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Jan 20, 2017 Web Exclusive By Frank Valish

The late Ronnie James Dio is best known as the diminutive, rapier-voiced frontman for hard rock acts Rainbow, Black Sabbath, and Dio. Songs like “Man on the Silver Mountain,” “Mob Rules,” and “Rainbow in the Dark” have cemented his legend amongst heavy metal aficionados. But before he was a metal god, he was simply Ronnie Dio, the bassist/vocalist for the mid-state New York five-piece Elf.

A harbinger of things to come, Elf’s self-titled 1972 debut was co-produced by Deep Purple’s Roger Glover and Ian Paice, and over the years, the nascent rockers would cement a relationship with the British icons. Elf’s debut presents our future metal master as boogie rock singer and bassist, and, like much of Elf’s catalog, it sounds supremely out of character for those who only know Dio for his more outsized later persona.

Elf’s sophomore album, 1974’s Carolina County Ball, released in the US and Japan with the alternate title ­­­­L.A. 59 and reissued here, saw the band ushering in a new lineup. Dio gave up bass duties to assume a primary role as vocalist, and a new bassist and guitarist were welcomed into the fold. Carolina County Ball rushes out of the gate with an immediately noticeable, upgraded sound, with big horns present on the opening title track. A full complement of background singers is featured on “L.A. 59.” Rounding out the original Side 1 is the all-out blues ballad “Happy,” and Side 2 begins with the ludicrously stellar lyric, “Aggravating Annie is getting on my fannie,” from “Annie New Orleans.” Things seem to settle into an Elvin groove toward the end of the album-check out the kicking guitar solo on “Do the Same Thing”-before the plunky piano cheese of the closer “Blanche” and its lyrics about “too many rainy days” and “rain go away.”

Elf’s final album, 1975’s Trying to Burn the Sun, also reissued, finds the band in a more pop rock frame of mind, evidencing significantly less grit than previous recordings. While some nice Thin Lizzy-esque guitar graces “Liberty Road,” elsewhere big overwrought string orchestrations are featured on ballads “When She Smiles” and “Wonderland,” and “Shotgun Boogie” is all shimmying piano-bar shake.

By the time Trying to Burn the Sun was released, Elf was no more. Deep Purple guitarist Richie Blackmore had cherry-picked the band, minus guitarist Steve Edwards, to back him on his new project Rainbow, for which of course, Dio would sing. And the rest, they say, is history.

Purple Records’ reissues of Carolina County Ball and Trying to Burn the Sun are perfect reminders of Dio’s lineage and the meager beginnings of one future hard rock god. Inauspicious perhaps. Listening to Elf if only familiar with Dio’s more popular work is an effort in cognitive dissonance. But immersing oneself in these early recordings will yield much to appreciate. Dio and his Elf bandmates may have never completely realized their muse in the way Dio’s more famous work seems to so clearly have done. But what these reissues showcase, with detailed liner notes documenting the history, is that of a scrappy New York band laying it all out on the line, being unafraid to experiment with their rock and roll and making the move to the big time just when the moment was right.

(www.cherryred.co.uk)