The guitarist Ritchie Blackmore called a cheat: “He has notes that I don’t have”
There are countless wonderfully gifted guitarists in the world; that’s a given. Whether you look back decades or look around right now at what’s available, you’re going to come across some very talented people. However, there is a huge difference between a technically capable guitarist and a guitarist who is partly responsible for changing music as a whole. Jeff Beck and Ritchie Blackmore both fit firmly in the latter category.
Blackmore is known for his iconic work in the band Deep Purple. Within that outfit, he was responsible for creating some of the greatest guitar riffs and solos that people have ever heard. It truly is something to behold, and he has remained such a relevant figure within the world of rock music because he was always willing to incorporate different styles and sounds into his playing, which included classical music.
“My interest in classical music overall is what led me in the direction of trying to combine blues, rock and classical ideas into the stylistic statement,” he once said, “At the age of 15, I saw a band that did rocked-up classical tunes, called Nero and the Gladiators. They all wore togas, and you would think they must have looked really silly, but it worked.”
This style was incorporated somewhat into Deep Purple’s music, but it wasn’t the only direction that they decided to take. The band notoriously played heavy music and classic rock and blues styles on their variety of records, which span multiple genres. Blackmore was one of the main driving forces between these various styles, and his versatility is what makes him one of the most celebrated guitarists in the world.
Of course, Blackmore wasn’t just looking out for various genres and styles of music; he was also open to being inspired by an array of special artists who captured his attention. He was always one to recognise greatness when he saw it, which meant giving many artists credit, even if they weren’t performing or making music together. One of these artists was Jeff Beck.
Beck was a truly revolutionary guitarist. At the time, people might have recognised him as a standout because of his stage presence and the way he dominated every inch of the stage that he performed on. He brought the guitar out of the shadows, as an instrument usually designed for the back of the stage came forward and suddenly became one of the main pillars of rock.
He is still recognised for this exciting stage presence, but with the power of hindsight, his real superpower was in his actual playing ability. Beck could convey emotion within his music better than any other guitarist at the time, so much so that Blackmore jokingly once accused him of cheating, saying that he had an unfair over every other guitarist making music at the time.
“I first heard ‘The Shapes of Things’ with Jeff Beck playing, and I thought, ‘My God, who the hell is this?’ This shouldn’t be allowed, it’s too good,” he once said, “Jeff cheats on the guitar because he has notes that I don’t have on my guitar.”
