Blackmore was very talented but the only person I have heard that has a legato that even comes close to Van Halen is Holdsworth. And people geek out so much on evh technique they miss the tone and song writing.
When everyone heard Hendrix they started ripping him off.
When people heard Blackmore they continued to rip Hendrix off.
When people heard evh they started ripping off evh.
I'm not saying evh is better, but definitely more influential.