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Richard James Havis

Rainbow Rising 
Rainbow
Polydor/Oyster
If you're an egocentric, talented, control freak of a guitar player, who do you pick as the singer to front your new band? If you're Ritchie Blackmore, you pick, well, an egocentric, talented, control freak of a singer. But as that difficult soul was Ronnie James Dio, you could probably be forgiven.
Dio and Blackmore managed to work together for three albums - two very good, and one not quite so good - before their oversized egos forced a split.
Blackmore was one of the creative forces behind 1970s legend Deep Purple. Although that band were a collaborative effort, it was Blackmore who wrote the lightning-hot riff to Smoke on the Water, which is, after Stairway to Heaven  and Freebird, probably the third most played rock song of all time. But by 1974, the band were being pulled towards a funk-influenced form of rock that was not to Blackmore's taste. He released a solo album called Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow, with Elf singer Dio providing the vocals. The mystically oriented 1975 LP sold well and won over Purple fans. So Blackmore and Dio decided to make the outfit their full-time gig.
The resulting Rising is a highlight of British heavy metal. Make no mistake, the LP - and Rainbow - have never been cool in the way that earlier hard rock groups such as Black Sabbath, and some of the later New Wave of British heavy metal bands were. Rainbow's focus on dungeons and dragons-style mythology and medieval mysticism seemed cheesy even in 1975. But the LP has dated extremely well and rocks very hard indeed, abetted by hard-hitting drummer Cozy Powell behind the kit.
A groovy synth line introduces Tarot Woman, and then the band are off into a non-stop rifferama topped by Dio's loud, tuneful vocals, Blackmore's concise rock playing, and Powell's thunderous drums. Starstruck, about groupies, is Blackmore's highlight, with some innovative guitar work that melds eastern scales with rock'n'roll. The LP's twiddly keyboard work, derided at the time, sounds interesting now, and during the 25-minute finale, A Light in the Black, Powell bashes hell out of the skins.
Blackmore and Dio finally fell out over the next LP, 1978's Long Live Rock'n'Roll.  Dio went on to join Black Sabbath, before forming his own eponymous band in the 1980s (he died from stomach cancer in 2010). Rainbow spiralled downhill and lost any credibility they had left in 1979 with the release of the ghastly AOR single Since You've Been Gone. Rewinding now, Rising is a reminder of why Blackmore was praised in the same breath as Jimmy Page and Jimi Hendrix back in the early 1970s. Blackmore left the rock scene over a decade ago to focus on new age music in the duo Blackmore's Night, a folky outfit.
Richard James Havis


Rewind album: Rainbow Rising, by Rainbow

Rainbow

Lifestyle

Arts

If you're an egocentric, talented, control freak of a guitar player, who do you pick as the singer to front your new band? If you're Ritchie Blackmore, you pick, well, an egocentric, talented, control freak of a singer.
