Ritchie Blackmore’s Rainbow to Release Two New Recordings and 2016 Concert
On May 26, the latest version of Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow will release its first studio recordings. The two songs are currently available for pre-order.
While the first, "Land of Hope and Glory," is a new composition, "I Surrender" is a re-recording of the Russ Ballard (of Argent fame) tune Rainbow cut for 1981's Difficult to Cure. In its original form, "I Surrender" became one of their biggest hits, reaching No. 3 in the U.K. and No. 10 on the U.S. Mainstream Rock chart.
These new tracks were recorded with singer Ronnie Romero, the Lords of Black frontman whom Blackmore hand-picked to front this new version of Rainbow for a series of concerts in the summer of 2016. “When I heard him, he seemed like the right guy to sing the [Ronnie James] Dio-era songs of Rainbow,” Blackmore said last month. “He’s versatile. He can sing like Freddie Mercury, Ronnie James Dio or Graham Bonnet. I wrote one new song and also recorded one of the old ones. Ronnie, who’s in Madrid now, added his vocals and sent it back.”
The show they performed in Birmingham, England -- Rainbow's first in Blackmore's native country in more than 20 years -- is also available for pre-order, and is expected to arrive on June 9.
The dates Blackmore played last year, the first rock concerts for him since disbanding Rainbow in 1997 to concentrate on Renaissance-style folk music with Blackmore's Night, appear to have significantly whetted his appetite for live electric guitar. Next month, he'll play four nights in the U.K. You can get full information at his website.
See Deep Purple and Other Rockers in the Top 100 Albums of the '80s