The guitarist Lars Ulrich thought embodied rock and roll: “He was the guy for me”
Alex Turner’s famous 2014 speech, where he proclaimed “That rock‘n’roll, eh? That rock’n’roll, it just won’t go away”, was probably the first time I tried to understand exactly what “rock and roll” truly meant.
You see, up until that point, my teenage years had been soundtracked by the alternative music Turner was talking about. In fact, largely soundtracked by his own. But I never dared frame it as “rock and roll” for that felt entirely damaging to the attitude of cool I was trying to foster. That phrase felt antiquated and, at its worst, satirical of the entire idea and music that I so thoroughly enjoyed.
But hearing the phrase, repackaged in the voice of one of my modern idols, in a setting where his utterance of it was designed to deliberately shock and offend, got me hoping that coolness might just return to the idea of rock and roll.
No longer is it used by my father’s friends to be yelled with one hand high in the sky, thrusting the devil horn. No, once again, it was a mantra to live by. An anti-establishment mission statement that warned all in its wake that what is coming isn’t to fit the mould. The sort that the likes of Iggy Pop, Ozzy Osbourne and Stevie Nicks all lived by in years gone by.
Rock and roll having a behavioural identity is one thing, but what about the sound? Well, truly, it’s hard to look past anyone but Deep Purple when landing on who just might provide that, for their iconic track ‘Smoke on the Water’ feels like its purest soundtrack. So it’s no wonder that Lars Ulrich heralds the band as the embodiment of rock and roll.
“I saw the first show Deep Purple played with David Coverdale and Glenn Hughes, and Rainbow played in Copenhagen a lot. It wasn’t just Ritchie’s guitar playing that was so impressive; it was also his personality, the ‘Man in Black’. He was always saying what was on his mind, even if it was a little contrary. Or he was winding people up, he was known as a bit of a prankster.”
He continued, “And then there were times when he would be a bit aloof. But there was what I would call an honesty to him. It always felt like he was true to whatever mood and the moment. There was something very authentic about Blackmore, and I guess I’ve always been kind of attracted to rock and roll when it has elements of danger and unpredictability. That to me is the spirit of rock and roll, and he was the guy for me.”
Somewhere along the way, that true essence was lost. Rock and roll is a subtle behaviour and attitude that exudes through the music some of its inhabitants play. But through the years, it turned into behavioural irreverance, like throwing TV units out of windows and, in turn, the entire concept was satirised. However, as Ulrich, Blackmore and Turner all remind us, it’s the quiet and stoic support of artistic authenticity.
