ELF – Carolina County Ball (1974 Line Records)
Before the Rainbow there was Elf. It was basically the same band – Ronnie James Dio on lead vocals, Mickey Lee Soule on keys, Gary Driscoll on drums, and Craig Gruber on bass. The one and only difference was Steve Edwards on guitar, who would have no place when Richie Blackmore came knocking a year later. Their second album, Carolina County Ball, was produced by Deep Purple’s Roger Glover. It’s fair to say that Dio hadn’t found his niche yet. With Mickey Lee Soule, Ronnie co-wrote every song, but was seeking a bouncier Guess Who direction at this point in time.
It sounds like Mardi Gras on the opening title track, with clarinets, trombones and trumpets accompanying the band on this “boogie-woogie Friday night”. Soule shines, ticking the keys with delicate intent. Heavy metal, this is not not! Not even close. There’s a guitar solo but it’s a secondary feature. Only at the end does the song pick up the pace. It’s actually a great tune, but anyone expecting dungeons and dragons had better head back to their gamesmaster for a new dice roll. Expect boogie.
“L.A. 59” opens like an old bar room, with a piano taking up all the space. The opening figure sounds like it’s emulating a train, which is probably a good guess. “Get me back to L.A., 59!” sings Ronnie, sounding a bit more like the mighty mite he would become. “Hello, hello sunshine!” Upbeat, with the guitar taking up more of the song this time. A great upbeat tune to start your day.
A little bit of a funky swing emerges on “Ain’t It All Amusing”, demonstrating the talents of the rhythm section in particular. Driscoll was no slouch and Gruber had no issue filling the bottom end with interesting vibes. This fun song really is about rhythm with a pinch of funk. It sounds a lot like Deep Purple Mk I, especially with the long percussion break that ends it.
“Happy”, which is ironically anything but, is a bit filler-ish. It’s Elf playing in a smokey nightclub and it’s all a bit repetitive. “Annie New Orleans” picks it up, with another Elf piano boogie-woogie. Whitesnake have also done songs of this nature in their early days. Then the awkwardly titled “Rocking Chair Rock ‘N’ Roll Blues”, which is a ballad more or less. It boasts a nice guitar solo and a laid back sound, but it’s going to have some reaching for the skip button. They shouldn’t, because three minutes in, a new riff arrives and transforms the song into another rockin’ boogie-woogie. Listen for some of Driscoll’s fun cowbell work on the back end too.
The one title that grabs everyone’s eye is “Rainbow”. Don’t get too excited. It doesn’t sound anything like Blackmore’s Rainbow; more like a a third rate tribute to The Band. The boogie-woogie is starting to wear a little thin, and same-samey now. “Do the Same Thing” is more like it. It sounds like a prototype to Rainbow’s “If You Don’t Like Rock ‘N’ Roll”. This allows the players to shine a bit more.
The album goes out on a cringey ballad called “Blanche”, with Dio singing about “Rainy days, rainy days” in a voice quite unlike the power he would later master. This is little more than a silly album outro; nothing to be taken seriously.
Every album and every band will have its defenders, but Elf was the least of Dio’s four main bands over the decades (counting Black Sabbath and Heaven and Hell as one band). Carolina County Ball lacks focus, and Glover doesn’t provide any punch in the stale production. The album rests on the songs and performances alone. Fortunately the band could play, though they seemed uncertain about who they wanted to be.
3/5 stars
mikeladano.com 
I’ve recently been tempted to pick some Elf albums up again and give them another go. Years ago I had a two-fer on (I think) Connoisseur but I just didn’t enjoy it that much. This album was on it but I can’t remember anything about it other than it didn’t do anything for me.
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Everybody says to me that it sounds like the Guess Who. That’s fine, I suppose…if you like the Guess Who.
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I don’t know any Guess Who so can’t confirm or deny
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I think you do know some Guess Who. They were better than Elf in the long run (though not today.)
Which two Whitesnake bassists had consecutive runs in the Guess Who? One is in the band today, and one is a legend.
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Having googled them, I suppose I know American Woman but only ambiently. Couldn’t sing it at a karaoke put it that way.
I can only assume the legend you speak of is Colin ‘Bomber’ Hodgkinson
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The legend I meant was Rudy Sarzo.
He was replaced by Whitesnake bassist Michael Devin.
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Rudy Sarzo always struck me more as a live musician… I don’t think I have all that many albums with him on them. And most of those are probably live albums. I’ve got Metal Health, Slip Of The Tongue… what else has he been on that I might have?
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That’s probably it unless you have more Quiet Riot! Other than that, live albums with Ozzy and Dio.
And a studio album with the Guess Who lol.
I found out today his full name is: Rodolfo Maximiliano Sarzo Lavieille Grande Ruiz Payret y Chaumont. WHEW. I love that. I’m going to start calling myself Maximiliano Ladano.
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WTF! He should add “Bomber” in there somewhere… would make it cooler.
Yeah that’s what I kinda thought. I never got into Quiet Riot so not much Sarzo in my collection.
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Adding “Bomber” to anything makes it cooler.
Aaron Bomber KMA. See?
You have the best Quiet Riot. Adding some Randy stuff is nice (the albums were reissued) but they are not great albums.
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I have never listened to Elf. There is that one album cover that is so ugly it is cool that I would love to get on vinyl just for the picture. Maybe some day. I’ll have to check them out.
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That’s the debut I believe. I have it around here somewhere. I’ll review it eventually and let you know.
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Very interesting choice for a review, Mike. Other than the three Elf tracks on the Rhino 2-disc set (“Stand Up and Shout”) I don’t think I’ve heard any Elf, although I read about them in my Purple and Sabbath biographies, of course. I should pull out that Dio set, I haven’t listened to it in a while since soon after I got it I bought all of Dio’s Sabbath albums individually (before that I was only aware of the Ozzy lineup). I also listened recently to your new edited version of the first Grab show (featuring Harrison with guest appearance by Meat) and that’s gotten me to thinking I should revisit Dio’s solo albums which I’m much less familiar with. Henry.
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Thanks for watching that one Henry! I’ll be doing another re-run next week on the 22nd, which is Jen’s birthday. I’ll be repeating the Arkells Appreciation with Aaron and Nurse Kat, which was a phenomenal show that didn’t get the views it deserved.
Funny thing, I HAVE that Rhino set, yet I can’t remember anything about it. Including the Elf tracks. I just checked and I didn’t even rip it to my PC. I better fix that.
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Henry, now you got me listening to Dio Dream Evil today!
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You’re not missing out on anything really earth shaking. It’s a nice look at early Dio, but that Stand Up And Shout comp that Henry mentioned is probably good enough.
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