Simon McBride has highlighted a particular guitar lick by Ritchie Blackmore that challenges him every night during Deep Purple concerts.
The 45-year-old guitarist from Belfast, who replaced Steve Morse in Deep Purple in September 2022, has already played over 100 shows with the iconic British rock band. In an interview with Ultimate Guitar promoting his first studio album with Deep Purple, ‘=1,’ McBride was asked about the most challenging Ritchie Blackmore guitar parts to play live.
“Most of it is actually not too bad,” McBride shared. “There’s one little lick which annoyed me for a long time, it’s in ‘Lazy.’ I don’t replicate Blackmore’s solo in ‘Lazy,’ but it’s a song where I feel I can improvise and have more fun. However, there’s this one lick he does, and I felt I had to nail it. It’s a tricky lick, not because it’s ultrafast, but because it involves a lot of chromatic stuff and slides in a very tight space, within three or four frets. That, to me, is the hardest part about playing Purple.”
He continued, “Ritchie was never a full technician, so nothing was overly difficult technique-wise. He was more of a creative player. Even the fast part in ‘Highway Star’ isn’t John Petrucci-fast, but it fits the song. Most of what he played was more melodic. Ritchie played for the song. But that lick in ‘Lazy’ — it still haunts me every night. I’m always thinking, ‘Oh s—, don’t screw it up!'”
Deep Purple’s new studio album ‘=1,’ featuring singles ‘Lazy Sod,’ ‘Portable Door,’ and ‘Pictures of You,’ is set for release this Friday, July 19th.
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The greatest guitar solos of all time:
75) Pink Floyd – ‘Wish You Were Here’ (1975)
74) Iron Maiden – ‘Hallowed Be Thy Name’ (1982)
73) Guns N’ Roses – ‘Paradise City’ (1987)
72) Guns N’ Roses – ‘Estranged’ (1991)
71) Bon Jovi – ‘Wanted Dead or Alive’ (1986)
70) Iron Maiden – ‘Powerslave’ (1984)
69) UFO – ‘Lights Out’ (1977)
68) Neil Young – ‘Like a Hurricane’ (1977)
67) Judas Priest – ‘Beyond The Realms of Death’ (1978)
66) Free – ‘All Right Now’ (1970)
65) Extreme – ‘Play With Me’(1989)
64) AC/DC – ‘Back in Black’ (1981)
63) UFO – ‘Love To Love’ (1977)
62) Led Zeppelin – ‘Whole Lotta Love’ (1969)
61) Eric Johnson – ‘Cliffs of Dover’ (1990)
60) Stevie Ray Vaughn – ‘Little Wing’ (1984, released posthumously in 1991)
59) Pearl Jam – ‘Alive’ (1991)
58) Metallica – ‘Nothing Else Matters’ (1991)
57) Fleetwood Mac – ‘The Chain’ (1977)
56) Dragonforce – ‘Through the Fire and Flames’ (2005)
55) Thin Lizzy – ‘Emerald’ (1976)
54) Dire Straits – ‘Brothers in Arms’ (1985)
53) Steve Vai – ‘For the Love of God’ (1990)
52) Deep Purple – ‘Sometimes I Feel Like Screaming’ (1996)
51) AC/DC – ‘Thunderstruck’ (1990)
50) Rainbow – ‘Gates of Babylon’ (1977)
49) Metallica – ‘The Unforgiven’ (1991)
48) Rush – ‘La Villa Strangiato’ (1978)
47) Pantera – ‘Cemetery Gates’ (1990)
46) Pink Floyd – ‘Shine on You Crazy Diamond’ (1975)
45) Dire Straits – ‘Telegraph Road’ (1982)
44) Peter Frampton – ‘While My Guitar Gently Weeps’ (2003)
43) Slash – ‘Anastasia’ (2012)
42) The Beatles – ‘While My Guitar Gently Weeps’ (1968)
41) Pink Floyd – ‘Time’ (1973)
40) Genesis – ‘Firth of Fifth’ (1973)
39) Deep Purple – ‘Smoke on the Water’ (1972)
38) AC/DC – ‘Let There Be Rock’ (1977)
37) Megadeth – ‘Tornado of Souls’ (1990)
36) Ozzy Osbourne – ‘No More Tears’ (1991)
35) Metallica – ‘Fade To Black’ (1984)
34) Marillion – ‘Easter’ (1990)
33) Joe Bonamassa – ‘India / Mountain Time’ (2008)
32) Ozzy Osbourne – ‘Crazy Train’ (1980)
31) Cream – ‘Crossroads’ (1968)
30) AC/DC – ‘Whole Lotta Rosie’ (1977)
29) Led Zeppelin – ‘Since I’ve Been Loving You’ (1970)
28) Queen – ‘Brighton Rock’ (1974)
27) Metallica – ‘One’ (1989)
26) Extreme – ‘Get The Funk Out’ (1990)
25) Thin Lizzy – ‘Still In Love With You’ (1974)
24) Metallica – ‘Master of Puppets’ (1986)
23) The Jimi Hendrix Experience – ‘Voodoo Chile (Slight Return)’ (1968)
22) Joe Bonamassa – ‘Sloe Gin’ (2007)
21) Ozzy Osbourne – ‘Mr Crowley’ (1980)
20) Derek & The Dominoes – ‘Layla’
19) Gary Moore – ‘Still Got The Blues (For You)’ (1990)
18) Prince – ‘Purple Rain’ (1984)
17) Deep Purple – ‘Child in Time’ (1970)
16) Bon Jovi – ‘Dry County’ (1992)
15) The Jimi Hendrix Experience – ‘All Along The Watchtower’ (1967)
14) Deep Purple – ‘Highway Star’ (1972)
13) Gary Moore – ‘Parisienne Walkways’ (1979)
12) UFO – ‘Rock Bottom’ (1974)
11) Dire Straits – ‘Sultans of Swing’ (1978)
10) Queen – ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ (1975)
9) Rainbow – ‘Stargazer’ (1976)
8) Guns N’ Roses – ‘Sweet Child ‘O Mine’ (1987)
7) Van Halen – ‘Eruption’ (1978)
6) Guns N’ Roses – ‘November Rain’ (1991)
5) Eagles – ‘Hotel California’ (1976)
4) Led Zeppelin – ‘Stairway To Heaven’ (1971)
3) Alter Bridge – ‘Blackbird’ (2007)
2) Lynyrd Skynyrd – ‘Free Bird’ (1973)
1) Pink Floyd – ‘Comfortably Numb’ (1979)
