Ritchie Tried To Ban Son From Using ‘Blackmore’
Joe Lynn Turner has exclusively spoken to Classic Rock about Ritchie Blackmore’s reaction to Over The Rainbow, the band featuring Turner (vocals), Jurgen Blackmore (guitar), Greg Smith (bass), Paul Morris (keyboards) and Bobby Rondinelli (drums).
“At first Ritchie was fine about it all. Then certain people – two of them – who are very close to him started to put ideas into his head.
“Then Ritchie suddenly became very antagonistic. Things got so bad that he insisted Jurgen – his own son – couldn’t use the name ‘Blackmore’. Jurgen’s full name is Jurgen Richard Blackmore – it says so on his birth cerificate.
“So, he ended up sending a copy of that to Ritchie, to prove he had every right to the name. Thankfully, that’s all behind us now, and everything’s back on an even keel.”
Over The Rainbow hope to play some UK shows early in 2010.
“We are negotiating right now, and it looks good for late February/early March. We want everyone to realise this is a celebration of Rainbow’s heritage. We are not a covers band, nor a tribute band.
“With the exception of Jurgen – and he is Ritchie’s son – all of us were in Rainbow at one time or another.”
Classic Rock’s Geoff Barton saw Over The Rainbow play the Sweden Rock festival recently. In case you missed Geoff’s review, here’s his reaction:
We weren’t expecting much from Over The Rainbow but they were a revelation. OTR, of course, are comprised of ex-Rainbow members Joe Lynn Turner (vocals), Greg Smith (bass) and Bobby Rondinelli (drums). Tony Carey was strangely absent on keyboards, his place being taken by Paul Morris “from Mk IV Rainbow,” remarked Turner, with a knowing wink to the trainspotters in the crowd. (By our reckoning Morris didn’t join until Mk X, but we’ll that that pass.) On guitar, please welcome Ritchie’s Blackmore’s remarkably jovial German son, Jürgen.
Appearing on stage to a tape of the late Cozy Powell’s Dance With The Devil (a nice touch; Powell being the famed drummer on Rainbow Rising et al) Turner’s troops delivered the hits – Tarot Woman, Man On The Silver Mountain, Death Alley Driver, I Surrender, Can’t Happen Here et al – with unexpected style and panache, and with nary a whiff of naffness. At one point Blackmore grabbed the mic and exclaimed: “Zis is a fuckload of fun.” He wasn’t far wrong…
What happened to Tony Carey? Did Ritchie put a hex on him or something?!
> Powell being Rainbow’s original drummer
I’m sure that “fact” comes as a bit of a shock to original Rainbow drummer Gary Driscoll. (And let’s not get silly about ‘Ritchie Blackmore’s Rainbow’ not being the first Rainbow album.)
Ritchie is beginning to remind me of Brian Wilson some years back… someone who allows a dangerous level of control among people who have their own agendas.
I saw them in Japan with Tony Carey.
They were brilliant , though they didn’t do Spotlight Kid!
How do you say “My Dad is a cock” in German
Mein Vater ist ein cock?
easy, change the name of the band to Over the Blackmore.
And we all know who the “certain people” are, don´t we?
Well, that´s what you get thinking with your d**k Ritchie !
Jurgen & Keyy Katona should get together and form “Blackmores’s Evening”
Stuff all this Son of Blackmore business- lets get them in the UK for some shows. I’m not too old to let my ears bleed one last time!
I think Ritchie’s wife should take up nude modeling and Ritchie should go back to playing rock n roll instead of that medieval shit he’s into now..
[...] Lynn Turner has contacted Classic Rock to clarify our recent story headlined ‘Ritchie Tried To Ban Son From Using “Blackmore”.’ Turner sings with Over The Rainbow, the band featuring three other ex-members of Ritchie [...]
Talking to Joe Lynn a few years back at a classic rock all-stars gig you could see his frustration he was’nt still with Ritchie.He was miffed at Candice too and Ritchie for wanting to do the softer pop approach.He also was crossing off the list of possible singers Ritchie might work with before him.He said,”No he’ll never play with Dio again cause he toured with the new Purple on that tour they redid the Concerto on and released on dvd” I guess he pry now realised Ritchie scratched him off the list for good also!Kinda sad,oh well..