Talk:Ritchie Blackmore

The Blackmor clan are estsblished in Scotland at least before the Norse invasion. Many sources will attest to this. i.e., https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richie_Blackmore_(rugby_league)#Early_years — Preceding unsigned comment added by 23.124.107.217 (talk) 04:08, 26 July 2020 (UTC)

Nationality
German interview is not reliable source because it don't mean that it is the English man to be birth in England. Though Blackmore was born in England, his father was born in Cardiff, Wales and his paternal grandfather was born in Swansea, Wales. --Mmarsh (talk) 23:44, 27 May 2013 (UTC)

But by your own logic being born in Wales doesn't necessarily make a person Welsh. Considered in tandem with the fact that "Blackmore" is an English name, it appears likely that his alleged Welsh ancestry may not be so Welsh after all.

Blackmore was born in England with at least one English parent, raised in England and lived in England until well into adult life. By any reasonable standard he is an Englishman, and has repeatedly made statements to this effect in interviews. Shiresman (talk) 01:07, 1 July 2013 (UTC)

This is an illuminating interview: http://www.guyguitars.com/eng/interviews/ritchieblackmore.html

Blackmore: "My first guitar was a Framus, it cost 7 guineas. My Dad bought it for me, he threatened to smash it over my head if I didn't learn to play it!"

Interviewer: "I guess your Dad must be pretty proud of you now..."

Blackmore: "Yeah, but you know what English Dads are like - they don't often say what they think, they just pull you on the mistakes."

So in this interview he clearly identifies his father as being English. Not Welsh, or British, but English. Shiresman (talk) 20:48, 22 September 2013 (UTC)

See also this one: http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/interviews/interviews/ritchie_blackmore_i_hate_to_spend_more_than_15_minutes_in_the_studio.html

Ultimate Guitar: "How far back does your interest in Renaissance-influenced music go?"

Blackmore: "1972, when I first heard David Munrow and the Early Music Consort of London. Obviously, being English, I was exposed to Renaissance music as I was growing up - albeit subliminal, probably from the radio". Shiresman (talk) 20:52, 22 September 2013 (UTC)

So Blackmore clearly identifies both his father (the alleged source of his Welshness/non-Englishness) and himself as English. Shiresman (talk) 20:52, 22 September 2013 (UTC)


 * This appears to have reared its head again will some edit warring over the subject. There appears to be sources for either of the possible options. Please discuss this here and evaluate which of the sources is more reliable before making more changes to the article. Thanks. Keith D (talk) 11:16, 16 April 2014 (UTC)

As per discussion above, Ritchie Blackmore is English and self identifies as such. Stating that Blackmore is English isn't being contentious, controversial or inflammatory it is stating fact and obvious to everyone apart from one editor of this article. Quite why anyone would have a problem with an Englishman (self described no less) being described as being English is beyond me. As an aside - where his father is from bares no relation to what he considers hismelf to be, unless he chooses to, it doesn't make him any less English. I am fairly certain there are no sources where Blackmore states that he isn't English because of a Welsh father?

92.8.21.86 (talk) 12:25, 16 April 2014 (UTC)

It seems someone has gone back to changing this, despite the references.

Although this has no baring, as we already have multiple proper sources for Blackmore identifying as English - I have to question the reference/s to his father being Welsh. His parents married in 1938 (http://search.findmypast.co.uk/results/world-records/england-and-wales-marriages-1837-2008?firstname=%20lewis%20j&lastname=blackmore%20&spouse1surname=short). There are only two possible birth records for his father, Lewis J Blackmore - a Lewis John Blackmore born in Bedwellty, Monmouthshire in 1902 and a Lewis J Blackmore in Frome, Somerset in 1911 (http://search.findmypast.co.uk/results/world-records/england-and-wales-births-1837-2006?firstname=lewis%20j&lastname=blackmore). The Welsh birth record would have made him 36 when he married, which strikes me as unlikely in 1938? His mother Violet D Short, was born in 1917 in Bristol (http://search.findmypast.co.uk/results/world-records/england-and-wales-births-1837-2006?firstname=violet%20d&lastname=short). Frome is obviously closer to Bristol, also making it more likely.

Further evidence shows that the Lewis J Blackmore from Bedwellty, Monmouthshire married twice in 1933 and 1940 in his hometown (http://search.findmypast.co.uk/results/world-records/england-and-wales-marriages-1837-2008?firstname=lewis%20j&lastname=blackmore), pretty much confirming that he is not the person that married Blackmore's mother Violet D Short in Bristol and therefore that Blackmore's father is not the Welsh born Lewis John Blackmore. Interestingly, we don't have any proper original soures for his father being Welsh - just an alleged Welsh documentary and a supposed quote from that mentioned in an unofficial book.

78.145.150.141 (talk) 22:36, 17 May 2015 (UTC)

Very interesting - thank you for researching Lewis Blackmore. The other famous Blackmore of recent times is a retired footballer called Clayton Blackmore, who is unequivocally Welsh. I remember many years ago (mid-late 1990s, when C. Blackmore was still playing) reading speculation on both football and Deep Purple forums that they were distant cousins of some sort. I've no idea whether they are or not, and it doesn't particularly matter, but it may be a partial explanation of the "Ritchie Blackmore is Welsh" thing that refuses to go away.

By the by, the other famous Blackmore of whom I am aware is the English novelist R.D. Blackmore. His father was from Devon, and the English west country appears to be where the name (which is categorically of English origin rather than Welsh) is from. So if Ritchie Blackmore's father was from Frome in Somerset, this would make sense.

This map (hopefully) shows where the name Blackmore was commonest in 1881. http://gbnames.publicprofiler.org/Map2.aspx?name=BLACKMORE&year=1881&altyear=1998&country=GB&type=name    If you click on the map for 1998 you will see that the name has become relatively common in south-east Wales, but this is clearly via migration from south-west England (incidentally, Clayton Blackmore is from south-east Wales, Neath to be precise). Shiresman (talk) 12:19, 13 February 2016 (UTC)

Slide Guitar
Anyone who has played or observed RB will know he is a superb slide guitarist yet no mention is made of this. There are many tracks for example Holy Man on Stormbringer and Catch the Rainbow from the first Rainbow album to name but two - let alone portions of his rendition of Beethoven's 9th.

I also feel the style section does not underscore that Blackmore is very lyrical in his backing style, typically eschewing strummed chords for often complex rhythmic staccato lines, often overlayered with other parts (including with slide work) --- and forming melodic counterpoints to the overlying vocal lines to then periodically track back to the vocal melodic line.

Finally, I do feel it might be stated that compared to his contemporary metal guitarists, RB relatively rarely played pentatonic scales except for the main riff... — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2.248.162.190 (talk) 09:44, 18 January 2018 (UTC)

Son Rory
Anyone know if he named his son after Rory Gallagher? Seems a bit of a coincidence. Not exactly an English name. Hanoi Road (talk) 00:15, 14 January 2021 (UTC)

Bobbie and the Dominators
No mention in this article of his early band Bobbie and the Dominators, see. Obviously that's a blog post so not a reliable source, but can a reliable source for that info be found? --Viennese Waltz 12:51, 18 January 2021 (UTC)

Dominant minor scales?
Never heard of dominant minor scales and web searches turn up little, so is this a mistake? Is there some attribution for this statement? ;⁠-⁠) 89.214.204.51 (talk) 22:38, 30 December 2023 (UTC)

Legacy
There’s an opinion that list of guitarist is too long since every guitarist is influenced by Ritchie. Personally I don’t know a half of guitarists listed. What do you think? Should we ever enhance the list or stop it? — Voxamarkin (talk) 18:48, 7 May 2024 (UTC)