The early-'70s rock outfit
Elf is best-known as the group that gave singer
Ronnie James Dio his start and he would eventually set his sights on a tougher, metallic sound, fronting the likes of
Rainbow,
Black Sabbath, and his own solo band,
Dio. The group went through several name changes in the late '60s (the Electric Elves, the Elves), before settling simply on
Elf and issuing a self-titled debut recording for Epic in 1972, produced by
Deep Purple bassist
Roger Glover. The group's best-known lineup consisted of
Dio (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
Roger Glover's 1974 album
The Butterfly Ball and the Grasshopper's Feast. Through their affiliation with
Glover,
Elf was brought to the attention of former
Purple leader/guitarist
Ritchie Blackmore, who invited the entire group (sans their guitarist) to join forces as the prog metal outfit
Rainbow, resulting in the release of a self-titled effort in 1975. Slowly but surely, however,
Rainbow turned out to be nothing more than a solo vehicle for
Blackmore rather than a true band and the former
Elf members left the group one by one before
Dio was the last one remaining until eventually leaving the group himself in 1978. ~ Greg Prato