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Rainbow: The Dio Years 
ISBN: ISBN-13: 978-1-7391875-8-3 Writer: Geoff Barton Publisher: Rufus Stone Limited Editions Ltd Released: November 2023 Notes: Portraits of Rainbow - The Dio Years book is a photographic celebration of Ritchie Blackmore's supergroup, formed in 1975 by the guitarist as he left Deep Purple and recruited four members of the band Elf, including singer Ronnie James Dio. However, the band really took off when Blackmore recruited Cozy Powell, Jimmy Bain and Tony Carey and recorded the seminal album “Rising" in 1976. Sounds writer Geoff Barton remembers: "I marvelled at the fist-thunderin' maelstrom depicted on the cover, a pulse-poundin' paintin' by Ken (Kiss, Manowar) Kelly. I also offered the following description of the album's musical content: THERMO-NUCLEAR ROCK'N'ROLL!" Rainbow were underway and although this less commercial variant of the band that went on to conquer the rock world in the 1980s was relatively short-lived it remains, for most fans, the definitive sound and image of Rainbow with the combination of Blackmore, Dio and Powell creating a powerful, progressive rock band. It all came to an end in 1979 when Ritchie decided to take the band in a new, more commercial direction. The book features hundreds of classic and unseen, carefully restored, black and white images of Rainbow at play and playing live at a series of stunning, unforgettable shows. Legendary writer and journalist Geoff Barton has written an introductory text based on his professional experience with Ritchie and the band in the 1970s.  |