COME DOWN WITH FIRE
LIFT MY SPRIT HIGHER
SOMEONE'S SCREAMING
MY NAME
COME, AND MAKE ME
HOLY AGAIN
Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow
is the debut
studio album
by
American/British
rock band
released in 1975.
Recording
During studio sessions
in Tampa Bay, Florida
on
December,12th 1974,
Blackmore originally
planned to record
the solo single
"Black Sheep of the Family"
a cover of a track
by the band
Fat Mattress
from 1970
and the newly
composed
"Sixteenth Century Greensleeves",
which 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.
The other
members of Elf,
keyboardist
Micky Lee Soule
and bassist
Craig Gruber,
were used
for the recording
of the album
in Musicland Studios
in Munich,
West Germany
during February
and March, 1975.
Though it was
originally planned
to be a solo album,
the record
was billed as
Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow,
and later progressed as
a new band project.
Blackmore and Dio
did promotional work
for the album.
While rehearsing
for the tour,
Blackmore decided
to fire Gruber
and replace him
with
Jimmy Bain
on bass
and after that
he fired Driscoll,
replacing him with
drummer
Cozy Powell.
Because of that,
Soule decided to
quit the band,
to play on a
Roger Glover album
and tour with
the Ian Gillan Band.
Soule was
subsequently
replaced by
keyboardist
Tony Carey.
The first lineup
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 song by
the Yardbirds
from their
1965 album
Having a Rave Up
with the Yardbirds.
A version featuring
vocals
subsequently appeared
on Rainbow's
live album
On Stage
and their
1995
studio album
Stranger in Us All.
No comments:
Post a Comment