The More Black Than Purple Interviews
by Jerry Bloom

Classic rock’s dysfunctional family dish the dirt

As the title explains, this book consists of a series of interviews from the Ritchie Blackmore fanzine More Black Than Purple, but its scope is wider than its origins suggest. The interviews (some published for the first time) include stars such as Blackmore, Graham Bonnet and Glenn Hughes, alongside supporting characters Bob Daisley and John McCoy.

The three Blackmore interviews are the centrepiece, and surprisingly candid they are too, with the great man alternately coming off as affable, modest, paranoid and downright peculiar (for example, his insistence that the enmity between himself and Ian Gillan was due to the latter’s personality change after Blackmore caused him to fall on his head). Other highlights include encounters with an otherworldly Glenn Hughes and the mischievous Cozy Powell, and the charm of the book is that, in the informal world of the fanzine, the stars are often more forthcoming – and more three-dimensional – than they might be in the contrived setting of a press conference. This, along with a witty, informative commentary, makes the collection a very nice piece of work indeed.

3 stars 3 stars 3 stars

ISBN 9780955754203

Reviewed by William Pinfold
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