In a recent interview with Backstage Pass Rock-News, Doug Aldrich recalled the pranks Ritchie Blackmore pulled in the past that ‘terrorized’ his Rainbow bandmates. He mentioned a specific incident related to a séance and explained:
“Ronnie [James Dio] told stories that Ritchie used to kinda terrorize Jimmy [Bain] a little bit, like play tricks on him and stuff, and one of them was pretty brutal, a really scary trick involving fire. It was all in Ritchie’s sense of humor.”
About the prank, the guitarist said:
“And then there was one time when he said they were working on ‘Long Live Rock ‘N’ Roll,’ and they did a séance with an Ouija board. So, they were doing a séance, and some spirits took over the shot glass they were using instead of whatever the Ouija piece is.”
Detailing what Dio told him, he went on:
“It started to move by itself, and Ronnie was – You could see him getting the chills, telling the story like it was real. It was basically because the spirit that they were communicating with wanted to talk to Blackmore. Ritchie wasn’t there, so the spirit was upset. [Laughs] [Jokingly raising his voice] ‘Where’s Blackmore?!'”
There Are Other Incidents
One of these séance incidents happened to Glenn Hughes when he was a member of Deep Purple in his 20s, as revealed to Classic Rock in 2021. While working on the ‘Burn’ album at Clearwell Castle in the 1970s, Hughes recalled, Blackmore hid speakers in his room for a prank:
“In the middle of the night, I woke up to the sound of all these ghost noises. I was scared shitless! The next night me, Baz Marshall [Purple roadie] and Ritchie held a séance. Baz was a farmer, and he’d recently lost one of his cows.”
The bassist talked about the séance by saying:
“We started the séance, and suddenly, the room echoed with the sound of a cow mooing. Only this time, it wasn’t a wind-up! Blackmore freaked and ran out. When it came down to it, he was a bit of a scaredy-cat. But Ritchie was the king of the prank – we all know that. Even today, he always carries a water pistol around with him. I have it on the greatest authority.”
Séances Were More Than Pranks For The Singer
Blackmore saw Ouija boards and séances as more than prank tools, though. The singer shared his genuine interest in the practice during past interviews, as he once admitted to doing it for years. In fact, this interest is one of the reasons why Tony Carey left Rainbow in 1977.
Reflecting on his decision to leave, Carey said in a June 2023 interview with Vintage Rock Podcast:
“I was happy to get out of there. There was some crazy shit, they were in this occult, or Richie was in this occult thing, and he was calling up, having seances with Ouija boards. It was getting dangerous, scary, and a little bit violent, and I thought it was time for me to go. And I don’t want to say much more about it; it’s pretty much been documented.”
You can check out Doug Aldrich’s recent interview clip below.
