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The new year will see renewed catalogue activity around Ritchie Blackmore’s acclaimed work with Rainbow, kicking off in the spring with a new box set from Edsel.

The Temple of the King 1975-1976, available March 6, takes listeners back to the earliest days of the hard-rockin’ group in studio and on stage, across nine newly-remastered CDs. The set includes the studio albums Ritchie Blackmore’s Rainbow (1975) and Rising (1976), three complete shows from the group’s first European trek, and a 16-track collection of rarities that’ll include rough mixes, single edits and the premiere release of four in-studio rehearsals for the band’s 1976 tour. It’s all mastered by Andy Pearce and Matt Wortham, and will be housed in a 7″ package alongside 28 pages of original album artwork, rare photos and memorabilia, and new liner notes by writer Rich Davenport. Edsel indicates that The Temple of the King will be the first of several projects focusing on Rainbow’s work, with Blackmore himself lending support to the campaign.

Coming during a fertile period in British hard rock, Rainbow formed under auspicious circumstances. Blackmore, known for his guitar work as a founding member of Deep Purple, was starting to chafe under some of the group’s less rock-inspired influences. (He reportedly summed up Stormbringer, his final album with the group, as “shoeshine music.”) However, he found himself very impressed with Purple’s American tourmates Elf, anchored by a versatile vocalist named Ronnie James Dio. After an idea to cover Fat Mattress B-side “Black Sheep of the Family” was rejected by his band, Blackmore invited most of Elf (Dio, keyboardist Mickey Lee Soule, bassist Craig Gruber and drummer Gary Driscoll) to join him and record the track; it went so well that an entire album’s worth of material was prepared (mostly originals by Blackmore and Dio).

Despite the success of Ritchie Blackmore’s Rainbow – it just missed the U.K. Top 10 and peaked at No. 30 in America – Blackmore’s particularity soon cast everyone except Dio out of the group. Follow-up Rising featured the singer and guitarist backed by a new arrangement featuring veteran drummer Cozy Powell of The Jeff Beck Group plus keyboardist Tony Carey and bassist Jimmy Bain. Rising was seen as an improvement over the debut and a worthy successor to the promise of Blackmore’s Deep Purple days. (Blackmore’s old band would fall apart by the end of the year, with new guitarist Tommy Bolin succumbing to drug addictions before 1976 was over.) Blending Dio’s beloved lyrical elements of fantasy with a harder-edged sound than its predecessor, Rising is considered one of the group’s signature works and a touchstone in British metal. For the first time, Rainbow toured in support of the LP – complete with an ornate stage display featuring a 40-foot, computer-controlled, light-up rainbow – and recorded several shows for the 1977 live album On Stage. (Three German shows in September 1976 were released individually in 2006 and 2007, and make up two-thirds of the new box.) Afterward, Rainbow’s roster would shift even more, as Blackmore indulged an interest in a more mainstream rock sound that led to a crossroads for the group.

The Temple of the King hits stores March 6 and can be pre-ordered below. As an Amazon affiliate, we earn from qualifying purchases.

The Temple of the King 1975-1976 (Edsel EDSL0278 (U.K.), 2026) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

Disc 1: Ritchie Blackmore’s Rainbow (released as Oyster OYA 2001 (U.K.)/Polydor PD-6049 (U.S.), 1975)

1. Man on the Silver Mountain
2. Self Portrait
3. Black Sheep of the Family
4. Catch the Rainbow
5. Snake Charmer
6. Temple of the King
7. If You Don’t Like Rock ‘N’ Roll
8. Sixteenth Century Greensleeves
9. Still I’m Sad

Disc 2: Rising (released as Oyster/Polydor 2391 224 (U.K.)/OY-1-1601 (U.S.), 1976)

1. Tarot Woman
2. Run with the Wolf
3. Starstruck
4. Do You Close Your Eyes
5. Stargazer
6. A Light in the Black

Discs 3-4: Live in Köln 1976 (released as AFM/Hummingbird T2CD0105 (U.K.), 2006)

1. Kill the King
2. Mistreated
3. Sixteenth Century Greensleeves
4. Catch the Rainbow
5. Man on the Silver Mountain

1. Stargazer
2. Still I’m Sad
3. Do You Close Your Eyes

All tracks recorded live at Kölner Sporthalle, Köln, Germany – 9/25/1976. Disc 3, Track 2 also released on On Stage – Oyster/Polydor 2657 016 (U.K.)/OY-2-1801 (U.S.), 1977

Discs 5-6: Live in Düsseldorf 1976 (released as AFM/Hummingbird T2CD0110 (U.K.), 2007)

1. Kill the King
2. Mistreated
3. Sixteenth Century Greensleeves
4. Catch the Rainbow

1. Man on the Silver Mountain
2. Stargazer
3. Still I’m Sad

All tracks recorded live at Philipshalle, Düsseldorf , Germany – 9/27/1976

Discs 7-8: Live in Nürnberg 1976 (released as AFM/Hummingbird T2CD0111 (U.K.), 2007)

1. Kill the King
2. Mistreated
3. Sixteenth Century Greensleeves
4. Catch the Rainbow
5. Man on the Silver Mountain

1. Stargazer
2. Still I’m Sad
3. Do You Close Your Eyes

All tracks recorded live at Messezentrum Halle, Nürnberg, Germany – 9/28/1976. Portions of Disc 7, Track 1 and Disc 8, Track 2 also released on On Stage – Oyster/Polydor 2657 016 (U.K.)/OY-2-1801 (U.S.), 1977

Disc 9: Rarities (* previously unreleased)

1. Getaway (Kill the King) (Studio Rehearsals for 1976 World Tour) *
2. Mistreated (Studio Rehearsals for 1976 World Tour) *
3. Sixteenth Century Greensleeves (Studio Rehearsals for 1976 World Tour) *
4. Catch the Rainbow (Studio Rehearsals for 1976 World Tour) *
5. Temple of the King (Bolivian Mono Mix)
6. Man on the Silver Mountain (Mono Edit)
7. Man on the Silver Mountain (Stereo Edit)
8. Tarot Woman (Rough Mix)
9. Run with the Wolf (Rough Mix)
10. Starstruck (Rough Mix)
11. Do You Close Your Eyes (Rough Mix)
12. Stargazer (Rough Mix)
13. A Light in the Black (Rough Mix)
14. Stargazer (Pirate Sound Tour Rehearsal)
15. Starstruck (Mono Edit)
16. Starstruck (Stereo Edit)

Track 5 released on Polydor Bolivian single POE-11081, 1975
Tracks 6-7 released as Polydor U.S. promo single PD 14290, 1975
Tracks 8-14 released on Rising (Deluxe Edition) – Polydor/UMC 5332266 (U.K.), 2011
Tracks 15-16 released as Oyster/Polydor U.S. promo single OY 701, 1976