Editing Rainbow (rock band) (section)

===First world tour and initial success (1975–1978)===
[[File:Rainbowonstage.jpg|thumb|left|Rainbow performing in [[Munich]], [[West Germany]], in 1977<ref>{{Cite book|last = Robinson|first = Simon|title = Rainbow Live in Munich 1977 (liner notes)| publisher=Eagle Rock Entertainment Ltd.| year = 1977}}</ref>]]

The album line-up never played live together as Blackmore was unhappy with Driscoll's R&B influenced style of drumming and the funky bass playing of Gruber.<ref name="carey" /> While rehearsing for the tour, Blackmore decided to fire Gruber and bring in [[Jimmy Bain]] on bass, and after that he also fired Driscoll. As a consequence of that, Soule decided to quit the band to play on a [[Roger Glover]] album and tour with the [[Ian Gillan Band]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Padavona.com - Ronnie Dio's Early Years |url=https://www.padavona.com/interviews/mls2.html |access-date=2024-09-15 |website=www.padavona.com}}</ref>

Blackmore would continue to dictate personnel for the remainder of the band's lifetime, with drummer and former bandmate Ricky Munro remarking "he was very difficult to get on with because you never knew when he would turn around and say 'You're sacked'."{{sfn|Bloom|2007|p=189}} Blackmore recruited bassist [[Jimmy Bain]], keyboard player [[Tony Carey]] and drummer [[Cozy Powell]], who had previously worked with [[Jeff Beck Group|Jeff Beck]] and had some solo success.<ref name="carey">{{cite web|title=Tony Carey Interview|date= 28 May 2010|url= http://musiclegends.ca/interviews/tony-carey-interview/|publisher=Music Legends|access-date=28 May 2013}}</ref> Powell also greatly appealed to Blackmore in their mutual fondness for [[practical joke]]s.{{sfn|Bloom|2007|p=190}}

This line-up commenced the first world tour for the band, with the first date in [[Montreal]] on 10 November 1975. The centrepiece of the band's live performance was a computer-controlled rainbow including 3,000 lightbulbs, which stretched 40 feet across the stage.{{sfn|Thompson|2004|pp=195–196}}{{Sfn|Bloom|2007|p=190}} In 1976, the band's name was shortened to Rainbow, and a second album, ''[[Rising (Rainbow album)|Rising]]'', was recorded in February at Musicland. The band added Deep Purple's "[[Mistreated (song)|Mistreated]]" to their setlist, and song lengths were stretched to include improvisation, as displayed on the live album ''[[On Stage (Rainbow album)|On Stage]]'', released in the summer of 1977.{{sfn|Thompson|2004|p=196}} Carey recalls rehearsing the material was fairly straightforward, saying "We didn't work anything out, except the structure, the ending ... very free-form, really progressive rock."{{sfn|Bloom|2007|p=194}} The album art was designed by American fantasy artist [[Ken Kelly (artist)|Ken Kelly]], who had drawn [[Tarzan]] and [[Conan the Barbarian]].<ref>{{Cite news |author=Mark Voger |title=Criss eager to meet television idol Zacherley |work=[[Asbury Park Press]] |page=6E |date=22 October 2006}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |title=Manowar truck to make its debut in Austria this weekend |work=Austria Today |date=8 September 2006}}</ref>

In August 1976, following a gig at Newcastle City Hall, Blackmore decided to fire Carey, believing his playing style to be too complicated for the band. Unable to find a suitable replacement on such short notice, Carey was quickly reinstated,{{sfn|Bloom|2007|p=201-202}} but as the world tour progressed on to Japan, he found himself regularly being the recipient of Blackmore's pranks and humour.{{sfn|Bloom|2007|p=203}} Blackmore subsequently decided that Bain was substandard and fired him in January 1977. Carey quit the band shortly after, after getting tired of Blackmore's pranks. Blackmore, however, had difficulty finding replacements he liked. On keyboards, after auditioning several high-profile artists, including [[Vanilla Fudge]]'s [[Mark Stein (musician)|Mark Stein]], [[Procol Harum]]'s [[Matthew Fisher (musician)|Matthew Fisher]] and ex-[[Curved Air]] and [[Roxy Music]] man [[Eddie Jobson]], Blackmore finally selected Canadian [[David Stone (keyboardist)|David Stone]], from the little-known band Symphonic Slam. For a bass player, Blackmore initially chose [[Mark Clarke (musician)|Mark Clarke]], formerly of [[Jon Hiseman]]'s [[Colosseum (band)|Colosseum]] and [[Uriah Heep (band)|Uriah Heep]], but once in the studio for the next album, ''[[Long Live Rock 'n' Roll]]'', Blackmore disliked Clarke's fingerstyle method of playing so much that he fired him on the spot{{sfn|Dio|Wall|2021|p=151}} and played bass himself on all but three songs: "Gates of Babylon", "Kill the King", and "Sensitive to Light". Former [[Widowmaker (British band)|Widowmaker]] bassist [[Bob Daisley]] was hired to finish the album, completing the band's next line-up.

After the release of ''Long Live Rock 'n' Roll'' and its extensive world tour in 1978, Blackmore decided that he wanted to take the band in a new, more mainstream direction, away from the "sword and sorcery" themes.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Davies |first=Roy |title = Rainbow Rising: The Story of Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow |publisher=Helter Skelter Publishing |year=2002}}</ref> Dio did not agree with this change and left the band.

In a 1979 interview with [[Sounds (magazine)|Sounds]],<ref>Sounds, 15 December 1979</ref> Blackmore said:
<blockquote>
{{ubl|"If they were good enough, they'd still be in the band. I'm not putting down the other members who were in the band, but no-one has ever left Rainbow. It's a fact. Not a confrontation just, well you didn't quite make it, you'll have to do other things."|"Ronnie is a very good singer- I still like him -but he was becoming very lackadaisical. I'm sure if he were here now he would argue the point, but the fact is, Ronnie was not contributing what he should have done, and he knows that. For the last two years I would put down the riff, the progressions, give him the basic melody and he would write the lyrics. I found that in the past year he wasn't really doing that. He was bitching about the fact that it was Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow. And I'm going, look, I've tried after three years to make it just Rainbow, not my Rainbow."|"When people leave the band we don't give too many reasons because we don't want to hinder their career. But if someone's not pulling their weight then I will not put up with someone who's second rate. I'm not going to jump onstage and say 'it's alright ladies and gentlemen, I know they're not very good but they are my friends' like most bands do."|"A couple of people in the band were taking quite a few drugs and consequently were falling asleep while they were playing because they'd been partying all night. I gave them the sack. It's incredible how those people react. They say 'how dare he do that to me?' but what have they got to offer other than looking the part?"}}
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