Ritchie Blackmore

Richard Hugh Blackmore, (born April 14, 1945) is a noted British guitarist. Born in Weston-super-Mare, He is famous for being the guitarist in the revolutionary band Deep Purple and the highly successful band Rainbow

The Second Deep Purple Years, 1984-1994

In April 1984, eight years after the demise of Deep Purple, it happened. It was announced on BBC radio's The Friday Rock Show that the "classic" early 70s line-up of Blackmore, Gillan, Glover, Lord, and Paice was reforming and recording new material. The band signed a deal with Polydor in Europe and Mercury in North America. The album Perfect Strangers was released in October 1984 and surprised everybody in being the finest Purple album since 'Burn.' A tour followed, starting in New Zealand and winding its way across the world into Europe by the following summer. It was a tremendous success. The UK homecoming proved mixed as they elected to play just a single festival show (with main support from The Scorpions). The weather was famously bad but 80,000 turned up anyway.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

In 1987, the line-up recorded and toured in support of the eclectic and experimental album, 'The House of Blue Light.' A live album, 'Nobody's Perfect' (1988), was culled from US shows on this tour, while in the UK a new version of "Hush" was released to mark the band's twenty year anniversary. In 1989, Ian Gillan quit the band once again as his relations with Blackmore soured. His replacement was former Rainbow vocalist Joe Lynn Turner. This line up recorded just one album, 'Slaves & Masters' (1990). 'Slaves & Masters' split opinion among fans and band alike, Blackmore's disaffected bandmates later humorously deriding it as "the finest Rainbow album Deep Purple ever made," while Blackmore insisted that it was the best effort of the reunion era. The shows saw Purple dusting off 'Coverdale' era classics as well as 'mark II' material.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Neither the album nor the tour were critically or commercially successful. Turner was fired, Jon Lord and Ian Paice arguing that Deep Purple needed Gillan back in the fold. Blackmore relented and the classic line-up recorded 'The Battle Rages On' in 1993. In spite of swelling animosity between Blackmore and Gillan, this album produced what are arguably two of the finest arrangements of the reunion era: "Anya" and "The Battle Rages On." During the support tour in mid-1994, tensions between Gillan and Blackmore reached a climax. Blackmore walked out never to return. The brilliant guitarist Joe Satriani stepped in to help complete the band's live dates (in Japan). Although Satriani was asked to join full time, he declined. The band auditioned guitarists, and Steve Morse of Dixie Dregs impressed them enough to get the gig.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~