Ritchie Blackmore: What I Think About Yngwie Malmsteen | A Bit Creepy

Ritchie Blackmore was asked in an interview with guitar world magazine what he thought about guitarist Yngwie Malmsteen, as he often credits him as a big influence. "He's always been very nice to me, and I always get on very well with him. I don't understand him, though—his playing, what he wears. His movements are also a bit creepy. Normally you say, "Well, the guy's just an idiot." But, when you hear him play you think, "This guy's no idiot. He knows what he's doing." He's got to calm down. He's not Paganini—though he thinks he is. When Yngwie can break all of his strings but one, and play the same piece on one string, then I'll be impressed. In three or four years, we'll probably hear some good stuff from him." he also gave his opinion on guitar tapping, and how he is happy to see the last of it: "Thank goodness it's come to an end. The first person I saw doing that hammer-on stuff was Harvey Mandel, at the Whisky A Go-Go in '68. I thought "What the hell is he doing?" It was so funny [laughs], Jim Morrison was carried out because he was shouting abuse at the band. Jimi Hendrix was there. We were all getting drunk. Then Harvey Mandel starts doing this stuff [mimes tapping]. "What's he doing?" everybody was saying. Even the audience stopped dancing."