Ronnie James Dio

 

This is about the heavy metal singer popularly known as Ronnie James Dio (don’t forget the JAMES!).  Originally named Ronald Padavona.  He changed it to RJD in 1961 as his career was getting started.

Recently I finally listened to Masters of the Moon, his tenth and final solo album.  We’ve seen him in concert as a solo artist, with Black Sabbath, and with Heaven & Hell.  Elf & Rainbow were before we were old enough to go to concerts.

While he was in various bands before Elf, these were not quite the same music (aside from the Elf precursor bands, which did not release any full albums).  I lack even the curiosity to track it down to listen to, but we can laugh at him in short hair and a suit like everyone else back then.  I doubt he was flashing the Devil Sign at audiences back then – or even in Rainbow.  

Elf.  Three albums, S/T (1972), Carolina County Ball (1974), and Trying To Burn The Sun (1975).  These have a far different flavor than his later work, though I’ve only listened to the first one; #2 and 3 are not on Spotify, and the first one didn’t impress me enough to buy the other two.  The lineup of the third album, aside from the guitarist, became the first lineup for Ritchie Blackmore’s Rainbow. 

I don’t hear anyone really spreading the Gospel of Elf, so it seems this band gets its attention by way of morbid curiosity for those of us who want to hear what he was doing before Rainbow.  Oddly, I have heard Elf cover “War Pigs”, long before Live Evil.  It’s standard 70s blues-rock, what you’d expect to hear from Free or Rory Gallagher.  Competently executed with a familiar voice, but beyond that, more of a curiosity than something you’d keep going back to over and over again.

Rainbow.  Ritchie Blackmore’s Rainbow (1975), Rising (1976) and Long Live Rock’n’Roll (1978).   Deep Purple guitarist Ritchie Blackmore, upset and frustrated that his own band became too Soul Train-y thanks to Glenn Hughes and David Coverdale (“shoeshine music” is how he described it) on Stormbringer, quit after that tour.  As ELF had been opening for them, he simply hired them as his backing band – for the first Rainbow album.

By Long Live Rock’n’Roll, Blackmore decided he wanted to move in a more commercial direction and sell zillions of albums – his next singer was Graham Bonnet (Down To Earth).  Dio left the band and eventually hooked up with Black Sabbath, who were missing a singer after they fired Ozzy Osbourne in April 1979. 

These Rainbow albums actually have somewhat of a prog flavor to them, certainly compared to Down to Earth and the subsequent Joe Lynn Turner (looks like Blackmore has a thing for three-name singers – can we call him “Joe Turner?”) albums.  Blackmore loves classical music and blends that in from time to time.  However, I wouldn’t call Rainbow a prog band, and for obvious reasons it sounds more like Deep Purple than any other band. 

Black Sabbath (Part 1).  Heaven & Hell (1980), The Mob Rules (1981), Live Evil (1982).  While Ozzy was starting his solo career with Randy Rhoads, Tony & Geezer got to work with RJD.  Bill Ward started off as the drummer, then leaving, to be replaced by Vinnie Appice.  These are my favorite RJD albums, with my favorite RJD songs:  “Neon Knights”, “Children of the Sea”, “Heaven & Hell”, “Lonely Is the Word” + “Voodoo” and “The Sign of the Southern Cross” (I still can’t stand “The Mob Rules”). 

 When it came time to mix Live Evil, the live album recorded on the Mob Rules tour, the band members accused each other of bumping up their relative contributions in the mix, so Mr. Dio left in a huff of pride and decided to go off on his own.

Solo Career (Part 1).  Holy Diver (1983), The Last In Line (1984), Sacred Heart (1985), Dream Evil (1987), Lock Up The Wolves (1990).  He started off with Vivian Campbell for the first three, Craig Goldy taking over during the Sacred Heart tour and playing on Dream Evil, and Rowan Robertson for the last one.  The rhythm section of Jimmy Bain (bass) (Rainbow) and Vinnie Appice (drums) (Black Sabbath) continued up until Lock Up the Wolves, at which point he had Teddy Cook on bass and Simon Wright, well associated with AC/DC, on drums. To me they all sound exactly the same.  It’s generic heavy metal with fairly pretentious lyrics.  With Dio calling all the shots, no one was going to tell him not to do anything, and thus they fall short of the two Black Sabbath albums – or even the Rainbow albums. 

Black Sabbath (Part 2).  Dehumanizer (1992).  Black Sabbath had recently released TYR with singer Tony Martin, and done a brief tour supporting that album, when they managed to patch things up with Dio and reunite.  “Thank you, Mr. Martin, your services are no longer required.  Buh-bye!”  That reunion lasted for one album and a tour supporting it, which we saw at DAR Constitution Hall in August 1992 in Washington, DC.  Due to their cancellation of the June 1986 show in Paris on the Seventh Star tour, this was the first time my brother and I were finally able to see Black Sabbath in concert.  The set included material from Dehumanizer, of course, but also from Heaven & Hell, The Mob Rules, and a handful of Ozzy/Sabbath songs. 

The tour wrapped up in Costa Mesa, California, right at the same time Ozzy Osbourne’s No More Tears tour ended nearby.  Ozzy agreed to come on for an encore, but Dio refused to play the concert, so Rob Halford (of Judas Priest) took over for the main set.  Dio’s explanation seems to be that he was only contracted to play up to the show before that one, but that begs the question of why he refused to play that one and earn a little bit more.  Logic suggests his pride was hurt, he left to resume his solo career again, picking up where he left off.

Solo Career (Part 2).  Strange Highways (1993), Angry Machines (1996), Magica (2000), Killing The Dragon (2002), Master of the Moon (2004).  Tracy G (?) on guitar for the first two, Craig Goldy for Magica and Master of the Moon, and Doug Aldrich on Killing the Dragon.  Bass duties switch from Jeff Pilson (Dokken) and Jimmy Bain (who is on Magica and Killing The Dragon); drums were Vinnie Appice for the first two, Simon Wright for the remaining three.  People give Ritchie Blackmore grief for his perpetually changing Rainbow lineups; Jimmy Bain himself scoffed, “our banjo player kept shooting himself in the foot firing players left and right.”  But it looks like Dio had the same problem.  On the other hand, his wife Wendy is often described as playing a similar role as Sharon Osbourne, managing him (as well as other metal acts).  Who made the personnel choices?  No idea, and not particularly concerned either.

In any case, these are five more albums which sound exactly the same, and sound essentially the same as the previous five: generic metal, generic metal guitar solos, and the same pretentious lyrics. 

Heaven & Hell.  The Devil You Know (2009).  It seems the bridges with Tony & Geezer weren’t entirely burned.  However, Iommi’s dispute with Ozzy about the rights to Black Sabbath ensured that this reunion would be called something other than Black Sabbath.  They picked this name, put out another album, and toured it.  If the prior three albums were “Black Sabbath” then so was this, in all but name. 

For some reason I don’t really care much for Dehumanizer and The Devil You Know, compared to Heaven & Hell and The Mob Rules.  I don’t know what happened in the first ten year gap, or the second 17 year gap. 

Live Appearances.  We were too young to see the Heaven & Hell or The Mob Rules tours with Black Sabbath, but we did manage to see him on his solo tour for Sacred Heart, at the Zenith in Paris, on May 5, 1986.  Someone tossed a banner at him, interrupting him while singing, prompting him to respond, “thanks, dick!”  As noted earlier, we managed to catch Black Sabbath on the Dehumanizer tour in DC, on August 7, 1992.  Then Dio again on his solo tour for Strange Highways, at a small club in Springfield, Virginia, Boots – better known as Jaxx, and far smaller than the indoor arena the Zenith in Paris – on September 21, 1994  The last times we saw him on stage were all with Heaven & Hell, Merriweather Post Pavilion (May 18, 2007), Nissan Pavilion (August 7, 2008), and Merriweather again (August 23, 2009).  He passed away from cancer on May 16, 2010, so that ended his concert appearances and album releases, though I understand his hologram (???) has been making appearances.  Jedi Dio?  Who knows.

Of the material he did, from Elf through Heaven & Hell, the only albums I really like and enjoy are Heaven & Hell and The Mob Rules.  Elf is … interesting, but not particularly enjoyable.  Rainbow is like a pretentious version of Deep Purple for me, “Rainbow Eyes” being my favorite.  Still, it’s enjoyable in itself, more so than his solo material.  I have all three Dio-Rainbow CDs (plus Live in Munich 1977), and Down To Earth through Stranger In Us All on CD.

As for his solo albums…   All ten sound pretty much the same to me.  Whether the guitarist is Vivian Campbell or Craig Goldy, it’s the same each time.  Some riffs, a technically astute but unmemorable guitar solo, and lyrics invariably invoking a rainbow at some point (for which I suppose we can blame Blackmore).  He’s like a prog singer, but backed up by a generic heavy metal band.  It’s like James LaBrie of Dream Theater took over from Vince Neil in Motley Crue.