0 posts 5/22/2010 11:27 pm
Last Read:
5/23/2010 12:25 pm
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The Elf Himself
I was born on a Friday the 13th. Being born on such foreboding day turned out to work out quite well for me. Thirteen is my lucky number and I never have to share the prize with anyone else. Friday the 13th is a particularly lucky day for me for all lines of force have reversed their alignment for me and I walk a strangely blessed and cursed life.
The first time I saw him was on a Wednesday the thirteenth in November, my birthday to be exact. I wrote about the show before because it was one of the best I ever attended, and I have seen a few shows let me tell you. I wrote about this show in The devil with a blue fiddle so you can read about it there.
The second time I saw him was at the Berkeley Community Theater where I met Jeff Flake (Celeste), you can read about that little part of my life in Over the Rainbow. Jeff and I ended up doing the Haight Ashbury scene when I be no bigger than a Tit Willow. Ronnie wore a white suit for that show and it was played very straight with no improvisation. Really the show wasn't much were it not for the fact that it was his first appearance in the Bay Area after teaming up with Ritchie Blackmore to form Rainbow. For those of you who don't know about Rainbow it was a neo classical spin off band from Deep Purple. The music appealed to me because I have a classical music background, at least as far as playing in a high school band will educate you about classical music. At least I could recognize the melodies they were plagiarizing.
I went on the see Ronnie many more times from his days with Sabbath and his own Band. I would see him in diverse locations from the San Jose Civic to the Winterland Arena. I can remember once getting backstage passes to a show he did at the Cow Palace on New Years and although I didn't get the chance to meet him among all the fans, he was gracious enough to go out and meet a score or so of fans, shake some hands and press some flesh. You could tell that Ronnie liked what he did and he was a real peoples man.
The last time I saw Ronnie was on November 13th at the Oakland Kaiser Auditorium and yes it was a Friday. The show that Black Sabbath put on that night was one of their best and Ronnie was in top form. It was actually an excellent show and Ronnie wailed like a Banshee in heat, that night was one of my lucky night. That wasn't the only way I got lucky that night.
The strange part is that the first and last time I saw him in 1974 and in 1992 were exactly 18 years to the date apart. Ronnie James Dio died at 7:45 am on Sunday May 16, 2010 at the age of 67. Ronnie was a performer and an artist that made our world richer and fuller and now the world seems just a little smaller and a little darker without him. I will miss Ronald James Padavona Born July 10th, 1942-Died May 16th 2010
Pictured 2nd from right with his original band ELF in happier days. |
I Swami Johnny see's all, knows all, tells very little.
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1502 posts 5/23/2010 6:15 am |
Heya John,
good to hear from a friendly voice! A sad day indeed. I attended the Black Sabbath concert here in South Africa at Sun City in 1987. Being a youngster, it took almost my entire life's saving and meticulous planning to pull it off.
1 - I got myself expelled from school about 2 months before the concert to let my hair grow a little. Even before that, I resisted all attempts at a hair-cut.
2 - I bought a bus ticket "for my dad"
3 - I arranged to "sleep over at a friend"
4 - I bought mascara "for my mom"
I bought a ticket at the gate for about R20, which was about all I had left in the world. The mascara was adorning the bum fluff on my face, which made me look well into my twenties. I fell in with a group of hot chicks and also lost my virginity many hours later.
I had the time of my life. I shall never forget... well, except the chemically induced hazy bits are a bit vague.
Live, laugh, love and lead by example. - A Quiet Couch and Private Messages
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