Rainbow - Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow [SHM-CD]
"Ritchie Blackmore’s Rainbow" is the first album by British rock band Rainbow, released in 1975. It was recorded and released while lead guitarist Ritchie Blackmore was still a member of “Deep Purple”. Lead vocalist Ronnie James Dio has called this his favourite Rainbow album.
"Elf" had supported Deep Purple on the previous year’s tour promoting the band’s “Burn” album. This album marked the first collaboration between Dio and Blackmore, and it is essentially the lineup of Elf, Dio’s previous band, with Blackmore instead of Steve Edwards. Blackmore would dismiss all the other Elf musicians and recruit new players for subsequent Rainbow albums.
Several songs on the album were cover
versions. “Black Sheep of the Family”, a song that Deep Purple had
refused to record for their album “Stormbringer”, was a cover of a song
recorded by “Quatermass”, and “Still I’m Sad” was an instrumental cover
of a “Yardbirds” track.
The original vinyl release had a gatefold
sleeve, although later reissues on the budget arms of Polydor reduced
this to a single sleeve. This line-up never performed live and the
live-shots used in the album art are of Blackmore in his Deep Purple
days and of Elf playing live. The album’s songs, however, have been
performed by subsequent Rainbow lineups.
“Ritchie Blackmore’s Rainbow” was
re-issued on CD in remastered form, in the US in April 1999. The
European release followed later in the year.
In 2008 re-released this album from
Japanese Label Universal in exclusive limited SHM-CD [Super High
Material CD – playable on all CD players] edition. last.fm
Review by Easy Livin
"For this their first album, the band were actually called Ritchie Blackmore’s Rainbow, emphasising that this was very much his baby. Part of the reasoning behind this was that the album is essentially a Blackmore solo album, with the band Elf, lead by vocalist Ronnie James Dio, providing the backing band.
"For this their first album, the band were actually called Ritchie Blackmore’s Rainbow, emphasising that this was very much his baby. Part of the reasoning behind this was that the album is essentially a Blackmore solo album, with the band Elf, lead by vocalist Ronnie James Dio, providing the backing band.
While Blackmore had not actually left
Deep Purple when this album was recorded, the writing was very clearly
on the wall. His dissatisfaction with the sub- standard “Stormbringer”
left him seeking an alternative outlet for his own preferences, and the
success of this album simply helped to accelerate his departure.
Blackmore and Dio hit it off straight
away as a song-writing partnership, coming up with all but two of the
tracks here. Dio’s main contribution to that side was in the lyrics,
which are based in fantasy and legend. While the opening “Man on the
silver mountain” and other tracks such as “Snake charmer” (which has an
uncanny resemblance to songs from the Coverdale/Hughes Deep Purple) are
steeped in the power rock of Deep Purple, there is an admirable
diversity to the tracks on this album.
The feature track “Catch the rainbow”
is a reflective ballad which swims in mellotron (or mellotrom as the
sleeve describes it) and features a superb vocal performance by Dio.
Blackmore’s guitar work here is notably restrained and low in the mix.
Other highlights include “Sixteenth century Greensleeves”, a hint
lyrically of what was to come with Blackmore’s Night, and an
instrumental cover of the Yardbirds “Still I’m sad”. “Temple of the
king” also focuses on the acoustic side of the band, the story-telling
lyrics painting a wonderful picture of mediaeval life. Blackmore adds a
beautifully delicate lead guitar solo to the song.
Given the heavy rock backgrounds of
the musicians, as a whole this is a surprisingly light album. It does
have its heavier moments of course (“If you don’t like rock’n’roll” is
another), but the restrained subtlety on show is what differentiates
this release from its successors.
I have to admit, I have loved this
album since its release over 30 years ago. Even today, I find it as
inspired and listenable as it was then. OK, so apart from “Catch the
rainbow”, there are not many hints of prog here, but the album set the
standard for many bands who did subsequently explore prog territories."
| EC0979 | Rainbow – Ritchie Blackmore’s Rainbow [SHM-CD] |
| Label: | Universal Music | Polydor |
| Catalog#: | UICY-93618 |
| Format: | CD, Album, SHM-CD, [Cardboard Sleeve (mini LP)] [Limited Release] |
| Made in: | Japan |
| Released: | 1975 | 24 Sep 2008 |
| Barcode: | 4 988005 525369 |
| Style: | Hard Rock |
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Rainbow - Ritchie Blackmore’s Rainbow
============================================================================
01. Man On The Silver Mountain
02. Self Portrait
03. Black Sheep Of The Family
04. Catch The Rainbow
05. Snake Charmer
06. The Temple Of The King
07. If You Don’t Like Rock ‘N’ Roll
08. Sixteenth Century Greensleeves
09. Still I’m Sad
Total Time: 00:37:20
Companies, etc. ▼
Phonographic Copyright ℗ – Universal Records
Copyright © – Universal Records
Record Company – UMG Recordings, Inc.
Record Company – Universal International
Marketed By – Universal Music K.K.
Distributed By – Universal Music K.K.
Credits ▼
Bass Guitar – Craig Gruber
Drums – Gary Driscoll
Guitar, Arranged By [Arrangement] – Ritchie Blackmore
Illustration – David Willardson
Liner Notes – 酒井康
Lyrics By – Ronnie James Dio
Mixed By [Mixed Production] – Martin (The Wasp) Birch
Photography By, Artwork [Cover Co-ordination] – Fin Costello
Piano, Mellotron, Clavinet, Organ – Mickey Lee Soule
Producer – Birch, Ritchie Blackmore, Ronnie James Dio
Remastered By [Digitally] – Suha Gur
Songwriter – Ritchie Blackmore (tracks: 1, 2, 4 to 8), Ronnie James Dio (tracks: 1, 2, 4 to 8)
Vocals – Ronnie James Dio
Vocals [Special Guest] – Shoshana
Notes ▼
Cardboard sleeve (mini LP) reissue from Rainbow featuring the high-fidelity SHM-CD format (fully compatible with standard CD players). Part of a nine-album Rainbow/Ritchie Blackmore SHM-CD Cardboard sleeve (mini LP) reissue series featuring the albums “Ritchie Blackmore’s Rainbow,” “Rainbow Rising,” “On Stage,” “Long Live Rock ‘N’ Roll,” “Down To Earth,” “Difficult To Cure,” “Straight Between The Eyes,” “Bent Out Of Shape,” and “Finyl Vinyl.” Also part of Universal Music’s "This is SHM-CD Campaign Volume 2."
Cardboard sleeve (mini LP) reissue from Rainbow featuring the high-fidelity SHM-CD format (fully compatible with standard CD players). Part of a nine-album Rainbow/Ritchie Blackmore SHM-CD Cardboard sleeve (mini LP) reissue series featuring the albums “Ritchie Blackmore’s Rainbow,” “Rainbow Rising,” “On Stage,” “Long Live Rock ‘N’ Roll,” “Down To Earth,” “Difficult To Cure,” “Straight Between The Eyes,” “Bent Out Of Shape,” and “Finyl Vinyl.” Also part of Universal Music’s "This is SHM-CD Campaign Volume 2."
Barcode and Other Identifiers ▼
Barcode: 4 988005 525369
Mastering SID Code: IFPI L237
Mould SID Code: IFPI 4011
Matrix / Runout: POCY-3011-1K V
Rights Society: JASRAC
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