Could Ritchie Blackmore have been one of the great prog rock guitarists if he had surrounded himself with a more progressive rhythm section? He certainly dabbled in Prog from time to time. The Philharmonic album, Burn, Lazy, the classical leanings etc. I think he was more fit for a prog crown than Jimmy Page.
Howe and Hackett, Latimer and Fripp played more outside the boundaries of rock, but Blackmore certainly had the right stuff also.
What could have been?
LOL. Did I blink and end up on the Hoffman forums?
Didn't realize JP had a prog crown. The right stuff? Pulease
I agree.Originally Posted by Tributary Records
Stairway to Heaven alone gets you a prog crown. What's not prog about Stairway? It's the longest song every played to death on commercial radio. Who else did that? Kashmir, No Quarter, Rain Song, In the Light, Achilles last Stand gets a few jewel insertions in the crown as well, don't ya think?
I'll always argue that prog is more defined by the rhythm section... so given that, Zep wasn't as proggy as KC, Yes or Genesis.
As a player, I think Blackmore would have been a better fit into a more progressive band than Page. How would he have been in Camel or Soft Machine?
At the first place (or at least if you like) the way of singing make it a then-mainstream Rock song (i.e. non-prog), as Plant is a Rock singer as well.
And all of those LZ songs you mentioned above are (great) Rock songs and have nothing to do with the progressive music of the era.
On other side, Deep Purple were an early Progressive rock band who turned to then-mainstream Hard Rock after In Rock the album.
Last edited by Svetonio; 08-18-2016 at 02:42 AM.
The more important question is: why do you care? I certainly don't, and I doubt Page or Blackmore do either. All I see on music forums is music fans missing the point. But that's a whole other story I could write a book about.
You're missing his proggiest work, which is all pre-"In Rock."
How is "Lazy" proggy? It's straight blues.
"The White Zone is for loading and unloading only. If you got to load or unload go to the White Zone!"
There are moments on Burn where you can clearly hear GTR/Organ/bass doing what is essentially a 3-part fugue-style composition.....I always thought those complex Fugue-ish moments were all Jon Lords doing.
I think the proggy members of Purple and Zep were Jon Lord and John Paul Jones.
I don't like country music, but I don't mean to denigrate those who do. And for the people who like country music, denigrate means 'put down.'- Bob Newhart
Ritchie is a great guitarist period, he had a great rhythm section if you ask me. Paice is amazing, and I know Glover pretty much holds down the fort, but I'd take them any day as my rhythm section.
Blackmore could be great at whatever style he wanted I think, he obviously can play many styles.
Blackmore was into harder riff-based rock and was probably the main one that pushed Purple in that direction.I imagine he would have been able to fit into a more compositionally intricate or unorthodox direction had he been inclined, but he wasn't.
He certainly wasn't being held back by the rhythm section from doing so.Glover was a solid anchor rather than a particularly distinctive stylist, but many "prog" bands sported bassists who were providing that function as well, and Paice was a great drummer-with among the most nimble hands of his day- who could have handled a more complex direction easily from a facility perspective.
You didn't. Because then you'd be in a thread about The Beatles.
Still think Fireball was the proggiest Mk2 album, but of course Blackers doesn't particularly like it.
+1, but if it was not just Jon Lord's, who was then doing it besides him (just out of curiosity)?
Last edited by Rick Robson; 08-18-2016 at 02:37 PM.
"Beethoven can write music, thank God, but he can do nothing else on earth. ". Ludwig van Beethoven
No doubt about it.
"Beethoven can write music, thank God, but he can do nothing else on earth. ". Ludwig van Beethoven
What I was trying to convey was: I would think that Jon Lord drafted up the 3-part sections and doled them out to Glenn Hughes & Blackmore to learn. The melodic interplay going on there was NOT random...it was clearly worked out in advance and I suspect JL was behind that. essentially writing everyone's parts.
Or the Beach Boys. Ugh.
I don't like country music, but I don't mean to denigrate those who do. And for the people who like country music, denigrate means 'put down.'- Bob Newhart
Blackmore was bringing bring European classical influences in his playing in the early 70s instead of coming from the American Blues based influences of his peers . I also think if not with Deep Purple , then Rainbow he might be called the father of Prog Metal. And in Blackmores Night there are many compositions that would fit on a traditional Prog release. Very few rock musicians have been so relevant for as long as he has . Maybe Jeff Beck ,the other guy from the same time period that's still creating and a original.
Absolutely not. He played rock and roll, till '97. Then he started developing a hybrid pop project, world music or whatever they call it.
It's renaissance and he's creating some great music and playing as well as ever. IMO, some of his best guitar playing ever has been with Blackmore's Night.
"The White Zone is for loading and unloading only. If you got to load or unload go to the White Zone!"
Good question. I often wondered what Blackmore would have sounded like if he was paired up with either Gezzer & Ward or John Paul & Bonzo.
To be or not to be? That is the point. - Harry Nilsson.
Or the Monkees
But this is the exact kind of thing that gets analyzed in the childish minds over there.
Nobody ever called Page a "prog guitarist", and if they did, why on earth would it matter? This is Hoffmanesque because I suspect it's another way to plump one choice by insulting another. And I know nobody ever called Blackmore a "progressive rock" guitarist.
I don't give a flying whatever people call the music I like. If we really wanna get picky, ain't no music more "progressive" than jazz.
Of course not, it was totally thought out, rather saying. But not only that melodic interplay, also that brief but slightly down-tuned melodic synth accompaniment on the last section is just all about JL.
"Beethoven can write music, thank God, but he can do nothing else on earth. ". Ludwig van Beethoven
What did Ritchie do to get that tone of his that I'll never be able to replicate?
I don't like country music, but I don't mean to denigrate those who do. And for the people who like country music, denigrate means 'put down.'- Bob Newhart
Renaissance? hahahahaha....Well, if you believe that, call it renaissance ...I pity those who'd study real renaissance music on the model of Blackmore's Night. It's eclectic ballad-oriented pop, of what I've heard - I have two or three albums. However, they knew of the band called 'Renaissance' , even played one song from their repertoire.
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