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Brian May’s opinion on Ritchie Blackmore’s Rainbow
The guitarist and astrophysicist Brian May helped form Queen in 1970 alongside drummer Roger Taylor and vocalist Freddie Mercury. The following year, they recruited bassist John Deacon, completing their lineup. In 1973, they released their self-titled debut album, the same year Deep Purple released “Who Do We Think We Are”. That would be the Hard Rock band’s final album with Ian Gillan on vocals in the ’70s. They went on to release two more albums with replacements Glenn Hughes and David Coverdale before disbanding in 1975.
That same year, the legendary guitarist Ritchie Blackmore decided to form his own band, Rainbow. The group became quite successful and influential, recording classic albums with vocalists Ronnie James Dio, Graham Bonnet, and Joe Lynn Turner. Brian May has always been a huge fan of Blackmore, but what is his opinion on Rainbow?
Brian May’s opinion on Ritchie Blackmore’s Rainbow
Besides admiring Blackmore’s work with Deep Purple, Brian May is also a Rainbow fan. The musician praised the band many times over the decades and even revealed which was one of their songs he loved the most.
In an interview with My Planet Rock‘s Liz Barnes in 2013 (Transcribed by Rock and Roll Garage), he was asked to choose a “really good guitar track”. His choice was Rainbow’s version of “Since You Been Gone”. “Okay, what has popped into my head is ‘Since You’ve Been Gone’, because I think is a quintessential. I suppose you call it Pop Rock in a sense, you know. But it’s uncompromising, it’s a great song and it’s brilliantly played. I mean, the drums, my dear friend Cozy Powell of course, long gone and I worked wit him and it was a wonderful experience working with that guy.”
He continued:
“He had Rock all the way through him, an amazing guy. And of course Ritchie Blackmore playing guitar, who is extraordinary. People don’t talk about Ritchie Blackmore enough. I don’t know why. But he was such a trailblazer and technically incredible, unpredictable in every possible way which is great. I mean, that’s what you love isn’t?”
“You go to a gig and you want to see something which is not predictable, not like just reproducing something. You never knew what you were gonna see when you went to see Purple when Blackmore was in it, but also Rainbow. This (Rainbow) was his own thing and it was wild and dangerous. This is a good Pop record but that doesn’t take away from the fact that is great Rock music in my opinion. I think it’s perfect,” Brian May said.
Written by the former Argent guitarist Russ Ballard, “Since You Been Gone” was originally released by him in his solo album “Winning” in 1976. Three years later, in 1979, Rainbow covered the track on “Down The Earth”, their only album with Graham Bonnet on vocals.
He said the under solo of the song is brilliant
That was not the only time Brian praised Rainbow’s version of “Since You Been Gone”, he had already mentioned the track when he was interviewed for the documentary “Ritchie Blackmore Story” (2015). He even said that the under solo of the track was brilliant.
“I think Cozy (Powell) was a perfect foil for Ritchie and I know even Cozy found it hard at times. Cozy used to tell me, ‘He ain’t easy, you know’. But I think Cozy had such a respect for Ritchie and likewise the other way around. So I think it was a great combination”
“I’ve seen Ritchie lose it with someone. I better not say who it is. But it was very explosive. He doesn’t suffer people to be fools. And I know Ritchie can be quite physical.”
“I love ‘Since You Been Gone’. It’s uncompromising and it has the perfect element of pop, which is you can sing it and it’s in your head all day. It’s passionate, it has a real tug on your emotions. But Ritchie’s in it and Ritchie is powering the whole thing (on guitar). The under solo is just brilliant. They did the immortal version of it,” Brian May said.
During the same conversation he said that although some memorable guitar riffs created by Blackmore seem to be easy to play, nobody can actually play them like Ritchie.
Rainbow was active from 1975 to 1984, 1993 to 1997 and 2015 to 2019, Rainbow have released 8 studio albums. They sold an estimated amount of more than 30 million records worldwide. 3 of those records had Ronnie James Dio, one Graham Bonnet, 3 Joe Lynn Turner and one Doogie White.
Blackmore praised Queen and Brian May
Besides being a real guitar hero, Ritchie Blackmore is also known for being quite sincere. So when he praises a band or an artist, he really likes them. In a video posted by the Deep Purple’s official Youtube channel he recalled when he first heard Queen.
(Transcribed by Rock and Roll Garage) “Queen, I first heard them doing a song about a train, this is about 1974 or 1975. I can’t remember the title but I was very impressed with the guitar playing and of course the singing. I’ve noticed that Freddie Mercury has a cross between Ronnie (James) Dio and almost like an opera operatic type of voice. To me he was a true star, he knew exactly how to milk an audience, what a musician.”
“Some of the stuff they put down all those four part harmonies… very, very clever stuff. Of course there’s Brian, who is probably one of the nicest guys in the business. A brilliant guitar player to boot. I’ve worked with Brian on other stuff and he is such a nice man. He is a bit too tall but he can’t help that. Wonderful band, excellent band and I was very surprised that they did so well in America,” Ritchie Blackmore said.
