In a new interview with Made In Metal, DEEP PURPLE singer Ian Gillan was asked how he feels about the band’s current guitarist Simon McBride performing songs that were originally written and recorded by Ritchie Blackmore.
Ian responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): “Oh, first of all, Simon is a genius. He’s absolutely fantastic.
He’s got all the energy and articulation and musical skills and creative skills that you could ever dream of. You can’t compare Ritchie with Simon or with [former DEEP PURPLE guitarist] Steve Morse or with [ex-PURPLE touring guitarist] Joe Satriani, the players that we’ve had in a band.
And I think that Ritchie has to have all the credit in the world. He’s a genius. He was fantastic. I thought he was brilliant.
And he was my roommate and we partnered and we shared a lot together. And then things, for some reason, went wrong later on.
And I’m sure half of it was my fault, so those days were dim and distant. But as far as the guitar is concerned, Simon interprets these songs very, very brilliantly.”
He continued: “For a start-off, when you’re playing… Steve Morse had this same difficulty. When you’re playing a well-known solo or a well-known guitar part, or any part for that matter, the thing you have to do, the trick is to play the recognizable parts, the parts that everyone knows that are significant in that solo, and then you can freeform in between.
But you’ve gotta pick up and show respect for the song and the original record, because that’s how people like it. If you meander around a bit in the solo, that’s also fine, but you’ve gotta start and end and do the bits that people know. Apart from that, Simon’s approach to every song has just been to throw himself at it.
“Steve Morse said a good thing when he joined the band and somebody said, ‘How does it feel like stepping into Ritchie Blackmore’s shoes?’ And Steve said, ‘I think Ritchie took his shoes with him when he left.’ And that, that applies to everyone — that applies to Simon now.”
Gillan added: “Simon’s unbelievable. We’re so lucky to have him. He’s just amazing.”
Asked if there is any possibility of Morse coming back to DEEP PURPLE, Ian said: “No, no. Simon is our permanent guitar player now.
And we’ve just finished making a new record, which will come out later in the year. But Simon is a fantastic contributor to the band. It’s one of the best things that could have happened.”
McBride spoke about how he landed the much-coveted DEEP PURPLE gig in an April 2023 interview with Colombia’s El Expreso Del Rock.
He said: “I know [PURPLE keyboardist] Don Airey very well. I played with Don for [about] 10 years now. And I also know Ian Gillan very well, and I played with him off and on.
I also know Roger [Glover, PURPLE bassist] and I know Paicey [PURPLE drummer Ian Paice] as well. I’ve known them all, I’ve played with them all, but never at the same time.
And I get on very well [with them]… I think I was kind of the natural fit for the band because… as I know Don and played with him and played with Gillan and I know the rest of the guys.
We all get on very well. But, yeah, it was still… When I got a call to do it, it was just a bizarre feeling. I think I was jumping for joy.”
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