Last week, original Deep Purple guitarist Ritchie Blackmore reunited with the band for the first time in 33 years, playing “Smoke on the Water” during their show at Jones Beach Theatre in Wantagh, New York.
Explaining how the performance came to be, singer Ian Gillan told the audience at the time that it was all Blackmore’s idea.
Now, in a new interview with Guitar Player, Blackmore opened up about the brief reunion.
“I woke up one morning thinking, the day before their show, ‘You know it would be good for the fans if I just got up for one song, probably ‘Smoke’ and just show that were not at each other’s throats and don’t hate each other,” he said.
“Candice, my wife, got me in touch with Ian Gillan and I said, ‘What do you think about me getting up for ‘Smoke?’ His exact words were, ‘It made me smile.’ He then put it to the band and it was thumbs-up all around.”
“It was very moving because I went on very quickly and had to play immediately,” Blackmore added. “I couldn’t warm up, but I wasn’t there to be playing correct notes. I was there to see old friends I hadn’t seen in 40 years and we’re all getting older. I think we realized it could be the last time we see each other, maybe.”
Reflecting on what it was like to play with Deep Purple again, he said: “It was tricky; I didn’t play anything too technical, as I felt I should stick to the rudiments of being simple. I still lost my place at one point, but it’s not why I was there. I was there to heal any wounds — but there weren’t any wounds. Everyone was like, we were in the army, all along the Western front and we were all getting together again. Very emotional moment.”
Blackmore went on to admit that while he and Gillan used to clash back in the day, things have gotten better.
“We’re two alpha guys. I’m used to running a band, and I think he’s used to running a band. So we clashed in the old days. But all that [has] changed.”
