May to September 1975

Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow  

People involved

Ritchie Blackmore (gtr); Ronnie James Dio (vcl); Gary Driscoll (drm); Craig Gruber (bss); Mickey Lee Soule (kbr); plus Shoshana (bvc).

Disappointed with the musical developments in Deep Purple, Blackmore left to pursue his own ideas; thus he recruited most of ELF and formed Rainbow. They actually started recordings before Blackmore had split from Deep Purple, and since it seemed to work well he made his final decision to leave. However, Rainbow's first line-up didn't last long. It was dismantled even before the album got out.

Albums & singles

Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow [lp] : UK August 1975 Oyster/Polydor 2490 141

Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow [lp] : Germany 1975 Oyster 1c062-96787

Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow [mc] : US 1975 Polydor 825089-4

Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow [lp] : Germany 19-- Polydor 2929096

Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow [cd] : Germany/Canada 199- Polydor 825089-2

Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow [cd] : Japan 199- Polydor POCP-2289

Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow [cd] : Japan 1998 Polydor (Cardboard Jacket Series) POCP-9155

Man On The Silver Mountain/Snake Charmer : UK 1975 Oyster 103

Man On The Silver Mountain [ep] : Germany 1975 Polydor 2835 035

Material from above appears on...

The Best Of Rainbow [2lp/2cd] : Germany 1981 Polydor 800074

Ansamblj Rainbow [lp] : Russia 1990 Polydor/Melodija C60-27023-005

Ritchie Blackmore Vol. 2 [2lp/cd] : UK 1991 Connoisseur RP VSOP LP/MC/CD 157