Zitat des Tages von Ritchie Blackmore:
Playing a Fender is an art itself. They're always going out of tune.
I can turn on some jazz guitarist, and he won't do a thing for me, if he's not playing electrically. But Jeff Beck's great to listen to.
Stevie Ray Vaughan was very intense. Maybe that's what caught everybody's attention. As a player, he didn't do anything amazing.
I feel like I own the stage.
Session work makes you more strict. You can't hit notes all over the place. You've got to make each one really count.
I have never met one person who likes Grand Funk.
I can do the old hand vibrato just fine, but I like attacking the strings.
When I was 20, I didn't give a damn about song construction. I just wanted to make as much noise and play as fast and as loud as possible.
What's the point of re-releasing an album? The original sounded good, why change something about it?
I was impressed by Hendrix. His attitude was brilliant. Even the way he walked was amazing.
I think a lot about death more than life, because we're going towards death.
When you're recording, if you're not really clean in your playing, it sounds like a mess.
If a ballet dancer falls over, it's knowing how to get out looking clumsy that counts.
But you have to give your whole life to a cello. When I realized that, I went back to the guitar and just turned the volume up a bit louder.
I criticize my own work pretty harshly.
Combing my hair doesn't make me a better musician.
Simplicity is the key.
If you can play well in the studio, you can play well on stage.
I don't put myself on Jeff Beck's level, but I can relate to him when he says he'd rather be working on his car collection than playing the guitar.
I don't use the twang bar anymore. It's become too popular.
The cello is such a melancholy instrument, such an isolated, miserable instrument.
I like leaping around on stage as long as it's done with class. None of this jumping up in the air and doing the splits.
Ian Gillan, Roger Glover and I wanted to be a hard rock band - we wanted to play rock and roll only.
When you've toured for about 10 years like me, you end up feeling like you're always waiting for somebody or something. The whole day is a drag.
I was impressed by Hendrix. Not so much by his playing, as his attitude - he wasn't a great player, but everything else about him was brilliant.
Hendrix inspired me, but I was still more into Wes Montgomery. I was also into the Allman Brothers around the time of those albums.
Everything I do is usually totally spontaneous.
Learning to play with a big amplifier is like trying to control an elephant.
I had given up the guitar between '75 and '78. I completely lost interest. I was sick of hearing other guitar players and I was tired of my tunes.
Johnny Winter is one of the best blues players in the world. He's very underrated.
Pete Townshend used to crash chords and let the guitar feed back. He's overrated.
I however don't go to clubs to show off and to be seen, and certainly not to make statements. I just want to be able to quietly watch a band.
I'm not into that Keith Richard trip of having all those guitars in different tunings. I never liked the Rolling Stones much anyway.
I don't see myself as such an important guitarist.
I'm very moved by Renaissance music, but I still love to play hard rock - though only if it's sophisticated and has some thought behind it.
I can imagine that Rod Stewart likes giving autographs because he's pure showbusiness.