SIMON MCBRIDE NAMES THE MOST DIFFICULT RITCHIE BLACKMORE GUITAR PART TO PLAY, EXPLAINS CHALLENGING ASPECTS OF BLACKMORE’S MUSIC
Nearing six decades since the band’s official formation in 1968, Deep Purple has gone through so many stylistic and lineup changes, with Ian Paice remaining the sole original member today. But no matter the era or the lineup, all musicians in Deep Purple were nothing short of impressive. Their newest addition is Simon McBride, who replaced longtime member Steve Morse and is now officially present on the band’s upcoming studio album. =1, which is being released on July 19.
While waiting for the record, we chatted with Simon and discussed some guitar-related Deep Purple stuff. Among other things, he reflected on the band’s original guitarist, Ritchie Blackmore, and some of the challenging aspects of playing his music.
Simon McBride: “Most of it is actually not too bad. There’s one little lick which annoyed me for a long, long time, it’s in ‘Lazy’. I don’t play the same solo he plays in ‘Lazy,’ but ‘Lazy’ is one of those songs where I feel I can just improvise a bit more and just have a bit more fun with it.
Richard Hugh Blackmore chromatic stuff in it and slides in a very tight space, within three or four frets, and that’s it. So that, to me, is the hardest thing about playing Purple.”
Deep Purple recently released their new single, “Lazy Sod”, following their previous singles “Portable Door” and “Pictures Of You” from the upcoming studio album, =1. The band then released the video below, which captures the magic in the studio:
