The “awful” Deep Purple song that embarrasses Ritchie Blackmore: “Christ”
Ritchie Blackmore has lived quite a life. An incredibly gifted guitarist, he cut his teeth in the cultural boom of ‘Swinging London’ in the 1960s before laying some of the foundations of heavy metal with Deep Purple. He also formed the successful Ronnie James Dio-fronted supergroup Rainbow and has since continued to push himself to new heights as a solo artist.
In addition to having a glittering legacy, Blackmore also stands out as one of the more outspoken figures of his generation. From the work of others to some of his best-loved musical efforts, in his time, the Londoner has provided many hot takes that confirm why he is such a fascinating figure alongside his natural musical nouse.
It’s actually part of why he is so continually loved. Audiences soon get bored with musicians protecting the community and not being willing to comment on the work of others. But perhaps our favourite things to read or hear from our favourite artists are their thoughts on their own work.
One thing that people cannot criticise Blackmore for is that his critiques are hasty. Even his account of the band he hates most, The Police, had some degree of consideration rather than the usual verbal diarrhoea expected from other rockstars.
Regarding Deep Purple, a band with whom Blackmore has always had a complicated relationship, the guitarist has delivered a series of surprising accounts about some of their most well-known work. One of these concerns the song that most embarrasses him from their signature album, 1972’s Machine Head. Notably, this record also produced the likes of ‘Smoke on the Water’ and ‘Highway Star’.
When speaking to Creem in 1975, Blackmore revealed that he believes ‘Space Truckin” is an awful moment on Machine Head and the one that irks him the most. Asked if he listened to any of the group’s albums, he said: “I never listen to all that stuff. I don’t know if other artists get this, but I can’t listen to much that I play at all. The only time I can listen to it’s when I’m drunk out of my head in a discotheque somewhere. I’ll hear our records, and then I’ll go, ‘Oh .. that’s all right.”
This feeling can change depending on the venue though. “But if someone puts it on at home, I’ll feel very embarrassed. Because I’m only playin’ a third of what I can really put out. You can never excel yourself on record; it’s just hopeless. I listen to our records, think ‘Christ. That’s awful.’ Things like ‘Space Truckin’. Other times I listen to somebody else, and I’ll go, ‘Well, that’s awful too.’ So at least ours is acceptable because it’s better than most,” Blackmore concluded.
Though all five members of the band were credited on the track, as was customary at the time, it seems as though Blackmore is as keen to distance himself from it as any other. But, at least, Blackmore is comfortable enough with his band to reclaim them better than most.
Listen to ‘Space Truckin” below.
