![[hand]](/hs-pics/portraits/hands/glover6.jpg)
![[face]](/hs-pics/portraits/faces/mcbride6.jpg)
Somebody stole his guitar
Steve Morse sat down to chat with Guitar World at the last NAMM, which was held in January 2026. They teased the interview in May, promising to publish it in full “in the near future”. After the appropriate period of gestation, the future is apparently now. Here Steve shows not only that he can play the guitar (which we all knew all along), but also demonstrates a good understanding of the physical processes happening in the instrument and the amp.
Thanks to Uwe for the heads-up.
Unauthorized copying, while sometimes necessary, is never as good as the real thing
That’s a nice Silicon Valley-somber jumper he’s wearing, long-sleeved and pleasantly Native American airbrush art-free.
Is he dating again? A woman’s gentle influence should never be underestimated (“I found something at the store for you to wear for the Guitar World interview, Steve! Navy*** looks real good on you.“).
***For the men among us: That’s a color.
September 30th, 2026 at 00:26Women liked his muscle shirts, i can tell from numerous gigs in the 90ies and naughties
September 30th, 2026 at 15:38https://www.guitarworld.com/features/ritchie-blackmore-deep-purple-1991
Navy……. ? Thought you were talking colours.
It looks good on him. Lean and mean.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D7BTKOpSsxw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iy1BxlX288w
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w__NYSCON-M
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gN4i0BaGMgg
September 30th, 2026 at 18:27Talking about clothes? That whole thing was riveting from beginning to end. There’s always something I never knew. Bob Ezrin wanted him back into music back then? This is after I just saw the video of DP playing SIFLS in Bulgaria.
September 30th, 2026 at 22:58You would expect an unverbesserlicher ski slope gigolo like Erik to write such a thing …
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M22A1a_tZXA
October 1st, 2026 at 00:26Easy Aireight, fashion critique is a running joke here. Of course Steve always has interesting things to say, that is why I dragged this interview here in the first place.
And I only said nice things about his sweater, Karl Lagerfeld is my witness!
October 1st, 2026 at 11:45Thanks for the heads up, just posted it on http://www.stevemorse.net/news too. I do think the navy coloured sweater is boring, but luckily Steve always has interesting things to stay.
October 3rd, 2026 at 09:33WTF, Steve has this starved-for-instrumental-music wimmen tribe following him wherever he goes! đ
Deep jealousy is devouring my entrails.
Note to self: The allure of slightly calloused hands (from guitar playing and hay farming), well-shaped upper arms in prominent display and a pilotâs license cannot be beaten.
October 3rd, 2026 at 15:17Ad 7: adding the guitar skills of one Steve and his big smile on stage…
October 3rd, 2026 at 17:15@7 Marije,
You and tumeni (:>) others remain terminally delusionally fixated on Sir Steve’s garb. Enough’s enough. Focus on the genius of his character and his musical genius. To quote Roger one on one after we met in the lobby in Manhattan on Big Ian’s Gillan’s Inn tour: I asked “Is Steve a genius? To which he emphatically exclaimed, “HE’S MAD!!”.
Herr Uwe @8,
Spot on! :>
Peace,
October 3rd, 2026 at 20:35Ted
For the record: Neither Marije nor any other female Morse-o-phile ever started with the sartorial comments, that was solely me out of jest (and deep frustration that there is nothing else to criticize about Steve!). She and others cannot be blamed, itâs all on me, they simply started defending him against my snide attacks, what else could they do? đ¤
I have now taken up airbrush-painting muscle shirts with Native American kitsch imagery + assorted critters and am also enrolling in flying school, you just wait! Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. Working on those upper arms too âŚ
October 4th, 2026 at 06:42@8&11:
Hello Uwe, donât forget: only the original is interesting, any copy is boring ( esp.for women) đ Donât try to be anything but yourself.
Thatâs why DP were and are so lucky to have so unique guitarplayers!
October 4th, 2026 at 13:07It remains remarkable I still get censored, even after Gillan spoke coldly about Morse, when I speak ill of him.
For decades I got a lot of flack if I did that.
At a certain moment me and other naysayers were shoved aside as fossils that werent able to evolve or something ridicilous like that.
Steve isnt dead but he s still protected against criticism.
October 4th, 2026 at 15:35@11 Herr Uwe,
Very well equated, succinct, astute, and sagacious as a matter of course. ;>
Most understood and appreciated and in continuum.
I look forward to your adroit retort!
Peace,
October 4th, 2026 at 21:19Ted “The Literate” Mechanic
Beste Flohr, youâre only saying that to be nice to me! đ
Then again: Someone has to once in a while.
*******************************************
Speaking ill of Steve Morse is like saying Mother Teresa was a bitch, it reflects badly on the speaker. Applying military standards, his service and conduct for DP was at all times exemplary.
https://www.facebook.com/paratrooper506/videos/surrender/1350564728371636/
He was/is a stellar guitarist and opened a new world to them, one they still inhabit because contrary to conventional wisdom, even Mk IXâs music is still closer to Mk VII and VIII than to Mk II and III. (It would be petty and trolling to go into sartorial preferences at this stage so I wonât.)
https://media.craiyon.com/2025-10-18/XvN1i2bOR2iUCmGT2B22AQ.webp
THIS MESSAGE IS APPROVED BY BEATE/BESTE AND MARIJE, BUT THEY DID NOT PAY FOR IT !!!
Yet. Iâm always there to help, my standard hourly fees applying of course.
October 5th, 2026 at 02:39“One they still inhabit because contrary to conventional wisdom,even Mk IXâs music is still closer to Mk VII and VIII than to Mk II and III.”
Exactly!
October 5th, 2026 at 13:48That moody darkness and tension Ritchie brought to DP – highly entertaining to me and connecting with parts of my psyche though probably more so as a youth than today – cannot be credibly replicated by anyone else. But after 13 studio albums with Purple it had also run its course. The Maestro had depleted his creative ammo playing rock. But then In Rock, Machine Head, Burn + Perfect Strangers are quite a legacy. (Iâm naming these four albums not because they are all my absolute favorites, but because they are viewed collectively as his peak work with DP by the majority of fans the band has.)
Bolin, Satriani, Morse and McBride, they were/are all people with a – quite unlike Ritchie – positive mindset (never mind Tommyâs demons he was too carefree to properly fear) and it showed/shows in how they play(ed) and approach(ed) music. That meant that the slightly gothic/darkly dramatic element DP always had went out of the window together with Ritchie when he grabbed his broom stick, never to return.
Ritchieâs idiosyncratic guitar playing is not just technique and (sometimes mannered) style, it is how he feels about the world, it comes from within him, he canât even help it. Someone else attempting to play like him would just be an empty exercise and Iâm glad that DP never went down that – perhaps tempting – road.
October 6th, 2026 at 02:55I think both Jon and Ritchie together with Swingmeister Paice were key developing that original most popular sound.
Whats the difference between Lord and Airey?
Don seems to be able to play anything but ” something ” Lord did have isnt there.
Less adventurous.
October 6th, 2026 at 15:18I actually think Don is more adventurous, but Jon was more organic (in the twin sense of the word!), a groovemeister. Jon had that knack of playing with great authority, without ever being overbearing. Don is sometimes to me more hilarious – in a good way. There is nerdy humor in his playing, I find that entertaining.
October 6th, 2026 at 21:45Can’t beat the darker side to certain things at times and music is very much a part of that, along with literature and the arts. Pretty much the same scenario in certain aspects with Pink Floyd and Roger Waters being a solemn and darker character than David Gilmour. I prefer Gilmour’s sunnier songwriting at times to give relief to Waters darker and broody melancholic songs. They both worked very well together at times, Yin and Yang I suppose amongst other opposite comparisons. Jon Lord and Ritchie as we know, were polar opposite too. It only lasts so long though, like anything in life. Although Ian Gillan was the opposite in some aspects to Ritchie, they were both too similar in many other ways, but it worked out the best at times. Too sunny an aspect too often sounds a little too ‘twee’ for me, for want of a better description. Don’t get me wrong, so many of the prettiest songs are the sunnier ones. Cheers.
October 6th, 2026 at 22:37Yo,
@18…
Jon remains a great pianist, & composer, & was of such a high-order of musicianship, that few would ever be able to climb or achieve where he got to.
Don has likely surpassed where Jon left off however, – at least as far as his imagination & delivering music goes on the concert scene, by a long way.
Towards the end of his stint with DP, Jon sounded like he was simply going-through-the-motions, enjoying himself for sure, & delivering the goods for everyone to savour, but perhaps he lost a little inspiration as time went on ?…
Don by contrast revels in being able to play music well night-in & night-out. You can hear the child in himself being excited with-it-all. Music still inspires Don. He’s still in love with it all…A very fortunate man !
Ciao !
October 8th, 2026 at 23:42Yes, Don is always enthusiastic live. I like that about him too.
His input as a songwriter is also much more prominent than Jonâs as regards Purpleâs live set, so he is playing more of âhisâ music.
Jon could have been the keyboarder of the Rolling Stones for a tour though, canât see that happening with Don.
October 9th, 2026 at 11:04Ok then.
I know Don has a enormous resume with loads of variety but….
Why no fullblown real classical music or a blues effort?
I love Rick Wakemans series ,Nightairs,Sea airs,Country airs.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VrmN2cW3NKQ
October 9th, 2026 at 14:06I think Don is more attracted to Jazz than Classical Music. Of course he always puts some classic melodies in his standalone solos because that is what people reliably react to. In Europe at least, classical melodies are better known than ones by Duke Ellington.
October 9th, 2026 at 21:19Yo,
@23 stated…qt.”I know Don has a enormous resume with loads of variety butâŚWhy no full-blown real classical music or a blues effort”?…
*You’d have to ask Don that one, but a possible answer would be along the lines of “It’s all been done before, so why do it again when I can give you something new” ?…
Producers & management can also steer the sound / direction of a recording, especially if it’s their money on the table…
Also, with so many people already playing “The Blues & Classical styles”, you put yourself into a competition that you’ve likely already successfully escaped from.
Here you go, you may like this below to quench your thirst for great piano…Download & enjoy often đ ! (This is pretty-much the best you’ll ever get to hear imo)
https://archive.org/details/mccoy-tyner-the-real-mccoy
Ciao !
October 9th, 2026 at 22:28Don isn’t a composer of orchestral music, as in for orchestras etc. Jon was on a different path and on a different level in that aspect, much more ‘serious’ if that is the word to use. Don is a rocker at heart, plenty of diversity there for rock music and an occasional foray into some classical music as such, wonderful that a lot of that is. One only has to look at an artists ‘solo’ music adventures to see where the heart really lies for them. Cheers.
October 9th, 2026 at 22:33