Ritchie Blackmores RAINBOW

Despite the hiatus of just over ten years, the band led by former Deep Purple guitarist, Ritchie Blackmore, has made its mark in rock history. 　 Following the demise of the legendary Deep Purple Mark II line-up in 1973, Ritchie Blackmore set his course for a solo career. With the addition of singer David Coverdale and bassist/vocalist Glenn Hughes, replacing Ian Gillan and Roger Glover the sound of the British hard rock pioneers changed. Despite the release of two relatively successful albums, "Burn" and "Stormbringer" (both in 1974), Blackmore didn't like the new direction. 

His new band, “Rainbow”, was named after one of his favourite bars: The Rainbow Bar & Grill on Sunset Boulevard in West Hollywood/Los Angeles. It was on 7^th April 1975 that Blackmore played his last show with Deep Purple in Paris, officially announcing his departure on 21^st June 1975.

"Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow" album was finally released on 4^th August, 1975. Instead of focusing on his guitar virtuosity, Blackmore now put the emphasis on his new group sound with clear references to his love for Johann Sebastian Bach.   Blackmore writes rock songs that are influenced by Renaissance and Baroque music, matching Ronnie James Dio's vocal range in tandem with his penchant for mystical medieval themes. Numbers such as "Man on The Silver Mountain" are based on distinctive rock riffs and captivating ballads such as "Catch the Rainbow" and "Temple of The King", Rainbow set a new direction. Like its predecessor, Blackmore’s following album, "Rising" was also released in February, 1976 and featured songs like "Tarot Woman" and "Do You Close Your Eyes". Classic Rainbow Rock thus came into existence, regarded to this day a trend-setting genre that has influenced generations of musicians. This, despite the successive changes in line-up with vocalist Ronnie James Dio subsequently replaced by Graham Bonnet, Joe Lynn Turner, Doogie White and currently Ronnie Romero.