 |
British
guitarist Ritchie Blackmore started out as a session player and then
was a cofounder of the hard rock group Deep Purple in 1968. With Deep
Purple, he made the albums Shades of Deep Purple (1968), The Book of
Taliesyn (1969), Deep Purple (1969), Concerto for Group and Orchestra
(with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, 1970), Purple in Rock, Fireball
(1971), Machine Head (1972), Purple Passages (1972), Made in Japan (1973),
Who Do We Think We Are? (1973), Burn (1974), and Stormbringer (1974)
before leaving the group in April 1975. In Los Angeles in 1975, he took
over the New York band Elf, replaced the guitarist, and renamed the
resulting heavy metal quintet Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow. Personnel
would change frequently during the band's existence. The first edition
featured Ronnie James Dio (born Ronald Padavona, July 10, 1949, Cortland,
NY) (vocals), Gary Driscoll (drums), Craig Gruber (bass), and Mickey
Lee Soule (keyboards). They made the first album, Ritchie Blackmore's
Rainbow. Driscoll, Gruber, and Soule then departed and were replaced
by Jim Bain (bass), Tony Carey (keyboards), and former Jeff Beck Group
drummer Cozy Powell (b. December 29, 1947, Cirencester, England) for
the second album, Rainbow Rising (1976), and the third, On Stage, which
made the U.K. Top Ten. (From the third album on, the band was credited
only as Rainbow.) Carey and Bain then left and were replaced by David
Stone (keyboards) and Bob Daisley (bass) for the fourth album, Long
Live Rock 'N' Roll (1978), another Top Ten U.K. hit, after which Daisley
and Stone left.
In 1979, Blackmore, Dio, and Powell added former Deep Purple bassist
Roger Glover (b. November 20, 1945, Brecon, South Wales) and Don Airey
(keyboards), and started to make the fifth album, the U.K. Top Ten Down
to Earth, but Dio left during the recording sessions and was replaced
by Graham Bonnet. The album included two U.K. Top Ten singles, "Since
You've Been Gone" and "All Night Long." Powell and Bonnet left in 1980
and were replaced by Bob Rondinelli (drums) and Joe Lynn Turner (vocals),
and the lineup of Blackmore, Glover, Airey, Rondinelli, and Turner made
the sixth album and fourth U.K. Top Ten LP Difficult to Cure in 1981.
The album produced the U.K. Top Ten single "I Surrender." Then Airey
left and was replaced by David Rosenthal.
In 1982, Blackmore, Glover, Rondinelli, Turner, and Rosenthal made their
seventh album and fifth U.K. Top Ten, Straight Between the Eyes. The
eighth album, Bent out of Shape, was released in 1983 and featured the
band's first U.S. Top 40 hit, "Stone Cold." In 1984, Blackmore disbanded
Rainbow and joined a reformed version of Deep Purple, participating
in the albums Perfect Strangers (1984), The House of Blue Light (1987),
Nobody's Perfect (1988), Slaves and Masters (1990), The Battle Rages
On (1993) and Stranger in Us All (1995). With new outfit Blackmore's
Night, in 1997 he resurfaced with Shadow of the Moon; Under a Violet
Moon followed a year later.
This
bio courtesy www.allmusic.com
|
