RIDE THE RAINBOW The Ultimate Tribute to Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow Deep Purple founding guitarist Ritchie Blackmore's final album in the ‘70s with the band was 1974's Stormbringer. The chorus of the title tune, which he co-wrote with David Coverdale, began with the line, "Ride the rainbow." Following Blackmore's departure from the group, Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow was formed in 1975. Cleopatra Records borrows the "ride the rainbow" phrase as the title of this new tribute double album, produced by Jürgen Engler, who Goldmine spoke with about Ride the Rainbow - The Ultimate Tribute to Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow. Cleopatra Records (vinyl LP, CD, and digital formats) "Long Live Rock 'n' Roll" - Bob Daisley, Graham Bonnet, Ron "Bumblefoot" Thal, Carmine Appice, Don Airey "Man on the Silver Mountain" - Sebastian Bach, Doug Aldrich, Bob Daisley, Carmine Appice, Mick Box, Jonathan Cain "Stargazer" - Derek Sherinian, Marty Friedman, Vinny Appice, Jürgen Engler, Joe Bouchard, Ronnie Romero "Lady of the Lake" - Angel "Rainbow Eyes" - Mike Tramp "Since You Been Gone" - Marty Friedman, Vinny Appice, Graham Bonnet, Jürgen Engler "Kill the King" - Rick Wakeman, Bob Daisley, Vinnie Moore, Marc Lopes, Chris Adler "The Temple of the King" - Steve Morse, Phil Soussan, Ronnie Romero, Simon Wright, Jonathan Cain, Kevin James Morse "Jealous Lover" - George Lynch, Vinny Appice, Andrew Freeman, David Ellefson, Jonathan Cain "I Surrender" - Eric Gales, Tim "Ripper" Owens, Phil Soussan, Don Airey, Chris Adler "Catch the Rainbow" - Doogie White, Derek Sherinian, Chris Poland, Vinny Appice, Bob Daisley "Street of Dreams" - Paul Shortino, Joel Hoekstra, Joe Bouchard, Fred Aching, Jonathan Cain "Stone Cold" - Vivian Campbell, Joe Lynn Turner "I Surrender" - Marcus Nand, Candice Night Producer Jürgen Engler discusses the new Rainbow tribute double LP The popular classic rock song "Since You Been Gone" sounds very true to the original as it is sung by Graham Bonnet, just like it was in 1979, along with Don Airey on keyboards, who was in Rainbow from 1979 through 1982 and has been a member of Deep Purple since 2002. The mathematical structured Russ Ballard composition is anchored by Jürgen Engler's bass, who told Goldmine, "I was blown away by Graham's vocals. He sounds as strong as he did in the old days. He is an amazing singer. So many musicians were interested in being part of this project. The backing tracks were done first so that all these guest stars could build upon them, sending the files to them, so that they could take out the guitar, keyboards, and drums, let's say, and replace them with their playing. On some tracks my bass has survived, or a guitar part, because we didn't have a guest artist to fill that spot on the song." "So many musicians were interested in being part of this project. The backing tracks were done first so that all these guest stars could build upon them, sending the files to them, so that they could take out the guitar, keyboards, and drums, let's say, and replace them with their playing." - Jürgen Engler An advantage of tribute albums like Ride the Rainbow is to introduce listeners to songs they may have missed, like "Jealous Lover" from Rainbow's 1981 EP of the same name, originally sung by Joe Lynn Turner, who co-wrote the song with Blackmore. Andrew Freeman delivers strong vocals on this edgy number, with George Lynch on guitar, who played together in the group Lynch Mob. Engler continued, "Andrew is another amazing vocalist. You can tell with all these vocalists that they live, breathe, and feel their parts." "Catch the Rainbow," from the group's debut album, is moody, like Derek & the Dominos' version of Jimi Hendrix's "Little Wing" and emotional like Mountain's "Nantucket Sleighride." Engler explained, "People sent their parts from all over the world for this song and others and the tricky part is making it all work. This one has Doogie White on vocals, Chris Poland on guitar, amazingly, Derek Sherinian on keyboards, and Vinnie Appice on drums, who is fantastic on many tracks. I think their version of ‘Catch the Rainbow' is phenomenal." "Street of Dreams" has a powerful emotional vocal from Paul Shortino, and Joel Hoekstra's guitar playing is a wonderful tribute to Blackmore's style. Engler said, "Joel Hoekstra is an amazing guitar player. Whatever he delivers is always spot on." Hoekstra told Goldmine, "Ritchie is obviously a tremendous, soulful, versatile guitarist and songwriter. I love all the rockers from the Dio era of Rainbow but also happen to love Joe Lynn Turner's work with them as well. I am primarily a Les Paul guitar player, but recording this gave me an opportunity to break out the Strat and pay tribute to Ritchie and his immense contribution to rock as we know it." The Rainbow masterpiece "Stargazer" is included. Engler shared, "I first saw Rainbow when their second album Rising had just come out, with Ronnie James Dio singing ‘Stargazer' from it. Ronnie Romero did a phenomenal job on this song. It really stands out." In his 2024 Goldmine interview, Romero, who sang lead vocals for Rainbow from 2015 through 2023, said, "‘Stargazer' is my favorite song when I have sung it live with Rainbow. Now it is in the setlist for my solo band, and the people appreciate us performing it every time we can." There's a touch of the Blackmore's Night sound on "The Temple of the King" with Steve Morse's guitar and Jonathan Cain's keyboard strings, sung by Romero who said, "Being part of the Rainbow legacy and having the opportunity to play this song with Ritchie himself on stage, to record this song means the world to me. I can never be grateful enough for the chance of being part of the legendary band, so here is a humble way to pay tribute to one of my favorite songs and my all-time favorite band." In the current Summer 2026 print issue of Goldmine with Charley Crockett on the cover, Ritchie Blackmore was interviewed about Rainbow and said, regarding the original 1975 recording of "The Temple of the King," "It came to life in the studio. I thought it was a throwaway track. I wrote it in five minutes. Dio did a good job singing it, and that turned it into everyone's favorite." Warren Kurtz, Goldmine - June 20, 2026