Creativity Quote by Ritchie Blackmore

Blackmore isn’t just taking a swipe at the Stones; he’s drawing a border around his own myth. By name-checking Keith Richards’ “trip” of multiple guitars in alternate tunings, he frames that approach as indulgent lifestyle as much as technique. “Trip” does the work: it implies a hazy, chaotic ethos where vibe substitutes for discipline. Blackmore, the famously exacting architect behind Deep Purple and Rainbow, positions himself on the opposite pole - control, clarity, and a kind of austere virtuosity.

The jab also doubles as an argument about what rock guitar should sound like. Richards’ open tunings and guitar-swapping are about feel, about building riffs that lock into a groove and let the song swagger. Blackmore’s legacy leans toward precision and dramatic phrasing, borrowing from classical shapes and treating the guitar like a lead voice that must cut cleanly through the band. When he dismisses the method, he’s really dismissing the aesthetic: looseness, repetition, funkiness, the cultivated imperfection that the Stones made iconic.

“I never liked the Rolling Stones much anyway” is the blunt punchline, but it’s also strategic. In rock culture, taste is a declaration of allegiance. Blackmore’s contrarian streak is part of the brand - the musician as uncompromising craftsman, suspicious of consensus greatness. The subtext: don’t mistake popularity for legitimacy, and don’t confuse rock’s coolest posture with musical seriousness. It’s rivalry, yes, but also self-definition in a genre where identity is as much about what you refuse as what you play.