Ritchie Blackmore Reveals Eric Clapton’s (Indirect) Role in….
There was a lot of cross-pollination in the British hard rock and blues scene during the 1960s and 1970s, whether it was through musicians working together or joining each other’s bands (e.g., Rick Wakeman of Yes briefly recording with Black Sabbath), or even with instruments.
It appears that Eric Clapton is involved in multiple guitar-swapping tales. Apart from the well-known story of how he supposedly “begged” Andy Summers of The Police for a 1959 Les Paul, which turned out to be one of the blues legend’s most cherished instruments when he was in Cream, Clapton also played a crucial role in convincing Ritchie Blackmore to convert from ES-335s to Strats, which subsequently became an indispensable part of the legendary guitarist’s sound and persona.
Blackmore revealed in a recent interview with Guitar World that he actually purchased the Strat from one of his scene partner’s roadies; whether Clapton was aware of the fate that would befall his instrument is another story. The guitarist remembered:
“I do have a brief account of my past interactions with Strats. In 1969, I was a member of Deep Purple and resided in Acton, London. The entire band and I were staying at the same house when Eric Clapton’s roadie, who happened to know one of my roadies, dropped by and took along a Stratocaster. It was black, I believe. I then asked him, “Would you like to sell that guitar?” I decided to give a Strat a try as it looks interesting.”
“I will sell it to you for £60,” he said. “All right, you are on,” I said. I therefore paid £60 for one of Eric Clapton’s old Strats, which he gave to the roadie, indicating that he did not want it. That was how I first started using a Strat. I have always played a Gibson ES-335 before then.”
During the same interview, Blackmore described his decision to switch from his previous preferred Sunburst color scheme to white Strats:
“Because of Buddy Holly, I like the sunburst Strat color, but the white Strat has always captivated me.”
“Back in ’66, I saw Colin [Manley] of the Remo Four playing a white strat. He was the first player I had witnessed using a white strat, and I thought it looked really amazing. It seemed to be saying, “White stands out, thus I do not have to be any color.”
