"We played it hot, hard and heavy at the Carolina County ball/And we sang 'Ooooo'/On a boogie-woogie Friday night..." Ronnie James Dio's early band Elf played it hot, hard and (pretty) heavy throughout its relatively short lifespan. Elf released three studio albums between 1972 and 1975 before going to superstardom with Rainbow (the core of which was actually built from Elf), Black Sabbath, and Dio. Last year, Cherry Red released a reissue of 1972's debut Elf; now, the label has turned its
Who’s that gleefully malevolent-looking elf? Why, it’s none other than the late Ronnie James Dio, legendary frontman of Rainbow, Black Sabbath, Heaven and Hell and of course, Dio. Between 1972 and 1975, Dio (under his real name of Ronald Padavona) led the band Elf for three albums. The first of those LPs, the eponymous Elf, has just been reissued by Cherry Red’s Hear No Evil imprint in a newly-remastered edition. Singer/bassist Dio founded Elf in 1967 as The Electric Elves, alongside