A LIGHT IN THE BLACK
RAINBOW
SONGWRITERS: RITCHIE
BLACKMORE & RONNIE DIO
COUNTRY: U.
K.
ALBUM: RISING
LABEL: UNIVERSAL
UMC
GENRE: ROCK
YEAR: 1976
Rainbow is a British rock band formed by Deep Purple founder
and former guitarist Ritchie Blackmore in 1975. In addition to Blackmore, the band originally consisted of former
Elf lead singer Ronnie James Dio, bassist
Craig Gruber, drummer
Gary Driscoll, and
keyboardist Micky Lee Soule. Over
the years, Rainbow went through many lineup changes. including bringing in
other vocalists Graham Bonnet and Joe Lynn Turner, before
it folded in 1999.
The
name of the band was inspired by the Rainbow Bar and Grill, a Los Angeles,
California eatery which catered to rock stars, groupies, and rock enthusiasts.
It was here that Ritchie spent some of his off time from Deep Purple and met
Dio, whose band Elf had toured regularly as an opening act for Deep Purple.
Blackmore originally got together with Dio to record "Black Sheep
of the Family" as a single, and it turned out so well they
needed a B side; when the B side was recorded, however, it turned out to be
even better. This led to them recording an album, and that effort caused the
formation of the entire band. Rainbow's debut album, 'Ritchie
Blackmore's Rainbow', was released in 1975; it featured the minor
hit "Man on the
Silver Mountain".
Blackmore
fired everybody except Dio shortly after the album was recorded. He
recruited drummer Cozy
Powell(formerly of the Jeff Beck Group),
bassist Jimmy Bain,
and keyboard player Tony Carey.
This lineup went on
to record the album 'Rising',
which was released in May 1976 and was a big success in the U.S. (hitting #48
on the Billboard 200 chart).
For
the next album, 1978's 'Long Live
Rock 'n' Roll', Blackmore kept Powell and Dio and replaced the rest
of the band. Blackmore had difficulty finding a bass player for this record, so
he played bass himself on all but three songs ("Gates of
Babylon", "Kill the King",
and "Sensitive to
Light"). After the release and supporting tour, Dio left
Rainbow.
Blackmore continued with Rainbow, replacing
Dio with ex-Marbles vocalist Graham Bonnet. Powell
stayed and was joined by former Deep Purple bassist Roger Glover and keyboardist
Don Airey.
The first album from
the new lineup, 1979's 'Down to Earth', featured
the band's first single successes: "All Night
Long" and "Since You
Been Gone". Bonnet possessed a powerful voice on stage, yet he
struggled with the band's quieter numbers and lacked Dio's range. In
1980, the band headlined the inaugural Monsters of Rock festival at Castle Donington in England. This was Powell's final
performance with Rainbow.
Can't forget his face
What a lonely place
Has he really let us flow
All the time that's lost
What's the final cost?
Will I really get away?
All my life it seems
Just a crazy dream
Reaching for somebody's star
Can't believe it all
Did he really fall?
What to do now I don't know
Something's calling
me back
It's a light in the black
Am I ready to go?
I'm coming home
Breathed the air
before
Heard the thunder roar
Never knew it was for me
Always looking down
Lost but never found
Eyes to look but not to see
All my life it seems
Just a crazy dream
Reaching for somebody's star
Like an open door
That you've passed before
But you never had the key
Something's calling
me back
There's a light in the black
Am I ready to go?
I'm coming home
I'm coming home
Yeah
I'm going back to my home
I'm going home, home,
home
Going home, home, home
I'm coming back
Can't forget his face
What a lonely place
Has he really let us flow
All the time that's lost
What's the final cost?
Will I really get away?
All my life it seems, just a crazy dream
Reaching for somebody's star
Can't believe it all
Did he really fall?
What to do now I don't know
Something's calling
me back
Like a light in the black
Yes, I'm ready to go
I'm coming home
Home, yeah!
I'm on my way back home
Look to the sky
There in the sky
I see a star.
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