The early 70s song Ritchie Blackmore praised and called unique

Ritchie Blackmore is one of the most important Hard Rock guitarists of all time, who changed the course of music with his work in Deep Purple and then Rainbow, his own band. Besides being one of the most famous guitar heroes from the past decades, the musician is also known for being quite sincere. If he doesn’t like a band or a song he will tell you the truth and be honest about how he feels.

So when he praises an artist or a song, you can trust that he is really telling the truth. There is a really famous song that he loved and called unique and you will discover in this article which one it is.

The early 70s song Ritchie Blackmore praised and said it was unique

Back in 1975, Blackmore’s band Rainbow was giving its first steps and he was promoting their debut album. He gave an interview to Cameron Crowe (Yes, would later become a movie director) for Creem magazine. When talking about live performance and other artists he liked, the musician mentioned Stevie Wonder, praising his hit “Superstition”.

“I think Stevie Wonder is putting out some very good stuff. ‘Superstition’ is very unique. But for me, in a studio it’s just hopeless. Some people can do it, but they get onstage and they blow it. For me, it’s the opposite. Onstage, I know I can take the chance. I can’t do that in a studio.”

“I must be turned on by an audience. In other words, I like to show off. Whenever I get out and play the guitar, I know that I’m good, and I go ‘Right. I’m the greatest,’ and it all comes out. When I go into a studio I think I’m playin’ to an engineer and a few other people. It doesn’t do anything for me. So most of the time I just maintain a good average,” Ritchie Blackmore said.

It would originally be a Jeff Beck song

The famous track originally would be a song by Jeff Beck, who was one of Blackmore’s favorite guitar players. Written and recorded by Stevie Wonder, “Superstition” was released in 1972 and featured on his album “Talking Book”. Curiously, he wrote the track with Jeff Beck in mind. The American artist usually played all the instruments on his albums, but at the time, he wanted to have other lead guitarists contribute.

After discovering that Jeff Beck was a fan of his work, Wonder invited him to be part of his new album. In return for Jeff’s contribution, Wonder would write a song for him. During the album sessions, Jeff came up with an opening drum beat, and Wonder asked him to keep playing it. As he did, Wonder developed the now-classic riff.

After finishing the song, Wonder initially wanted to give it to Beck so he could release his version first. However, the Beck, Bogert & Appice album was delayed, and Motown CEO Berry Gordy predicted that “Superstition” would be a number-one hit. As a result, Wonder released the song as the lead single of his album a few months before Beck’s version came out. Ultimately, Wonder gave “Because We’ve Ended as Lovers” to Jeff instead.

“The idea was that I was going to guest on his record and he was going to give me a song in return. Stevie gave me (Cause We’ve Ended As Lovers) as an apology for releasing Superstition first.”

Beck continued:

“He wrote [it] for me, but the record company had the power to prevent any other record coming out and they said, ‘This is a number one smash: Beck doesn’t get this’,” Jeff told Neville Martin in 1989.

The Motown CEO was right, the track peaked at number on the United States Billboard Hot 100. To this day is one of Wonder’s signature songs.