RONNIE DIO AND THE PROPHETS
1961 - Mid 1967
Dick Bottoff/David Feinstein- Guitar
Ronnie James Dio - Vocals / Bass
Nick Pantas - Guitar
Tommy Rogers/Gary Driscoll- Drums / Percussion
Ronnie And The Red Caps changed their name to Ronnie Dio And The Prophets in 1961. Under this name, the line-up lasted for quite a long time and produced several singles and one album. (Tommy Rogers left the band around June 1965 and was replaced by Gary Driscoll. It changed the sound of the band because Tommy was a good, versatile, lounge-style drummer while Gary was a real slammer with a heavy foot - like very few drummers you saw at the time. In addition, David Feinstein replaced Dick Bottoff in the fall of 1966. I lived around the corner from David’s parents house and I remember teaching him the chords to some of the covers The Prophets were playing in those days. David played rhythm guitar and Nicky Pantas played lead.) Some sources state that some of the single releases would’ve been made by Ronnie Dio solo, but others, for example Ronnie James Dio himself, state that all of those singles were made as Ronnie Dio And The Prophets.
The band in this form released a lot of singles. The first to some was “The Ooh - Poo - Pah - Doo†which was released on 24 January 1962 and had “Love Pains†on the B-side. The group released their first album in this form. The album was a live album recorded at Domino’s Restaurant, called: “Dio At Domino’s.†Nowadays the very place where this album was recorded (now Domino’s Pizza Restaurant); they hold the moniker of “We Rock†on a sign outside, making a tribute to Ronnie’s career. The songs that featured on it included “I Left My Heart In San Francisco,†a song from the Ronnie And The Red Caps days, called “An Angel Is Missing.†It also included “Great Balls Of Fire†along with other famous rock and roll songs. The final track was “Love Pains,†the B-side to the Prophet’s first single.
The other singles included “Swingin’ Street,†released in August 1963, backed with “Gonna Make It Alone.†A one-sided single of “Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow,†“Mr. Misery was released in November 1963 with “Our Year.†They also did a version of the rock and roll classic “Love Potion Number Nine,†released in January 1964. This had the same song on both sides, so radio stations wouldn’t play the wrong side.
In 1964 after we recorded “Swingin Street,†John Perialas met a promoter in New York name Simon Breme. He decided we should promote the new single by sending Ronnie on tour with Bobby Comstock’s band (which he also managed), and via Simon Breme, Nicki, Tommy, myself and a bass player named Joe Leo would go to Sweden for ten weeks and push the single over there. We toured there as a New York City band and backed an international star name “Lil Babs.†Sweden really was nuts over her and us too. We were the opening act for her tour and I sang Swingin Street as Ronnie.
“Say You’re Mine Again†was released in July 1965 with “Where You Gonna Run To Girl†on the B-side. “Smiling By Day (Crying By Night)†was released in November 1965, with “Dear Darling (I Won’t Be Coming Home)†on the B-side. “Walking Alone†was released sometime in 1965, backed with “The Way Of Love†and their final single was “Walking In Different Circles,†which was released in April 1967 with “10 Days With Brenda†on the B-side. In fact, a different version of “Walking In Different Circles†was recorded by The Elves, a band which Ronnie would form shortly in the future. The Ronnie Dio And The Prophets band ended in autumn 1967, when Ronnie and Nick continued on in a band called The Electric Elves.
Nicky was about 5’ 3†tall and skinnier than Ronnie. After David joined the band, they had a mike stand built with three prongs--a mike to each prong so all three mikes were on one stand. Nicky used to wear Beatle boots and, with the weather being what it is in Cortland, his shoes got wet a lot. The toes of his Beatle boots curled up and made him look like an elf. I started hanging out with him a lot by my senior year of college (1966) and I actually called him “Elf†instead of Nicky, or his regular nickname of years--Gump. I used to refer to them as The Electric Elves as a joke but they actually decided to use the name on the “Hey Look Me Over†release. In the fall of 1967, we had bookings under both names. In places where Ronnie Dio and the Prophets had played repeatedly we still used that name. For all new bookings into new areas, we were The Electric Elves.
