One of those odd kids
Simon McBride talks to Andy Guitar about the new album, the first riff he ever learned, and 65 thousand people singing Highway Star.
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Simon McBride talks to Andy Guitar about the new album, the first riff he ever learned, and 65 thousand people singing Highway Star.
Unauthorized copying, while sometimes necessary, is never as good as the real thing
He mentions an instrumental, Guinnesis, that is a B-side not on the album that they’ve played live. I watched a live video and it’s really good. They’ve used it to replace Green Onions as the encore opener leading to Hush. The funny thing is that I’ve wanted them to do And the Address leading into Hush. What would be fun is Guinnesis followed by And the Address. Full cicrcle from their last song to their very 1st song.
July 3rd, 2026 at 18:16If there is a Mark 2 song that I badly wanted Simon to play it with Purple, it’s Knockin’ at Your Back Door
Watching many Mark 8 videos of the song, I conclude that Steve Morse just completely never get it (the song). He could play the guitar notes, but not with the required swagger, attitude, that Blackmore possessed in the studio and live.
Not his fault really, it’s not his style, not his life. It’s like asking Paul Rodgers to sing Killer Queen or Don’t Stop Me Now with Queen during their tour. Paul will never get the meaning, attitude of the song, hence it would sound terribly wrong even if Paul could hit the notes. Just look at how Adam Lambert performed “Killer Queen” in the sofa lol. That’s the right singer for the song.
So in this context, I just couldn’t see Morse playing song about love affair, adultery, s** lol. No, just no! Mark 8 should have never played that song.
Now Simon, a 80’s rock music disciple (Gary Moore, Steve Lukather, Joe Satriani) of course would understand the ‘glam’, AOR, wild life context of Knockin’ at Your Back Door. I believe he could attack the guitar as the song requires, want to see him badly doing it.
July 4th, 2026 at 15:25Very interesting interview, both because Simon proves to be a very humble person, and because he proves to be a very intelligent guitarist when he says that the guitarist must always have the melody in mind first of all, and then also simplicity, because melody and simplicity are the best things to make great songs like – obviously – Smoke and everything else that Ritchie has done and that the audience literally goes crazy when they hear!
so really good and honest Simon, even when he says he spent a period copying Gary Moore too much, but this then served him as a background as much as the hard rock of the 80s.
and that’s why Purple sounds harder, and that’s why Morse could never sound like McBride, because even though Steve is technically better than Simon, he doesn’t have Simon’s musical background!
and that’s exactly what Purple needed!
July 4th, 2026 at 23:04@3
Fla76 – “and that’s exactly what Purple needed!”
– you are right! Since Ritchie isn’t going to play with his former chums anytime soon, SMcB is indeed a good choice!
July 5th, 2026 at 06:22I agree that playing the riff of KAYBD requires a swagger that Steve could not really summon. That is why his versions of the song always sounded a bit limp. Or maybe he just couldn‘t get behind the grandeur of the riff and thought it a bit naff for his personal style – not really his fault, but that riff needs to be played with a certain attitude.
Yeah, I‘d imagine that it would be more up Simon‘s alley. He‘s cocky.
July 5th, 2026 at 12:37Flavio, Ritchie had already lost all elegance and swagger – two traits that always set his playing apart – playing his own riffs ten years ago, with his ailments and a further prolonged period of not playing rock (and not much with BN either), I don‘t see how he could ever credibly perform a full DP set again.
July 5th, 2026 at 12:53#6 Uwe:
I didn’t mention Ritchie, but I agree with your thoughts, Ritchie has been out of practice for too long.
However, seeing him appear on the stage of the Royal Albert Hall even just to play Smoke on the Water is still a dream that I continue to cultivate inside me, even if I know it won’t happen
July 5th, 2026 at 19:47I’m with you, a guest appearance where he plays a solo or two, would be another matter.
Ritchie will always be to Deep Purple what Sean Connery was to James Bond. But that doesn’t mean that all Bond films without him were junk.
July 6th, 2026 at 14:20@8
“Ritchie will always be to Deep Purple what Sean Connery was to James Bond. But that doesn’t mean that all Bond films without him were junk.”
– Uwe, I could not have said it better 😊
RB was FANTASTIC! GREAT! PHENOMENAL!
SMcB is indeed great too 😃
July 6th, 2026 at 16:18I am very thankful that he eventually grew out of Gary Moore. 🤣
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And I now know the Belfast pronunciation of his name: Simon pronounces it “Gary Muir”. That was news to me. I could never decide whether it was “Gary More” or “Gary Moore” – the ‘oo’ pronounced like the ‘ou’ in pour, you’re or tour.
But then I believed for decades that Neil Peart is pronounced “Neil Purt” (as in ‘heard’ or ‘hurt’) and only learned a few year ago that its “Neil Peert” as in queer (I’m not alluding to the silk kimonos, I swear, that was long ago and a folly of youth!). I still think so that “Purt” sounds cooler than “Peert”.
July 6th, 2026 at 16:47