Elf

Long before Dio, before Black Sabbath, even before Rainbow, a man named Ronald Padovana (aka Ronnie James Dio) got his start in an upstate NY psychedelic rock band named The Electric Elves, who later became a psychedelic cover band called The Elves, who later became a boogie-woogie blues band called Elf. Actually, Dio's career started long before that, but Elf was the first band that anyone should have reasonable expectation to know about.

"The Elves: Live at the Beacon" (CDR bootleg, mp3 source; c.1971)

  1. "The Scramblers" (4:10)
  2. "Driftin'" (8:15)
  3. "Aqualung" (6:38)
  4. "36 Year Old Lady" (7:12)
  5. "Mountain Venus" (4:04)
  6. "Simple Sister" (5:33)
  7. "The Rape of Andre Lucia" (18:20)
    bonus tracks:
  8. "Hoochie Koochie Lady"--Elf, live (4:50)
  9. "Rocking Chair Rock'n'Roll Blues"--Elf, live (6:49)
  10. "The Budweiser Song"--Dio (0:58)

Now here's a true piece of history -- a live show recorded in 1971, which I downloaded from the Dio: Early Years website. The sound quality is rather outstanding, for what is essentially a 30-year-old soundboard bootleg! The tapes must have been stored in a temperature-controlled vault, or something. Ok, I'm not sure if any of these songs are originals, since The Elves were basically a cover band at this point -- "Aqualung" is clearly the Jethro Tull song (and I'll forgive Ronnie for forgetting the words), and "Simple Sister" is by Procol Harum, but as for the rest, I have no fucking clue.

I added a few bonus tracks, the first two being from their first 7" single under the "Elf" name, and the last one being...well, a Budweiser radio commercial, sung to the tune of "Rainbow in the Dark". I shit you not. (I can even remember when that commercial was on heavy rotation!!)

"Ronnie James Dio: The Elf Albums"

    "Carolina Country Ball":
  1. "Carolina Country Ball" (4:46)
  2. "L.A. 59" (4:21)
  3. "Ain't It All Amusing" (5:01)
  4. "Happy" (5:28)
  5. "Annie New Orleans" (3:01)
  6. "Rocking Chair Rock'n'Roll Blues" (5:36)
  7. "Rainbow" (4:00)
  8. "Do the Same Thing" (3:10)
  9. "Blanche" (2:31)
    "Trying to Burn the Sun":
  10. "Black Swampy Water" (3:43)
  11. "Prentice Wood" (4:37)
  12. "When She Smiles" (4:54)
  13. "Good Time Music" (4:30)
  14. "Liberty Road" (3:22)
  15. "Shotgun Boogie" (3:07)
  16. "Wonderworld" (5:03)
  17. "Streetwalker" (7:07)

The second & third Elf albums released on a single disc from "The Connoisseur Collection". By the way, neither Dio nor the rest of the band got paid for this CD release, so don't feel guilty if you want to download the songs from KaZaa or something. (This disc is out of print and pretty damn hard to find as it is.) Ok, I'm tired of referring to Elf's music as "good time boogie woogie blues", so just assume that I've already said it. Still, it's pretty weird to hear Ronnie James Dio singing songs like, "Black swampy water, that's where I caught her"! (Unless you've heard Ronnie & the Prophets, in which case NOTHING will ever shock you again!) One of the trippiest songs here is "Wonderworld", a piano-driven ballad with lyrics very, very similar to the theme Dio would run into the ground for the rest of his career:

Touch me, I feel
Take me, I'm real
Sail away into the sun
I'm everyone
Wake me, I dream
I'm not, I seem
Drift away into the night
I'm the light

I am the sky, help you to fly
Catch a wing, this love I bring
I'm everything
I am the sea, always to be
Drift away, into the night
I am the light

I'm a fire, burning higher
Trying to burn the sun
But don't you know the rules just won't apply?

Pretty kewl, huh? Well, at least I thought so...

Previous Band Back to Index Next Band