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With a flying V and long hair
In a new interview to the Ultimate Classic Rock, Ritchie Blackmore confirms the story that in 1970 Christopher Cross has played a gig with Deep Purple in his place. This episode became a minor controversy in the Purple lore as over the years Cross himself claimed it, with further corroboration by Eric Johnson, who opened the show. Jon Lord, however, disputed that story as ‘never happened’.
Deep Purple shared the stage with Christopher Cross on August 28, 1970 at the Jam Factory in San Antonio. The twist? Cross was filling in at the last minute for the band’s regular guitarist, Ritchie Blackmore.
“I must have had a virus or something, because I had a canker sore in my mouth under my tongue,” Blackmore tells UCR in a new interview. “So I couldn’t eat, I couldn’t speak. I was miserable about that and I wasn’t happy about being on tour in America. I loved Europe, [but] America, it was so far apart in the places we played in. I had no idea where I was. I wasn’t in my comfort zone and I kind of missed England.”
Read more in Ultimate Classic Rock.
Thanks to Gary Poronovich for the heads-up.
Unauthorized copying, while sometimes necessary, is never as good as the real thing
“Missing England” didnt last very long, just a few years later he immigrated to America and has lived there ever after LOL
May 17th, 2026 at 09:13Iâve always believed Christopherâs story (I like his own music btw), but the date canât be right. Mk II did not tour the US in the summer of 1970, but only in 1971 when they promoted Fireball as the new US release. It is also unlikely that Christopher was aware of Ritchieâs playing as early as summer of 1970, but he might very well have been a year later. In the summer of 1970 there would have been no In Rock album for him to buy in the States as Purple were still with Tetragrammaton which were by then defunct.
May 17th, 2026 at 12:26Yes, two parts of the world divided by a common language in various stages of development! đ
By the way, why did DP never sing in Cockney, but always that mock American English favored by so many British bands?
May 17th, 2026 at 15:38#1 Wiktor:
All the famous English musicians of the 70s loved their homeland and hated America, but the fiscal Eldorado attracted them all like honey.
May 17th, 2026 at 18:58Hello.
Wiktor @1 Ritchie Blackmore moved to the States mainly because of the huge tax rates in United Kingdom. He himself has told that years ago.
Plus if you are spending long times away from home, you get homesick. That´s human nature, isn´t it. At least when you´re young.
Kippis.
May 18th, 2026 at 11:47I have now even learned from Martin Popoffâs bio that Roger Glover is a converted Yank and holds dual citizenship (possibly three nationalities by now given that he is a longtime Swiss resident – another tax haven btw – and has Swiss children + is very old and wealthy).
May 18th, 2026 at 13:29DP did a two-week tour of the USA in August 1970, including a performance with orchestra at the Hollywood bowl to promote the “Concerto” – the only Tetragrammaton release that Warner had reissued up to that date.
Pretty sure that Warner had also issued both “In Rock” and “Black Night” in the USA by then as well, albeit to little success. Even if Christopher Cross had yet to hear those records, he likely would have been familiar with DP MKI’s music.
Dirk’s tour page has a few more details about the show where Cross filled in for Blackmore, including a link to the full “Songfacts” interview from which Cross’ quote originates:
May 18th, 2026 at 15:24https://www.purple.de/dirk/purple/tours/1970/70-08-28.php
@2
But…didn’t they perform the Concerto live at the Hollywood Bowl more or less around that time?
Could be confused, of course…
May 18th, 2026 at 15:29You guys are right, I forgot the Concerto stint in Hollywood, shame on me! But that was way too short to have any measurable impact on the American record buying public. Conquering America means ground work for months and that is what Purple did in 1971 opening for The Faces who were back then well-established in the US.
May 18th, 2026 at 16:41It makes sense that it took place around the concerto show since that was a brief tour and not terribly memorable (other than Christopher Cross flying like the wind in Deep Purple. đ
May 18th, 2026 at 20:31Hey, I like the guy! And his solo at 03:41 is fierce – the man is no slouch on guitar!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=51djbQEEX40
He’s a Heavy Metal songwriter too! âď¸đ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=amLrAh4j3L4
May 18th, 2026 at 21:47Knowing Cross’ best known album from 1979 – I really, I mean really! have trouble imagining HOW Chris filled the Blackmore’s shoes on that night. I’m pretty sure that they rather did “Wring That Neck” than “Mandrake Root” that evening. đ Don’t see him wasting his Fly’ V around the cabinets in the usual Ritchie’s show-em-trash-em style. đ “WTN” was more shuffle-y boogie to fly nicely on.
May 19th, 2026 at 07:06Legend has it that Christopher even needed two guitars and an aggregate of 18 strings to stand in for Ritchie!
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=908757647963477&set=a.603734838465761&id=100064877494604
Hereâs a pic of him with his Flying V which he sold in the early 70s and which is still in the hands of the guy who bought it then:
https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTmyLjP4A6N5OscEVHwsIYv-SaupjL7y6aJuQ&s
May 19th, 2026 at 13:2012- Is that SteelyDan’s Walter Becker?
May 19th, 2026 at 22:22Sorry. That was for Uwe (13)
Isn’t that Steely Danâs Walter Becker?
https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTmyLjP4A6N5OscEVHwsIYv-SaupjL7y6aJuQ&s
May 23rd, 2026 at 18:24Andres, the guy with the hat? Thatâs Christopher Cross, the moustached guy beside him in the left pic is not Walter Becker, but the guy in the right pic looks indeed like Walter today, no idea why he is playing what looks like Christopherâs former âVâ. Didnât Christopher play with that dildo/vibrator band Steely Dan at one point? I never followed them all that much.
May 24th, 2026 at 13:27Uwe
Walter Becker died in 2017
According to Wikipedia, he and Donald Fagen invited Cross to play on their albums, but Cross declined because “he was so intimidated, afraid to do it.”
May 24th, 2026 at 22:40@ 16 – good question Uwe. I don’t recall that Christopher Cross did play or more to the point record with Steely Dan. However my memory could come into play there. They did have a penchant for seeking out session guitarists for their recordings and the ‘Yacht Rock’ connection is there too. All those yachts moored in the harbour, surely Christopher jumped ship occasionally, he he he. Cheers.
May 25th, 2026 at 00:17