Black Knight: Ritchie Blackmore
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"An essential read for any fan of classic rock" - Classic Rock Society
Review
"An essential read for any fan of classic rock" - Classic Rock Society
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
31 of 32 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
A full-length bio of the man in black is long overdue and this effort is worthy for the attempt but ultimately disappoints. RB is largely absent here except in the images painted by others from which we learn that he runs a tight ship, tends to play lots of rough but childish pranks on some new band members, learned to drive a car very late, has been known to exploit people and has at times been extremely rude. You didn't know this? The early chapters offer the most insights on his development as a player and a person, placing RB in the context of the emerging UK music scene but by the time we get to the DP and Rainbow days the text falls into the album-tour-album-personnel change-album-tour cycle that we all know so well without adding anything new.
Yes RB and co worked at a ridiculous pace in the early 70s, seemingly driven by a management determined to milk as much out of them as possible. That their work has stood the test of time so well is remarkable, but it's not clear why - there is no real critical analysis of the work offered here. The text relies very heavily on well-known interviews from magazines and in part on lengthy ramblng quotes from some of the less important sidemen in his career (Turner, White, etc.) when we really need the Gillan, Lord, Dio views. What makes the man the musician he is we shall not learn here. How do other guitarists of his stature and time view his contribution? How does RB view his own and various others' contributions? How does he create and write music? RB's relationship with his son is minimal, apparently, and he has had several wives and serious partners, though only one of them seems to have spoken to the author. The book is called the RB Story and that is what you get - a story more than a serious biography, pieced together from existing stock and presented too uncritically to offer fresh insight. The author makes it clear more than once that he knows or has met RB but little seems to have been gained from these meetings. It's difficult to get a real impression of the man from this, despite it's length, though I came away from the text with less interest now in RB than I had - he comes across mostly as a bit of a jerk who obsesses about success while feigning no interest in the industry. That he has made some of the greatest rock music ever is easily forgotten here, and why his work and solos went down the tubes in the late 1980s is not discussed though it's widely considered to be the case by fans and critics. In sum, this work needs to be significantly edited with a view to producing a more considered perspective on the music and the man who has lived the life, which after all is what it's all about. Yes, if you're a fan you'll buy it but if you yearn for serious critical analysis of rock music and it's place in our cultural heritage, then the wait continues.
Yes RB and co worked at a ridiculous pace in the early 70s, seemingly driven by a management determined to milk as much out of them as possible. That their work has stood the test of time so well is remarkable, but it's not clear why - there is no real critical analysis of the work offered here. The text relies very heavily on well-known interviews from magazines and in part on lengthy ramblng quotes from some of the less important sidemen in his career (Turner, White, etc.) when we really need the Gillan, Lord, Dio views. What makes the man the musician he is we shall not learn here. How do other guitarists of his stature and time view his contribution? How does RB view his own and various others' contributions? How does he create and write music? RB's relationship with his son is minimal, apparently, and he has had several wives and serious partners, though only one of them seems to have spoken to the author. The book is called the RB Story and that is what you get - a story more than a serious biography, pieced together from existing stock and presented too uncritically to offer fresh insight. The author makes it clear more than once that he knows or has met RB but little seems to have been gained from these meetings. It's difficult to get a real impression of the man from this, despite it's length, though I came away from the text with less interest now in RB than I had - he comes across mostly as a bit of a jerk who obsesses about success while feigning no interest in the industry. That he has made some of the greatest rock music ever is easily forgotten here, and why his work and solos went down the tubes in the late 1980s is not discussed though it's widely considered to be the case by fans and critics. In sum, this work needs to be significantly edited with a view to producing a more considered perspective on the music and the man who has lived the life, which after all is what it's all about. Yes, if you're a fan you'll buy it but if you yearn for serious critical analysis of rock music and it's place in our cultural heritage, then the wait continues.
14 of 15 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Blackmore is a notoriously secretive character and in "Black Knight" Jerry Bloom has done a good job of pulling together almost everything that is available in one way or another without formal input from TMIB himself. This includes a range of magazine reviews, a generous helping of personal stories from ex-band members, friends and management plus some of his own anecdotes as an acquaintance of Blackmore's. He suggests he is a friend of Blackmore's so clearly, if he values that friendship, which I'm sure he does, then what's in the book must be pretty reliable. The book is a balanced account of Blackmore's 50 odd years of making music. Each period is dealt with in equal detail. I for one found the early years covering his late teens and early twenties as engrossing as the more famous 1969-1981 period. All the ups and downs from the Rainbow years are well documented and often very funny. They include comments from many of those who didn't cut the mustard and got the bullet - some before they ever appeared on record. I don't think Bloom has fudged anything - most of what's there seems to stack up and cross-reference with other information available. Bloom is well informed as the editor of one of Blackmore's key fanzines for many years - so he avoids the obvious and well-ploughed narrative.
A good read - I got into trouble with the missis for not being able to put it down - even when the kids were screaming.
A good read - I got into trouble with the missis for not being able to put it down - even when the kids were screaming.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
saw this book a while ago as i had a few books to read at the time skipped it but now ive purchased it found very interesting found lots of things i didnt know about ritchie about the songs he played on as a young man i think this book is informative and interesting recomended
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Blackmore is a god
Bought this as a Christmas treat for myself, Blackmore has always been my hero. Found the book a good read, very informative, would have liked to have had more insight into the man... Read more
Published on 19 Feb 2009 by Teenwolf
Priorities wrong.
This book was just okay, in fact I was contemplating only giving it 2 stars! My reason for this is that I feel the author has got all his priorities wrong. Read more
Published on 20 July 2007 by Rob Dylan
long overdue!!!
i ve been a fan of ritchie since the purple ,rainbow days and still enjoy his work with blackmores night. Read more
Published on 5 Dec 2006 by Mr. Kevin Brennan
It's about time too...
If you're a fan of Ritchie Blackmore.
Don't argue, just by it.
You won't regret it!
Don't argue, just by it.
You won't regret it!
Published on 12 Oct 2006 by GP
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