It was the summer of 2000 that I first heard of Blackmore’s Night and Under A Violet Moon. Scott and I were driving up to meet Aric for a summer fishing trip on Strawberry Lake. The last few miles back into the wilderness of the lake is a twisting dirt road. As we turned off the pavement and off the grid, a large full moon was rising through the trees. Scott put Under a Violet Moon into his CD player and we approached the lake to some hauntingly amazing music.
Yes, the Blackmore part of Blackmore’s Night is Ritchie Blackmore of Deep Purple and Rainbow fame. It seems that Ritchie Blackmore had this desire to write and perform Medieval Gypsy music. When I say haunting, I mean it. not haunting in a paranormal activity way but in a more beautifully addictive way.
There are a couple of things I’d like to share with you about this album. The first is how it came to me. You know about Scott sharing it with me on the road to the lake. Scott got it from Eric. Not Aric but Eric, another Eric we know. Eric was in his local record store one day. He was probably looking for Greek music. He lives that stuff now but he used to be a big Ritchie Blackmore fan. Anyway, Blackmore’s Night just happened to be playing on the speakers overhead in the store. Eric was intrigued and asked who it was. The clerk told him it was Blackmore’s Night. He bought it and took it home. It really is good stuff. It was some time later that he was at home reading the liner notes that he discovered that it was indeed Ritchie Blackmore which made it just that much cooler to him.
In my life that year I discovered that I really enjoyed fishing and became somewhat fanatical about it. I wanted to go fishing all the time. Scott was renting a place on Lake James and I would drive up there almost every weekend. I’d listen to Under A Violet Moon in the car whenever I went fishing that summer or so it seemed. That linked this album with the joys of going outside and fishing.
Even now in the chill of December, as I listen to Under A Violet Moon, I feel the warmth of summer and the excited anticipation of getting out on the water. It has been 12 years since that summer but familiar smell of Berkeley Power Baits and tackle boxes come to mind with these songs. It is a cool feeling.
Under A Violet Moon
Castles And Dreams – My Favorite song on this album
Morning Star
Avalon
Wind In The Willows
Gone With The Wind
Spanish Nights (I Remember It Well)
Fool’s Gold
Now And Then
Self Portrait
Here is a link to buy this because you really should