Prog Digest – An Xperience Column

By Klyde Kadiddlehumper.

WARNING!

This column is certainly not Prog-related.  It is completely, 100% rock and roll.  Kinda.  And, perhaps, a small lesson about the past.

I’ve mentioned how long before printing these columns are written. In this case, just a shade over two weeks.

What many of us thought would never happen did last evening.

Ritchie Blackmore was onstage and performed with Deep Purple.  After 33 years.

This is either more proof, if you needed it, that we are decidedly headed to an apocalypse or certainly a teaser.

We’ll get to the very simple reason for the 33-year split – and yeah, it’s pretty simple – in a bit.

Blackmore was a founding member of both Deep Purple and Rainbow … both on and off, leaving Purple for good in ’93.

Now, we get to the part where, of course, there is a woman involved.

Ritchie met a Rainbow fan in 1989. Born Candice Lauren Isralow, then called Candice Loren when she began modeling at 12, and later Candice Night.  A Long Island girl (born in Hauppauge), she also worked as a rock and roll radio host at a nearby “unnamed” radio station.

At their initial meeting, she and Blackmore talked ghosts, music, travel, and philosophy, and eventually became good friends and moved in together in 1991.

The two created Blackmore’s Night in 1997. OK, so … Blackmore is known for some killer riffs.  However, Blackmore’s Night is something, um, different.  They are a neo-medieval folk rock band.  If I knew what that meant, I’d tell ya.  

Perhaps the idea came from Tull’s “Songs from the Wood” or “Minstrel in the Gallery.”  Who knows.

In October of 2008, after 19 years (15 engaged), Blackmore and Night married.  They’ve a daughter, Autumn Esmerelda, and a son, Rory Dartanyan.

Aside from the couple, there are five other current members and 28 past members.

Instrumentation is seriously interesting, if not confounding.  Blackmore plays acoustic and electric guitar, mandolin, mandola, domra, hurdy-gurdy, and nyckelharpa, while Night handles vocals, chanter, cornamuse, shawm, rauschpfeife, tambourine, and woodwinds.  Perhaps one day we’ll look at some of the really interesting instruments out there, both old and new.

Describing the feel is not a simple task.  

Blackmore is a serious monster when in with Purple or Rainbow.  Certainly not the case in Blackmore’s Night – at least not how we all think of it.

Far more melodic and ethereal at times, Night’s vocals can soar, and her lyrics might remind some of Stevie Nicks – although Klyde, to be frank (well, not Frank, but frank …), finds them a little lighter than Stevie.  Pleasant, just not as powerful.

Melodically, the music is nice, easy to listen to, and well produced.  Live recordings really show best why they are popular.  Of course, I do find that I end up with a serious appetite for a turkey leg …

As for the rift between Ritchie and Ian Gillan, it’s the same old story we see all the time in the entertainment world.  Massive egos.  Mine’s bigger than yours. My groupies are hotter than your groupies.

So after 33 years, hatchets were buried (in whose back I still can’t decide) and the two reconciled.   Perhaps as time has passed they, as with so many of us, simply can’t remember what the heck they were really arguing about.

What did he play with Purple? “Smoke on the Water,” of course.

At this writing, it was only a couple of days ago.  A friend was there and completely blown away.  Saw the clip and it was seriously cool.

There is, however, still a mystery.  Constant Companion is a Long Island girl; however, if it wasn’t WLIR – who cares, right?  So, we still have no idea where Candice had a show on the radio.  Knowing full well there are plenty of transplants up here, one of you all must know what station that was.

So, if you do, post it to radioradiox on Facebook, and if we can confirm you are right, Klyde will come up with some tix to something cool, and you get to go.  Damned if I know what that will be, but it’s on my dime.  

Now, adjust your codpiece and get to it!

Until next time.

Klyde