I think Ritchie was justified being pissed off. He didn't want to do the show but eventually succumbed to pressure from management and band members.He asked for certain conditions in writing including hitting the stage at dusk for lighting and they were ignored. Management lied to him to get DP on the bill. Typical music industry BS.
I saw an interview where after the concert, a warrant was issued to arrest Blackmore because of the deliberate fire on stage. It was poorly planned. Before going on stage, Blackmore asked a roadie to pour fuel on the amps and lit it. The roadie didn't know how much fuel required so he dumped the whole container. He lit it. Boom! The explosion was so big and shocked everyone. It also knocked off Ian Paice's eyeglass. Blackmore was lucky that his hair didn't catch fire. The band manager was tipped on the incoming arrest and he hustled them to quickly escape by a helicopter from the venue.
I remember this too , not sure of the station or stations airing this , but I know that I loved seeing this on television . I was only eight . But this was something my father and I got to share together .
if you look closely you can see a piece of burning "amp" flying away from him , in an interview he said he got hit by a piece from the explosion , i think that might be the part haha
There is a documentary somewhere where Jon Lord says the force of the explosion knocked him away from his keyboards, , and blew Ian Paice’s glasses off
Blackmore acting like a total douchebag again. His playing was good enough without all the cheesy pyrotechnics. No wonder no one can stand working with him for more than an album.
This is the final part of Space Trucking at the end of the set! Ritchie played like a Demon throughout. The Guitar smash -solo is not about skill or melody! It's about Excitement-A Final Sacrifice! Why are people commenting on his guitar skills? The Fairy jump at the end is actually Ritchie being knocked over by the Explosion!
I was a senior in high school at was at the California Jam. This is the most memorable performance I have ever seen. I love when he jumps over his guitar amid the flames.
That’s because a molten hot piece of amp hit his legs as it exploded. If you look closely you can see it. In that instant he probably realised Satin pants and fire were probably not a great mix. 😂
Don't you just miss the days of PURE ROCK. No giant stages with incredibly stupid movie set type of stages and 40 dancers and all of it perfectly timed to sound EXACTLY like the record. God I miss the 70s and some 80s where MEN WERE MEN and stages and amplifiers were NOT safe. I saw DP Mark II and a few other incarnations and LOVED all the fucking talent and you NEVER knew what you were going to see but you knew it wasn't going to be exactly like the record (kids ask your parents what a record was)
THEN FOUR YEARS LATER : 1978 CALIFORNIA JAM 2 AUDIO CD REMASTERED March 18, 1978 marked an extraordinary event in the history of Rock n Roll - CAL JAM 2 ! Over 250,000 people attended this spectacular live concert that will go down in history as the largest rock festival of the 1970's. Some of the greatest acts in Rock n Roll were featured, from Aerosmith to Santana, from Ted Nugent to Heart. These rare performances are now available for the first time on CD, digitally remastered by Grammy award winning producer Jack Douglas. If you purchased the CAL JAM 2 double LP back in the 70's this is the exact same release but on a remastered CD ! SANTANA - JUGANDO SANTANA - DANCE SISTER DANCE DAVE MASON - LET IT GO LET IT FLOW DAVE MASON - WE JUST DISAGREE HEART - LOVE ALIVE HEART - LITTLE QUEEN TED NUGENT - FREE FOR ALL TED NUGENT - SNAKE SKIN COWBOYS AEROSMITH - SAME OLD SONG & DANCE AEROSMITH - DRAW THE LINE AEROSMITH - CHIP AWAY AT THE STONE FRANK MARINO & MAHOGANY RUSH - I'M A KING BEE FRANK MARINO & MAHOGANY RUSH - JOHNNY B. GOODE RUBICON - NEVER GONNA LEAVE RUBICON - TOO HOT TO HANDLE 1978 CALIFORNIA JAM II DVD BOB WELCH / STEVIE NICKS / MICK FLEETWOOD " EBONY EYES " AEROSMITH " BIG TEN INCH " " TOYS IN THE ATTIC " "CHIP AWAY AT THE STONE" " DRAW THE LINE " "DREAM ON" HEART " LITTE QUEEN " " BARRACUDA " " MAGIC MAN " SANTANA " BLACK MAGIC WOMAN " " JUGANDO " TED NUGENT " CAT SCRATCH FEVER " "JUST WHAT THE DOCTOR ORDERED " " GONZO " " MOTOR CITY MADHOUSE " DAVE MASON " WE JUST DISAGREE " " LET IT GO LET IT FLOW " " PEARLY QUEEN " " TAKING THE TIME TO FIND " FRANK MARINO & MAHOGANY RUSH " PURPLE HAZE " FOREIGNER " FEELS LIKE THE FIRST TIME " " STARRIDER " " COLD AS ICE " RUBICON " IF YOU EVER COME THIS WAY " Includes lots of extra behind the scenes footage and the history behind this historic event
Some of the comments are completely uninformed. Richie was reluctant to do the Festival concert because he had done eight before and everything is fucked up with timing, staging, equipment, lighting, crews, everything. Richie explicitly did not want to go on before it was dark and they were pounding his door for him to go on 4 hours or so earlier in the day time. Richie locked the door had some drinks played his guitar and there was nobody to go on onstage apparently for a couple hours. His bandmates caved in and we're requesting he go on stage early and Richie would not do it, finally at 8:15 p.m. he went on and he was pissed off at fucking everyone. Ritchie was genuinely pissed off at the organizers for asking him to breach a specific element that he put in his contract and he was pissed off the network and the crew and his band. This has nothing to do with copying Hendrix in that Ritchies behavior here is a display of his total disregard for nearly everyone. He was genuinely angry as hell and deliberately tore apart equipment with brutal intent for Destruction and defiance of all that disregarded one of the most important elements of his contract to perform at Cal Jam. Richie did not intend to overdo the pyrotechnics but he was absolutely genuinely enraged and pissed off and because of that he was determined to break apart as much as he possibly could on stage. Yes it was part of the show but the truth is concert organizers really let him down and pissed him off. There is a video of Richie explaining why he was so angry.
I'm very unimpressed with this performance. This guy had some serious anger issues and needed professional help. That was a disgrace. He could have seriously hurt someone, including himself. I don't care what his excuse was, it was like watching a spoiled child who didn't get his way having a major tantrum.
pretty much feel the same way. it's disquieting to watch. i understand his anger, but you can''t behave like this. I love rock n roll but these fans out there that feel this rebellious behavior is acceptable, or even to be admired, within an artistic context are just stupid rock fans. whenever i hear about keith moon and the who wrecking hotel rooms, I just can't accept that. this "I don't give a shit about the rules or the law" isn't what rock is all about.
Still not a valid excuse to behave like this. Brutal intent for Destruction and defiance. Does that also include potential damage to people? I know all about him not wanting to do festivals and all the other things, and he was right to be mad. But this is too much.
I just saw a comment on another video saying that these destruction solos RItchie did were baby boomer rubbish, and that how all of these “sacred cow bands” are obsolete and will be forgotten within a few years. That guy seems to not realize plenty of young people still listen to this amazing music, I understand we all have opinions but to call a genre bad just because its old it just arrogant.
It's partly up to us. We have to expose it to the kids. Mine are 8 and 10 and enjoy the music of today. But on long car trips, they beg me to play Machine Head. My daughter can sing all the words to Smoke, and hum the guitar solo. She particularly likes to hum the very end of it, while I come in humming the bass line that leads back into the main riff. I don't force my kids to do this. You can't really force kids to do anything. They just recognize what great music is. It is great music, and it will endure.
Looking at some comments and wow really. You see Rock back then was a attitude. John Kay was right when your 15 years old you feel you are born to be wild. And this was the Ultimate anti parent and society act. Ritchie does some great playing during this concert although he was mad at the Organizers for breaking their contact with him and he didn't like it. He is the greatest guitarist in Rock History. You may not agree but their are millions of fan's that agree with me. No one has done as much original riffs and music in the business than Ritchie. In parts of Europe and Japan he is a god.
Can you learn to type first: please learn grammar and basic punctuation - not to mention what capital letters are. Did you not learn English? Then come back and spout your garbage.
Deep Purple ripped their riffs from bands like It’s a Beautiful Day, the rest of their stuff was pretty standard Blues rock. In no way are they that original
Obviously just personal preference, but I gotta go for Prince’s solo during his induction at the 2004 Rock ‘n’ Roll hall of fame playing in that all-star tribute to George Harrison on “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” - it’s almost like that song was written for that moment and found it’s logical zenith. George would have loved it.
----04/03/2024@10:45 PM EDT---Ritchie Blackmore is the reason I know magic exists. I do mean that literally. All kinds of things happen around here---things most would not believe is possible---
Glen Hughes new book tells the complete story of this concert at Cal Jam. In a nutshell - there was so much cocaine being used by them on the side of the stage, with the guys from Sabbath. When you are coked out of your mind you make some bad decisions. They made $250,000 for that show. They were the headliners but would not let ELP go before them.
I bought a '75 Strat in 1984 for $200.00 and I didn't hesitate in customizing it the way I wanted to (painted it and changed the pickups to humbuckers). It wasn't a sacred object.
Blackmore said in an interview that they were dummy Marshalls, but you can clearly see that there are speakers in the speakercabinets, so at least they were not dummys.
I was 13 at the time and used to get sulphur from the chemist, sodium nitrate from the hardware, and make charcoal, put it in a metal pill tube with iron filings, I had to, we was poor. If I had a guitar I would have blown it up to.
Bud Wiser that actualy were cheaper copies to be destroyed. He trashed them much more often than his main guitars) that natural colour strat was one of his favourits (fat sound and untypical fat neck), but it was stolen a year later
Notice how his main guitar is simply lowered into the pit between the stage and the audience? Yeah, that's because the guitars he uses after that are cheap knock-offs that he had on hand just to destroy for show.
What did he destroy? A few thousand $$ worth of guitars and amps? It's nothing compared to the fact that we're still talking about it 44 years later. This was a legendary performance.
It does when you pour gasoline on it, stuff a few 70’s era pyros in it and set it on fire. I’d imagine that’d do the trick. **watches video again** Yup. Can confirm. 😄
youth is wonderful but I am pretty sure he would not destroy a guitar now...but I do miss Him.............should hook up with Bonamassa! That would be a treat!
if you look , the whole stage is literally on fire . there was some sort of exellerant(sp) used . this video is cut as RB comes out for a final curtain call . he does try to start soloing again but the band cuts him short . he was out of key anyway . i am thinking he took some acid or something , this was really awkward / not good . how long after this did they break up ?
+petey twofinger They had only just got Together! Ritchie never did drugs-He likes Whiskey-Jack Daniels! This was during the Burn Tour before they recorded Stormbringer! The band didn't break up. Ritchie left because he didn't like the Funky influence the Band was taking. He formed Rainbow but that's another Story.
+petey twofinger Blackmore planned it before the show, that's why he was giving signals to the back stage crew to pour petrol/diesel on it and light it on fire, but instead it blew up.
there is a RB doc , just came out , RB tells the story in his own words , he claims it was "petrol" i believe it was accellerant on the stage with gunpowder or some explosive in the amp . he also claims he threw his flaming guitar into the amp , which did not happen , ever . tee hee .
👍 Someone liked your comment: "################---02/01/2024@7:03 PM EST--Jon L.(ord), you took the air out of Ritchie's guitar, 2 times in the same night/concert, thus giving it the cello sound effect, with an overdub, which you have no right to do---
Nobody said Richie’s behavior or actions were valid, this is just what happened. I thought Mike biting that guys ear off was rather overdone and unpleasant. Also, I thought the colonists throwing all the tea in Boston harbor and what followed after was violent and necessary. I’m not sure why we’re talking about a guitar or a guitarist so many decades ago that is inconsequential. Who really cares ? I don’t care that much as I just listen to some of the bands music mostly wayback in the day. Actually I don’t care.
