RITCHIE BLACKMORE: Why I Quit Deep Purple

The California clime seems to agree with Ritchie Blackmore, a usually unhealthy looking fellow whose complexion runs somewhere between spoiled flour and banana yogurt and one whose temperament carries heavy overtones of the Ubermensch. A resident of the sunny state for some months now, his once jaundiced features have now been replaced with rosy face and skin and though his tongue still burns, the lashings are far-and-few-between. Blackmore has made a musical as well as a geographical move by leaving Deep Purple, a recording-performing unit which drew much of its appeal from his hyper-amplified six-string and the cinematic visions of his on-stage theatrics. Ritchie Blackmore’s Rainbow is the new band; composed of former members of Elf, it has been in the making for virtually two years.

“I wanted to record ‘Black Sheep Of The Family’ (originally covered by Quatermass) for two years and I asked Deep Purple if they wanted to do it but they didn’t want to do anybody else’s material. So I got together with Ronnie Dio who was with Elf who had toured with Deep Purple in America and we cut the song. It turned out so well we