Rainbow Rising: The Story of Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow (Paperback)

~ Roy Davies (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Guitar legend Blackmore quit Deep Purple in 1975 to form Rainbow. Hit albums like Rising and Long Live Rock 'n' Roll put them at the top of rock's premier league while Blackmore's legendary ego helped maintain their high profile in the press. Hit singles like "Since You've Been Gone" followed, along with legendary live shows, before the egos of the key players caused the whole thing to implode.

Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Helter Skelter Publishing (May 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1900924315
• ISBN-13: 978-1900924313
• Product Dimensions: 9.9 x 5.9 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.1 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,703,371 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Ehh... it's OK, August 28, 2003

By	wild man "Wild Man" (Merrick, NY United States) - See all my reviews

Rainbow Rising for a Rainbow fan is not too bad... It offers some insight into the goings on in the band in their heyday, but... and it's a big but... the author doesn't get the real down & dirty info we all desire. He needed to dig deeper into his facts, and he didn't. The book went by too quick. I have to mention that the last 'third' of the book is stats... like gig dates, album info, and musician info. The author even got at least one of those stats wrong... I was at the last U.S. show on their 1981 tour, and he states that that show "probably didn't happen". Oh well.... As a fan, it is worth having the book in my library, only because noone else is writing anything about the band... but, don't expect much!

9 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Rainbow obituaries or one massive obituray article?, January 15, 2003

By	"zedos" (York) - See all my reviews

If you are longtime Blackmore fan, then there are no surprises uncovered in this book for you. If you are an aspiring Blackmore fan, websites and USENET newsgroups provide the same information in this book for free.

This book lacks charm, enthusiasm, excitement, insight, and shock. The clinical writing approach scurries the reader through Ritchie's youth, Deep Purple, then into Rainbow's personnel revolving door by weaving historical events with a thread of dull quotes. I found this book akin to reading an article in the local paper about a popular person, who recently passed away. If you enjoy reading the absoluteness of that person's life milestones, then this book may be for you. This book provides an interesting twist to obit-style article format by providing a VH-1-esque "Where Are They Now?" chapter. (Too bad that can't be done for the daily obits!)

This bound pound of paper contains eight chapters of band member roundabout. However, the author seemingly, knowingly attempts to placate the reader with nearly 90 pages of appendices including discography, band equipment, tour info, tour dates, set lists, bootleg lists, website links and fan club info.

BOTTOMLINE:
If you want a page turner, this book is not it.

If you are looking for a Blackmore or Rainbow tell-all with shocking new uncovered details, this book is not it.

If you looking for continuance, quality and class of Chris Charlesworth's masterpiece, this book is not it.

If you are looking for a manual to your Rainbow CD and bootleg collection, this book is it.

7 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars I see a Rainbow evaporating...., October 13, 2004

By	R. Recchia "the handsome bug" (Ithaca, ny) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I was hesitant to buy this at first, mainly because of the negative things that others have had to say about this book. I love Rainbow, however...I have since I was a wee lad and I still like them.....so I went ahead and ordered it anyway, and I'm glad that I did.

I do agree that the appendices takes up far too much of the book. You know, I could really care what type of instruments the band members play and I don't care about how many concerts they played. This book is jam packed full of information about the group and it's numerous band members, though. It also contains black and white photos of all the band members and each and every line-up. The book is full of quotes from many people...my favorite is from bassist Roger Glover, when he gives his opinion about singer Graham Bonnet...."God gave you a great voice, but took away everything else!"

Chapter 1 gives a brief recap of Blackmore's days with Deep Purple, while chapters 2 through 6 talk about each Rainbow album and tells how and why band members were chosen and why they quit or got fired...and in some instances, rehired. Almost every song Rainbow recorded is discussed, though in not as much detail as I would like. We also get to see Ritchie Blackmore's humorous side and all the pranks him and Cozy Powell would pull on other band members. Only three to four pages talk about Blackmore after he left Rainbow and Deep Purple and went acoustic. There is also a section in the back that tells what each band member did after they left Rainbow.

Overall, a darn good book. It may not be the best book ever written about a rock group, but it's also the only book ever written about this wonderful group...at least it's the only one I've heard of!