Jon Lord experimental concert launched online

The family and friends of the late Jon Lord have launched a website offering 11 videos shot during a previously-unreleased chamber orchestra concert in 2010.

The Trondheim Experiment includes a performance of Deep Purple classic Child In Time, complete with children’s choir, and the evening’s finale dedicated to Ronnie James Dio, who’d died the previous week.

The clips were shot at Nidaros Cathedral in Norway on May 24 that year and have been pieced together using audience recordings. The website include behind-the-scenes sections and an interview with the keyboard icon, who passed away last year.

Billed as “a celebration of good friends and music,” the concert took place in a location that Lord admired highly and referred to as “the venue of the gig that changed his life in 2003.”

Introducing Child In Time Lord says: “This is a big number in my life, this one. I love doing it in a slightly more Lordy way than the Purple way – but it’s pretty much the same.

“It became a very powerful song – it seemed to say a lot for a generation and somehow it stills says the same thing. The same stupid things keep happening all over the place. Still, we keep trying, don’t we? Onwards and upwards, my mother always said.”

Lord dedicates The Sun Will Shine Again to Dio, commenting: “Rest in peace, Ronnie. A fantastic guy with a heart as big as himself. We shall always remember him – but this is also for everybody who ever felt right down in the ground and thought it’s never going to get any better. The sun will shine again, as the song says.”

The website explains: “This is a tribute to Jon Lord, a hero and friend. This is also a celebration of a very special concert. In many ways it was an experiment – new arrangements, new musicians, songs rarely played.”

The Trondheim Experiment tracklist

To Notice Such Things
Evening Song
The Telemann Experiment
For Example
Bourre
Pictured Within
Wait A While
Gigue
Soldier Of Fortune
Child In Time
The Sun Will Shine Again

source: classicrockmagazine.com

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

Campbell claims back Dio heritage

Last In Line is all about reclaiming lost heritage for guitarist Vivian Campbell.

The Def Leppard axeman has reunited with fellow founding Dio members Vinny Appice, Jimmy Bain and Claude Schnell. Together with singer Andy Freeman they’re gearing up to tour the UK, playing the tracks they wrote as part of the late Ronnie James Dio’s band.

And Campbell – who was fired by Dio in 1986 – asserts the move to reclaim material he co-created is long overdue.

He tells Classic Rock: “I’ve got a different way of looking at it now than I’ve had for almost 30 years.

“I was fired, then I was portrayed as the one who’d turned my back on the band. It wasn’t true: I never wanted to leave Dio.

“I will admit that, at the time, I was experiencing growth and I wanted to try different kinds of music. That obviously rubbed Ronnie the wrong way. Perhaps that’s what he construed as me not wanting to be in the band – but I certainly did not want to leave.”

As a result of the experience, Campbell turned his back on the music he’d written with Dio, and he’s still upset about the way he and his bandmates were treated. “We wrote those songs,” he emphasises. “We weren’t just salaried guitarists, bassists, drummers. But we got none of the records, the tour profits, the merchandise. We were paid literally less than the crew.

“We were made to feel like we weren’t part of it. Being fired hurt a lot, and, perhaps childishly, I ran away from it.

“So I’m re-taking ownership of that stuff. It’s as much mine as anyone else’s; I wrote those songs and I put my heart and soul into that project.”

But Campbell – who’s currently receiving treatment for cancer – didn’t set out with the aim of putting the band back together. He only invited his former colleagues to a one-off jam session in a rehearsal studio, after having been inspired by his short stint with Thin Lizzy in 2010-11.

“That really helped me connect with guitar playing again,” he says. “To play those Lizzy songs from my youth really connected the dots for me.

“So I called Vinnie, Jimmy and Claude and we went into a studio. We’d only booked a room for a few hours, and about half-way through Vinnie said, ‘I know this guy.’ Andy walked in, and right away it just sounded amazing.”

Last In Line – named after Dio’s second album – play their first-ever shows next month:

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

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