| 1. 1. Getaway -- credited to the Orchestra, this 1965 instrumental single finds the Man In Black playing |
| 2. some aggressive licks over a driving beat. Definitely borderline heavy metal for its time |
| 3. 2. Little Brown Jug -- the b-side of #1 above is of course Ritchie's campy but heavy take on the Glenn Miller classic |
| 4. Many of his trademark embellishments--masterful bends, ostinato, and trills--are already integrated in his guitar style |
| 5. at the age of 20 |
| 6. 3. Honey Hush -- a single cut with Lord Sutch in the '60s, this tune was later done by Foghat |
| 7. 4. The Train Kept A'Rolling --later covered by Aerosmith, another great '60s Lord Sutch track |
| 8. 5. Gemini Suite: Guitar Movement --cut in 1970 with an orchestra during Deep Purple's Gemini Suite (Jon Lord's |
| 9. "followup" to the legendary Concerto for Group and Orchestra) finds an orchestra struggling to keep up with Ritchie |
| 10. Blackmore, now emerging as a pioneer of the neo-classical school of shredding. Touching, subtle ending |
| 11. 6. Bullfrog --from the 1970 Green Bullfrog sessions with a number of other famous players of the day. Here, Big Jim |
| 12. Sullivan and Albert Lee lay down vicious solos--and then Ritchie |
| 13. proceeds to blow them both away with highly aggressive wah-wah tempered soloing |
| 14. 7. Good Golly Miss Molly --a fun live cut with Lord Sutch from one night in 1971, some of Ritchie's fastest soloing ever |
| 15. caught on tape |
| 16. 8. Great Balls of Fire --more live Sutch |
| 17. 9. Hurry to the City --cut in 1973 with an obscure German band known as Randy Pie & Family. The tune sounds like the |
| 18. Sweet meets Foghat, and Blackmore's guest guitar solo sounds a lot like something off of Deep Purple's Burn album, cut |
| 19. later that fall with David Coverdale and Glenn Hughes |
| 20. 10. Still I'm Sad --from Rainbow's 1975 debut album. Blackmore's melodic take on the Yardbirds classic |
| 21. onstage spotlight is played here very |
| 22. up-tempo. When Blackmore takes an unaccompanied solo, he reaches for the stratosphere on his Stratocaster--he is truly |
| 23. one with the instrument, a true artist who mixes beauty with violence |
| 24. 12. Lady of the Lake --from Long Live Rock and Roll. Read my review of that album to see how highly I hold it in |
| 25. regard |
| 26. 13. Sixteenth Century Greensleeves --another live Rainbow track finds a great mellow intro contrasted with pure metal |
| 27. power chords and a ripping solo with lots of personality |
| 28. 14. I Call, No Answer --this curio from Jack Green's solo album sounds like a Tom Petty song until Ritchie comes in |
| 29. and plays a tasteful, in the pocket solo. It is unfortunate that he did not lend his talents to more guest shots in the |
| 30. late '70s and early '80s--too many solos of the era sound like Steve Lukather clones (not that I don't like Steve's |
| 31. playing) |
| 32. 15. Son of Alerik --the disc closes out with this rare Deep Purple b-side from the 1984 reunion sessions. Blackmore's |
| 33. playing goes through several moods and timbres here |
| 34. Upon reflection, I find that I enjoy Volume 2 of Connoisseur Collection's 2 part series on 's overall |
| 35. career. Where Volume 1 focused largely on Blackmore's '60s sessions and his Purple work from 1968 to 1974, Volume 2 is |
| 36. more of a grab bag which has a lot of variety. Originally intended mostly to cover the period from 1975 (Rainbow's |
| 37. formation) onwards, it actually covers from 1965 to 1984 with several memorable pit-stops in between |
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