Ritchie Blackmore's Greatest Solos
This list is derived to denote Deep Purple’s famously notorious lead guitarist, Ritchie Blackmore’s most awe-inspiring guitar solos committed to the Purple’s studio records and live records. |
| 1 | Deep Purple
Lazy
The guitarist's first solo in "Lazy," although incredibly overlooked captures him in his forte of blues and hard rock style. The first half of the solo comprises Blackmore's skill of rapid fire notes intertwined with a remarkably clean tone while the second half adds more attack to his tone and builds on his modal playing until he relinquishes his final bend back into the song's main riff, giving Lord his solo's cue. |
| 2 | Child in Time
Blackmore’s takeover of artistic control for Deep Purple rendered the band with one of the most expressive songs in their output. The song, while a showcase for Gillan’s skyscraping vocals, the guitarist soars into one of his longest and angered solos in his recording career. Starting off as an emotional lament, he commands the rise in tempo by altering his tone into a barrage of notes characteristic of his short-fused composure. The final arpeggiated notes intertwined with a harmonized riff with Jon Lord ends on the cadence of Paice’s cymbal leaving the audience in awe of what just occurred before them. |
| 3 | Highway Star
Blackmore’s most famous solo endeavor witnesses his heavier take on a Bach-infused chord progression. As his solo begins with bluesy harmonized bends and notes, the influence of Bach kicks in and unleashes the guitarist into a technically-challenging precursor to a frenetic rise until he bursts out into a bluesy attack before Gillan resumes his control. |
| 4 | Burn
The “Burn” solo commences in a brutal attack of the Stratocaster’s lower end before it is subsequently attacked on the above octave in frenetic picking styles. The solo is given a sense of relief when the arpeggiated sequence finalizes the solo over a classically-influence chord progression. The solo comes to an end as Blackmore’s sneers through the main riff of the song. |
| 5 | Wring That Neck - Live 1970
This live version served Blackmore and Lord as their justification as to who is the true virtuoso. It is Blackmore’s second solo that demonstrates his instrumental abilities in full light. The 5:36 minute mark in his second solo proves Blackmore’s ability surpasses any prewritten scale. This performance surely guarantees the guitarist a slot as one of the top performers of the instrument. |
| 6 | Smoke on the Water
On the band’s biggest hit, Blackmore delicately places his solo as one of his most intricate and tamed in his recorded output. The solo gently rises to its famous outro notes until he switches to a treble tone to land back on his scale before the single continues. |
| 7 | The Mule
The Mule, although dominated by Ian Paice’s drumming and Jon Lord’s psychedelic organ, in interrupted by Blackmore’s hard-hitting solo that forces Paice to switch grooves as the guitarist unleashes vehement notes of anger onto the fret board. The solo reverts to the psychedelic feel as his now reverb-drenched tone fills the void. |
| 8 | Child in Time (Made in Japan)
The live version recorded off of the band’s monumental Made in Japan record takes the studio original of this song and only exponentiates the aggression with each note. The tempo for Blackmore’s solo is much faster than the studio version and his solo itself explodes into a plethora of incredibly fast notes that advocate sheer anger an frustration into his playing. |
| 9 | Soldier of Fortune
This song finds Blackmore in his most tender moment as his harmonized spacious bends add the needed emotionality to the closing song off of Stormbringer. The short, yet emotional solo fills the song’s mid section with the perfectly necessary notes able to draw tears from the listener. |
| 10 | Hold On
Deep Purple’s funkiest endeavor finds the unusually laid back Blackmore at his most uncharacteristic solo section. The song’s lack of prominent guitar inclines any Purple fan to assume Blackmore would be absent in this song. However, he comes out of nowhere with a solo birthed with treble notes similar to guitar outings reminiscent of Steely Dan records. |
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