Stand Up and Shout for the Man on the Silver Mountain!

Sunday 5/16/2010
As I sit and write this, I am thinking of another music memory. Unfortunately, the artist I'm writing about is nowhere to be found in the book 1001 Albums.  For Hard Rock and Metal fans, this is a glaring omission. I'm talking about Ronnie James Dio who passed away on Sunday May 16, 2010. 

He enjoyed many roles in the arena of Hard Rock and Heavy Metal. Ritchie Blackmore chose him to sing for his first post-Deep Purple project-Rainbow.  He had recorded for the band-Elf prior to his years in Rainbow(which was produced by DP bassist Roger Glover and drummer Ian Paice). With Rainbow, he recorded some legendary metal albums featuring Ritchie Blackmore and legendary drummer-Cozy Powell.  In 1979, Dio went on to greater acclaim as the vocalist that was recruited to replace the notorious Ozzy Osbourne in Black Sabbath. Ronnie (and drummer Vinny Appice) left Sabbath in 1982 to finally form his own band aptly named DIO.  DIO was a staple of the Metal world for most of the 80's.  He even took a turn from Bob Geldof to present a "Heavy Metal Band Aid/USA for Africa" project called Hear N' Aid and the single Stars. He briefly reunited with Black Sabbath again in the early 90's to record the album Dehumanizer and then returned to his solo band.  In 2006-2007, Ronnie wrote some new songs with guitarist Tony Iommi for a Best of Black Sabbath-the Dio Years collection.  The band decided to tour behind the "Best of" package but decided to change the name of the band from Black Sabbath to Heaven and Hell (in honor of the album that RJD first cut with Black Sabbath). The name change was also stated so that there would be no mistaking Black Sabbath with Ozzy with the Sabbath lineup with RJD.

So, as usual, I will try to recount my own memories of who I consider one of the great Heavy Metal vocalists of all time. I was leary for awhile about whether I wanted to tread the grounds of Dio and Black Sabbath because of the non-christian connotations in my youth. I had read tons about the bands through my monthly readings of magazines like Hit Parader and Circus magazines. The same friend that was playing guitar in my senior year talent show got me going with BS's Paranoid and he also had a cassette copy of Dio's Last in Line. I had seen the video for Last in Line on NBC's Friday Night Videos. I wasn't overly impressed at the time. Of course, I have never been impressed by any of the singles or videos that the record companies had issued from the albums and I would end up enjoying the lesser known songs on the albums. My friend-Tom let me borrow his Last in Line cassette and I made a copy for myself. It starts off with an awesome lead-off track titled We Rock! and it does. I can't remember when I bought Dio's first album Holy Diver.  But, it was definitely my senior year of high school.  I was definitely hooked on that one. I remember buying an LP copy of it and put it on a Maxell cassette. I had that copy with me for years. I was into that album on a daily basis. I really don't remember any of my circle of friends being into the album.  So, it really became a personal favorite of mine. Looking back, I think it had a lot to do with the angst of being a teenager. My parents had moved to Hastings from North Platte early in my senior year. I had stayed in NP to finish my high school years. Part of me was sad that my family had moved away. Part of me was liberated and part of me was scared to death of the future.  I guess Dio's music spoke to me and gave me just a little bit of heavy metal distorted guitar to up my confidence level. I didn't change my daily look. But, I began to feel a change in myself. I listened to album religiously on a daily basis and I was especially moved by the lyrics to the last song on Side 1 of the LP..Don't Talk to Strangers.

Don't talk to strangers Cause they're only there to do you harm

Don't write in starlight Cause the words may come out real

Don't hide in doorways You may find the key that opens up your soul

Don't go to Heaven cause it's really only Hell

Don't smell the flowersThey're an evil drug to make you lose your mind

Don't dream of women cause they only bring you down

 

 

I had asked a certain girl to the prom that year and she turned me down. I was crushed and pissed off and the final lyric confirmed what I felt at the time.

I carried my love for Dio with into college. I remember buying a cassette version of his 3rd album Sacred Heart. It was in the cassette deck of my 1976 VW Rabbitt on a daily basis. I'm sure my college friends weren't overjoyed to get in the car and have to hear that album as much as I was listening to it. Dio was one of my favorites of the time. I had pictures of the band on my dorm room wall. I was always reading everything about the band. I had many conversations with my guitarist friends about how great guitarist Vivian Campbell was on Dio's albums. About this time, it was announced that Ronnie and his band were recruiting a bunch of other Hard Rock and Metal acts to record a song to benefit the people of Ethiopia called Stars and the name of the band would be called Hear N' Aid.  It would feature great vocalists like Dave Meninketti from Y&T, Judas Priest's Rob Halford, Kevin Dubrow from Quiet Riot, Paul Shortino of Rough Cutt and of course Ronnie James Dio.  I was pumped about the song because I was a big time Metal head at this time and didn't want to know about anything else that didn't rock hard. 

 

 

Then in the summer of 86(I think), Dio released a live EP called Intermission.  This featured one new song and the rest were live tracks from the Sacred Heart tour but featuring Craig Goldy replacing Vivian Campbell on Guitar. On this live recording Ronnie performs his song Rock n' Roll Children with a medley of some of his Rainbow songs Long Live Rock n' Roll and Man on the Silver Mountain. Then, I began to research his music before his solo band. I began a musical exploration into the music of Rainbow.  I bought a used copy of Rainbow on Stage from Dustys. It featured Cozy Powell on drums, Richie Blackmore on Guitar and Dio's bassist Jimmy Bain.  I put it on in my dorm room and it sounded so powerful to me. The drums were what rocked me first then Ronnie's voice and then the rest of the band was just magical.  I look back and (to me) it was like when drug addicts talk about that first high they get from heroin or cocaine.  It feels so good the first time that you want it to be that way every time. That's the way I felt about Rainbow on Stage. I still listen to it but it doesn't have that magic feeling it did the first time I dropped the needle on that one.  In 87, he released a new album Dream Evil.   My music loving friend-John had shown some interest in my obsession with Dio. But, his was more of an artistic nature. He noticed that if you turned the Dio logo upside down, it said "Devil" and it was even clearer on Dream Evil.  About this time, my interest in Dio was still there but it began to wane.  Ronnie's tales of dragons and demons were getting old and wearing thin.  I was getting more into his Sabbath and Rainbow stuff and began to venture his past recordings. I remember that by the summer of 1988 or 1989 while working at Dustys, I was listening to Rainbow Rising.  We had been listening to it for awhile. My co-workers Bob and Forrest and I had gotten to the point where we were all very respectful of each others musical tastes. Forrest turns to me as we are playing Rainbow Rising and asks me, "Does Rainbow consider Dio an influence?" (or vice-versa)  I grabbed the album cover and showed Forrest the album credits and I assume by the look on his face and the "duh?" look on mine that he felt kinda ....uh sheepish at that point.

 

In 1990, Dio released Lock Up the Wolves with a whole new band lineup. I was unhappy because longtime drummer Vinny Appice was out of the band and former AC/DC skinsman Simon Wright was in. .  The first track was Wild One which was yet another barnburner and I liked it. But, the rest of the album seemed to plod along and did nothing for me. I graduated from college in August of 1990 and didn't really visit my Dio albums a lot after that.  I was working at Dustys in Grand Island, NE from September 1990 til September 1991.  One of our biggest customers at the time was Bob Stelk. Bob farmed for his dad south of GI and would spend LOTS of money on CD's at the store. I actually lived about a mile west of Bob on another farmer's land.  I remember Bob buying the CD reissues of RJD's band Elf.  I would spend time at Bob's house and those CD's sounded really good to me. It was very bluesy but rocking like many of the bands of the late 60's/early 70's.  I kinda put it in the back of my mind to get those CD's some day.

Fast forward to 1992. Ronnie and Vinny Appice reunited with Black Sabbath and recorded Dehumanizer and from there they went on the road to promote the album. At the time, I was living and working in Omaha managing Tape World in the Crossroads mall. It was an early Sunday afternoon. All of sudden, I noticed about four long-haired guys come into the store and start thumbing through CD's. It was the thrash metal band-Exodus. I had become quite a fan through a college friend.  I also knew that Exodus was the opening act for Black Sabbath. I ended up selling a Jethro Tull CD to Exodus drummer-John Tempesta who went on to drum for White Zombie and the Cult. As time went on, I soon noticed Vinny Appice walking down the mall. I wanted to catch up with Vinny and talk to him about all things drums.  But, I was manning the store by myself. Then, I suddenly turned around and two men had walked in the store.  IT WAS RONNIE JAMES DIO. Yes, he's a short guy too. He walks in with his personal assistant(I'm guessing).  I walked up to him and I was absolutely speechless. I shook his hand, said 'hello',  I may have even said something about being a big fan. He then asked me if the store carried any cassettes by the band-Elf. I looked at him and said "Elf.....you mean....Elf (like I had to tell him that it was his band)"  He looked back and just said in his own eloquent way "Elf". Unfortunately, it was the Crossroads Mall in the early 90's and the store was a small store (about 900 sq ft). We were carrying Mariah Carey, Boyz II Men and the Whitney Houston Bodyguard soundtrack.  So, no we didn't carry the recorded history of Mr Dio. I called my friend Bob that afternoon who was working across town in Omaha. He had the day off because he was attending the BS concert. But, I was feeling great. I bought the Dehumanizer album on CD hoping the guys in the band would walk back past my store so I could have them at least sign it. They didn't or at least I never saw them again. I went home that night and listened to my cassette copy of Holy Diver to rekindle my interest in RJD.

 

Years passed yet again. I would pull out my vinyl copies of Dio and Black Sabbath and Rainbow. I had downloaded my own compilation of music by drummer Cozy Powell and came across Stargazer ....what an awesome track from Rainbow Rising. I remember pulling out my vinyl copy of Rainbow Rising after I was married and had a son. I began downloading these songs again. I put together my own Dio compilation CD and fully embraced my love for the music of RJD. I was elated a couple of years ago when Ronnie and Vinny rejoined Tony Iommi and Geezer Butler for new Sabbath recording for a "Best of " package.  I still wish I had had a chance of seeing that lineup live. I have the DVD's. But, it's just not the same.
Ronnie's died on Sunday May 16 2010. I have spent the last week reading and listening to testimonials and tributes from people who knew him. They say he was one of the good guys in the music business. He cared about the fans and the musicians he played with. It's too bad Ronnie never published an autobiography. I'm sure his would have been more insightful than Ozzy's drunken drug-filled half recollections. He left a great catalog of music and I will be enjoying it for years to come.