I've always played every amp I've ever had full up, because rock and roll is supposed to be played loud. Also, that's how you get your sustain.
Ritchie Blackmore

Ian Gillan, Roger Glover and I wanted to be a hard rock band - we wanted to play rock and roll only.
Ritchie Blackmore

If a ballet dancer falls over, it's knowing how to get out looking clumsy that counts.
Ritchie Blackmore

If you can play well in the studio, you can play well on stage.
Ritchie Blackmore

Jimi... He was the gov'nor and that's it. He was brilliant, wasn't he?
Ritchie Blackmore

Johnny Winter is one of the best blues players in the world. He's very underrated.
Ritchie Blackmore

Learning to play with a big amplifier is like trying to control an elephant.
Ritchie Blackmore

Pete Townshend used to crash chords and let the guitar feed back. He's overrated.
Ritchie Blackmore

Playing a Fender is an art itself. They're always going out of tune.
Ritchie Blackmore

Session work makes you more strict. You can't hit notes all over the place. You've got to make each one really count.
Ritchie Blackmore

Simplicity is the key.
Ritchie Blackmore

Stevie Ray Vaughan was very intense. Maybe that's what caught everybody's attention. As a player, he didn't do anything amazing.
Ritchie Blackmore

The cello is such a melancholy instrument, such an isolated, miserable instrument.
Ritchie Blackmore

The only way you can get good, unless you're a genius, is to copy. That's the best thing. Just steal.
Ritchie Blackmore

Those record companies don't know what's happening at all.
Ritchie Blackmore

What's the point of re-releasing an album? The original sounded good, why change something about it?
Ritchie Blackmore

When I was 20, I didn't give a damn about song construction. I just wanted to make as much noise and play as fast and as loud as possible.
Ritchie Blackmore

When something is not good, it's bad. Period.
Ritchie Blackmore

When you're around someone good, your own standards are raised.
Ritchie Blackmore

When you're recording, if you're not really clean in your playing, it sounds like a mess.
Ritchie Blackmore