Top 63 Quotes & Sayings by Ritchie Blackmore

Pete Townshend used to crash chords and let the guitar feed back. He's overrated.

Combing my hair doesn't make me a better musician.

I can do the old hand vibrato just fine, but I like attacking the strings.

The cello is such a melancholy instrument, such an isolated, miserable instrument.

I can never remember what I do even in the studio.

Everything I do is usually totally spontaneous.

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.

Those record companies don't know what's happening at all.

I can imagine that Rod Stewart likes giving autographs because he's pure showbusiness.

When something is not good, it's bad. Period.

In my early days, I never used finger vibrato at all. I originally carved my reputation as one of the 'fast' guitar players.

I'm not into that Keith Richard trip of having all those guitars in different tunings. I never liked the Rolling Stones much anyway.

When you're recording, if you're not really clean in your playing, it sounds like a mess.

I was always stuck in a musical no man's land.

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.

If you can play well in the studio, you can play well on stage.

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.

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 never work out my leads. Everything I do is usually totally spontaneous. If someone says, 'That was good; play that again,' I'm not able to do it.

I found the blues too limiting, and classical was too disciplined.

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.

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.

Session work makes you more strict. You can't hit notes all over the place. You've got to make each one really count.

If a ballet dancer falls over, it's knowing how to get out looking clumsy that counts.

What's the point of re-releasing an album? The original sounded good, why change something about it?

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.

They used to complain at school that I looked out of the window for long periods of time - that sums up my life. I like to look out the window, do nothing, daydream.

When you're around someone good, your own standards are raised.

Ian Gillan, Roger Glover and I wanted to be a hard rock band - we wanted to play rock and roll only.

Johnny Winter is one of the best blues players in the world. He's very underrated.

Simplicity is the key.

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 see myself as such an important guitarist.

I have never met one person who likes Grand Funk.

Hendrix inspired me, but I was still more into Wes Montgomery. I was also into the Allman Brothers around the time of those albums.

Playing a Fender is an art itself. They're always going out of tune.

I think a lot about death more than life, because we're going towards death.

I was impressed by Hendrix. His attitude was brilliant. Even the way he walked was amazing.

Learning to play with a big amplifier is like trying to control an elephant.

Jimi... He was the gov'nor and that's it. He was brilliant, wasn't he?

I've always played every amp I've ever had full up, because rock and roll is supposed to be played loud. Also, that's how you get your sustain.

The only way you can get good, unless you're a genius, is to copy. That's the best thing. Just steal.

I feel like I own the stage.

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 criticize my own work pretty harshly.

I'm not good enough, technically, to be a classic musician. I lack discipline.

I don't use the twang bar anymore. It's become too popular.

I see someone like John Williams, the classical player, and the amount of discipline and the natural ability that man has is so frightening. That requires so much natural talent. And I think my talent came from just practising, and I feel a bit intimidated when I see players that good.

A lot of blues guitarists play with only three fingers, and they can't figure out certain runs that require the use of their little fingers. Classical training is good for that.

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

I don't play by those rules; I'm my own worst enemy sometimes. There's something in me that has to go against the grain. You know, I don't like to be a dead fish, swimming with all the other dead fish, I like to go upstream sometimes, against the flow.

Sometimes if I'm not playing well on stage, I'll purposely play even worse; I'll tear it apart, because I'm so disgusted with what I'm playing that I'll go the wrong route: instead of trying to make it better, I'll go the other way and really make myself sound bad. Which is a kind of a strange outlook I suppose, really.

Most guitar players get a name because the band that they're in has become popular. That doesn't mean that they're particularly good, whereas conversely, you've got people like Albert Lee, an incredible player, one of my favourites who's not in a famous band, so he doesn't get into the popularity polls. I have to laugh at some of the people that do get into the popularity polls - some of them are so bad, but they're in a band that's at the top of the hit parade. I think people mix that up.

I'm definitely not a guy that comes in the dressing room saying, "Hey, everybody, what a wonderful life." I'm usually brooding about something I think is wrong. I care so much about getting the music right, and if I think someone's slacking I get very upset about that. I just can't go on stage and say, "Another day, another dollar," which I've heard a few people say: I can't go along with that at all. It's got to be as good as you can do - to my own detriment.

Jeff Beck is my idol .. sometimes he finds notes that I just do not have on my guitar. Frank Zappa's another one .. I loved Frank Zappa ... I do think Van Halen reinvented the guitar ... he's an excellent musician, a shrewd guitarist and as a person he's wonderful.

When something is not good, it's bad. Period

One of the reasons I took up the guitar was I didn't want to speak to anybody. I really felt uncomfortable speaking to people, so I took the guitar up so I could hide behind it. I'm not comfortable explaining things, because my brain doesn't work that way.

I've always thought that I'm not really a guitar player, but I just practised so much that I developed into a kind of a bit of a musician, but I've often doubted my musical ear. If someone sings me a melody, I have to improvise on that melody, because I can't retain the information they've given me. That's why I still practise today, I suppose, because I still feel inadequate.