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That allergy to major sevenths
Ritchie Blackmore continues his 2026 birthday celebration livestream at an “interesting hour in the morning”. And it may even be not the last instalment!
Previously on this livestream: part 1, part 2, part 3.
Thanks to Candice for making this happen, to Igor’s Rock Universe for posting it, and to Uwe for bringing it to your attention.
Unauthorized copying, while sometimes necessary, is never as good as the real thing
Ritchie apologising to AC DC, well I never! Interesting that he didn’t answer the bass guitarist question, ‘who is or was your favourite bass guitarist’ Uwe will not be happy with that one, although he has often said that Blackmore doesn’t praise bass guitarists, for whatever reason. A pity so many of these comments or questions are so inane. But I suppose we probably wouldn’t get Ritchie saying anything at all otherwise. I fast forward through so much of these, so much of it isn’t relevant. The little bits of interest are worth it of course. Apologising to AC DC, ha ha ha. I can imagine what those guys would have been thinking. Especially Malcom Young and Bon Scott. Thanks for posting. Cheers.
April 23rd, 2026 at 01:20In a 90s interview with a Japanese magazine, Ritchie said positive things about Glenn (“no question the best bassist Deep Purple ever had”) and 90s Rainbow alumni Greg Smith (“Rainbow bassist I thought best”). Roger received faint, if not entirely damning praise (“good as long as the music stays straight eighths”).
I’m not saying that these judgements are fair, I’m just quoting them. Smith was certainly a very organic (finger) player, Ted Nugent always had an ear for good bassists.
With Glenn, it seems like Ritchie dug his bass playing (and apparently his ability to pick up quickly anything Ritchie showed him where Roger might have taken a while longer) and pretty much nothing else: not his lead voice (unless relegated to background harmony duties) and not his songwriting. Which of course created friction with a musician like Glenn who is a composite package of all three (bassist + singer + songwriter) and sees himself that way.
April 23rd, 2026 at 14:45Uwe, if we’re talking about the same interview, his comment was specifically that Glover’s playing was flat (da da da) while Hughes’s was more funky (da boop da boop). Strange, because he supposedly didn’t like funk music. In general, in the 70s, he seems to have had a lot of ups and downs in his choices. He didn’t want an operatic singer (Gillan), he wanted to turn to blues voices (Rogers), and then he got an operatic singer again (Dio), in just 3 years time. He wanted to play, as Dio said at least, rock and roll with classical elements, but he got bored of it and wanted to play more pop-rock.
April 23rd, 2026 at 20:28Personally, I really liked these contradictions. It keeps me from getting bored, both musically and as a person. On the one hand, I recognize that Gary Moore and Bonamassa are much more talented guitarists (as Hughes says), but on the other hand, neither of them would play a setlist of heavy rock, pop-rock, operatic-rock, blues songs at the same time and sometimes all of them in a 5 minutes jam. I don’t think any other guitarist has dealt with so many musical genres while maintaining a personal playing style recognizable by anyone.
I personally think this is the element that Βlackers’ like the most.
Alas!, the Major 7ths chords Ritchie so much dislikes are – along with minor 9ths – Glenn’s all time favorite ones (he mentions that in every second interview), Trapeze’s music is littered with them:
https://youtu.be/8zM2SVLreaw
https://youtu.be/Svqr_1HEKIY
https://youtu.be/85gcjXQc2ok
You do wonder: Ritchie is looking for a replacement for Roger Glover, witnesses Glenn at Trapeze gigs, doesn’t like his voice nor his songwriting nor the jazzy chords he prefers nor his penchant for Black Music, but wants him as the bass player for DP. And then wakes up one morning realizing that someone who plays bass the way Glenn does has – surprise, surprise – a strong urge to also play the music that bass style emanated from. Some brilliant due diligence there. 😂 But, to be fair, he does call Glenn “talented” in this Q&A.
I’m baffled that BN never toured Romania – with all the castles, bats and vampire burial sites there! Talk about a match made in heaven (or hell)!
https://youtu.be/Mw9iEvqefHU
April 23rd, 2026 at 21:30Without sounding like I am looking for a ‘problem’, I thought there was a sort of stand off there when Ritchie was asked that question. A lot of hesitation from him and then, ‘which one’ referring to the different lineups and bands and then quickly moving onto the next topic. I was disappointed, I was genuinely hoping for a little commentary about some of the bass guitarists. Oh well, maybe if Ritchie was a drummer he would have plenty to say. Cheers.
April 23rd, 2026 at 22:18On the other hand, Ritchie fired Mark Clarke and kept telling him, “Roger Glover would’ve play it like this.” High praise from Blackmore, who also hired Glover into Rainbow and collaborated on songwriting there and with Purple after they reunited.
April 23rd, 2026 at 22:22Hello.
Thank You so very much Ritchie and Candice for this. Some serious birthday celebrating. If just one could have been there too!
It´s nice to hear a bit of this and a bit of that, but of course, if all this was made a bit more organised, it surely would be a treat for all of us old fans, and newer ones, too. But then again it wouldn´t be a relaxed situation anymore – it would be just like at school and Ritchie would look out of window. Ha ha.
There´s so many things talked about, and just can´t remember all of those, but now that Ritchie mentioned his idol John Cleese, who too is from Weston-Super-Mare, I´m glad to mention having seen Eric Idle this week in Helsinki. He did his entertaining show in Monty Python style and sang a couple of songs, too. He did his tribute to the late George Harrison, too. Very moving, but also funny evening too, of course. I absolutely recommend.
Green Bullfrog…beer did it´s thing to Ritchie. Of course it was Ian Paice on drums at that time. It´s a shame we didn´t hear more of those Mick Underwood stories.
And those ghost stories! There´s people who believe in those and people who don´t. But when you have experienced some peculiar things or things you just don´t get or understand…It´s not a question of believing. And while there´s other people around too experiencing exactly the same at the same time and all people involved are sober… I have witnessed some things and I know some things you can´t explain really do happen.
Which kind of leads me telling you when we were in Czech Republic in 2015. There was a Blackmore´s Night gig in Cesky Krumlov in July. Ritchie was asking for requests. I was quite near the stage to shout immediately “Ghost of A Rose”. “Oh, there´s Tilemann Susato himself”, was Ritchie´s rapid answer while pointing at me. They played the song next. Later I found a photo (from fb) of taken of (probably by Candice) the audience from the stage. Yep, there we were. Variety is the spice of life.
And of course – congratulations Ritchie! You are the man. Enjoy your days there and keep on playing!
Kippis.
April 24th, 2026 at 08:31@ 7 -a good story Hiza, that BN gig and a photo also, Happy days eh. Regarding naming the wrong drummer, yes, memory does that sort of thing at times. At least he remembers drummers. Those poor bass guitarists, who are they? Cheers. P.S. Who would ever think that I would go into bat for bass guitarists. I must be going crazy or something…………….But then again being a retired drummer, I did have a sort of connection to them, for good or bad……….so I guess I feel sorry for them all……..
April 24th, 2026 at 09:05@ 4- “I’m baffled that BN never toured Romania – with all the castles, bats and vampire burial sites there! Talk about a match made in heaven (or hell)!” Vlad the Impaler was from that part of the world wasn’t he?. A bit too close to the bone perhaps for Ritchie. Cheers.
April 24th, 2026 at 09:15Ritchie disliked the fact that Mark Clarke (a very good bassist) refused to play with a pick, yet both Greg Smith and Bob Nouveau/Curiano are finger players, go figure. Roger was a finger player too when he joined DP (you can see it in the old vids), but switched to pick playing because Ritchie asked him to. So there is really no rhyme or reason to what Ritchie wants or dislikes over the years.
Roger isn’t technically any worse than Glenn, the difference in their styles is very much an attitude thing. Glenn is more fearless and plays what he plays (which is often actually a bit simpler/less than what Roger would provide) with a more dominant projection while Roger provides this steady carpet of notes which for all its business remains unobtrusive. What appealed to Ritchie about Glenn’s bass playing was likely the drama and dynamics prevalent in it – characteristics Ritchie calls his own as a guitarist too after all.
Ghosts or no ghosts? I’ve participated in seances too, but I have a few questions: If there are ghosts shouldn’t there be more and more of them as the world population increases measurably? I have yet to see a marked increase in ghosts, they’re kinda rare where I live. And also: Most people while alive aren’t really evil, why is that then supposed to change once they are in the afterlife? If I turned ghost, I’d still be the same essentially gentle being haunting Karin and MacGregor just a little.
https://youtu.be/VDMqVrPXcdo?is=cZAfBvLzkAG87AOF
April 24th, 2026 at 10:19Herr Macgregor @5: I think Ritchie’s return question, but Candice didn’t follow up, rather moving on so an answer was lost. Of course it has to do with what era we’re talking about:
– In 1968, Nick Simper was a good bassist, but less solid and forward-looking/prepared to let new influences shape him than Roger.
– Roger Glover‘s bass playing – make no mistake – co-shaped the Mk II sound, especially on MH , MiJ and WDWTWA with that Rickenbacker upfront gnarl.
– Glenn Hughes is a very extrovert bassist. Not as metronomic precise as Roger, but more exciting/dynamic/spur of the moment. He plays funky with a mean hard rocker’s attitude, something that is rare. Contrary to conventional wisdom he played and plays overall less notes than Roger, not more.
– Craig Gruber had excellent groove and all these little nuances in his playing; I believe it was more of an image decision by Ritchie to let him go, I think he did not deem him “dedicated to hard rock” enough. Likely also not a great fit with Cozy. Come to think of it he was also a finger player (though he had changed to pick by the time he played with Paicey as the rhythm section to Gary Moore in the 80s).
– Which Jimmy Bain of course was, almost punkish in energy. Rising was his first professional recording and his style would really only develop into full bloom with Dio. Except for some melodic runs on Light In The Black, there is little that stands out in his bass playing with Rainbow, he produced notes to go alongside Cozy’s bass drum(s), that was his job.
– Mark Clarke had considerable experience from playing with Colosseum, Uriah Heep and Tempest. A nimble and busy finger player, he wasn’t really prepared to be lectured by Ritchie about using a pick.
– Bob Daisley was of course an excellent rock player, but it must be said that his bass playing with Rainbow did not show the same level of creativity as with Widowmaker or Ozzy Osbourne. That was likely down to Ritchie’s stern regime plus that Bob’s stint with Rainbow was comparatively short.
– Clive Chaman from the Jeff Beck Group (and there a colleague of Cozy) was never really a Rainbow member, but he rehearsed with them for a while after Bob Daisley had received his papers (= never got a call that his services were needed again after the failed1978 US tour opening for REO Speedwagon). Chaman was a dedicated fusion player which Cozy liked, but David Stone thought an ill fit for the band and which Ritchie hated because of his middish sound, going as far as to boycott the rehearsals with him which were left to Cozy and David Stone.
– Roger Glover with Rainbow 1979-84 never left as much a stamp there as with Mk II 1969-73. His bass playing with Rainbow sounded often like an afterthought, I think he (over)focused on his producer duties.
– Greg Smith was powerful and organic, not a root note chugger either, somewhere between Craig Gruber and Bob Daisley.
– Does anybody remember Mike Cervino, the first BN bassist? He was a good, even artistic player, but I have a hunch Ritchie thought he overplayed.
– Sir Robert of Normandy/Bob Nouveau/Bob Curiano had been the bass player in the Mink DeVille Band for years – a much more urban music than either BN or Rainbow – and it showed. He played tastefully, not dumb, but with Reunionbow you could tell that he wasn’t raised on hard rock or heavy metal. Stylistically a bit like Craig Gruber or John Gustafson of IGB – minus the gutsy attack, more laid back
– Earl Grey of Chimay/Mike Clemente was a Long Island regular playing in bars when Ritchie discovered him. I’ve been to countless BN gigs but can’t remember him ever playing something that made me take notice. He is not exactly Dave Pegg (Fairport Convention and Jethro Tull) if you know what I mean, but then Ritchie deems bass guitar largely irrelevant for BN, only requiring it to fill out the lower frequencies. He even had the nerve to once (1999-2000) tour BN with keyboard bass only, an unspeakable crime though Ms Marci Geller (a Long Island singer/songwriter) could not be blamed for what she was forced to do.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MPmRzNW95i8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kWhkZRwLJn0&t=55s
Have I forgotten anyone? 😂
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April 24th, 2026 at 17:30