January 10th, 2023 - Richie Blackmore's Rainbow Sherbet

Hey there rockers and rollers and hop lovers!  The Meista here today pairing Rainbow's wonderful 1975 debut album "Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow" with a tart and tasty Rainbow Sherbet from Prairie Artisan Ales! 

Album Info:

• Artist: Rainbow
• Title: "Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow"
• Recorded: February through March 1975 at Musicland Studios in Munich, Germany
• Release date: August 4th, 1975 (1st studio album by Rainbow)
• Record company: Polydor
• Production: Martin Birch, Ritchie Blackmore, and Ronnie James Dio
• Album cover art: Debbie Hall
• Personnel: Ritchie Blackmore (guitars), Ronnie James Dio (vocals), Gary Driscoll (drums), Craig Gruber (bass), and Micky Lee Soule (keyboards)
• Additional musicians: Shoshana (backing vocals)
• Musical style: Heavy metal, hard rock, blues rock, progressive rock
• Sound: Probably one of the most important and enjoyable albums in my collection, "Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow" is a perfectly balanced work of rock and roll art.  It has a bit more a bluesy/honky-tonk sound than later more progressive Rainbow albums, which I attribute to the Elf influence.  This is most evident in "Snake Charmer", "Black Sheep Of The Family", and "If You Don't Like Rock 'N' Roll".  This album of course also contains some of the band's most recognizable songs and fan favorites: "Man On The Silver Mountain", "Catch The Rainbow", "The Temple Of The King", and "Sixteenth Century Greensleeves"!
• Major themes: Life, mythology, magic, darkness, rock and roll, the blues, etc.
• Notes: Blackmore had left Deep Purple as lead guitarist in 1975 and had set out initially to record a solo album.  He enlisted the help of most of the band Elf (vocalist Ronnie James Dio, keyboardist Micky Lee Soule, bassist Craig Gruber, and drummer Gary Driscoll).  With the assistance of such accomplished and talented musicians, the solo project progressed into a new band project... thus Rainbow was born!  Sadly, soon after the album was released, all of the former Elf members, apart from Dio, were fired by Blackmore and replaced for the tour. 
• Tracks: 

1. "Man On The Silver Mountain"
2. "Self Portrait"
3. "Black Sheep Of The Family" (Quartermass cover)
4. "Catch The Rainbow"
5. "Snake Charmer"
6. "The Temple Of The King"
7. "If You Don't Like Rock 'N' Roll"
8. "Sixteenth Century Greensleeves"
9. "Still I'm Sad" (the Yardbirds cover)

Brew Info:

• Brewery: Prairie Artisan Ales (Oklahoma)
• Website: https://prairieales.com/
• Brew: Rainbow Sherbet
• Style: American Wild Ale / Sour Ale
• Serving: 12 ounce can
• ABV: 5.2%
• Pour: The Rainbow Sherbet pours a hazy, golden-yellow with a frothy, bubbly, bright white head that dissipates fairly quickly, leaving only trace lacing.
• Nose: The nose is citrusy, tart, and slightly sweet.  There are aromas of lime juice and zest, lemon juice and zest, raspberry, strawberry, orange, cereal grain, vanilla bean, and lightly toasted malts.
• Taste: As the Prairie Artisan Ales website states, the taste of the Rainbow Sherbet is like a "melted rainbow sherbet ice cream cone".  There are notes of and vanilla.
• Mouthfeel: Light in body and well-carbonated, the mouthfeel is very crisp, tart, and juicy with a dry, slightly sweet finish.

Overall pairing: Those bright, tart, and complex flavors of the Rainbow Sherbet from Prairie Artisan Ales go great with the hard rockin' brilliance that is "Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow!  'Nuff said!

To your health and happiness... bottoms up!!