Dio men tried to hire Van Halen

Dio rhythm section Vinny Appice and Jimmy Bain decided to aim high when they went to start a project after leaving Ronnie James Dio’s band – they called Eddie Van Halen.

And while the axe icon was honoured to be asked, he had a very good reason for saying no.

Drummer Appice and bassist Bain are back together in Last In Line, which also features Dio co-founders Viv Campbell and Claude Schnell, plus Andy Freeman in place of the late, great frontman.

Asked if there’s anyone he’d still like to work with, Appice tells My Global Mind: “There are lots of cool people. It would be fun to play with Eddie Van Halen – we both know Eddie. We almost played with him one time, a long time ago.

“Jimmy and I were putting something together. I called him and he called me back, and I didn’t know it was him. ‘Vinny, it’s Eddie.’ I went, ‘Eddie?’ Then I caught on.

“I said, ‘You’re probably busy, but we were thinking about you. We thought we’d start at the top for guitar players.’ He said, ‘Aw, man, that’s really cool, and I appreciate it, dude. But I’m joined with my brother.’”

Appice has worked with some big names in his time, but for him they don’t come bigger than his stint with John Lennon, which took place in 1975 while he was working with his first professional band, BOMF.

The nine-piece were managed by Jimmy Iovine, who was working with the ex-Beatle at the time, meaning they were often in New York’s Record Plant studios at the same time. Appice recalls: “One day they needed handclaps and they said, ‘Can you guys come down and do some handclaps for us?’ The band and I went down and we saw John in the control room. We were like, ‘Oh shit, it’s John Lennon.’

“We did handclaps – that’s me on Whatever Gets You Through The Night. A couple of days later he comes up and hangs out. We were like, ‘Oh fuck’ when we were playing. But he dug the band so we did a gig with him, at the New York Hilton for Lew Grade.

“We did three videos and we did eight songs in the studio with John producing. You’d hear him in the headphones telling you what to play. We’d play pool with him. It was just insane – that was a highlight.”

Last In Line played a brief debut tour in the UK in August, which was curtailed by guitarist Campbell’s cancer treatment. Appice has vowed there’s more to come from the band. Last night Campbell reported: “Did my second to last chemo today – only one more to go. Strangely, my hair’s already started to grow back a little.”

source: classicrockmagazine.com

Dio third album ‘difficult’ for ex members

Dio offshoot band Last In Line will play most of the band’s first two albums but not much of third release Sacred Heart – because the material carries too many bad memories.

Guitarist Vivian Campbell, now with Def Leppard, last week told Classic Rock he aimed to reclaim his heritage by playing songs he co-wrote for the first time since being sacked by Ronnie James Dio in 1986.

But he’s not ready to extend that to the album he was touring at the time he was fired.

Campbell tells Talking Metal of their setlist: “We haven’t completely finalised it yet, but it’s basically going to pick itself.

“There are only nine songs on Holy Diver and I think there’s only nine songs on the The Last In Line album.

“The Sacred Heart album was very difficult for us all – that’s when things really started to go wrong with the band. No one wanted to be in the studio with Ronnie.

“We would literally just come in and do our parts; we wouldn’t really hang, whereas with Holy Diver and Last In Line we were in the studio 24-7 and everyone was committed to making those records.

“So the Sacred Heart record, we don’t look upon it as favourably. We probably won’t play too much from that.”

While Campbell and bandmates Vinnie Appice, Jimmy Bain and Claude Schnell used to perform some Black Sabbath and Rainbow tracks with Dio, the guitarist feels it wouldn’t be appropriate now they’re working with singer Andy Freeman.

“I don’t think it would be legitimate for us to do that,” says Campbell. “The original Dio band played Man On The Silver Mountain, Stargazer, Long Live Rockn’Roll, Mob Rules, Heaven And Hell and Children Of The Sea. Those were legitimate enough for us to do because Ronnie was there and he’d been in those bands.

“But without Ronnie there, I don’t think it’s very legitimate to play Sabbath or Rainbow songs, so we won’t be doing that.”

Last In Line’s debut tour takes place in the UK next month, but the band have added a warm-up show at Slidebar in Fullarton, California on August 3.

Last in Line UK Tour

 

Aug 8: Belfast Limelight
Aug 9: Glasgow Cathouse
Aug 10: Bloodstock festival
Aug 11: London Islington Academy

source: classicrockmagazine.com

Dio Disciples ‘barely squeaking by’

Craig Goldy insists the Dio Disciples project isn’t all about money – and says he can prove it.

The guitarist is part of the tribute act to the late Ronnie James Dio after having been a member of the Dio band for three stints starting with 1987′s Dream Evil era.

Dio Disciples, also featuring Tim ‘Ripper’ Owens, Scott Warren, Simon Wright, Bjorn Englen and Oni Logan, were formed in 2011 with the blessing of the ex Black Sabbath singer’s widow Wendy.

Asked what he thinks of fans who disapprove of the project, Goldy tells GuitarWorld: “I understand it. Ronnie was so revered that there are going to be people who are apprehensive of what we’re doing.”


He continues: “It’s really not a for-profit thing. If people think it’s a for-profit thing, I have no problem with them checking my bank account balance. We’re barely squeaking by over our expenses. It’s very expensive to do this kind of thing.

“There is money involved, but money is not the priority. The priority is to make sure Ronnie’s memory is kept alive.”

And Goldy believes the positive intentions shine through. “So many people have come backstage to us and said, ‘That was the greatest experience ever,’” he reflects. “That’s what we say about this. It’s not really a concert, it’s an experience.

“Ronnie and his music were so loved that it became such a huge part of people’s lives. The songs we’re playing have been a huge part of people’s lives for decades. It really means something to them.”

The guitarist feels he learned “so many” lessons through working with Dio, but the most important was: “The music has to feel good. The groove has to be great because a lot of guitar players write for the riff first.

“The way he wrote songs was special too, because he really toiled. The law of hit songwriting is melody first, lyrics second. A lot of people don’t do that – a lot of singers sit around with their notebooks filled with lyrics and they try to cram their lyrics into a song. So the two have already been sitting around collecting dust and they try to call it an original song.

“That’s not the way you do it – you’ve got to start from scratch. It’s hard to tell a story and hit people in the heart with the limited amount of syllables you have in a song. But I watched him do that and I learned from him.”

The Disciples are aiming to record new music at some point in the future, including a track Goldy wrote about his former boss. “I have a song about Ronnie’s passing and how the band feels and how the fans might feel,” he says. “It’s coming out really good. When Wendy heard it she said, ‘Ronnie would be really proud of you.’”

source: classicrockmagazine.com

The 5 Heaviest Black Sabbath Songs

Black Sabbath has long been regarded as one of the heaviest of heavy metal bands. After 40 years, their monstrous riffs still echo through the brainpans of hard rock fans worldwide. Sabbath were always a lot more than just a heavy rock band; acoustic interludes, jazz phrasings, pop melodies and blues riffs are just a few of the textures that can be found in their music. Still, their overall sound has always been rather unrelenting.

Here's a list of some of the songs I think cement Sabbath's much-deserved reputation as the heaviest in the land.

1.) "Into the Void" - from Master of Reality, 1971

If I had to pick just one song to make a case for Black Sabbath's unmatched heaviness, this would be it. This single song has more top of the heap metal riffs than most guitarists come up with over the course of a career. As is often the case, Tony Iommi leads the pack here with a tone and an attack that make listening to this song akin to being slowly encased in molten iron (um, in, y'know, a good way). The chemistry of the band is not to be discounted here, however;without Ozzy's voice crying in the wilderness and the inimitable rhythm section of Bill Ward and Geezer Butler simultaneously plodding and swinging, the track's heaviness would be less by half. Advances in technology have naturally made it easier to get heavier and heavier guitar tones or production sounds, but the key to why this stuff still sounds alarmingly heavy even today lies in Iommi's insane hand vibrato, along with the chemistry with the rest of the band.

2.) "Iron Man" - from Paranoid, 1970

Overplayed? Maybe. Still, even though the riff to this classic is one of the first things every rock guitar player learns (along with Deep Purple's "Smoke on the Water"), and is burned into the brains of rock fans around the globe, it never sounds as heavy in your head as it does when you actually listen to it. This is heavy almost to the point of parody, and is, therefore, awesome.

3.) "War Pigs" - from Paranoid, 1970

Another big hit, and from the same record, but "War Pigs" likewise demands inclusion. The opening chord alone qualifies this song for the heaviness hall of fame.

4.) "The Writ" - from Sabotage, 1975

Some of Sabbath's heaviest songs come from this underrated album, including "Hole in the Sky", "Symptom of the Universe" and "Megalomania". All of those probably belong on this list, but "The Writ" comes off as the heaviest of the bunch to my ears, if only for the anguished emotional punch it packs. Often overlooked is just how much Ozzy's vocals add to the actual heaviness of the Sabs' densest material.

5.) "Falling Off the Edge of the World" - from the Mob Rules, 1981

I had to include something from the Dio era and it was a toss-up between this and "Follow the Tears" from the 2009 album, "The Devil You Know". That album, however, though recorded by the same personnel as "The Mob Rules", was released under the band name Heaven & Hell, not Black Sabbath. So, I'm calling this tough choice on a technicality here. Either of these tracks are mind-numbingly heavy, though, and make a strong case for Iommi and Butler's ability to dish out world-class heaviness even with two very different players on drums and vocals (Vinny Appice and Ronnie James Dio, respectively). Another strong contender would be "I" from 1992's "Dehumanizer".

In the end, it's really hard to pick five as the definitive heavy moments for these guys. I do think, though, that if you listen to these five songs back-to-back, you'll see why people consider Black Sabbath to be one of the heaviest bands of all-time.

If you like Black Sabbath, Ozzy or Dio, check out two of my favorite new bands. Not nearly as heavy, but definitely in the vein of classic rock and hard rock, just the way I like it. Download free songs from the Hard Ponys and the Beast of England.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Erika_A_Lee

Ronnie James Dio Dead At 67

Ronnie James Dio, one of heavy metal's all-time greatest singers and a five-decade rock veteran, died early Sunday morning, according to a statement posted on his website by his wife and longtime manager, Wendy Dio. The singer, known for his work with Rainbow, Black Sabbath, Heaven and Hell and his own band, Dio, died less than a year after being diagnosed with stomach cancer. He was 67.

"Today my heart is broken. Ronnie passed away at 7:45 a.m.," Wendy Dio's statement reads. "Many, many friends and family were able to say their private goodbyes before he peacefully passed away.

"Ronnie knew how much he was loved by all. We so appreciate the love and support that you have all given us. Please give us a few days of privacy to deal with this terrible loss. Please know he loved you all and his music will live on forever."

With his powerful signature vocals and doom-laden lyrics, Dio fronted several iconic bands during his career: Elf, Rainbow, Black Sabbath and, of course, Dio. In 2009, he released The Devil You Know LP with the outfit Heaven and Hell, which featured the same lineup as the post-Ozzy Osbourne incarnation of Sabbath that he fronted in the early 1980s.

Possessed with one of the most recognizable voices in rock music, Dio's onstage theatrics (swords, mock dragon slaying), medieval themes and cool stage presence helped win the adulation of generations of metal fans and musicians, including mainstream figures like Jack Black and Dave Grohl. Contemporary "metalcore" band Killswitch Engage regularly covers Dio's "Holy Diver" in their live set, even going so far as to release a lovingly campy music video in homage.

Dio is credited with popularizing (if not inventing) the "devil horns" hand gesture used by everyone from the darkest of death and black metal acts to pop stars, athletes and professional wrestlers. Dio often said he got the symbol -- the "Malocchio" or "Evil Eye" -- from his Italian grandmother.

Born Ronald James Padavona in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, Dio released his first record in 1958 with the group Ronnie & the Red Caps. It wasn't until a few years after that single's release that he adopted his stage name, inspired by New York mafia figure Johnny Dio. A later band, the Electric Elves, evolved into Elf. Deep Purple guitarist Ritchie Blackmore recruited Dio and some of his Elf bandmates when he formed Rainbow in 1975; Dio released three landmark studio albums and a live LP with the band.

Personal differences drove Dio from Rainbow and in 1979, he replaced Ozzy Osbourne in Black Sabbath. His first album with the group, 1980's Heaven and Hell, ended the heavy metal originators' creative slump with gusto and effectively reinvented the band, a streak continued with Mob Rules the following year. However, divisions within the group came to a head during the mixing of 1982's Live Evil.

Taking drummer Vinny Appice with him, Ronnie formed his own band, called simply Dio. The title track from 1983's Holy Diver would become one of his most recognized and definitive songs. The Last In Line (1984), like the album before it, went platinum in the US. Over the following 20 years, Dio continued to record and tour, releasing the band's 10th studio album, Master of the Moon, in 2004.

A short-lived reunion with Black Sabbath in the early '90s produced the album Dehumanizer in 1992, before Ozzy's eventual return to the band. In 2006, Dio reunited with his former Sabbath-mates to write and record a handful of new tracks for inclusion on the Black Sabbath: The Dio Years collection. The chemistry between Dio, Appice, guitarist Tony Iommi and bassist Geezer Butler resulted in the formation of Heaven and Hell (so titled for a number of reasons, not least to avoid confusion with the more recent Osbourne-fronted versions of Black Sabbath).

Heaven and Hell released Live from Radio City Music Hall, a celebration of the Dio-era Sabbath songbook, in 2007. The Devil You Know, their first studio album under the new monicker, followed last year.

In November of 2009, Dio's wife and manager Wendy announced that Ronnie had been diagnosed with stomach cancer. Several rounds of chemotherapy and other treatments followed. Earlier this month, Heaven and Hell announced the cancellation of a planned summer tour of Europe owing to Dio's condition.

In April, Dio appeared at the Revolver Golden Gods Awards in Los Angeles to accept the award for Best Vocalist. As members of Alice in Chains presented the award to him, the crowd chanted, "Dio! Dio! Dio! Dio!"

source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1639314/ronnie-james-dio-dead-at-67.jhtml