We continue our look back at the music of 50 years ago……
If you weren’t repulsed by the LP cover of the debut album from Elf you would find a mostly straight forward blues-rock LP in the style of Faces.
What sets this album apart from a plethora of others is the voice of Ronnie James Dio who fronted this band under his real name (Ronald Padavona).
Dio, of course, would later front Rainbow, Black Sabbath and his own group Dio, and become one of the most iconic hard rock voices before dying in 2010 at the age of 67.
This LP is kind of interesting in the fact that the honly-tonk style of piano from Micky Lee Soule predominates on most cuts along with some stinging lead guitar from David Feinstein.
Dio’s voice isn’t where it would get to yet. “Gambler, Gambler” is getting there, but on some cuts he even sounds like early Rod Stewart, continuing the Faces analogy.
The one cut that really stands out is “Never More”. It shows where Dio would be headed. A really strong rock-metal track.
This LP wouldn’t be anything special of Dio wasn’t singing. It’s a postcard from the past, looking to the future.
