Ritchie Blackmore names the guitarist who had “star quality” in the early days
Former Deep Purple guitarist Ritchie Blackmore has rubbed shoulders with some of the most important musicians ever. Alongside being widely influential, the Londoner came from a generation of movers and shakers who set out to change the world in their image. Accordingly, given the heights that he hit, Blackmore witnessed first-hand the game-changing talent of others.
Emerging from the febrile cultural scene of swinging London, Blackmore was not the only guitarist who cut his teeth in the capital. Although he has had a defining effect on future fretboard pioneers, such as Eddie Van Halen and Billy Corgan, in a remarkable reflection of the talent on offer, he was further down the pecking order of the day’s axemen than fans might expect. The four most prominent at the time were Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, Jimmy Page and Big Jim Sullivan.
Rubbing shoulders in various groups and the flourishing world of session musicians, these players would come to know each other well and form friendships and sometimes even professional rivalries. Showing just how closely connected everyone was, after Eric Clapton left The Yardbirds, he was replaced by Jeff Beck at the behest of Jimmy Page, who would later join the band alongside Beck.
Blackmore, however, was taught by one of the best in Big Jim Sullivan, aged 15. Only a couple of years later, when playing with Screaming Lord Sutch and The Savages, he would encounter a young Jimmy Page, who was, at that point, plying his trade in Neil Christian and The Crusaders. Although Blackmore would later be enlisted for the latter group, this first time seeing Page would be significant for him, as he knew he was witnessing a future icon. He recalled that his fellow guitarist had “that star quality”, which would indeed see him reach the pinnacle of music.
Speaking on his YouTube channel, Blackmore explained: “I met Jimmy Page in ’62, I was playing with a band called Screaming Lord Sutch and The Savages, and we used to dress up as cavemen, and I was thin as a rail at the time, so I was totally embarrassed to have this loincloth on, with all my bones showing, I was 17-16. And all the rest of the guys in the band were all like Charles Atlas, and we played with a band called Neil Christian and The Crusaders, who I played with later.”
He continued: “And Jimmy Page was playing his Gretsch guitar with Neil Christian, and I knew he was going to be somebody then. Not only was he a good guitar player, he had that star quality. There was something about him, he was very poised and confident. He was confident but not arrogant, so I thought, ‘He’s going to go somewhere, that guy, he knows what he’s doing.'”
Listen to Ritchie Blackmore discuss the first time seeing Jimmy Page below.
