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For added grandeur
Louder Sound republishes online a Classic Rock feature on Rainbow Rising and subsequent tour. It originally appeared in the Classic Rock magazine issue #158, dated June 2011. The feature was written by Pete Makowski with input from Ritchie Blackmore, Jimmy Bain, Ronnie James Dio, Tony Carey, and Cozy Powell, all collected over the years.
Tokyo, December 16, 1976
In the dark, smoke-filled basement disco of the Tokyo Hilton, the night is in full swing. The music throbs with a mid-tempo pulse, as salary men with open collars, loosened ties and uncomfortable paunches knock back the sake. Refined-looking and impeccably dressed hostesses hover in the background, circling their prey with casual yet purposeful intent.
In one corner of the room, I can just about make out the blurry outline of someone who seems out of place in this den of iniquity. Ritchie Blackmore, guitarist and driving force with Rainbow, sits almost hidden in an anonymous alcove. Dressed in his trademark black, only the whites of his eyes and a half-pint glass of imported German beer are visible.
Continue reading in Louder Sound.
Unauthorized copying, while sometimes necessary, is never as good as the real thing
I was hoping that Uwe’s favourite band and album would be posted here. Let the floodgates open, (again). Cheers.
September 5th, 2025 at 01:13I’m gonna sit this one out and let you boys get on with your fervent celebration in the heat and the rain, with whips and chains of this relic of quasi-religious devout worship and fervor. My agnostic view of it is well-known. It had eye-catching sleeve art and the first song (Tarot Woman) was promising, I’ll give it that.
Here is a cocky review of the album I came across that is not overawed, but doesn’t lack appreciation either:
https://www.thevinyldistrict.com/storefront/graded-on-a-curve-rainbow-rising-2/
And here is a Dio/Bain US radio interview around the time the album was released:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xlZX6AnjGLE
This 1976 promo is well-known, but worth a listen for Jimmy Bain’s trademark buzzsaw Telecaster Bass sound during Do You Close Your Eyes/the Strat smash-up, once the poor guitar has gone dead at 11:02, you can hear Jimmy real well! 😂
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JRlHQUtEpb4
I guess that punkish sounding, forward-driving bass is what initially got Jimmy the job with Rainbow (suitably wild in contrast to the much more collected and nuanced Craig Gruber) and also made him lose it again once Ritchie had grown tired of it and found it limiting.
September 5th, 2025 at 03:56