Former Deep guitarist Purple and Rainbow does not have the slightest appreciation for the work of “Chameleon of Rock”: “Good for naive people”
Known for not having popes in the language, Ritchie Blackmore It has already been indispens with many people in the middle of the music. Not even your colleagues of Deep Purplewhen he was a guitarist of the band, they escaped his acidity – especially the vocalist Ian Gillan.
The boss of Rainbow He has never been able to say what he thinks about other artists. Santana, Rolling Stones and David Bowie They are among those who do not please the musician at all.
About the “rock chameleon”, specifically, the guitarist was quite hard in criticism. Blackmore has already called Bowie “pathetic” and claimed that his song was “fake,” according to a 1974 statement to the newspaper La Times highlighted by the website Rock and Roll Garage.
Blackmore explained his point of view:
“It seems that everything in music today (1970s) is fake. This glitter thing, I can’t stand. David Bowie is pathetic. Simply pathetic. It’s good for a little naive and lost people, I wonder, but for me it’s all very fake.”
Blackmore referred to the success of Glam Rock, which had David Bowie, Alice Cooper and the T-rex as main exponents. The following year, 1975, he reinforced in an interview with Believe Your discontent and your criticism of Glam:
“I fear that at the moment, with David Bowie and Alice Cooper and people like that, the scene has cooled again. So it’s retreating. There is nothing happening musically with people like David Bowie and Alice Cooper, but some seem to think they are the new Messiah.”
Ritchie Blackmore prohibited colleague from working with David Bowie
Interestingly, in that same period a member of the Deep Purple At the time he was invited to play and record with David Bowie: the bassist and vocalist Glenn Hughes.
Hughes had joined Purple in place of Roger Glover And he stood out not only on the four strings, but also singing. Your performance at the legendary festival California Jamin 1974, would have caught the attention of Bowie.
Hughes told Louder in a long interview granted in 2023:
“I was in Los Angeles And I received a call from David Bowie’s personal assistant, Corinne. She said Bowie was watching a recording on Purple TV playing at California Jam and was impressed by my presentation. So I met him and we talked all night. At the time, he enjoyed that Blue-Eyed Soul bid. We had a mutual love for Luther Vandross!
Proximity earned a Bowie invitation to Hughes to participate in his next album, Young Americans (1975), more focused on soul and black music in general.
However, Ritchie Blackmore, in further proof of her Bowie music aversion, practically banned Glenn Hughes from getting involved with the album in question.
“Later, Bowie invited me to sing on her album Young Americans. Unfortunately, Ritchie Blackmore was vehemently against. He thought it would be bad for the Purple image. I was a little upset about it. “
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Source: Rollingstone
Earl Johnson is a music writer at Gossipify, known for his in-depth analysis and unique perspective on the industry. A graduate of USC with a degree in Music, he brings years of experience and passion to his writing. He covers the latest releases and trends, always on the lookout for the next big thing in music.
