Какова истинная причина, побудившая Блэкмора разбить свою гитару о телевизионную камеру во время знаменитого концерта "California Jam" в 1974 году?

"Circus Raves", November 1974.
Article: "TV Rock - The Inside Story with Deep Purple and Black Sabbath".

       "And a few cryptic quotes: '...Deep Purple's fury grew, until guitarist Ritchie Blackmore, feeling his characteristic surge of pure violence, lashed out with his axe at the unblinking eye of the video camera nearest him. For those watching 'In Concert' on their television sets at home, there was a vision of shattering glass and chaos.'

      "I think I'm personally responsible for Blackmore hitting the guitar against the camera," - remarked Josh White, the boyish director of 'In Concert's California Jam'.

      "Because I saw him the night before. Deep Purple did a technical rehearsal, and I said, 'Are you going to smash your guitar?' And Ritchie said, 'Yeah, maybe, I dunno, what the hell.' He was kinda irked about a dozen things having nothing to do with me. And I said, 'Well, listen, if you do it, favor the camera, would you, I'll get a good shot of it and it'll look great.' He favored the camera all right," - Josh laughed. "To the tune of $8000 in damages!"

      Josh moved into his area of special expertise: "I have this video style I've developed that calls for a great deal of camera movement. I don't like static shots. I want the camera to move freely from Ian Paice's drums, say, to Jon Lord's organ. If you lock your cameras down, all they can do is zoom in and out. If you get in with a wide-angle lens, the guitar is close to you and the background recedes and you get the feel of the space. It's really apparent in 'California Jam' where the camera's right on top of Deep Purple..."

      ...During the editing the director can pick up on many things he couldn't concentrate on during the live show.

      "I can create a better feel for the music later," Josh revealed. When Blackmore smashes his guitar over the camera, it looks like the camera is breaking up. But actually, it's a special effect I cut in", - Josh admitted with a chuckle. "I do it all the time. I have special abstract tapes that I've made over the years that I cut in..."
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