Ritchie Blackmore

British guitarist Ritchie Blackmore started out as a session player and then was a cofounder of the hard rock group Deep Purple in 1968. With Deep Purple, he made the albums Shades of Deep Purple (1968), The Book of Taliesyn (1969), Deep Purple (1969), Concerto for Group and Orchestra (with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, 1970), Purple in Rock, Fireball (1971), Machine Head (1972), Purple Passages (1972), Made in Japan (1973), Who Do We Think We Are? (1973), Burn (1974), and Stormbringer (1974) before leaving the group in April 1975. In Los Angeles in 1975, he took over the New York band Elf, replaced the guitarist, and renamed the resulting heavy metal quintet Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow. Personnel would change frequently during the band's existence. The first edition featured Ronnie James Dio (born Ronald Padavona, July 10, 1949, Cortland, NY) (vocals), Gary Driscoll (drums), Craig Gruber (bass), and Mickey Lee Soule (keyboards). They made the first album, Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow. Driscoll, Gruber, and Soule then departed and were replaced by Jim Bain (bass), Tony Carey (keyboards), and former Jeff Beck Group drummer Cozy Powell (b. December 29, 1947, Cirencester, England) for the second album, Rainbow Rising (1976), and the third, On Stage, which made the U.K. Top Ten. (From the third album on, the band was credited only as Rainbow.) Carey and Bain then left and were replaced by David Stone (keyboards) and Bob Daisley (bass) for the fourth album, Long Live Rock 'N' Roll (1978), another Top Ten U.K. hit, after which Daisley and Stone left. In 1979, Blackmore, Dio, and Powell added former Deep Purple bassist Roger Glover (b. November 20, 1945, Brecon, South Wales) and Don Airey (keyboards), and started to make the fifth album, the U.K. Top Ten Down to Earth, but...