THE ENTIRE ALBUM: RITCHIE BLACKMORE’S RAINBOW WITH RONNIE JAMES DIO
Rather than do a reasonably well researched post as I normally try to do I will keep this one sort of short and maybe even a little personal. I have always liked Ritchie Blackmore’s guitar playing. I understand the guy himself used to be quit a temperamental personality and the arguments between he and Deep Purple singer Ian Gillian were the stuff of rock-n-roll legend. Legend has it that during the recording of Machine Head they had to record in separate areas of the studio to avoid each other’s presence.
I guess things did not fair much better when David Coverdale took over the singing chores though a couple great albums were recorded during that period, in particular Stormbringer. Blackmore departed the band and formed Rainbow with members of the ban Elf, which included Ronnie James Dio on vocals. Dio was not a real big star at this time though his name popped up in the rock magazines of the day, and so when I first heard his vocals I was simply blown away. He would do three albums with Rainbow then a couple with Black Sabbath before going on to his solo career. His fantasy filled lyrics really brought out some new stylings from Blackmore on this fine album. The guitar work is quit gymnastic and there are lots of fills and over dubs. the next album, Rising, would be more straight forward and is probably a better album technically, but this is such a strange and special album I just wanted to promote to anyone who has only heard Man on the Silver Mountain.
Of course Rainbow went on to evolve into a corporate rock band when Joe Lynn Turner took over the singing and lyric chores and those were some forgettable albums overall in my opinion. These days Blackmore is back to his fantasy themes with Blackmore’s Night, featuring his current wife, Candice Night, on vocals, and great vocals they are. The style is renaissance themed rock and Blackmore is featured playing more acoustic guitar than he did in his heavy metal heyday. All great stuff by a great guitar player and really moody , dark guy who once punched a lighting technician for missing a light cue. I think Candice has mellowed him out.
TRACK LIST: The Man on the Silver Mountain-Self Portrait-Black Sheep of the Family-Catch the Rainbow-Snake Charmer-If you Don’t Like Rock-n-Roll-Temple of the King-Sixteenth Century Greensleeves-Still I’m Sad
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October 18th, 2008 at 8:31 pm
Love this album. Music of this era which embraced the English lore/ Lord of the Rings vibe is priceless. From Fairport Convention, Incredible String Band and Pentangle to Led Zep, Hawkwind and Sabbath - it was music for the maypole that rocked. Even Eric Burton got in on the faerie action with songs of the mountain king.
I think by the late seventies things got a bit absurd and stupid. Tolkien and Lovecraft would have choked on their pipes at some of the heavy metal from this period. A miniature Stonehenge set piece for Spinal Tap comes to mind….
October 19th, 2008 at 1:46 am
oh I am so lovin’ the memories! Thank you!
October 19th, 2008 at 6:32 am
Gil
Yea I like those bands and there were more that exploited the elf and fairy theme. In fact Dio’s band before he joined Rainbow was called Elf. I like Sandy Denny, the Fairport Convention singer, a lot. There is a heavy metal schlockiness to some of this certainly, and Ritchie Blackmore has many of the elements of the Spinal Tap like British rock god. I have not been able to access my edit page (I fear I will not be able to edit my site lately. I can comment like this, but the edit area is so slow or does not open at all) so I have not been able to do the essay, but what I like about this album (and the next one Rainbow Rising) is just simply the quality and level of the playing, regardless of the themes. Dio just always did all that Medieval stuff so well and it just was not too corny coming from him. But I felt Blackore did some good work during this period, including his last stuff with Deep Purple before Tommy Bolin came in. I was lucky to see Rainbow, but unlucky that it was with Joe Lynn Turner, and was really Blackmore’s unabashed corporate rock period. This was redeemed when I saw Blackmore tour with the Machinehead Deep Purple line up and it was a perfect rock concert.
Petra
Nice to see you here. I have some serious connection issues and your site and and couple others are hard to comment on until (if ever) they are resolved. I am even having a hard time accessing my own site lately. And of course you really cannot edit a site from a proxy. I do know one proxy that can sometimes do this, but for now that proxy software will not connect, so I am sorry if I cannot comment on your place like I would like.
And memories (good and bad) is what it is all about here. Please come back.
Bill
October 19th, 2008 at 2:38 pm
I’ve got some uncles that were always into music like that. They played it all the time for me, my brother & our cousin. We all loved it. I love music that mixes stuff from the fantasy world and mythology. I was thinking about this type of music the other day. Songs that deal with everything from elves to fairies to dragons to knights always interested me. I love reading books about those subjects as well as watching movies about them. It makes sense I would enjoy music like that as well. Ronnie James Dio is a man that I always felt did this type of music so well.
October 20th, 2008 at 2:26 am
That is why I sort of like some of the heavy themed Norwegian Black Metal, though it is not my preferred cup of tea. They usually have themes based on old myths and legends and present them in a rather melodramatic manner. They take what they do seriously and while it is very heavy music Black Metal tends to be more melodic than lets say Death Metal, which is tripped down and brutally rhythmic. I have a post I am planning on that topic. Sadly my connection issues seem to be getting worse and worse. On top of that the school suddenly decides that they are going to charge us for Internet service. That is fine, so long as the service improves. Sometimes lately I cannot even open my website, much edit it. That is simply due to the ISP provider of this school.
This country can be a real headache man. There is not much you can do here if things get screwy but hope they do not get worse. I read online now about americans being so unhappy and feeling (as they should) ripped off. But at least you live there where you can publicly complain and try to resolve things. Regardless of what you might read on the net about modern China that does happen here. There is no one to complain to and if there were they would not care. Some people may think the same can be said of America, but believe me, there is a vast difference.
God, I hope the Cafe does not evolve into a bitter rant blog. I may have to do something with the site I do want to do, and that is do simple posts with less media and images. In other words, make it another site that posts a picture of a DVD cover then babbles about the film for ten paragraphs. My God.
October 20th, 2008 at 2:01 pm
First of all, I’m really sorry for all your problems. It’s a shame that things are like they are there. I understand what you mean. The USA has its share of flaws and problems, but we can complain about it to somebody. We can usually get it sorted out eventually. Good luck. I do hope it turns around for you. I really love your blog.
I’m not into a lot of heavier music. I was when I was younger. I do enjoy a lot of black metal. Much of that has to do with the imagery and the content of the music. It’s cool hearing songs dealing with the Viking gods, etc. I also love those videos. The whole atmosphere, etc. in them is amazing.