Rainbow的传略

After guitarist Ritchie Blackmore left Deep Purple in 1974, he formed Rainbow by adopting Elf as his backing band. Led by vocalist Ronnie James Dio, Elf had signed to Deep Purple's Purple Records in 1972; the group also featured keyboardist Mickey Lee Soule, bassist Craig Gruber, guitarist Steve Edwards, and drummer Gary Driscoll. When Blackmore embarked on his solo career, he took every member of Elf as his supporting group, with the exception of Edwards. The band's 1975 debut album, Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow, was a continuation of the heavy rock that was Deep Purple and Elf's stock-in-trade. Blackmore changed the lineup of Rainbow for their second album, Rainbow Rising (1976), replacing Gruber with Jimmy Bain, Soule with Tony Carey, and Driscoll with Cozy Powell. After its release, Bain and Carey departed and were replaced by Bob Daisley and David Stone.

　　Rainbow released two more albums — Live on Stage (1977) and Long Live Rock and Roll (1978) — before relocating to America in 1978. Once the band had moved, Dio and Blackmore came to blows, resulting in Dio's departure from the band. He was replaced by Graham Bonnet, who recorded only one album with the band, Down to Earth (1979). Down to Earth also saw former Deep Purple bassist Roger Glover join the lineup. For 1981's Difficult to Cure, Bonnet was replaced by Joe Lynn Turner. The group recorded two more albums before splitting in 1984, when Blackmore and Glover joined the reunited Deep Purple. — Stephen Thomas Erlewine