virtuoso. Clearly, there is no better word for it.
It was demonstrated once again as I watched him move to the center of the stage and play with pure abandon. I think what makes my heart sing with him, is watching him smile throughout...its as though the music is effervescent: it fizzes up inside and he sparkles... there is this joy that connects man and instrument and he begins a medley of instrumentals from the Page/Hendrix/Howe/Blackmore notebooks. Clearly Steve is now a step above even these (apologies to the aforementioned, but it is what it is) They opened the doors, Morse waltzed through and created something completely his own: and more.
The harmonics send shock waves down the spine and make the toes curl.
He is a man without pretense, and should rightfully be one of the most egotistical of them all...but he is not.
Having met him years ago, that was the one thing that stood out most in my mind as we talked. (hey, I was in radio and I was fortunate enough to interview an array of artists in those days. I know now I was the luckiest woman on earth)
We talked about him as a musician, but he seemed to take great pleasure in talking about flying, being a pilot...and I remember thinking that that same ability to glide above the earth, through the expanse of space and clouds was where his music and his playing were born, and when I hear him, I soar along beside.
Steve Morse: gives music wings.
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