Rainbow Rising
By Roy Davies
Reviewed by Ken Boyd
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Rainbow Rising By Roy Davies Reviewed by Ken Boyd
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The author, Roy Davies, starts off the book on a personal note that indicates that a Rainbow concert changed his life from a 1976 school boy into the writer he is today. Mr. Davies appears much more professional and conservative—on the cover photo at least—than one might expect, but the book proves he is a ROCKER at heart!
At first look of the nicely done full color cover, one gets a nice impression of what is to come in the 256 page tome of information. Additionally, there are a number of black and white photos, many of which have likely already been seen by core fans and collectors, but without a doubt a jack pot for the casual fan.
I was impressed how Mr. Davies turns what would normally be viewed as a liability into a seemingly strong asset with: “Rainbow were also one of the greatest live bands, and their ever changing line-up featured some of the most accomplished players of the day.”
The book revolved around Ritchie Blackmore and describes him as “a moody and tyrannical dictator,” in regard to his public image, and “intelligent, frank yet shy man of sensitivity and dry humor,” by friends.
The book itself is arranged chronologically from before Deep Purple through many incarnations of Rainbow to the present teaming with blonde beauty, Candice Night. The publication also includes Chart Placings, a Discography, Equipment used by various players, details on tour programs, Tour Agendas, set lists and (very cool!) special alterations from the standard set list. Also included is a list of recognized—at least by the author—bootlegs.
There is a comprehensive list of URLs that interestingly enough include Tapio’s Dio.net as well as my own web site—though the information was mixed up a bit between the two, it was very cool to be listed in the book none the less!
There were a few errors I found in the information: such as a listing of Ronnie and the Ramblers rather than the true moniker of Ronnie and the Rumblers; the author quotes the tune Hide In The Rainbow being on the movie Iron Eagle II when it was in fact on the first Iron Eagle movie; as well as another movie Vision Quest is indicated to be a science fiction movie in the text, rather than the wrestling high school movie that it was in actuality; but for the most part these errors were small and insignificant.
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Some interesting photos from the early days of Rainbow, also featured in the book. |
When all is said and done 138 pages of story coupled with a LOT of great reference material that proves great for the casual fan or the hard core fanatic!
My final advice? GET IT!
Note from the Author:
When I asked Roy about the task of putting this book together, what to include and what to leave out, this is what he had to say:
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idea for the book started around 1995 when browsing through some Blackmore interviews in some old music magazines. It occurred to me alot of interesting information was contained in these that time had -or was about to- forget, unless maybe a biography on what was an interesting and convoluted band history could be written. The original draft I worked up was far more orientated towards the established/knowledgable Rainbow /Blackmore fan, but from a commercial point of view the publishers insisted on a more basic 'beginners' approach,hence the coverage of the familiar, well known stuff (like the Purple era) yet again. As regards the sometimes patchy coverage of certain aspects of the history, Helter Skelter originally wanted even more bias towards the Dio era, which I fought against; as many fans have their own favourite eras and needed to be served evenly in any book. Add to that the fact that the original draft was well over 75,000 words, and you can appreciate the editing down to a manageable 50,000 meant some things unfortunately had to go. Some edits I had reinstated, some they won out on- I guess with everything like this it's very much a compromise. The use of full colour plates was nixed owing to cost restraints too. The appendices did take a long time to come together, especially the giglist, which was mostly Nigel Young's-who generously devoted a lot of time and effort for which I'm extremely grateful. These appendices I feel allow the reader to dip back into the book occasionally after reading it, rather than leave it gathering dust. As for interviews Bob Richards did some with Don Airey and Dougie, while Roger & JLT answered some specific questions by e-mail. Overall (Dougie apart) I sensed there was a little reluctance to get really involved- maybe understandable because it wasn't officially sanctioned. I did try and get input from Ritchie, but needless to say I got no feedback or response at all until the book was almost out, when there were a few rumblings from his management's legal dept, hence the month-long delay in release!! I'm glad the response has been favourable, it's been a labour of love and I still get a buzz seeing my name in print! Cheers Roy (Ken- anything you feel I may be able to help with Dio/Rainbow related please don't hesitate to ask.) |
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