Is Ritchie practicing his cello during the solo in "Fools?"

No. The special sound on this solo is created by the volume knob on his Fender. Basically, he picks the string while his right hand's pinky is on the volume knob, with the volume turned off, and then turns the volume up while the string is still vibrating. This creates the special sound.

This particular solo was created before they made Fools for the 1971 album Fireball - it can, for instance, be heard on the recordings from Stockholm in November 1970 on Scandinavian Nights (aka Live and Rare), during Mandrake Root , and was later played during Space Truckin' (check out Made in Japan or the 1972 disc on Deep Purple in Concert, and the Copenhagen 1972 video.) It's also featured on the studio jamming called Guitar Job on Ritchie Blackmore: Rock Profile Vol. 1. This was recorded during rehearsals for Fireball.

Other examples of Ritchie using volume control feature the live endings to Child in Time , and the end of the Guitar Movement on Gemini Suite Live.

Last updated: 19. January 1995

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