Dio preview, part 1
Born in 1942, Ronnie James Padavona started music young, with a band called The Vegas Kings that formed in 1957. Naturally, his role was to play bass guitar (and, according to the Wiki, trumpet) in the band. The group changed names quickly, to Ronnie and the Rumblers and then again to Ronnie and the Redcaps before 1958 was over.
That wasn’t the only change, of course. They decided to let Ronnie try his hand at vocals. Perhaps because of that, he felt it was appropriate to take a stage name. This was shortly before (but also sort of along with) changing again to Ronnie and the Prophets. What did he choose? Well, to paraphrase what he might have said if someone asked who was singing:
IT WAS ME, DIO!
What? It’s fair to use that once, especially since the Jojo character is named after the artist. But anyway, Dio took over singing duties. Ronnie the Prophets lasted until 1967, where some of the members changed and the group reformed as The Electric Elves. That name didn’t last, mostly thanks to a car accident where guitarist Nick Pantis was killed and the other band members were injured. After that, they were known as The Elves until mid-1972, where the name was shortened again,
Elf
Now known as simply “Elf”, the group released its first album, also called “Elf’. From there, they became an opening act for Deep Purple, which at the time included Roger Glover and Ritchie Blackmore. Elf released two more albums, in 1974 and 1975. Glover had departed Deep Purple in 1973, and invited Dio to guest vocals on a few of the songs of Glover’s first solo album. Blackmore decided to go solo too, leading to another band.
Rainbow
Certainly, this band was covered in round two, but I can’t go through Dio’s history without mentioning it. The short version is that Dio would appear on the first three Rainbow albums, before finding his career pointed in another direction when a fairly famous (>.>) band fired their lead singer.
Black Sabbath
Dio actually had two times where he recorded with Sabbath. Maybe three? We’ll get to that. I’ll just cover the two iterations here rather than bounce back and forth.
Certainly it was contentious that Dio (or anyone) replaced Ozzy. Perhaps it still is? This isn’t meant to be a Sabbath retrospective at all (so that another MA-D can feel free to do that someday), so let’s stick to the basics. The first album,
Heaven and Hell, reportedly came together smoothly. But with the second album, The Mob Rules, Dio felt more comfortable rather than just the new guy, and from that, conflicts arose. So with that, Dio and drummer Vinny Appice would split from the group after that album.
Only to come back ten years later, for Black Sabbath’s
Dehumanizer in 1991. The reunion was short-lived, however, as Dio couldn’t seem to stand working with Tommy Iommi and Geezer Butler. Yep, that certainly wouldn’t happen again.
Dio
Ronnie had easily enough clout to form his own band by now. Appice came along, along with bass guitarist Jimmy Bain (who would be off and on with the group) and guitarist Vivian Campbell (who would appear on the first three albums). I won’t go over the group’s entire roster of performers here, but I wanted to highlight the start. The complete lineup for this little-known album called Holy Diver made in 1983.
Dio (the band, though actually also the artist) would be quite prolific, putting out albums in 1984, 1985, 1987 & 1990 before a brief separation for Dio to return to Sabbath as discussed above. Dio, Appice, and some (more) new faces would reform Dio rather quickly, starting with 1993’s
Strange Highways. After that, Dio would… tinker with their style for a few albums. If you know Ronnie’s history, another chance is par of the course, though neither of them are what you’d expect from a heavy/doom metal band. We’ll get to that along the way.
The 9th and 10th albums were more a return to the established form. Dio had faded from the spotlight by this time, though they were (and he was) far from without his fans. From 2004, the band was still touring heavily, and released two live albums in 2005 & 2006. But the band was dissolving, and there was the thought that this might be the last we heard from them. Or perhaps it was just that some old friends called Ronnie.
Heaven And Hell
Dio, Appice, Iommi, Butler. That Black Sabbath lineup under a different name. They’d toured in 2007, in what they thought would be a one-time affair, with the individuals returning to their respective projects. Then in 2008, they decided to release an album, with the hope of more. Thus The Devil You Know came about in April of 2009.
The group toured, stopping briefly as Ronnie got diagnosed with stomach cancer in November of 2009. The first tests seemed positive though, so they kept going, but it became clear that Ronnie’s health was faded. The rest of the tour was canceled on May 4th, 2010. Dio would die on the 16th from the illness. Appice, Iommi and Butler would continue performing (not necessarily together), but that’s a different tale to tell.
. In the mid-60s he played at folk places in Greenwich Village under the stage name Jerry Ferris. He got tired of that name so he changed it to Jerry Walker. That name wasn't quite right either, so he decided Jerry Jeff Walker was the ticket, and legally changed his name to that. He was in a short lived psychedelic band called Circus Maximus, but left after a couple albums to pursue his folk interest. He traveled around searchin' for the hot folk scenes. After spending the night in a jail cell in New Orleans in the late 60s, Jerry Jeff wrote a song about a man he met in the drunk tank, and he called the song Mr. Bojangles. It was a hit. Jerry Jeff would spend a lot of time in Coconut Grove, Florida, writing folk songs, and then to Key West. The troubadour would eventually get the itch to move to Austin, TX. He moved there in the early 70s, and he would call Austin home until he died in 2020 of cancer. Jerry Jeff fit right in in TX, and he was huge in being one of the founders of the progressive and outlaw country movement. He loved to have a good time, live hard, and perform live. Jimmy Buffett was one of his best friends, and said Jerry Jeff was "the best carnival sideshow performer there ever was." He said Jerry Jeff was like a magnet, and people were just drawn to him. He was like the pied piper, and a lot of fun. His fun and fast living started catching up with him. He could get get out of control when drunk or coked up, and be too drunk to sing at his shows and stuff like that. His friends didn't think he would live long, but he surprised them all by finally getting sober, and staying that way for decades. Jimmy said of Jerry Jeff, "He came through it and he slayed those dragons, and I give him as much credit for that as for writing “Mr. Bojangles.” He saved his own life." Jerry Jeff's wife, Susan, and his kids, have also has been credited for helping him turn his life around. He continued his music through the years, and was the "gypsy songman" until the day he died.
