In the music business since the 1960s, the legendary Deep Purple and Rainbow guitarist Ritchie Blackmore was part of the music revolution that happened at that era. Although the British bands really took over the world in the late 60s and early 70s, there were many incredible American bands doing heavier Rock. One of them was Mountain, group formed in Long Island, New York by Leslie West (Vocals, guitar), Felix Pappalardi (Vocals, bass), Steve Knight (Keyboards) and N.D Smart (Drums – who would be replaced by Corky Lang). Over the decades Blackmore talked about many groups, including them. What is Ritchie Blackmore's opinion on Mountain Blackmore always praised Mountain and was quite impressed by their music when he first heard them. early. Their hit "Mississippi Queen" was the first track he heard by Mountain and his bandmate, the drummer Ian Paice, was also present. “I remember Ian Paice and I were out for a drink in a bar in Germany, in 1970 I think it was. We were pretty pleased with our record ‘In Rock’, and they were playing it. And then this other record came on. We didn’t know who it was, but it was such an amazing, big, hard sound. We looked at each other very nervously and thought, ‘Who the hell is that?'” “(So) we asked the DJ and it was Mountain, with ‘Mississippi Queen,’ and that thundered! (But) we couldn’t speak because we didn’t know what to say [laughs]. We thought, Oh, my God, that is one hell of a sound,” Ritchie Blackmore told Newsweek. The former Deep Purple guitarist even said in an interview that in his opinion, Mountain was one of the biggest bands in the world in 1970. They were mentioned alongside Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, Black Sabbath and Vanilla Fudge. Ritchie Blackmore really liked Leslie West's guitar playing https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ss1EyyXL4Gk&pp=ygUWbWlzc2lzc2lwcGkgcXVlZW4gbGl2ZQ%3D%3D The Rainbow leader loved Leslie West's guitar playing and even told Andy Aledort that Deep Purple was influenced by Mountain. "I really loved Leslie West’s playing. (...) Ultimately, Purple and Mountain did a few tours together. Every now and again, Leslie would just walk out onto the stage unannounced and start playing, while his band was still in the dressing room. They all come running out of there and to the stage as fast as they could, after which he’d immediately walk off. Madness! I like that eccentricity in him. And he plays mostly with just three fingers. He doesn’t bother with the pinkie much at all, but it’s all there. Great vibrato." He was then questioned if Mountain really influenced the direction Deep Purple took during that era, becoming a Hard Rock band. He said: "Yes, that’s right. At the time, we were trying to find our way as a band, some sort of 'category.' Jon (Lord) was into the classical stuff." Ritchie Blackmore continued: "Although I love classical music, I wanted to follow up the Deep Purple album. (Which was) the last one with the original line-up, with something much heavier, out-and-out rock. I said, 'If that doesn’t work, let’s go back to playing with orchestras (Concerto for Group and Orchestra - 1969). And that’s how In Rock came about." West liked Blackmore both as a guitarist and as a person. He once said that many people didn't like Ritchie because he did most of his talking through his guitar. According to West, people misunderstood Blackmore's shyness and believed he was arrogant. According to West, he was not like that at all. Leslie curiously played Deep Purple's "Smoke on The Water" with the band in 1994. But at the time, Ritchie Blackmore had already left the band for good and Joe Satriani was the current guitarist. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y6mB-rff6H4The post Ritchie Blackmore’s opinion on Mountain appeared first on Rock and Roll Garage.