Dio

Ronnie James Dio is unquestionably one of heavy metal's most talented and instantly identifiable vocalists.Ronnie James Dio, real name Ronald James Padavona, was born in Cortland, NY, on July 10th 1942. His parents are Italian immigrants; Ronnie is a first-generation American. The city of Cortland to this day continues to have a large percentage of Italian Americans. Ronnie once said that one of the more exciting things to do in rural Cortland while growing up was “cow tipping.” Ronnie’s first serious musical instrument was the trumpet, with which he became very proficient. During that time Ronnie played trumpet in the Cortland High Jazz Band. Later, he switched to playing bass guitar. Ronnie graduated from Cortland High in 1960. He was senior class president. In high school, he was very popular with classmates and faculty alike. Former classmates describe him as being a clean-cut type of guy, with very neat short hair and say that he sometimes wore a suit and tie to school. Apparently, his looks then were a complete opposite to his current heavy metal tough guy appearance.He formed three bands while in high school: the Vegas Kings, the Rumblers, and the Redcaps. They played classic 50s and 60s music. Ronnie and the Redcaps played exclusively at Domino’s, a bar/restaurant on Main Street in Cortland. Later in 1961, he formed a new band called the Prophets. Legend has it that this was when the young Padavona took the last name Dio because it’s close to “God” in Italian. Apparently, Ronnie had a very high opinion of himself as a kid. In 1963, the band recorded a live record at Domino’s in which among other things they did a really great cover of “Great Balls of Fire.” Ronnie Dio used to practice with his new band the Prophets in a homemade studio on Tompkins St. in Cortland, in a barn-like garage. It was a very small studio, with one end being a walled-off booth for the mixers, and the remaining section being your basic egg-crate covered walls and ceiling. Inspired by the Beatles, Ronnie changed the name of his band to the Electric Elves in 1967. Later, his band simply became “The Elves.” Perhaps the choice of this fantasy creature as their mascot is reflective of the vertically challenged nature of most of the members of Ronnie’s band, especially himself. Ronnie was in a very severe automobile accident in 1968 with his band while traveling back from a gig in Connecticut. A drunk driver hit Ronnie’s van head on. Killed in the accident was Nicky Pantas, Ronnie’s best friend at the time and one of the bands guitar players. Nicky’s chest was crushed by the van’s steering wheel. Ronnie, who was in the passenger seat at the time, almost had his scalp ripped off. He needed about 100 stitches to repair the injury. Doug Thaler, the keyboard player for the band, ended up in a body cast for an entire year. The band’s other guitarist, David Feinstein, who suffered a broken ankle from the accident, says that the only thing he remembers about the whole incident was waking up the next day in the hospital with Ronnie in the other bed next to him. Ronnie received a major scar on his face from the accident. Later, the City of Cortland named the street where Ronnie grew up Dio Way. He married a Cortland girl named Loretta Berardi, and they later adapted a son, Danny. The couple later divorced. His family still lives in the Cortland area.Ronnie James Dio’s hard rock roots started with the New York based bar room blues band called Elf. The first Elf Lp came out in 1972, and consisted of Ronnie’s cousin David Feinstein (guitar), Mickey Lee Soule (piano), and Gary Driscoll (drums). This was the only album that Dio ever played bass guitar on. From then on, he decided to concentrate on his singing. Deep Purple’s Roger Glover produced the album, and he did a very good job on it. Elf was actually one hell of a band. Highlights on the first album were the songs Never More, Dixie Lee Junction, Sit Down Honey, Hoochie Koochie Lady, and First Avenue.Never More was a preview of Dio’s later work that would come with Rainbow. The song is real dark and Dioesque. It’s a great song. It’s also the first sign of the medieval sword and sorcery based material that started to form in Ronnie’s creative mind. The next two Elf albums saw some personnel changes as Craig Gruber replaced Ronnie on bass guitar, and Steve Edwards filled in for Feinstein. Later, Feinstein would go on to the hard rock band known as the Rods. Elf put out some great songs, but unless you’re a big Dio fan there’s no way you’ve ever heard them. The remastered album has the last two Elf albums called Carolina County Ball and Trying to Burn the Sun. After listening to fast power metal for any extended period of time, it would take some getting used to for the typical Dio fan. However, any fan of any one of the genres of Rock could really enjoy Elf. Ronnie sounds just as good with this band as he does with Rainbow, Black Sabbath, or his own band. Out of 18 songs on those two albums, about 12 of those are really high quality combinations of Rock and Jazz. Songs like Rocking Chair Rock ‘N’ Roll, Black Swampy Water, and Streetwalker are pure gems. Right now, there are serious talks about Ronnie and Feinstein getting back together and having a reunion.The end to Elf came when Ritchie Blackmore of Deep Purple “discovered” RJD. Elf used to open for Deep Purple on tour, and Blackmore became quite impressed with Ronnie’s band. After Deep Purple’s Stormbringer album, Blackmore became disenchanted with Deep Purple and he parted ways with them. Blackmore invited Ronnie, Mickey Lee Soule, and Craig Gruber to form his new band. The end of Elf and the downfall of Deep Purple brought on the beginnings of Rainbow.The first Rainbow album is one of the better Rock albums of the 1970s. Dio has commented that this is his favorite Rainbow album. The album was titled Ritchie Blackmore’s Rainbow to get exposure, because at the time Blackmore was known all around the world for his work with Deep Purple. The debut album started all of the medieval fantasy lyrics that Dio became so famous for. Song highlights include the famous Man on the Silver Mountain, The Temple of the King, Sixteenth Century Greensleeves, and the beautiful song Catch the Rainbow. Sixteenth Century Greensleeves is definitely one of the better Rock songs of the entire 70s. There’s another track on this album called Self Portrait. It’s one of those really dark 70’s Dio songs that are just buried in time. It’s laced with the classic Ronnie James Dio sound. There really isn’t a bad song on the first Rainbow album."