Elf

The early-'70s rock outfit Elf is best-known as the group that gave singer <a href="spotify:artist:4M3c7tg4BzLQ5pIOupZL65">Ronnie James Dio</a> his start and he would eventually set his sights on a tougher, metallic sound, fronting the likes of <a href="spotify:artist:6SLAMfhOi7UJI0fMztaK0m">Rainbow</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:5M52tdBnJaKSvOpJGz8mfZ">Black Sabbath</a>, and his own solo band, <a href="spotify:artist:4CYeVo5iZbtYGBN4Isc3n6">Dio</a>. The group went through several name changes in the late '60s (the Electric Elves, <a href="spotify:artist:07aM9WDyMQT5VaCnmsxCI8">the Elves</a>), before settling simply on Elf and issuing a self-titled debut recording for Epic in 1972, produced by <a href="spotify:artist:568ZhdwyaiCyOGJRtNYhWf">Deep Purple</a> bassist <a href="spotify:artist:5NuneeBDaWZspG13LcsYuV">Roger Glover</a>. The group's best-known lineup consisted of <a href="spotify:artist:4CYeVo5iZbtYGBN4Isc3n6">Dio</a> (who was at this time going by his real name, Ronald Padavona, and also doubling on bass), guitarist David Feinstein, guitarist/keyboardist Micky Lee Soule, and drummer Gary Driscoll. The album went largely unnoticed, as did the group's subsequent two other releases, L.A./59 (issued under the title Carolina Country Ball outside of the U.S.) and Trying to Burn the Sun, as the group guested on <a href="spotify:artist:5NuneeBDaWZspG13LcsYuV">Roger Glover</a>'s 1974 album The Butterfly Ball and the Grasshopper's Feast. Through their affiliation with <a href="spotify:artist:5NuneeBDaWZspG13LcsYuV">Glover</a>, Elf was brought to the attention of former <a href="spotify:artist:568ZhdwyaiCyOGJRtNYhWf">Purple</a> leader/guitarist <a href="spotify:artist:3jhRxlzBA9m3NTxNNQ8GtK">Ritchie Blackmore</a>, who invited the entire group (sans their guitarist) to join forces as the prog metal outfit <a href="spotify:artist:6SLAMfhOi7UJI0fMztaK0m">Rainbow</a>, resulting in the release of a self-titled effort in 1975. Slowly but surely, however, <a href="spotify:artist:6SLAMfhOi7UJI0fMztaK0m">Rainbow</a> turned out to be nothing more than a solo vehicle for <a href="spotify:artist:3jhRxlzBA9m3NTxNNQ8GtK">Blackmore</a> rather than a true band and the former Elf members left the group one by one before <a href="spotify:artist:4CYeVo5iZbtYGBN4Isc3n6">Dio</a> was the last one remaining until eventually leaving the group himself in 1978. ~ Greg Prato, Rovi