JIMMY BAIN OUR MEETING WITH RAINBOW Before the Rainbow Fanclan was founded at the end of 1979, there was once in the distant past a (Dutch) Deep Purple Fan Club, to be precise in 1971, founded by Bart Hekkelman. This was taken over in 1975 by René Veldhoen, who ended the fan club in early 1979 (in 1976 renamed to Rainbow Fan Club), due to lack of time and the lack of people who could continue the fanclub. At that time news sources were very scarce, especially compared to the possibilities now, so there were not really many interesting articles about Rainbow. However, there are two exceptions: the two concerts that Rainbow gave in the Congresgebouw in The Hague. From the fanzines of that time we can now thanks to our good friend Tonny Steenhagen, who, in addition to the photos posted, also provided us with these copies, the concert report written at the time and interviews on the Rainbow Fanclan Legacy Website. JIMMY BAIN - Interview The Hague October 18, 1976 After the concert, on the advice of Polydor's Harry Knipschild, we went to the Bel-Air hotel, hoping for a meeting with Rainbow. From Harry we learned that Rainbow would speak to a few press people in the hotel. When we arrived we were met by a porter who told that Rainbow hadn't arrived yet. We decided to wait in the main hall. After ten minutes Jimmy Bain stepped in, accompanied by three beautiful-looking young ladies. We introduced ourselves and showed Jimmy some things about the fan club, himself and Rainbow. He showed was very interested and suggested we go downstairs in the bar for a drink. We sat down on one of the luxurious sofas, while Jimmy provided his female company and us with drinks. The ladies did not know how to fascinate him, because all soon he crawled onto the couch next to us, eager to talk about Rainbow. How did you got in Rainbow, Jimmy? At the time I was playing with a band called Harlot one day I got a call from Ritchie who said he wanted to start a new group and although I had never met him in my life, I talked to that guy for two hours that night. He was in Los Angeles at the time and would be coming to see one of my concerts soon. Actually, I didn't believe he would come to England especially for me, but promptly he was behind the stage two days later at a concert at the London Marquee club. The rest of the Harlot band members showed off because they had such a celebrity looking at them. However, I stayed calm and just did my job as a bass player. After the concert, Ritchie offered me to play with Rainbow. He heard that he was also looking for an organist, I recommended him Tony Carey, an old friend of mine. After doing a few sessions, he also joined the band Then we went looking for a drummer. Jimmy interrupts the conversation for a moment, because he didn't get a glass with his bottle of Heineken. With a "I've got no fuckin 'glass" he gets up and comes back within a minute, now with a glass. [He continues:] We tried a total of thirteen drummers, but no one suited us well. The fourteenth was Cozy Powell... Do you think Ritchie can be considered the leader of the band? Certainly not, Rainbow has a very democratic attitude. When a song is written, we all talk about it. This almost never causes any problems. We all have broadly the same ideas about music, so that we feel together very well. Meanwhile the other Rainbow members enter the bar. Ritchie is stormed by a journalist, Ronnie sits at the bar with his blonde girlfriend. Cozy Powell is talking to a bearded man with the drumsticks still in hand and Tony Carey sits down with his woman in a corner. Jimmy Bain continues quietly. If Rainbow would be Ritchie Blackmore's big ego trip, I would have quit my job long ago. I don't play bass in Ritchie's band, but in Rainbow. We are all friends and therefore a close bond. What did you think of the Dutch audience? "Great! It was like we were in America or England. I went to the concert of Thin Lizzy (bassist Phil Lynott is a very good friend of mine) and Robin Trower yesterday, but there the audience was quite dull. Frankly, we expected tonight a kind of equal audience, but it was not that bad. We also only play an encore when we notice that the audience is 100 percent behind us. When we had played three songs tonight, it was already certain that an encore would be given. What are the future plans for Rainbow? We will first take a few days off to recover from the European tour. Then we will start a tour through Hawaii, Australia and Japan and we will work on the new LP. Because Rainbow is above all a live group, it will most likely be a live album. We are not quite sure about that yet. It could also be that we make a combined album of it, with live material on one side and studio material on the other. In that case we will go back to the Musicland Studio in Munich. The first song you played tonight, is that a track from the new LP? Yes, it is called "Kill The King" and it is a group product. Jimmy interrupts the conversation and gives us an address in America in exchange for the address of the fan club I can always be reached here and if you come to Los Angeles, feel free to drop by. Very nice of you, Jimmy, but I think the chances are very slim that we will ever get to America. Well, at least you can write or call and get the news first hand. © René Veldhoen, Peter van den Berg & Willem ten Riele - The Book Of Taliesyn no 5, December 1976