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You’d better hang on tightly

Ritchie Blackmore, Stroudsburg PA, May 14, 2011; © Nick Soveiko CC-BY-NC-SA

Obligatory disclaimers:

1. The quote below is in reverse translation from Polish. No translation is 100% accurate. Double translation…

2. The interviewee has a quite a track record of trolling performing practical jokes.

Given both points, take the following with a generous pinch of salt and don’t get too too excited just yet.

Ritchie Blackmore was interviewed for the Polish magazine Teraz Rock, and this passage was quoted by promoters of Blackmore’s Nigh show in Poland at the end of August:

You know, I have been in contact with Ian Gillan for some time now and we agreed that maybe at some point I will play two or three concerts with Deep Purple to bring joy to the fans to recall memories. I would not want to promise anything, because we’re all pretty lazy and so far we have failed to establish anything concrete. I have the impression that they are currently quite busy, and I’m happy doing what I’m doing. I would be happy, however, to play two, three concerts with Deep Purple. For the fans, for nostalgic reasons.

The real news here is not that Blackmore would be open to a one-off (he has said that much before), but that he is in contact with Gillan.

Thanks to Kostya (www.deep-purple.ru forums) and Metal Mind Productions for the info.



36 Comments to “You’d better hang on tightly”:

  1. 1
    Peter Stokes says:

    Yeah and little purple pigs will fly over the moon lol

  2. 2
    Stuntman Mike says:

    Wishful thinking by a polish interviewer who lives in the past..

  3. 3
    Jerry Fielden says:

    LOL I have a very hard time believing this!

  4. 4
    Friedhelm says:

    At the END of August? Which year?

  5. 5
    Alan Robertson says:

    I remember similar wild claims in 2004 that Roger Waters and David Gilmour were talking. That said, I’d be completely dumbfounded if this was anything more than RB playing games. 🙂

  6. 6
    Dom Mimmo Mangione says:

    We all hope, that he will stop playing pixie music for a while and, go back to the Stratocaster!

  7. 7
    Tom Dion says:

    There is no way this is true.

  8. 8
    rik_ik says:

    Unlikely with the band heading towards a new album.
    If they do i’d want it on DVD 🙂
    Dream on…

  9. 9
    Marcelo Soares says:

    I hope the phone calls are true. I also nearly hope they won’t play together again – it always opened old wounds when they tried. What I do think is that, with both nearing 70, they can put aside the old differences at least for one phone call a year, maybe one drink or two every once in a while, to remember all the greatness they’ve created together. They do deserve it.

  10. 10
    Alket Kellici says:

    This is all bogus!

  11. 11
    George Martin says:

    No way!

  12. 12
    Troy Wickman says:

    I have heard similar rhetoric before, but nothing will come of it. The division between Blackmore and the rest of Deep Purple makes any kind of reunion more unlikely now than it was post 1976. The sole context for any such reunion would be all all-out concert including the various members of DP from throughout its history. Gillan would have none of that. I agree–this is bogus.

  13. 13
    Mark Gowans says:

    I know Ritchie’s son Jurgen was on stage with the band in 2010 and I think that’s the only Blackmore we’re likely to ever see again perform with this great band. The chances of Ritchie doing it again are probably less than zero if I’m honest.

  14. 14
    Gary says:

    Wow ! You guys are time travelers ! Quoting Ritchie at the end of August in an interview at the end of August when it’s only the beginning of August and that concert hasn’t even happened yet ! Kudos !

  15. 15
    Robin L Haddon says:

    Didn’t this surface on April 1st?

  16. 16
    podzilla says:

    It isn’t 1st April? No, it’s not. It sounds promising, if you could believe it. I’m quite into Deep Purple, with all it’s splinters, I love it all, from MK I to MK now, Rainbow , Whitesnake, whatever. The whole family is brilliant. But this just sounds made up somehow 🙂
    I’d pay a lot of money to see that happening, no matter where, how or when it will happen. Would be great.

    Cheers from Vienna

  17. 17
    Boswell's Johnson says:

    I call BS. Gillan has been adamant on this. Besides, at this point, it would be kinda silly.

  18. 18
    Charles Bongiorno says:

    I don,t see it. Ian and Ritchie both very talented.but what,s the sense now they ruined and all time great band forty years ago

  19. 19
    Felipe Riveros says:

    I’d really like to belive this, it would be awsome, but I hardly doubt it.

  20. 20
    George says:

    No surprises here… It was in 2005 when he publicly stated a desire to do one-off MKII reunion show:

    Metal Express Radio: Jon Lord recently said that he would like to get all of the surviving past and present members of DEEP PURPLE together for a one-off show. Would you be up for that?
    Ritchie: “It would be fun to get the MK 2 line-up together for a one-off, but I wouldn’t be able to deal with their management.”

    Read more at http://www.blabbermouth.net/news/ritchie-blackmore-says-one-off-deep-purple-reunion-would-be-fun/#qmXamCGWcFlkZG2x.99

  21. 21
    Hornoxe says:

    And they didn’t think the tribute to Jon would be a fitting moment to think about something like this..?
    Also, (if these were his words) did they translate “for some time now” or more like “before some time / some time ago” (as in: once)? Really hard for me to imagine them speaking regularly, after all what happened.
    But who knows? Quite some time has passed…
    And since a reunited Pink Floyd show could happen (9 years ago already oO), nothing is impossible 😛
    But I sure won’t hold my breath.

  22. 22
    kraatzy says:

    Hey fans …

    What a very nice future prospect.
    But without the (“OMOP”) Jon Lord … with a reencount with Don Airey after their great Rainbow days …

    I hope it is not a translation fault.

    But – I can´t believe, that Ritchie and Big Ian are in contact … !!!???
    After that problems … !!!???

    That will be a very great surprise

    cheers

    LLRnR

    kraatzy

  23. 23
    Tom Fitzpatrick says:

    To little too late if its true! should have buried the hatchet at Jon Lord’s tribute at the Albert Hall – you’re all big boys now!

  24. 24
    MacGregor says:

    A bit of ‘classic’ Blackmore banter no doubt. He is the practical joker isn’t he? If this is correct at all, my money is on Blackers ‘sarcasm’! Cheers.

  25. 25
    Another Martin says:

    Hi fellow fans,

    Mk II has given us loads of great music (the best in the world) and I’ll never tire listening to it. But I fail to get excited about this putative get-together, because what would be the best result? More DVDs and CDs of live shows that will not given anything new, only repeat the old stuff, old stuff that was always better back in the old days. As to new stuff, the current line up has shown that it is really on top of things, way better than Mk Iic ever was, and so my one desire right now is to get my ears plugged into the future new album, an album I can play again and again. Oh sure, if RB does play a joint gig and I happen to be nearby, I’d sell my soul to get a ticket, but why get excited at this stage?

  26. 26
    Innerspace says:

    Can Gillan and Blackmore even be in the same city without some terrible disaster happening (not to mention… in the same building…)? Can Blackmore even tolerate the presence of Bruce Payne in his immediate vincinity without something utterly scandalous occuring? I think, an allmost definitive no on both accounts. If Jon had still been around, It’d have been maybe an ever-so-slight possibility for something a-la The Floyds Live 8 performance, but, alas, he isn’t. And with that, the whole idea gets reduced to a mere fantacy, afaic.

  27. 27
    Qwertyfan says:

    The problem is there’s the story and there is the truth.
    Whilst they may have been in touch, it’s through other people, not directly.
    The main answer was “No.”
    I can probably quote this bit: “I’t’s all bollocks.”

    but you all knew that already, didn’t you?

  28. 28
    Joey says:

    Even if Ritchie made that statement to the Polish magazine,I still have a hard time believing he was serious. I’m betting against this ever happening. Safe bet for sure!!!!!!!

  29. 29
    Mark Gowans says:

    It seems that both Ritchie & Ian have buried the hatchet to some degree since according to Ian in this interview

    http://www.rollingstone.com/music/features/deep-purples-ian-gillan-its-unconscionable-to-reunite-old-lineup-20140805

    Apparently they have actually been talking recently. I agree though with what Ian says in the interview that they are unlikely to perform as a band again. Too much has gone on and it would be an insult to their current very good guitarist Steve Morse if they were to perform with Ritchie even if it was strictly just a one off.

  30. 30
    Hornoxe says:

    @29
    So first, the “have been talking” bit was confirmed. Very nice to hear that!

    Otherwise, I read that interview that they talked about that Hall Of Fame thing, which doesn’t rule out them meeting (and maybe playing) again another time in general – and if they label it “Part of the current DP plus that other guy”, everything would be fine 😛

    They had guest guitarrists on stage before. Also they all did Solo albums and tours, without DP being over… I don’t thing a one-of thing like Ritchie mentioned “for the old fans” would hurt the current line-up…

    but I have to admit right now, they are busier than in a long time, so that comes ill-timed. With the success of Now What and the work on the follow-up, such a “just for fun, special side project” (for them) doesn’t seem high priority, besides them all “being lazy” about it, which sounds total believable to me 😉

  31. 31
    Jack says:

    Ritchie should put Rainbow’s Stranger In Us All together and forget Blackmore’s Wife for a while!!

  32. 32
    LRT says:

    What do ya know… I say business driven one way or the other, by two smart people in the end. Legacy is more important than money, but money isn’t a skunk either.

  33. 33
    MacGregor says:

    It wouldn’t be an insult to Morse at all! He would love it I believe, Morse is incredibly modest & down to earth, why wouldn’t he want to jam with Blackmore? Blackmore was an influence wasn’t he? For myself, I have always thought if ‘hell did freeze over’ & Blackmore did a few songs at a gig somewhere, it would be a couple with himself as the guitarist & some with Morse & then both together.
    Blackmore knows how good a guitarist Morse is, there is no disrespect at all, from anyone! Cheers.

  34. 34
    KlausVonScribe says:

    Like I’ve always said…ALL the reports of ALL the bickering with ALL the band members over ALL the years are nothing more than staged propaganda to keep an interest in this Conglomerate Corporation a.k.a., Deep Purple and its bastard children, Rainbow, White Snake, etc., etc., etc.

    There are not, and most likely have never been any “abnormal” rifts between these personalities leading to cataclysmic fighting, law suits (show me the courts and the dockets) between the bandmates over all the various incarnations of Deep Purple.

    It’s a lot more interesting for someone leaving a band to be portrayed as “maniacal” and maintain that image throughout their career, then it is just to say “he shook hands with all the band members and moved on after one final backstage party”.

    Read Blackmore’s interview that was posted here from Rolling Stone back in the 1970s….is the character there truth or fiction?? And remember, Blackmore came from the Screaming Lord Sutch thing…not exactly a “traditional” high-school gymnasium dance band.

    Watch some of the YouTube videos by Blackmore concerning the feud with Gillan….once again, they’ve buried the hatchet [sic]??

    What did Gillan et als, have to say about Blackmore’s tribute song to Jon Lord??

    What was it Roger had to say not too long ago about the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame concerning reuniting with Blackmore??

    All this water under the bridge, and they’ve found the love again….??@#?#?

    Blackmore back with Deep Purple for any length of time before the books are finally closed on those careers…I say, you can bank on it.

  35. 35
    Ian Gillans Pants says:

    Will never happen, DP is IG’s baby and he’ll never let go.

  36. 36
    Tommy H. says:

    If it’s true or not, I don’t care. But in every life comes the day where you try to bury the hatchets of the past just for the sake of peace. They’ve been a huge part of each other’s lives and they had very good times and really bad too. But it’s been 21 years after all and they’re not too far away from getting into their seventies. I’m sure that Jon’s passing moved something and showed once more that life can be over too fast …

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