The one artist who “reinvented the guitar”, according to Ritchie Blackmore and Frank Zappa
Receiving praise from Ritchie Blackmore and Frank Zappa is akin to being struck by lightning; it just didn’t happen very often. Whilst the latter passed away in 1993, the pair are similar in two main ways: being widely influential guitarists and incredibly discerning characters. Alongside the extensive oeuvres that they both established, Blackmore and Zappa also provided several divisive takes regarding some of their most prominent peers.
Famously, Blackmore made his name as the guitarist of hard rock heroes Deep Purple, laying down timeless performances on tracks such as ‘Smoke on the Water’ and ‘Black Knight’. As is well known, it was a fire during a Zappa concert at Switzerland’s Montreux Casino that inspired Deep Purple to write their signature hit ‘Smoke on the Water’ when they were also in town. While also being a key component in Deep Purple, Blackmore is the founder of the supergroup Rainbow and a successful solo artist in his own right, meaning he has more than enough material to evidence why he is deemed one of the great rock players.
Such a status has afforded Blackmore more currency than most to comment on the work of his peers. One of his most divisive opinions is regarding Eric Clapton, the most prominent player to emerge from 1960s London. At the peak of his powers in 1975, he said of his fellow Stratocaster-toting virtuoso: “I never saw what was in Clapton at all. He’s a good singer.”
As for Zappa, he was a true individualist and one of the greatest musical satirists. Another guitar hero, he fused rock, jazz and the avant-garde to full effect, and his influence can be found throughout modern rock music, from John Frusciante to Omar Rodríguez-López. Never afraid to speak his mind, Zappa provided many debatable comments in his time and openly hated a collection of his day’s biggest bands.
“Everybody else thought they were God!” Zappa once said of The Beatles. “I think that was not correct. They were just a good commercial group,” he added. Zappa was also known to prefer their American counterparts, The Monkees, to the Fab Four, an ironic point, as they were arguably the ultimate commercial group of the era.
Another aspect that Blackmore and Zappa have in common is that they impacted the great Eddie Van Halen in establishing his game-changing style. Van Halen and Zappa were also known to be great friends, with the former reportedly one of the first to reach out to the latter’s son, Dweezil Zappa, following his father’s death from prostate cancer in 1963. After Van Halen’s passing in 2020, Blackmore penned a tribute to him and praised his work, revealing that both he and Zappa thought he “reinvented the guitar”. It was a rare show of candour.
“Eddie Van Halen was a brilliant guitarist who started a technique of guitar playing which was emulated by a whole generation of guitarists,” Blackmore wrote. “He was one of the nicest musicians I ever met in the music business. Very shy and not at all conceited about his ability as a guitar player. Frank Zappa said [Eddie] reinvented the guitar. I agree. He will be sadly missed but his brilliant legacy will always be remembered. The ultimate guitar hero.”
Watch Eddie Van Halen live below.
