Ritchie Blackmore Guitar World Interview 1991

I found this great interview and thought you guys might like to read it. Good stuff.

Deep Purple's Ritchie Blackmore Talks Yngwie, Hendrix and His Development as a Guitarist in 1991 Interview »

 

I like his list of blues players he admires but I don't think I have ever heard anyone diss SRV.

What do you think of Stevie Ray Vaughan?

I knew that question was coming. His death was very tragic, but I'm surprised that everybody thinks he was such a brilliant player when there are people like Buddy Guy, Albert Collins, Peter Green and Mick Taylor; Johnny Winter, who is one of the best blues players in the world, is also very underrated. His vibrato is incredible.

Stevie Ray Vaughan was very intense. Maybe that's what caught everybody's attention. As a player, he didn't do anything amazing.

 

Turned out that he wasn't B.S.-ing about renaissance music.

 

I don't think he's dissing SRV, he just didn't care for him. He clearly likes good blues players, though, which lends some credibility to his statement.

 

Here's a case where I agree with Blackmore.
However, I'm not really into blues players post the Nineteen Sixties, so.....

 

I have heard quite a bit of people diss SRV, mainly people who know a lot about the blues. When they hear SRV, all they hear are the Albert King licks and the Hendrix-isms. They don't get what the big deal is. Plus, I get the sense that they resent his popularity compared to other blues musicians (and there is probably a race thing at play as well).

With that being said, I've never heard a musician diss SRV.

 

Blackmore is still my favorite classic rock player and SRV is my least favorite so yes, I'm glad he said that.

 

BB King loved SRV. Albert King loved SRV. Buddy Guy loved SRV. Eric Clapton loved SRV. Eric Johnson loved SRV. Jeff Beck loved SRV (JB being perhaps the one rock guitarist Blackmore respects more than anyone). The list goes on. If Ritchie is the one guy who didn't dig him, it certainly isn't a majority view.

 

Lotta butt kissin' if you ask me.