1. A British rock band.<… Read Full Bio ↴Rainbow is the name of at least four bands:
1. A British rock band.
2. A K-Pop group (레인보우).
3. A U.S. psychedelic rock band.
4. Mid-80's Hi-NRG project.
1. Rainbow was a British rock band formed by Deep Purple founder and former guitarist Ritchie Blackmore in 1975. In addition to Blackmore, the band originally consisted of former Elf lead singer Ronnie James Dio, bassist Craig Gruber, drummer Gary Driscoll, and keyboardist Micky Lee Soule. Over the years, Rainbow went through many lineup changes. including bringing in other vocalists Graham Bonnet and Joe Lynn Turner, before it folded in 1999.
The name of the band was inspired by the Rainbow Bar and Grill, a Los Angeles, California eatery which catered to rock stars, groupies, and rock enthusiasts. It was here that Ritchie spent some of his off time from Deep Purple and met Dio, whose band Elf had toured regularly as an opening act for Deep Purple. Blackmore originally got together with Dio to record "Black Sheep of the Family" as a single, and it turned out so well they needed a B side; when the B side was recorded, however, it turned out to be even better. This led to them recording an album, and that effort caused the formation of the entire band. Rainbow's debut album, 'Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow', was released in 1975; it featured the minor hit "Man on the Silver Mountain".
Blackmore fired everybody except Dio shortly after the album was recorded. He recruited drummer Cozy Powell (formerly of the Jeff Beck Group), bassist Jimmy Bain, and keyboard player Tony Carey. This lineup went on to record the album 'Rising', which was released in May 1976 and was a big success in the U.S. (hitting #48 on the Billboard 200 chart).
For the next album, 1978's 'Long Live Rock 'n' Roll', Blackmore kept Powell and Dio and replaced the rest of the band. Blackmore had difficulty finding a bass player for this record, so he played bass himself on all but three songs ("Gates of Babylon", "Kill the King", and "Sensitive to Light"). After the release and supporting tour, Dio left Rainbow.
Blackmore continued with Rainbow, replacing Dio with ex-Marbles vocalist Graham Bonnet. Powell stayed and was joined by former Deep Purple bassist Roger Glover and keyboardist Don Airey. The first album from the new lineup, 1979's 'Down to Earth', featured the band's first single successes: "All Night Long" and "Since You Been Gone". Bonnet possessed a powerful voice on stage, yet he struggled with the band's quieter numbers and lacked Dio's range. In 1980, the band headlined the inaugural Monsters of Rock festival at Castle Donington in England. This was Powell's final performance with Rainbow.
The next album saw yet another line-up change as Bonnet and Powell were replaced by Joe Lynn Turner and Bobby Rondinelli, respectively. The title track from their 1981 album, 'Difficult to Cure', notably was a version of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony. The album also contained the guitar-driven piece "Maybe Next Time". Although facing mixed success commercially, the Difficult to Cure tour was the first tour in which Rainbow headlined in the U.S.
Rainbow's next studio album was 'Straight between the Eyes'. The band added a new keyboardist, David Rosenthal. The album was more cohesive than 'Difficult to Cure' and had more success in the U.S. The band, however, was alienating some of its earlier fans with its more slick, arena rock based sound. The single "Stone Cold", a popular power ballad, had some chart success and has since been included in several multi-artist collaboration albums. The successful supporting tour skipped the U.K. completely and focused on the U.S. market.
1983's 'Bent Out of Shape' saw drummer Rondinelli fired in favour of Chuck Burgi. The album featured the single "Street of Dreams". The song's video was banned by MTV for its supposedly controversial hypnotic video clip. The resulting tour saw Rainbow return to the U.K. and also to Japan, where the band performed with a full orchestra. Though fans greatly enjoyed the band's lively touring, the band's material was getting mixed critical reviews, and its members had a sense of needing to find direction.
By the early to mid-80s, Blackmore and Glover had reformed the Deep Purple "Mark II" lineup, and Rainbow was disbanded in 1984. A final Rainbow album, 'Finyl Vinyl', was patched together from live tracks and B-sides of singles. This album contained the instrumental "Weiss Heim", made widely available for the first time.
After Ritchie Blackmore left Deep Purple for the final time in 1993, he put together a new version of Rainbow in 1994, this time named Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow. This incarnation of the band included Doogie White (vocals), Paul Morris (keyboards), Greg Smith (bass), and John O'Reilly (drums).
The new band released Stranger in Us All in 1995 and embarked on an extensive world tour to promote it from late 1995 to late 1997. For the tour John O'Reilly was replaced by Chuck Burgi and then by John Micelli for the U.S. leg of the tour (as well as their final show in Esbjerg, Denmark).
The tour proved very successful, and a show in Germany was professionally filmed by Rockpalast. It has never officially been released, but has been heavily bootleged. The live shows featured frequent changes in set lists and musical improvisations that proved popular with bootleggers, and many shows are still traded over a decade later.
However, fed up with stadium rock, Blackmore turned his attention to rennaisance and mediaeval music, a lifelong interest of his. Rainbow was put on hold once again and played its final concert in Denmark in 1999. Blackmore, together with his partner Candice Night as vocalist, then formed the renaissance-influenced Blackmore's Night.
2. Rainbow, the tag for all releases by the K-Pop group 레인보우, responsible for tracks: "A", "Gossip Girl", "Mach", and about a dozen more.
3. One of any number of Los Angeles, U.S.A.groups of their time (1968), Rainbow's best-known LP was After the Storm The album's one cover is a take with saxophone of Willie Dixon's "I Just Want to Make Love to You". The lineup was: Darrell Devlin (drums), Bob Gay (bass),
W. David Mohr (keyboards), and Harry Vavela (guitars).
4. Rainbow was a short-lived Hi-NRG project by Allan Coelho (of Tapps and more) that released only one single, Humpty Dumpty, in 1986.
Black Sheep Of The Family
Rainbow Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Got a floor for a bed
The future's at the bottom of a tea cup
I got a half a pair of shoes
And no time to lose
I'm wondering when I'm going to wise up
Cause we need some security
You get a little bad luck
And it grows and it grows
I'm the black sheep of the family
I've got half a pound of rice
A beard full of lice
A mission called retrogression
I've got pocket full of dust
And eating is a must
You want to make a good impression
So, fortune shine your light on me and my dog
Cause we need some security
While all the folks are living high up the hill
I'm the black sheep of the family
Don't talk to me about society
You got to pay the rules
Or pay the penalty
Because there's nothing to choose
Between a handful of blues
Double indemnity
The hour was wrong
And my shadow's getting long
My real life's a song, don't need much
But I've got an ache in my head
I wanna go to bed
Tomorrow I don't have to wake up, no
So wisdom shine your light on me and my knees
Cause it's true what they say about familiarity
There's nothing good this way
And it's true they say
I'm the black sheep of the family
Oh, my wisdom shine your light on me and my knees
It's true what they say about familiarity
There's nothing good this way
And it's true they say
I'm the black sheep of the family
Yeah, yeah
I'm the black sheep of the family
Just me and my dog, yeah, yeah
I'm the black sheep of the family
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
I'm the black sheep of the family
You've got me on my knees
I'm the black sheep of the family
Yeah, yeah, yeah
Rainbow's song, Black Sheep Of The Family, speaks about the struggles of the less fortunate and the societal pressures to conform to a certain standard. The lyrics paint a picture of poverty and hardship; the singer has nothing in their head, no proper bed to sleep on (just a floor), and no shoes. They're on a mission called retrogression with half a pound of rice, a beard full of lice, and a pocket full of dust. Eating is a must, and making a good impression is essential. The lyrics imply that they're aware of their black sheep status, and their prospects look bleak, unlike those living high up the hill. The singer envies their security and wishes that fortune would shine a light on them and their dog, given the struggle they're facing.
The song then goes on to talk about society's expectations and how they compel individuals to pay for their rules or pay the penalty. The lyrics suggest that society doesn't make it easy for those who don't conform, with no good choices between a handful of blues and double indemnity. The singer's real life is a song with an ache in their head, and they want to go to bed with the hope of never waking up the next day. They then plead with wisdom to shine their light on them and their knees, acknowledging that there's nothing good this way, as society casts them out, branding them the black sheep of the family.
Line by Line Meaning
I've got nothing in my head
I have no thoughts or ideas, my mind is empty
Got a floor for a bed
I have no mattress, I sleep on the ground
The future's at the bottom of a tea cup
I cannot predict what will happen, the future is uncertain
I got a half a pair of shoes
I only have one shoe to wear
And no time to lose
I am in a hurry, I cannot waste any time
I'm wondering when I'm going to wise up
I am unsure of when I will become smarter and wiser
So, fortune shine your light on me and my clothes
I need good luck and prosperity to improve my situation
'Cause we need some security
I need to feel safe and secure in my life
You get a little bad luck
When things go wrong, they keep getting worse
And it grows and it grows
Problems and difficulties keep accumulating
I'm the black sheep of the family
I am the outcast, the one who is different and does not fit in
I've got half a pound of rice
I only have a small amount of food to eat
A beard full of lice
I have not been able to care for myself properly and have become infested with lice
A mission called retrogression
I am trying to go backward, to return to a previous state of being
I've got pocket full of dust
I have no money or resources, only emptiness
And eating is a must
I need to eat to survive, it is a necessity
You want to make a good impression
I want to appear respectable and make a good impression on others
Don't talk to me about society
I do not want to hear about societal rules or expectations
You got to pay the rules
If you want to be part of society, you have to follow its rules and conventions
Or pay the penalty
If you do not follow the rules, you will suffer the consequences
Because there's nothing to choose
I have no options or choices
Between a handful of blues
All of my options or choices are unpleasant or negative
Double indemnity
I am doubly responsible or burdened
The hour was wrong
I am experiencing bad timing, unfortunate circumstances
And my shadow's getting long
My situation is becoming worse, more difficult
My real life's a song, don't need much
My life is like a bad song, and I do not need or expect much from it
But I've got an ache in my head
I am experiencing physical or emotional pain
I want to go to bed
I want to escape my troubles and go to sleep
Tomorrow I don't have to wake up, no
I do not have any important commitments or obligations tomorrow, so I can rest
So wisdom shine your light on me and my knees
I need guidance and insight to help me through my difficulties
'Cause it's true what they say about familiarity
I am experiencing the negative effects of being too familiar with my current situation
There's nothing good this way
There are no positive outcomes or solutions to my problems in my current situation
And it's true they say
The common understanding or belief about my situation is accurate
Yeah, yeah
An expression of resignation or acceptance of my situation
Just me and my dog, yeah, yeah
I have no one else to rely on or share my situation with, except for my dog
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Written by: Steve Hammond
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind