HEY,
SHE GO BIG TIME
ALWAYS GOT HER HAND
IN THE PIE
SHE DRINKS GOOD WINE
NEVER HAD A REASON TO CRY
Elf
was an
American
Rock band
founded in 1967
by singer
and bassist
keyboardist
Doug Thaler,
drummer
Gary Driscoll,
and guitarists
Nick Pantas
and
David Feinstein
(Dio's cousin).
The band was
originally called
The Electric Elves,
but was shortened
to
The Elves
in 1968
and finally
Elf
in 1972.
Elf disbanded
in 1975
after recording
three albums
and after most
of the lineup
had been absorbed
into the newly
formed
Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow.
History
The band was
formed in 1967
when the
members of
Ronnie Dio
and the Prophets
transformed themselves
into
the Electric Elves
and added a
keyboard player,
Doug Thaler.
In February 1968,
the band was
involved in an
automobile accident
which claimed
the life of
Nick Pantas.
The accident forced
a shuffling of
the band member roles
as original keyboardis
t Thaler moved
to guitar
(after recovering from his injuries)
and the group
hired
Mickey Lee Soule
to take over
keyboard duties.
Upon leaving
the group in 1972,
Thaler moved to
New York
and got a job
as a
booking agent
Elf was one of
the bands he booked.
Elf's
self-titled
debut album
was produced by
Deep Purple members
Roger Glover
and
Ian Paice,
who happened to see
Elf auditioning
in 1972.
For the next few years,
the band enjoyed
mild success
as an
opening act for
Deep Purple.
Dio both sang
and played
the bass guitar until,
following the release
of Elf's
first album,
Craig Gruber
was asked to join
as bass guitarist.
In August 1973
Feinstein
quit the band
and was replaced by
Steve Edwards.
In 1974,
Elf released its
second album,
Carolina County Ball.
That same year
Dio was asked
by Glover
to sing on
his solo album,
The Butterfly Ball
and the
Grasshopper's Feast.
Dio's voice
gained the attention
of Deep Purple
guitarist
Ritchie Blackmore,
who was beginning
to tire of
Deep Purple
and was looking for
musicians to record
a solo album.
Asides guitarist
Steve Edwards
and drummer
Mark Nauseef,
he decided in
early 1975
to use the musicians
in Elf
for this album,
and the band
Rainbow
was soon formed.
Though Elf
had been writing
and recording
its third album,
Trying to Burn the Sun
at the same time,
following the completion
of that album
and the
Rainbow album,
Elf was no more.
Trying to Burn the Sun
was eventually
released in the U.S.
in June 1975.
In 1980,
Feinstein formed
the heavy metal
power trio
The Rods.
Beginning in
the late 1980s,
some of the
former members of
Elf
speculated about
a potential reunion
of the band,
however
nothing formal
ever took place.
Three of the
band's members
have also died:
Driscoll
in 1987,
Dio in
2010,
and
Gruber
in 2015.
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