Ritchie Blackmore recently revealed the unusual reason why Rainbow never performed one of their songs live. He addressed fans’ questions during a surprise live stream on Instagram.
The legendary guitarist explained that Rainbow never performed “Gates of Babylon” live because he couldn’t remember how to play the complex song he had written.
“Because I couldn’t remember how to play the damn thing. I wrote it, and when we recorded it, we inverted the riff a few times to make it even more complicated,” Blackmore said. “So, when it came to rehearsals, we rehearsed it a few times, and I couldn’t [remember]. Cozy [Powell, drums], would tell me, ‘You’re playing it wrong!’ And I go, ‘Why?’ He said, ‘No, it’s not the way you’ve played it.'”
The guitarist described how the situation became increasingly frustrating during band rehearsals.
“So, in the end, I said, ‘Look, Cozy, I can’t even play this tune anymore. The riff changes so much.’ So, instead of trying to learn it properly, I just thought, ‘I can’t play this. Let’s forget this,'” he continued.
Blackmore also revealed the creative process behind the song and his ongoing appreciation for it despite the performance challenges.
“I wrote it on the cello, the riff, but if you listen, the riff changes every time it’s played. And I couldn’t remember which way the riff was supposed to be played,” he said. “So, in the end, I thought it was better to leave it alone than try and play it. I still loved it as one of my favorite tunes.”
Blackmore’s admission sheds light on the complexity of one of Rainbow’s most ambitious compositions. The song has remained a studio-only masterpiece for nearly five decades.
Wikipedia documented that “Gates of Babylon” was featured on Rainbow’s third studio album, Long Live Rock ‘n’ Roll, released on April 9, 1978. The song was recorded at the historic Château d’Hérouville in France during sessions that took place from May to July and December 1977. The track was finalized during the December sessions.
The song’s complexity that Blackmore referenced becomes more understandable when considering its elaborate production. Songfacts reported that the track featured orchestral elements with scoring and conducting by Rainer Pietsch and strings performed by the Bavarian String Ensemble. Martin Birch produced all of these elements. This orchestral arrangement added layers of sophistication that may have contributed to the performance challenges Blackmore described.
The collaborative nature of the song’s creation also played a significant role in its complexity. Metal Express Radio revealed that keyboardist David Stone, who joined the band mid-recording to replace Tony Carey, co-wrote significant portions of the song including the intro, middle section, and chorus passing chords. Stone described charting the chord progressions for Blackmore in the studio and teaching him the musical transitions. This highlighted his role as one of Blackmore’s most musically knowledgeable collaborators.
“We could have had a whole album like Gates of Babylon, it would have been groundbreaking,” Stone later reflected. However, he received no publishing credit for his contributions, only a $10,000 payment from management.
The song’s thematic content also reflected the band’s ambitious artistic vision during this period. Songfacts noted that the lyrics evoke gnostic and psychedelic themes, referencing oriental imagery, drugs as a “key” to paradise or entrapment, and mystical caravans. These elements blended exotic and ambivalent motifs that matched the song’s musical complexity.
