realtimetomes
Doone on the Down... not Smoke on the Water
Smartly turned out SWT 159020 leads 159004 on the Frome avoiding line with the 1Z62 Westbury to Bishops Lydiard portion of UK Railtour's 'The Lorna Doone' which originated at London Waterloo and was bound for West Somerset Railway. Multiple units were at the time unusual on the Frome avoider, SWT 159s even rarer so nice to see.
Lorna Doone is a romance novel set in the late 17th century in Devon and Somerset, particularly around Exmoor and was written by author Richard Doddridge Blackmore, a fine novelist I'm sure but not to be confused with the God-like-Genius Richard (Ritchie) Hugh Blackmore of Deep Purple and Rainbow (no, not the one with Bungle, Zippy and George) fame.
Weston-super-Mare-born Ritchie it was that developed the (now) instantly-recognisable (to all true music fans and air-guitar aficionados everywhere) riff in a four-note blues scale melody in G minor, harmonised in parallel fourths (of course, what else?, right?). In 2004, Rolling Stone magazine* placed "Smoke on the Water" number 434 on its list of the "500 Greatest Songs of All Time". Total Guitar magazine ranked the song's riff number 4 on its "Greatest Guitar Riffs Ever" list, and in March 2005, Q magazine placed it at number 12 in its list of the 100 greatest guitar tracks.
*Sadly, Rolling Stone Magazine, after their shocking and mis-guided attempt at a "Greatest Guitar players" list in 2023 (more like "who the hell is that??" list, no Moore, Trower, Malmsteen, Petrucci and Clapton down at no.35??!) can no longer be regarded as a reliable touchstone for 6-string proficiency or legacy, bloody hipsters.
Doone on the Down... not Smoke on the Water
Smartly turned out SWT 159020 leads 159004 on the Frome avoiding line with the 1Z62 Westbury to Bishops Lydiard portion of UK Railtour's 'The Lorna Doone' which originated at London Waterloo and was bound for West Somerset Railway. Multiple units were at the time unusual on the Frome avoider, SWT 159s even rarer so nice to see.
Lorna Doone is a romance novel set in the late 17th century in Devon and Somerset, particularly around Exmoor and was written by author Richard Doddridge Blackmore, a fine novelist I'm sure but not to be confused with the God-like-Genius Richard (Ritchie) Hugh Blackmore of Deep Purple and Rainbow (no, not the one with Bungle, Zippy and George) fame.
Weston-super-Mare-born Ritchie it was that developed the (now) instantly-recognisable (to all true music fans and air-guitar aficionados everywhere) riff in a four-note blues scale melody in G minor, harmonised in parallel fourths (of course, what else?, right?). In 2004, Rolling Stone magazine* placed "Smoke on the Water" number 434 on its list of the "500 Greatest Songs of All Time". Total Guitar magazine ranked the song's riff number 4 on its "Greatest Guitar Riffs Ever" list, and in March 2005, Q magazine placed it at number 12 in its list of the 100 greatest guitar tracks.
*Sadly, Rolling Stone Magazine, after their shocking and mis-guided attempt at a "Greatest Guitar players" list in 2023 (more like "who the hell is that??" list, no Moore, Trower, Malmsteen, Petrucci and Clapton down at no.35??!) can no longer be regarded as a reliable touchstone for 6-string proficiency or legacy, bloody hipsters.