Ronnie James Dio… May 22, 2010
Posted by WorldbyStorm in Culture, Uncategorized.trackback
You know, I was genuinely surprised at how sorry I was to hear that Ronnie James Dio, former lead singer of Rainbow in the 1970s, Black Sabbath in the early 1980s and again in the 1990s, his own Dio in the 1980s and after, and then Heaven and Hell – Sabbath in all but name – for the past four or five years.
It may in part because in the rather fine Metal: A Headbanger’s Journey documentary Dio came across as a decent human being working in what is a reasonably decent genre of music. Or it may be that he was lead singer with Sabbath around the time I was listening most closely to them in my teens and that was an incarnation of the band that had sped up from the Ozzy years to produce a harder, heavier and faster sound (one that influenced Discharge amongst others and was in its own right influenced by punk) that dovetailed with my own tastes.
Dio had a good, if arguably over theatrical, voice and an unfortunate penchant for sword and sorcery lyrics. But, when it all clicked together it worked well. He’d been recording since 1958. Now that’s a career. One other aspect of him was that he was unashamed in his use of the term ‘working class’ in interviews in reference to himself (and indeed to Iommi, Butler and Ward).
Anyhow, indulging in pure nostalgia, here are some of his best moments, the first two culled from the Sabbath album “Mob Rules” (used too I think in the Heavy Metal movie produced by the magazine of the same name – you’ll know the one, SF and fantasy comic strips) and a smattering of live appearances.
The Mob Rules, preceded by ‘instrumental’ E5150 [song proper kicks off about 2.50 mins]
Sign of the Southern Cross
Man on the Silver Mountain – Rainbow
And inevitably:
Long Live Rock ‘n’ Roll
Speaking of interesting covers (as we were on the Microdisney thread) ever hear His Name Is Alive’s version of “Man on the Silver Mountain”?
I did not, but that too sounds interesting (no quotation marks!)…
Well, that’s quite stunning actually. Lovely.
Dio’s voice was a lot better than “good”. Throughout his career, up until the end, he was much better than that.
Many people who have heard him are not familiar with his work prior to the band DIO. By the time many folks heard him, it was relatively late in his career. The fact that he sounded as good as he did in his mid-60′s (!) is a testament to just how amazing a singer he was.
If you are not familiar with the following music, do yourself a favor and check it out:
– Really, any of the Rainbow albums on which he sang- Ritchie Blackmore’s Rainbow, Rising, and Long Live Rock ‘n Roll (studio); On Stage for evidence of his live capabilities.
– Black Sabbath – Heaven And Hell (Believe it or not, some younger Dio fans think it all started with his eponymous band.)
– DIO – Holy Diver and Last In Line.
This is not to say that Ronnie was not great on subsequent recordings. But during this period – into the mid-80’s, he seemed to me to be in his prime, his voice having an optimum and unmatched combination of power, clarity, precision, and “edge”.
On recordings with his first major band, Elf, this prowess is also evident, although the recording quality is somewhat lower on these albums. Deep Purple bassist Roger Glover, who, along with DP drummer Ian Paice, produced some of Elf’s recordings, recalled Ronnie’s impressive command of his voice, noting that he would sometimes nail his vocal tracks in one take.
Ronnie Dio was a phenomenal vocalist, and by all accounts, an unusually fine person. I had the pleasure of meeting him in 1981 after a Black Sabbath concert, and can report that he was genuine, patient, and appreciative with the fans who had waited behind the concert venue for autographs. The fact that he was a truly nice guy makes his passing even more personal and painful for me.
“Over theatrical”? Suit yourself – that’s an aesthetic assessment. But “good”? That does not do the man justice. He was a force of nature.
How about I amend it to “Very good”?
I do like his Rainbow stuff, but for me the killer albums are Mob Rules and Heaven and Hell.
“…oh I see his face…”
A sad loss indeed – Sabbath and Rainbow stuff was great but Id lost track of him until this. It says something that he got a substantial obit on national CBC (our RTE/BBC) news. Fans in the newsroom? Definitely a force of nature, esp. given he was only about 4 feet tall, wasn’t he? (only slight exaggeration)
Did he? That’s impressive.
He was 5 foot 4 and what a presence.
Fair enough. Opinions vary.
Ronnie had a very good sense of humor, and didn’t seem to to take himself too seriously, I remember him saying, during an appearance on the radio interview/call-in program Rockline (during his first solo tour) that he would be content to be thought of as “a powerful singer who doesn’t use the word ‘baby’ in his lyrics”.
Actually, I’ve been thinking about it and you’re right, I think he did have one of the great rock voices, along say with Lemmy and Gillan…
Hmmmm…Lemmy (as in “Lemmy sing for your band!” Lemmy?), and Gillan? That’s high praise, indeed. What’s the term – a left-handed compliment? (I do like Ace Of Spades.)
Gillan was great, of course. The original heavy metal screamer.
So you giveth with Gillan, and taketh away with Lemmy. I guess that leaves you where you started. (Unless you were serious about Lemmy…?)
I’m serious about Lemmy. Live? Amazing? On record – well, depends on the record. But still pretty amazing… indeed some while back I mentioned this…
https://cedarlounge.wordpress.com/2010/02/13/this-weekend-ill-mostly-be-listening-to%E2%80%A6-motorhead-another-perfect-day/
I listened to the Motorhead tunes to which you posted links. Clearly, you and I perceive vocal sounds in different ways. Lemmy still sounds…well, like Lemmy (with acknowledgement of the fact that I have never heard him live, in person). Nowhere close to Dio’s league.
But so what? These tunes are refreshing. Compared to what gets played on rock radio these days, I would much rather hear this stuff. Motorhead is like a super garage band. And I mean that in a good way. No over-produced B.S. – just straight-ahead rock. It’s not even metal – it’s good old heavy rock and roll. And Lemmy delivers the message in that context very well, with a distinctive and original voice.
Well, you’re right, it’s a taste thing. But look, I love Plant, Bon Scott, Sammy Hagar (back in the Montrose days), Dave Lee Roth, Ozzy – obviously, Rob Halford – although I’d have been more of a fan of JPs more bluesy tracks, Joe Elliot on the first three albums, David Coverdale, even Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons have pretty good voices. And then moving away from the mainstream to people like Pete Steele, Tom Araya, Dave Mustaine, Geoff Tate, John Garcia in Kyuss, and so on and so forth. Not to mention those hanging around the fringes like the Almighty and the Cult who sorted of crossed over from punk or goth to metal and back. And then there’s Dave Wyndorf of Monster Magnet and I’m leaving a whole bunch of people out.
I am not familiar with many of the folks you cited, but that just underscores how much good stuff is out there. But as far as simply liking someone’s singing, that’s really what it’s all about.
I also love Halford and Tate – and they are undeniably awesome technically. Wouldn’t call Bon Scott a great singer, but what an original vocalist. His personality seemed to come through more than just about any other. Funny and creative guy. Roth could be described similarly, with a better voice. No Tate or Dio, but pretty good. Especially on the first couple of VH albums.
Interesting comment about Hagar. I also like his Montrose phase more than VH. He was a solid rock singer.
And Paul Stanley is grossly, almost criminally underappreciated. One of the great voices in hard rock – instantly recognizable, and unique. He just sounds cool.
Coverdale, Astbury – absolutely. Not a big Elliot fan, but I really liked the first album, when they were a young hungry rock band (instead of an AC/DC-tinged chant-rock band with very good harmony vocals).
My original post was just to advocate for Dio’s legacy. I think he was truly one of the greatest rock singers ever, subjectively and objectively. Even if one did not like the sound of his voice, his technical facility is undeniable. And I happen to love the sound of his voice.
I appreciate the opportunity to wax opinionated with a knowledgeable and invested moderator.
Likewise it’s good to talk with you. It’s good to know someone else likes Montrose too. Another criminally underrated band.
And the thing is I really like Dio’s voice.
I stumbled upon this a few months ago. Not a music video, ala MTV – they are really playing. I think it is cool because they seem like an amateur band in a practice room, except that they are obviously not amateurs. Very tight, and a goood example of Sammy, sounding good.
That’s fantastic stuff KO. First song I ever heard by them, on a crappy tape way back when… believe it or not I’ve never seen video of them. Appreciate that.
As I was exploring some Dio-related videos, I came upon this. Thought it was an interesting coincidence, of sorts, given our discussion,
The second link will take to you to the entire song that is referenced in the first video. Note that the second is quite a bit louder than the first, so you may want to turn your volume back down in advance if had neeeded to turn it up for the first. (I freaked my cat out by not doing so.)
Nice find! And yep, there’s a lot of rock’n'roll in there. No doubt about it.
On early heavy metal and the working class this gets a bit of a mention (kinda) in the following recent Rob Halford interview marking the 30th anniversary of the release of British Steel http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2010/may/20/judas-priest-rob-halford-british-steel
Actually Halford is more explicit about that here –
http://www.canada.com/montrealgazette/spotlights/story.html?id=b78b4958-bf9c-4d93-85b8-16ed6546e29d
Thanks a million T for that. British Steel is another classic in it’s way, although my personal favourite Priest album is Screaming for Vengeance.