After bands like The Beatles, the Rolling Stones and The Who changed the course of Rock and Roll in the early 1960s, a second generation of British bands emerged by the end of that decade to once again show the world that music would keep evolving.<\/p>\n
One of those groups was\u00a0Deep Purple, which featured the legendary guitarist Ritchie Blackmore, responsible for some of the most memorable riffs and solos in music history.<\/p>\n
Over the course of his career, Blackmore had the chance to meet and see many incredible musicians from his generation perform.<\/p>\n
Also known for being quite sincere, he has often shared his opinions on some of them, including the late\u00a0Led Zeppelin\u00a0 a\u00a0drummer John Bonham.<\/p>\n
Ritchie Blackmore was not a big fan of Led Zeppelin but he admired John Bonham. \u201cNo. I don\u2019t really admire them. Bonham, the drummer\u2019s good. And John Paul Jones is a very good string arranger. I admire anybody that can be that big, like The Stones. I don\u2019t like The Stones\u2019 music, but I admire them because Jagger\u2019s kept them together for that long. And to keep coming back and still blowing everybody off popularity-wise is an art in itself. It might not be music, but it\u2019s,\u201d Ritchie Blackmore said\u00a0in an interview with\u00a0Steven Rosen<\/a>\u00a0in 1975.<\/p>\n The guitarist was a good friend of\u00a0John Bonham<\/a>\u00a0and as Deep Purple and Rainbow fans know, he always had a peculiar sense of humor and liked to sometimes put people on the edge. One night back in the 70s, he was at the historic Rainbow Bar & Grill in Los Angeles with the Led Zeppelin drummer. Provoked by his friend, he began pointing out from where\u00a0Jimmy Page<\/a>\u00a0was \u201cstealing\u201d their riffs, which got Bonham thinking.<\/p>\n \u201cI used to be very friendly with Bonzo from Led Zeppelin. We\u2019d be sitting drinking in the Rainbow \u2013 and he\u2019d be really up and drunk or really depressed. So he\u2019d be looking at the table. And he used to say to me: \u2018It must be really hard to stand there and go: \u2019der-der-derr, der-der, de-derr\u2019 (Smoke On The Water). \u2018Yeah, it\u2019s nearly as difficult as going: \u2018duh-der duh-der dum\u2019 (Whole Lotta Love). At least we don\u2019t copy anybody!\u2019 He goes: \u2018What are you talking about? That\u2019s bullshit!\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI know exactly where you got \u2018duh-der duh-der dum\u2019 from; you got it from \u2018Hey Joe\u2019, you just put it to a rhythm.\u2019 And he\u2019s thinking. \u2018And \u2018Immigrant Song\u2019 was \u2018Little Miss Lover\u2019. \u2018What are you talking about?\u2019 \u2018Bom-bobba-didom ba-bom bobbadidom\u2026\u2019 He was not a happy man, but he started it. We then went upstairs to the toilet. We\u2019re both there, weeing away, and he says: \u2018Rich, did you mean all that?\u2019 I said: \u2018No, not really. I was just having a go back at you.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHe says: \u2018Oh. I didn\u2019t mean it either. There\u2019s room at the top for everybody.\u2019 So we carried on weeing, then went downstairs and started drinking again.\u201d\u201cBut he loved it. He was the kind of guy who liked confrontation, and I would always give it to him. But I always remember when he said how we\u2019d taken bits and pieces from people, so I told him where he got his stuff from. It was interesting to see how his mind was going: \u2018Pagey, you bastard. Now I know!\u2019 They were good days. So I had some very funny times with John Bonham, and Keith Moon too. I was living in LA, Keith used to come up to the house all the time. I used to supply the people, and he would supply the goods,\u201d Ritchie Blackmore told\u00a0Neil Jeffries<\/a>\u00a0back in 1995.<\/p><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Deep Purple and Led Zeppelin were both formed in London in 1968, but Purple managed to release their debut album first, that same year. However, a few years later, inspired by Zeppelin, they released Deep Purple in Rock (1970), moving closer to Hard Rock and making their music less Progressive than it originally was.<\/p>\n Deep Purple and Led Zeppelin were both formed in London in 1968, but Purple managed to release their debut album first, that same year. However, a few years later, inspired by Zeppelin, they released Deep Purple in Rock (1970), moving closer to Hard Rock and making their music less Progressive than it originally was.<\/p>\n \u201cZeppelin. I liked their hard approach when they came out and did \u2018Whole Lotta Love\u2019. I immediately tuned in with that type of style because before when we were fiddling around with orchestras, I thought: something\u2019s wrong. I\u2019m not giving all that I can. Thanks to them for the inspiration. They got it from Jeff Beck, who got it from the Small Faces,\u201d Ritchie Blackmore said in an interview with\u00a0Trouser Press<\/a>\u00a0in 1978.<\/p>\n In Blackmore\u2019s opinion, Led Zeppelin helped to sophisticate Rock and Roll, pushing other bands to constantly try to do better. When talking with\u00a0Kerrang<\/a>! magazine in 1984 he said that and used the track \u201cKashmir\u201d as an example.<\/p>\n \u201cI think\u00a0Van Halen<\/a>\u00a0are interesting. I don\u2019t particularly like them as a band. But there is a lot of movement, a lot of colour to the material they produce. Led Zeppelin too, now they probably defined the term \u2018sophisticated rock\u2019. Things like \u2018Kashmir\u2019, the certain, the certain scales they would hit\u2026 that was incredible,\u201d Ritchie Blackmore said.<\/p>\n According to Blackmore, who had the chance to meet Jimmy Page before they both got famous and to get close to Bonham, the drummer was not happy with his job all the time. As he recalled in a chat posted on\u00a0his\u00a0Youtube<\/a>\u00a0channel, the musician always told Zeppelin he would leave the group. \u201cJohn Bonham would always tell Zeppelin: \u2018I\u2019m leaving the band. I can\u2019t go back to America again. I can\u2019t do that.\u2019 So, Peter Grant (Led Zeppelin\u2019s manager) used to go, \u2018Hey, come to the garage, I want to show you something.\u2019 He\u2019d go, \u2018What?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019d go to his garage and there\u2019s a new Lamborghini, just what Bonzo wanted. And that\u2019s how he kept coming. But there were a couple of moments there where he ended up crying because he wanted to go home. He didn\u2019t want to be in America, missed his wife, didn\u2019t want to be in a big band. (Bonham) wanted to be in a small band in Birmingham, just playing. He didn\u2019t care about all that fame,\u201d Ritchie Blackmore said. Bonham was three years younger than Blackmore but sadly tragically passed away too soon back in 1980 at the age of 32.<\/p>\nHe continued:<\/h4>\n
Ritchie Blackmore said Led Zeppelin influenced Deep Purple<\/h3>\n
Ritchie Blackmore said Bonham would always tell Led Zeppelin he was leaving<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n