Ritchie Blackmore Quotes
Quotations and aphorisms by Ritchie Blackmore:
If a ballet dancer falls over, it's knowing how to get out looking clumsy that counts.
~Ritchie Blackmore
Link:
I had given up the guitar between '75 and '78. I completely lost interest. I was sick of hearing other guitar players and I was tired of my tunes.
~Ritchie Blackmore
Link:
When you're around someone good, your own standards are raised.
~Ritchie Blackmore
Link:
When you've toured for about 10 years like me, you end up feeling like you're always waiting for somebody or something. The whole day is a drag.
~Ritchie Blackmore
Link:
I can do the old hand vibrato just fine, but I like attacking the strings.
~Ritchie Blackmore
Link:
When you're recording, if you're not really clean in your playing, it sounds like a mess.
~Ritchie Blackmore
Link:
I can never remember what I do even in the studio.
~Ritchie Blackmore
Link:
Those record companies don't know what's happening at all.
~Ritchie Blackmore
Link:
I don't put myself on Jeff Beck's level, but I can relate to him when he says he'd rather be working on his car collection than playing the guitar.
~Ritchie Blackmore
Link:
I don't see myself as such an important guitarist.
~Ritchie Blackmore
Link:
I like leaping around on stage as long as it's done with class. None of this jumping up in the air and doing the splits.
~Ritchie Blackmore
Link:
Jimi... He was the gov'nor and that's it. He was brilliant, wasn't he?
~Ritchie Blackmore
Link:
I don't use the twang bar anymore. It's become too popular.
~Ritchie Blackmore
Link:
I was always stuck in a musical no man's land.
~Ritchie Blackmore
Link:
Hendrix inspired me, but I was still more into Wes Montgomery. I was also into the Allman Brothers around the time of those albums.
~Ritchie Blackmore
Link:
They used to complain at school that I looked out of the window for long periods of time - that sums up my life. I like to look out the window, do nothing, daydream.
~Ritchie Blackmore
Link:
Combing my hair doesn't make me a better musician.
~Ritchie Blackmore
Link:
But you have to give your whole life to a cello. When I realized that, I went back to the guitar and just turned the volume up a bit louder.
~Ritchie Blackmore
Link:
I've always played every amp I've ever had full up, because rock and roll is supposed to be played loud. Also, that's how you get your sustain.
~Ritchie Blackmore
Link:
I'm not into that Keith Richard trip of having all those guitars in different tunings. I never liked the Rolling Stones much anyway.
~Ritchie Blackmore
Link:
I was impressed by Hendrix. Not so much by his playing, as his attitude - he wasn't a great player, but everything else about him was brilliant.
~Ritchie Blackmore
Link:
When I was 20, I didn't give a damn about song construction. I just wanted to make as much noise and play as fast and as loud as possible.
~Ritchie Blackmore
Link:
Everything I do is usually totally spontaneous.
~Ritchie Blackmore
Link:
If you can play well in the studio, you can play well on stage.
~Ritchie Blackmore
Link:
I feel like I own the stage.
~Ritchie Blackmore
Link:
Simplicity is the key.
~Ritchie Blackmore
Link:
I never work out my leads. Everything I do is usually totally spontaneous. If someone says, 'That was good; play that again,' I'm not able to do it.
~Ritchie Blackmore
Link:
When something is not good, it's bad. Period.
~Ritchie Blackmore
Link:
Learning to play with a big amplifier is like trying to control an elephant.
~Ritchie Blackmore
Link:
I can imagine that Rod Stewart likes giving autographs because he's pure showbusiness.
~Ritchie Blackmore
Link:
I found the blues too limiting, and classical was too disciplined.
~Ritchie Blackmore
Link:
What's the point of re-releasing an album? The original sounded good, why change something about it?
~Ritchie Blackmore
Link:
I'm very moved by Renaissance music, but I still love to play hard rock - though only if it's sophisticated and has some thought behind it.
~Ritchie Blackmore
Link:
In my early days, I never used finger vibrato at all. I originally carved my reputation as one of the 'fast' guitar players.
~Ritchie Blackmore
Link:
I can turn on some jazz guitarist, and he won't do a thing for me, if he's not playing electrically. But Jeff Beck's great to listen to.
~Ritchie Blackmore
Link:
The only way you can get good, unless you're a genius, is to copy. That's the best thing. Just steal.
~Ritchie Blackmore
Link:
I'm not good enough, technically, to be a classic musician. I lack discipline.
~Ritchie Blackmore
Link:
I have never met one person who likes Grand Funk.
~Ritchie Blackmore
Link:
Stevie Ray Vaughan was very intense. Maybe that's what caught everybody's attention. As a player, he didn't do anything amazing.
~Ritchie Blackmore
Link:
Pete Townshend used to crash chords and let the guitar feed back. He's overrated.
~Ritchie Blackmore
Link:
The cello is such a melancholy instrument, such an isolated, miserable instrument.
~Ritchie Blackmore
Link:
I was impressed by Hendrix. His attitude was brilliant. Even the way he walked was amazing.
~Ritchie Blackmore
Link:
Session work makes you more strict. You can't hit notes all over the place. You've got to make each one really count.
~Ritchie Blackmore
Link:
Johnny Winter is one of the best blues players in the world. He's very underrated.
~Ritchie Blackmore
Link:
I think a lot about death more than life, because we're going towards death.
~Ritchie Blackmore
Link:
Ian Gillan, Roger Glover and I wanted to be a hard rock band - we wanted to play rock and roll only.
~Ritchie Blackmore
Link:
I criticize my own work pretty harshly.
~Ritchie Blackmore
Link:
Playing a Fender is an art itself. They're always going out of tune.
~Ritchie Blackmore
Link:
I however don't go to clubs to show off and to be seen, and certainly not to make statements. I just want to be able to quietly watch a band.
~Ritchie Blackmore
Link:
Share:
Permalink:
Browse: