When a Blind Man Cries

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "When a Blind Man Cries" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (June 2015) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)

"When a Blind Man Cries"
Cover of the 1972 German single
Single by Deep Purple
A-side	"Never Before"
Released	17 March 1972 [1]
Recorded	6–21 December 1971 Montreux, Switzerland
Genre	Blues rock
Length	3:32
Label	EMI (U.K.) Warner Bros. (U.S.)
Songwriter(s)	Ritchie Blackmore, Ian Gillan, Roger Glover, Jon Lord, Ian Paice
Producer(s)	Deep Purple
Deep Purple singles chronology
"Strange Kind of Woman" (1971) "Never Before" / "When a Blind Man Cries" (1972) "Smoke on the Water" (1973)

"When a Blind Man Cries" is a song by English rock band Deep Purple, originally only available as the B-side of the single "Never Before", released in 1972. It was recorded during the Machine Head 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".^[2]

Live performances

Because guitarist Ritchie Blackmore 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, Canada, when Blackmore was ill, and Randy California from Spirit stood in for him. Ian Gillan performed the song frequently in the early 1990s.^[3]

When

.

In addition, the song has also been released on the Gillan's Inn CD/DVD by Ian Gillan, featuring blind guitarist Jeff Healey.

In 2023, the song returned to their setlist with new guitarist Simon McBride.

Personnel

• Ian Gillan – vocals
• Ritchie Blackmore – guitar
• Jon Lord – keyboards
• Roger Glover – bass guitar
• Ian Paice – drums

Covers

The song was covered by

.

In 1999, Richie Sambora of Bon Jovi appeared as a guest musician on a Stuart Smith album Stuart Smith’s Heaven and Earth performing a cover of this song.

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

Metallica 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.

album. Along with "Neon Knight" they were the only songs sung in English on the album.

References