"When a Blind Man Cries" is a song by British rock band

Deep Purple Deep Purple are an English rock band formed in London in 1968. They are considered to be among the pioneers of heavy metal music, heavy metal and modern hard rock music, but their musical style has changed over the course of its existence. Ori ...

, originally only available as the B-side of the single " Never Before", released in 1972. It was recorded during the ''

Machine Head A machine head (also referred to as a tuning machine, tuner, or gear head) is a geared apparatus for tuning stringed musical instruments by adjusting string tension. Machine heads are used on mandolins, guitars, double basses and others, and ar ...

'' sessions in December 1971. According to Ian Gillan, "It’s just an example, for example, if you think of the phrase 'if a blind man cries' then it's pretty sad, those who are disadvantaged tend to be less complaining than those who are able-bodied".

Live performances

Because

guitarist A guitarist (or a guitar player) is a person who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of guitar family instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselv ...

Ritchie Blackmore Richard Hugh Blackmore (born 14 April 1945) is an English guitarist and songwriter. He was a founding member of Deep Purple in 1968, playing jam-style hard rock music that mixed guitar riffs and organ sounds. He is prolific in creating guitar ...

disliked "When a Blind Man Cries", the band never played the song live during his stay with the band, with the exception of one occasion, on 6 April 1972 in

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

, when Blackmore was ill, and

Randy California Randy Craig Wolfe (February 20, 1951 – January 2, 1997), known as Randy California, was an American guitarist, singer and songwriter, and one of the original members of the rock group Spirit, formed in 1967. Life and career California was bo ...

from

Spirit Spirit or spirits may refer to: Liquor and other volatile liquids * Spirits, a.k.a. liquor, distilled alcoholic drinks * Spirit or tincture, an extract of plant or animal material dissolved in ethanol * Volatile (especially flammable) liquids, ...

stood in for him.

Ian Gillan Ian Gillan (born 19 August 1945) is a British singer who is best known as the lead singer and lyricist for the rock band Deep Purple. He is known for his powerful and wide-ranging singing voice. Initially influenced by Elvis Presley, Gillan ...

performed the song frequently in the early 1990s. When

Joe Satriani Joseph Satriani (born July 15, 1956)Prato, Greg"Joe Satriani – Music Biography, Credits and Discography". ''AllMusic''. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved May 28, 2014. is an American guitarist, composer, songwriter, and guitar teacher. Early in his ...

replaced Blackmore during The Battle Rages On... tour in November 1993, "When a Blind Man Cries" joined the setlist as early as 5 December 1993. The song has become a staple live performance ever since, and has appeared on most of the

live album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

s the band has released with

Steve Morse Steve J. Morse (born July 28, 1954) is an American guitarist, best known as the founder of the Dixie Dregs and as the lead guitarist of Deep Purple from 1994 to 2022. Morse has also enjoyed a successful solo career and was briefly a member of ...

. After Steve Morse joined the band, the song is usually extended to around seven minutes when performed in concert with him, while the original song was only three minutes in length. In addition, the song has also been released on the ''

Gillan's Inn ''Gillan's Inn'' is an album by Ian Gillan in celebration of his 40 years as a singer. The first release was a DualDisc composed of both a CD and a DVD side. The CD featured re-recorded tracks from all eras of Ian Gillan's singing career. In ...

'' CD/DVD by

, featuring blind guitarist

Jeff Healey Norman Jeffrey Healey (March 25, 1966 – March 2, 2008) was a Canadian blues, rock and jazz singer, guitarist, and songwriter who attained popularity in the 1980s and 1990s. He reached No. 5 on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart with " Ang ...

Personnel

– vocals *

– guitar *

Jon Lord John Douglas Lord (9 June 194116 July 2012) was an English orchestral and rock composer, pianist, and Hammond organ player known for his pioneering work in fusing rock with classical or baroque forms, especially with the British rock band Deep ...

– keyboards *

Roger Glover Roger David Glover (born 30 November 1945) is a Welsh bassist, songwriter, and record producer. He is best known as the member of the hard rock bands Deep Purple and Rainbow. As a member of Deep Purple, Glover was inducted into the Rock and Ro ...

– bass guitar *

Ian Paice Ian Anderson Paice (born 29 June 1948) is an English musician, best known as the drummer and last remaining original member of the rock band Deep Purple. He is often cited as one of the greatest drummers of all-time. He remains the only member ...

– drums

Covers

The song was covered by

Axel Rudi Pell Axel Rudi Pell (born 27 June 1960) is a German heavy metal guitarist. Career Pell commenced his musical career with Steeler (1984–88) before leaving in 1988 for a solo career. During this time, he has played with such drummers as Jörg Micha ...

for the 1991 album ''

Nasty Reputation Axel Rudi Pell (born 27 June 1960) is a German heavy metal guitarist. Career Pell commenced his musical career with Steeler (1984–88) before leaving in 1988 for a solo career. During this time, he has played with such drummers as Jörg Micha ...

''. In 1999,

Richie Sambora Richard Stephen Sambora (born July 11, 1959) is an American rock guitarist, singer, songwriter and producer, best known as the lead guitarist of the rock band Bon Jovi from 1983 to 2013. He and lead singer Jon Bon Jovi formed the main songwri ...

Bon Jovi Bon Jovi is an American Rock music, rock band formed in 1983 in Sayreville, New Jersey. It consists of singer Jon Bon Jovi, keyboardist David Bryan, drummer Tico Torres, guitarist Phil X, and bassist Hugh McDonald (American musician), Hugh McD ...

appeared as a guest musician on a Stuart Smith album ''Stuart Smith’s Heaven and Earth'' performing a cover of this song.

Gary Barden Gary John Barden (born 27 August 1955, Royal Tunbridge Wells, England) is an English singer-songwriter, best known for his work with Michael Schenker Group. Barden was discovered by Schenker upon the guitarist's hearing a demo of Barden's pre ...

covered the song for his 2011 cover album ''Rock n' Roll My Soul''.

Metallica Metallica is an American heavy metal band. The band was formed in 1981 in Los Angeles by vocalist/guitarist James Hetfield and drummer Lars Ulrich, and has been based in San Francisco for most of its career. The band's fast tempos, instrume ...

covered the song for '' Re-Machined: A Tribute to Deep Purple's Machine Head''. It also appears in the third (bonus) disc of the album '' Hardwired... to Self-Destruct''.

Turbo In an internal combustion engine, a turbocharger (often called a turbo) is a forced induction device that is powered by the flow of exhaust gases. It uses this energy to compress the intake gas, forcing more air into the engine in order to pro ...

recorded a cover on the '' Awatar'' album. Along with "Neon Knight" they were the only songs sung in English on the album.

References

{{Authority control Deep Purple songs 1972 songs Songs written by Ian Gillan Songs written by Roger Glover Songs written by Ritchie Blackmore Songs written by Jon Lord Songs written by Ian Paice Blues rock songs Rock ballads Warner Records singles