Marshall Of Rock

Record Store Day is coming up again on April 21, and it's going to be rocking as always! Niji Entertainment Group, the record label Wendy Dio and her late husband Ronnie James Dio (Dio, Black Sabbath, Heaven & Hell, Rainbow, Elf) formed before his passing, will release a deluxe picture disc of Rainbow's "Long Live Rock 'N' Roll". Each picture disc is numbered and only 2,500 were made. 250 units will be held back for fans that live outside the USA and will be made available via the Niji webstore.

Record Store Day is managed by the Music Monitor Network and is organized in partnership with the Alliance Of Independent Media Stores (AIMS), the Coalition Of Independent Music Stores (CIMS) and celebrates the culture of independent record stores by playing host to in-store events/performances, signings and special product releases on a global scale.

Bassist Bob Daisley, who was a member of Rainbow from 1977 to 1979, in August 2010 posted high-quality video footage of of Rainbow performing the songs "Gates of Babylon", "Long Live Rock 'N' Roll" and "L.A. Connection" at a New York studio prior to the release of the band's third studio album, 1978's "Long Live Rock 'N' Roll'. Check out these awesome clips!

Although Bob Daisley and David Stone are listed on the "Long Live Rock 'N' Roll" credits for their contributions, they joined Rainbow after the recording sessions had already commenced and only appear on a couple of tracks. Guitarist Ritchie Blackmore played most of the bass parts himself for the album.

"Long Live Rock 'N' Roll" was remastered on CD for the U.S. market in April 1999, with the European version following later. The U.S. version had a matte booklet/insert, which matched the original vinyl sleeve for all markets, whereas the European issue was the standard glossy type.

This was Rainbow's last album to feature Ronnie James Dio on vocals. He left, later to join Black Sabbath, and was replaced by Graham Bonnet.

In June 2009 a CD-size book about the making of album was released in the series "Rock Landmarks" called "Long Live Rock N' Roll Story". It was written by Rainbow and Blackmore expert Jerry Bloom.

Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, Bob Dylan, the Byrds, Janis Joplin, the Grateful Dead, the Beatles, John Lennon, Pete Townshend, Pink Floyd, the Yardbirds, Elf, Nirvana, Chris Cornell, Soundgarden, Dream Theater, the Black Keys, Kings Of Leon, Rainbow and the Red Hot Chili Peppers are among the other artists set to issue exclusive albums, vinyl LPs, seven-inch singles and other items on Nov. 25 exclusively through independent record stores. Check out some of the releases below and SUPPORT LOCAL RECORD STORES!

“Once again, we’d like to recommend that one of your [Black Friday] stops be your favorite local record store,” it states on the Record Store Day website. “And once again, we’re happy to announce that some really kind, cool, impressive artists want you to do the same thing — and they’ve created releases that are only available at those stores this season, to encourage you to head on in and visit.”

Here's a complete list of Record Store Day’s Black Friday exclusive releases here, or view them in a pull-down menu with album artwork here. Find a cool local record store near you here.  

Support your local record store, because we never want that since of community and excitement to ever go away, and besides, the people that work there truly care about music and can share that with their customers in a way the box stores will never ever be able to do. Here's some of the artwork from a few of the releases:

Hard to believe, but it's already been a year since the death of Ronnie James Dio, one of the greatest rock vocalists ever. Ronnie James Dio (Ronald James Padavona) was born in New Hampshire on July 10, 1942.

He moved to Cortland, New York as a youngster, where he began playing with local acts. A street in Cortland, Dio Way, was named after him in 1988. He released his first single, with a band called Ronnie And The Redcaps, way back in 1959.

His first heavy rock act, Elf, released three albums and opened for Deep Purple, where Dio's magnificient voice and stage presence was noticed by guitarist Ritchie Blackmore. Blackmore eventully recruited Dio for his own band, Rainbow, after leaving Purple in 1975. Dio recorded three studio albums and one live album with Rainbow before exiting in 1978, including "Rising" and "Long Live Rock And Roll".

He then replaced Ozzy Osbourne in Black Sabbath in 1980, and recorded the "Heaven And Hell" and "Mob Rules" albums, plus "Live Evil". He left Sabbath in 1982, but rejoined the group 10 years later for an album called "Dehumanizer", and again teamed with the group under the Heaven & Hell banner in 2006. Heaven & Hell released an album called "The Devil You Know" in 2009. He also recorded 10 studio albums with his own band, Dio, including the classic 1983 debut, "Holy Diver", and an equally renowned follow-up, 1984's "The Last In Line". Dio was also behind the Hear N' Aid project, a collection of metal artists who recorded the track "Stars" in 1985 to raise funds for African famine relief.

Here's an Artisan News Service report in which best friend and bandmate Geezer Butler (Black Sabbath, Heaven & Hell), Ronnie's cousin David "Rock" Feinstein (both played in ELF) and wife/manager Wendy remember Ronnie.

Heaven & Hell from Germany in 2009


The greatness of the Dio band

You will never be forgotten R.I.P. Ronnie James Dio!

The Heaven & Hell "Live From Radio City Music Hall Live!" will be released on Blu-ray tomorrow (May 17). It was the bands first U.S. show together in 15 years, and spawned a tour, the studio album and plans for world domination but for the untimely death of Dio.

Rudy Sarzo (bass), Simon Wright (drums), Craig Goldy (guitar) and Scott Warren (keyboards), all ex-Dio members will join forces with singers Tim "Ripper" Owens (Yngwie Malmsteen, Beyond Fear, Judas Priest, Iced Earth) and Toby Jepson (Little Angels, Gun) to play a number of shows in Europe under the name Dio Disciples.

Ronnie's widow Wendy Dio recently have this to say about the Dio tribute band "There will never be another Ronnie, but we want to keep his music alive and hope you will support the band and become one of the Dio Disciples. We will [announce] the U.K./European tour dates as they are confirmed, and we are planning some U.S. dates also. Hope to see you at one of the shows."

Wendy Dio also recently let it be known that Rob Halford (Judas Priest), Glenn Hughes (Deep Purple, Black Sabbath, Black Country Communion), Dave Grohl (Foo Fighters, Nirvana), Lemmy Kimister (Motorhead), Alice Cooper, Sebastian Bach (Skid Row) and Chris Jericho (Fozzy) are among the artists who will appear on a forthcoming tribute album to Ronnie. Grohl will do the Sabbath hit "Mob Rules" and Halford will take on "Long Live Rock 'N' Roll". Cooper already has a song in mind, going back to the Elf days, according to Wendy.

"Rainbow In The Dark: The Autobiography Of Ronnie James Dio", the revealing memoir of the heavy metal master, will be published in the spring of 2012 via MTV Books.

With nearly five decades of worldwide success and album sales in the tens of millions as the front man of Elf, Rainbow, Dio, Black Sabbath, and, most recently, Heaven & Hell, Ronnie James Dio grabbed the mic, took the stage, and led a movement whose influence resonates to this day. In "Rainbow In The Dark", Dio himself will introduce the reader to this incredible life and the over 50 photographs included will provide readers with an unprecedented all-access pass to the rock concert of a lifetime.

Wendy Dio revealed in a recent interview that Ronnie James Dio's memoir was three-quarters written before the singer's death and that she has until June 2011 to finish it so that it could be released the following spring.