Comments: 2

• Don from Sevierville, TnI think part of the guitar riff at the beginning resembles the Jimi Hendrix classic, "Foxy Lady".
• Ricky from Killie, United KingdomAll musicians borrow from the peers and influences, although this does sound like blatant stealing. Thing is though if Purple had done one album and disappeared Simper and Parkinson wouldn't have batted an eyelid, when moneys being made people from the past come knocking at your door. Mandrake Root was really used as a vehicle for Purple's improvisations and wasn't a hit song in itself. As for it being the same as Smoke, I know where Bill Parkinson's coming from as they're played in parallel fourths, but they're not the same. They're in different keys/timing/speed and are used in a different context. If you start saying both riffs are the same for these two songs then you'll find almost every guitar riff is the same as something else! Its a fairly incestious music style. Blackmore himself has varied a theme slightly to come with a new song many times, look at the similarities between Smoke - Burn - Man on the Silver Mountain - All Night Long - Can't Happen Here. All riffs in Gm played in parallel fourths and yet the songs have their own individual styles making them different to the ears of the audience.

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