Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow

Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow Studio album by Rainbow Released 4 August 1975 Recorded February 20 to March 14, 1975, Musicland Studios, Munich, Germany Genre Hard rock, heavy metal,progressive rock Length 36:54 Label Polydor, Purple Records (Venezuela) Producer Ritchie Blackmore, Martin Birch, Ronnie James Dio Rainbow chronology Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow, (1975) Rising, (1976) Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow (sometimes stylized Ritchie Blackmore's R-A-I-N-B-O-W) is the first album by British rock guitarist Ritchie Blackmore's solo band Rainbow, released in 1975. Recordingedit: During studio sessions in Tampa Bay, Florida on 12 December 1974, Blackmore originally planned to record the solo single "Black Sheep of the Family"- a cover of a track by the band Quatermass from 1970. The newly composed "Sixteenth Century Greensleeves" was to be the B-side. Other musicians involved included singer/lyricist Ronnie James Dio and drummer Gary Driscoll of blues rock band Elf, and cellist Hugh McDowell of ELO. Satisfied with the two tracks, Blackmore decided to extend the sessions to a full album. For the album the other members of Elf, keyboardist Micky Lee Soule and bassist Craig Gruber were utilised. The album was recorded in Musicland Studios in Munich, Germany during February-March 1975. Though it was originally thought to be a solo album, the record was billed as Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow, and later progressed to a new band project. Blackmore and Dio did promotional work for the album. Shortly after the album was released, all Elf members -excepting Dio- were sacked, and Blackmore recruited new musicians for subsequent Rainbow albums. This first line-up never performed live, and the live photos used in the album art are of Blackmore while with Deep Purple and of Elf playing live. The last track of the album "Still I'm Sad" is an instrumental cover of a 1965 Yardbirds track. Release and receptionedit: Professional ratings Review scores Source Rating MelodicMusic Sputnik Music Allmusic The original vinyl release had a gate fold sleeve, although later budget reissues on Polydor reduced to a single sleeve. The album's songs have been performed by subsequent Rainbow lineups. The album was widely praised for its fantasy/heroic-like lyrical content and the innovative rock style. Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow was re-issued on CD in remastered form in the U.S. in April 1999. The European release followed later in the year. Vocalist Ronnie James Dio considered this release his favourite Rainbow album. Track listingedit: All music written by Ritchie Blackmore and Ronnie James Dio except where noted Side one No. Title Length 1. "Man on the Silver Mountain" 4:42 2. "Self Portrait" 3:17 3. "Black Sheep of the Family" (Steve Hammond) 3:22 4. "Catch the Rainbow" 6:27 Side two No. Title Length 1. "Snake Charmer" 4:33 2. "The Temple of the King" 4:45 3. "If You Don't Like Rock 'n' Roll" 2:38 4. "Sixteenth Century Greensleeves" 3:31 5. "Still I'm Sad" (Paul Samwell-Smith, Jim McCarty) 3:51 Note: On the cassette version of the album Side One features the last five tracks while Side Two plays the first four. On the case insert and on the cassette itself, "Sixteenth Century Greensleeves" is written as "Sixteen Century Greensleeves". Personneledit: Rainbow Ritchie Blackmore - guitar, Ronnie James Dio - lead vocals, Micky Lee Soule - piano, mellotron, clavinet, organ, Craig Gruber - bass, Gary Driscoll - drums, with Shoshana - backing vocals, Production Produced by Ritchie Blackmore, Martin Birch, Ronnie James Dio, Mixed by Martin Birch, Recorded at Musicland Studios, Munich, Germany, February 20 - March 14, 1975, Chartsedit: Year Chart Position 1975 Billboard Pop Albums 30 1975 Swedish Albums Charts 24 Coversedit: Blackmore's Night have released a folk rock cover version of "Self Portrait" on their second studio album Under a Violet Moon in 1999. They also performed a live cover of "Sixteenth Century Greensleeves" (titled as "16th Century Greensleeves") on their 2002 live album Past Times with Good Company., Bible Black, whose membership included Craig Gruber and Gary Driscoll, would occasionally cover "Man on the Silver Mountain" live. In 2011 Gruber's new band, ED3N (Which also contained his Bible Black bandmate Jeff Fenholt) recorded a cover of "Man on the Silver Mountain" as a tribute to Dio and Driscoll., German guitarist Axel Rudi Pell covered the song "Still I'm Sad" on the tribute album "Holy Dio: A Tribute to the Voice of Metal Ronnie James Dio". A cover of The Temple of the King appeared on his career compilation "The Ballads III"., Opeth played "Catch the Rainbow" live in concert as a tribute to the recently deceased Ronnie James Dio. Jack Starr's Burning Starr also recorded a version on their 2009 album Defiance, which was also featured on the Dio tribute album Magic., Spanish folk metal band Mägo de Oz covered "The Temple of the King" (albeit with different lyrics, in Spanish) as "El Templo del Adiós" on their 1998 album La Leyenda de la Mancha. Also, by Mägo de Oz, a cover of "Man on the Silver Mountain" is included in their compilation album Rarezas, though this album is somewhat unrecognized by the band itself due to some unresolved disagreements with the album's producer: Locomotive., Swedish power metal band HammerFall covered "Man on the Silver Mountain"., German heavy metal band Angel Dust covered "The Temple of the King" on the tribute album Holy Dio: Tribute to Ronnie James Dio.

Source: Wikipedia

Text from this biography licensed under creative commons license