Questions for Ritchie Blackmore
Phil Aston · Now Spinning Magazine
Dear Ritchie and Candice,
Thank you again for giving me the opportunity to send these questions. I recorded them on video because I felt that speaking them directly would better convey the spirit in which they are intended. This document is simply a guide to the questions in the video, with timestamps so each one can be found easily.
There is no need to answer every question, and there is no time pressure at all. Please answer whichever ones resonate, in whatever form feels most comfortable. My intention is to focus on the music, the human story and where Ritchie is now, rather than on controversy or clickbait.
Thank you both for your trust and generosity.
Phil
Video Question Guide
- The idea of playing with Deep Purple again (Time Stamp 00:00 )
When did the idea first come up, and when did it become something you knew was actually going to happen? What was Candice’s reaction, and what did the children make of the news that their dad was going to play with Deep Purple again?
2. The journey to the venue (Time Stamp 00:29)
What was the drive to the venue like as a family? Were you listening to music, chatting, or was it unusually quiet? Candice mentioned that you were nervous — did those nerves feel different from the normal anticipation before a major concert?
3. The moment itself and meeting the band afterwards (Time Stamp 00.55)
The performance felt extraordinarily human and emotional to people watching around the world. What was it like for you to be back on stage with Ian and the band, and afterwards to spend time together backstage? What was that experience like for Candice and the children as well?
4. The drive home (Time Stamp 01.37)
What was the journey home like after something of that magnitude? Were you all talking about what had just happened, or were you still processing it? When you finally got home, were you full of adrenaline and bouncing off the walls, or was it more a case of a cup of tea and bed? Did you watch any of the footage afterwards, or avoid it for a while?
5. Looking back a few weeks later (Time Stamp 02.20)
With some distance from that night, how do you feel about it now? Did it feel like closing a circle or building a bridge to the past? Has it changed the way you look back on Deep Purple and the extraordinary importance that music still has for people around the world?
6. Jon Lord and classical music (Time Stamp 02.58)
You and Jon Lord both brought strong classical influences into Deep Purple, although sometimes from different directions. Do you still listen to much classical music now? Have the composers you love changed or expanded over the years, perhaps into English pastoral composers such as Elgar or Vaughan Williams, as well as Bach and Beethoven?
7. Hearing your own music through your family (Time Stamp 04.00)
Has having Candice and the children around you changed the way you hear your own catalogue? Do they have favourite Deep Purple, Rainbow or Blackmore’s Night albums or songs that differ from your own choices?
8. The harmonic minor sound (Time Stamp 04.32)
Your use of the harmonic minor scale became such a distinctive part of your musical vocabulary. Was that something you consciously developed, or did you naturally move towards it because it gave you another way to express emotion and melody through the guitar?
9. Electric guitar versus acoustic and classical playing (Time Stamp 5.38)
Moving from the sustain and volume of electric guitar to acoustic and classical instruments creates a very different kind of space. Was that more delicate, exposed side of your playing always there waiting for an outlet? And did your work with Blackmore’s Night change the way you approached improvisation and phrasing on electric guitar too?
10. Stranger in Us All (Time Stamp 07.16)
I have always felt Stranger in Us All is one of the most underrated Rainbow albums. Looking back now, do you hear it as a bridge between Rainbow and what would become Blackmore’s Night? Did working with Candice on that album begin to open the door to a different way of creating music?
11. Blackmore’s Night — writing and freedom (Time Stamp 07.58)
With Blackmore’s Night, the songs often feel driven by storytelling, melody and atmosphere. Did that change the way you approached solos and instrumental passages? And did starting Blackmore’s Night give you a sense of freedom because you were no longer carrying the expectations of an established rock catalogue and could simply follow wherever the music took you?
12. Blackmore’s Night and creative freedom (Time Stamp 08.43)
You always seem genuinely happy on stage with Blackmore’s Night. Did starting the band give you a new sense of freedom — the chance to leave behind the expectations of the Deep Purple and Rainbow catalogues, start again, and simply play whatever music you wanted?
12. Burn (Time Stamp 09.52)
Burn is my favourite song, and I first saw you on that tour when I was fifteen. The sound, the riff, the solo and the classical interplay with Jon felt dramatically different from what had come immediately before. Did you feel at the time that something had shifted in your playing and in the musical direction, or did that sound simply emerge naturally in the studio?
13. A possible instrumental solo album (Time Stamp 11.22)
Would you ever consider making a Ritchie Blackmore instrumental album — perhaps bringing together favourite pieces from across your career, alongside new or previously unheard material? I am thinking of the breadth of your instrumental work, from electric pieces to the more acoustic side, and whether there might one day be a record that brings those different parts of your playing together.
Thank you
Phil
