Ritchie Blackmore’s earliest guitar heroics were sparked the moment he heard Jeff Beck with The Yardbirds on “Shapes of Things.” The track floored him. His first reaction was pure shock: “My God, who the hell is this? This shouldn’t be allowed, it’s too good.” What fascinated him most was Beck’s uncanny ability to squeeze out tones that felt otherworldly. Blackmore once joked that Beck was “cheating” because he could summon sounds from his instrument that seemed impossible to replicate.
Another figure who left a permanent mark on Blackmore was Eddie Van Halen. But his admiration went beyond flashy technique—it was Eddie’s originality and songwriting flair that truly resonated. Reflecting on him, Blackmore said: “Eddie Van Halen was a brilliant guitarist who started a technique of guitar playing which was emulated by a whole generation of guitarists. He was one of the nicest musicians I ever met in the music business. Very shy and not at all conceited about his ability as a guitar player.”
Yet, above all, the guitarist who most directly shaped Blackmore’s own approach was Jimi Hendrix. While he admired Beck and Van Halen from a distance, Hendrix’s style seeped directly into Deep Purple’s DNA. Blackmore even admitted that his band, in many ways, carried the torch Hendrix had lit: “We were just taking over, in a way, from someone like Hendrix. Very musical, very bombastic, but we tried to develop certain riffs that we had, and we did borrow from Hendrix a lot.”
This influence exploded most clearly in “Speed King,” one of Deep Purple’s fiercest tracks from In Rock. Blackmore never hid its roots: “‘Speed King’… That was based on ‘Stone Free,’ Jimi Hendrix. I really liked his stuff at the time. And it was a little bit of ‘Fire.’ Do you remember ‘Fire’ by Jimi Hendrix?”
Hendrix’s power wasn’t just in his riffs or solos—it was in how he reimagined what the guitar could be. When he hit the UK scene, he stunned audiences with fluid improvisations, raw expression, and a stage presence that made the guitar feel alive. His instrument wasn’t just played; it was wielded, bent, and pushed into new realms of sound.
Even Jeff Beck—one of the few who could stand shoulder to shoulder with Hendrix—confessed to being overwhelmed by his arrival. Reflecting on that moment, Beck admitted: “I was embarrassed because I thought, ‘God, that should be me up there.’ I just hadn’t had the guts to come out and do it so flamboyantly, really. He just looked like an animal, played like an animal, and everybody went crazy.”
For Blackmore, Hendrix wasn’t just another influence—he was the spark behind some of Deep Purple’s most explosive music. “Speed King” is proof enough: behind its firepower lies the unmistakable shadow of Hendrix, the guitarist who redefined everything and inspired Blackmore to unleash his own storm.