Rainbow Family Tree
This is a project aimed at making it easy to see who inspired the bands you love or even hate. For this I try not to use any influences that the band don’t claim themselves. There will be a focus on predecessors but successors will be added as they site the band. These trees become more and more interactive as new bands are added, allowing you to click any band that has a tree and jump to it.
We want our lists to be better. If you know something that belongs on this list, let us know. When in doubt we will leave it out, so we need reliable sources.
Rainbow began when Ritchie Blackmore left Deep purple to form his own band. He is the only consistant member of the band The classic line up featured the legendary Ronnie James Dio and drummer Cozy Powell. Other positions in the band frequently changed. The early albums were written by Ritchie and Dio while later ones would have Joe Lynn Turner in Dio’s spot.. Cozy has a few writing credits during his time. Roger Glover, also formerly of Deep Purple, joined in 1979 and was the most consistent in the band besides Ritchie and also wrote in the band. Keyboardist Don Airey contributed to writing on Difficult to Cure. David Rosenthal replaced him and contributed to writing on the next two albums.
Johann Sebastian Bach
Antonio Vivaldi
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Ludwig van Beethoven
Django Reinhardt
Mario Lanza
Frank Sinatra
Les Paul
Scotty Moore
Tommy Steele
Cliff Gallup
Jimmy Smith
Sam Cooke
Wes Montgomery
Big Jim Sullivan
Nero and the Gladiators
Bob Dylan
Chick Corea
Brian Auger
Otis Redding
Todd Rundgren
Keith Emerson
Shuggie Otis
Rick Wakeman
Kit Watkins
John Sloman
Ritchie named a lot of country guitar players as being really good but didn’t name them as direct influences. These include Jimmy Bryant, Chet Atkins, Glen Campbell, and Buck Owens & The Buckeroos. He would do the same for blues players Peter Green with John Mayall, B.B. King and Mick Taylor who played with both John Mayall and The Rolling Stones.
Dio said he grew up with opera around him and it influenced his later style.
Dio says that Alice Cooper’s stage performance influenced him to find his own style.
Dio mentions Aerosmith’s “Dream On” is a favorite song of his.
Cozy Powell played on three studio albums. His early influences were Brian Bennett from the Shadows and Bobby Elliot from the Hollies. He would watch them to learn how they were playing. He has a few co-writing credits with the band.
Graham Bonnet was the vocalist on Down to Earth but did not contribute to writing.
Roger says he is more influenced by writers than players. He said even though he has a lot of respect for someone like Jaco Pastorius he prefers good song writers even if they are not technically as proficient.
Rodger Glover’s bass influences include many Motown players.
Don Airey studied classical music in school.
Joe named some punk singers were an influence on him but didn’t know who. He also plays guitar and says he would copy licks from Jimi Hendrix, Ritchie Blackmore, and Jimmy Page. He also played according as a kid.
Doogie sung and co-wrote on the only album from Rainbow in the 90’s, Stranger in Us All. In the 80’s Doogie said he was listening to black soul singers and didn’t like hair metal.
Paul Morris played keyboards on Stranger in Us All but only has one co-writing credit.
Bands influenced by Rainbow!
As this project advances, bands will be added here… there are many!
Sources:
(some sources originally listed for Deep Purple and Dio Family Trees)
https://www.givememetal.com/hardrocktrees/deep-purple-family-tree
https://www.givememetal.com/heavymetaltrees/dio-family-tree
https://ritchieblackmoresrainbow.wordpress.com/sounds-july-25-1981/
http://www.maximumink.com/index.php/articles/permalink/don_airey
http://www.metal-experience.com/interviews/Interview%20Don%20Airey%202008.htm
http://www.musiclifemagazine.net/joe-lynn-turner-revisits-some-of-his-classic-rock-influences-on-new-album/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vWH7-NmDJ4w
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xfLTBNFi3fs
https://www.kvraudio.com/interviews/embracing-change-the-right-way-an-interview-with-david-rosenthal-41845
http://kkdowning.net/steelmill/Interviews/doogie-white/
https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/14-joe-lynn-turner-rainbow-deep-purple/id1533773809?i=1000507243905&fbclid=IwAR3AUQghC6NvtF8HUqyH2yGeVVWzfnAeCbL6FAwbniUO9CvejrV0Yy08NHU