The band that Ritchie Blackmore said was great for about two years

The British guitarist Ritchie Blackmore started his musical career in the 60s playing in many local bands and even as a session player in the early days. He finally achieved fame as a member of Deep Purple, a group he helped to form in 1967 and in the following years they became one of the most successful and influential Hard Rock bands in the world.

But in 1975 Blackmore decided to leave the group and formed Rainbow, a group that would also become one of the most influential ones in Heavy Rock. So he had the opportunity to be part of the evolution of that kind of music and obviously, saw all the transformation up-close since the 60s. Once he even talked about a band that in his opinion was great for “about two years”.

The band that Ritchie Blackmore said was great for about two years

Besides being known as one of the most influential guitarists in the history of Rock music, Blackmore is also recalled as a really sincere person. He always gave his real opinion on other artists and bands, so in an interview with Cameron Crowe for Creem magazine in 1975, he talked about the power-trio Cream, which in his opinion was great for “about two years”.

Dubbed as the first supergroup in the history of Rock and Roll, Cream was formed by Eric Clapton (Guitar, vocals), Jack Bruce (Bass, vocals) and Ginger Baker (Drums).

“I thought Cream put out some great stuff for about two years. (…) Hendrix gave me faith in the music scene. When Cream came along, I thought ‘Well, it’s all happening again.’ Although I was never knocked out with Eric Clapton’s playing. It was competent, and he was copping a lot of the English blues guitarist, and that was a good sign.”

“He had a good sound, but Hendrix was way ahead of him. Because he could write, he could sing, he could perform. He blew it from 1970 onwards, though,” Ritchie Blackmore said.

Cream was active from 1966 to 1968, reuniting twice, once in 1993 and once in 2005. Their discography has four successful albums, released from 1966 to 1969. Some of their most famous songs are “Sunshine of Your Love”, “White Room”, “Strange Brew” and “I Feel Free”. They were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1993 by the members of ZZ Top.

Deep Purple was Cream’s opening act once

In an interview with Trouser Press magazine in 1978, Blackmore talked about when Deep Purple was Cream’s opening act at the Hollywood Bowl. “We’d be playing around, headlining all the wrong places. Nobody knew where to put us. We played with Cream at the Hollywood Bowl, but they never really knew who we were,” Ritchie Blackmore said.

As he told Steven Rosen in an interview in 1975, he liked Cream more because of Jack Bruce. He was never really interested in Clapton’s guitar playing and he preferred the musician’s work with John Mayall & The Bluesbreakers.

“I’ve never been a Clapton freak. I like Cream a lot, but because of Jack Bruce mainly. Clapton played his best stuff with them and John Mayall. He’s since become a singer and I think his voice is good. Not so keen on the guitar playing,” Ritchie Blackmore said.

Nowadays Clapton is the only living member of Cream. The bassist and singer Jack Bruce passed away in 2014 at the age of 71, a victim of liver disease. The drummer Ginger Baker died from complications from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease at the age of 80 in 2019.