Post by Shawn on Aug 8, 2013 9:40:41 GMT -8
Campbell: Original Dio would have toured again
Posted 8th Aug 2013
""Between Ronnie and I, it could have happened. It’s sad that never had that chance," says guitarist Vivian Campbell
For Def Leppard guitarist Vivian Campbell, 2013 has been a tough year, but it’s getting better.
In March, Campbell was diagnosed with the cancer Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, and has since undergone a course of chemotherapy. Yet he was still able to perform with Leppard in April during a month-long residency in Las Vegas. And this week, Campbell goes back to his roots, playing four UK club shows with Last In Line, the band in which he is reunited with three fellow ex-Dio members, bassist Jimmy Bain, drummer Vinny Appice and keyboard player Claude Schnell, plus former Lynch Mob singer Andy Freeman.
Two years after the death of their former bandmate and leader Ronnie James Dio, Last In Line will be performing songs from the first three Dio albums released in the early 80s. “It’s a great thrill to play these songs again,” Campbell says.
Firstly, Viv, how are you feeling right now?
All indications are that the chemo is doing the work that it’s supposed to. I certainly feel like it is. So I’m very hopeful of a 100 per cent recovery. I’ll have to remain vigilant for the rest of my life, but I’m very confident that with this cancer, I’m going to kick its bum. And it’s important not to let it overwhelm the rest of your life.
How did you cope with doing the Leppard shows in Vegas right after your chemo began?
Leppard started rehearsals in LA on March 11, and I went under the knife for a surgical biopsy. Needless to say, I didn’t make it to rehearsals that day. But they’d caught the cancer in the early stages, which is good. So my oncologist was comfortable putting my chemo back a month so I could do the shows in Vegas. It was bizarre to be out there on stage. I was a little preoccupied. And I was totally knackered. But I had to do it. The guys in the band said, ‘If you don’t want to do it, that’s fine. We’ll get a ringer in.’ But I said, ‘*Edited by Admin* that !’ I didn’t want someone else out on stage doing my parts.
Why did you decide to go public about your illness?
Well, I told my family and I told the guys in the band. Other than that I didn’t want it to be common knowledge, for obvious reasons. But then the chemo started and my hair was falling out in *Edited by Admin* handfuls. So I had a choice: go public with this or wear a wig…
Did you try the wig option?
Oh yeah. I had a custom-made syrup made by this theatrical wig maker in LA. It looked exactly like my hair. So I could have gotten away with it. But when I tried it on it just felt so *Edited by Admin* weird. I wore it for 15 minutes and haven’t worn it since. I just thought: where do you draw the line? Do you wear it 24/7, or do you just wear it on stage… you know, like Steel Panther?
On a different subject, what prompted you to revisit your past with Last In Line?
As sweet as it is to be in Def Leppard, the challenge in that band for me is in the vocals, not the guitar parts. So to go back to this is really challenging as a guitar player. And playing with the Dio guys again, it sounds like we never split up.
Does your singer Andy Freeman sound like Ronnie James Dio?
He doesn’t sound like Ronnie but he has a similar kind of power and range, and that passion in the voice.
There is, of course, another band out there playing those old Dio songs: Dio Disciples, featuring former Dio members Craig Goldy, Simon Wright and Scott Warren…
The original band had a real chemistry and a real magic, and that’s what made those original records so good. Dio Disciples are like a bar band by comparison.
There has also been criticism of Last In Line from some Dio fans.
Yeah, all these idiots on the internet saying that Campbell’s only in it for the money. Let’s get this straight: it’s costing me a fortune to fly seven guys from LA to the UK for four club shows. There’s no money in this. It’s a labour of love. I’m fortunate that I’ve made a good living with Def Leppard. I’m doing Last In Line because it’s fun and this is my heritage. These are my songs as much as they are Ronnie’s songs.
But it’s well known that there was animosity between you and Ronnie.
He said about me and I said about him. It is what it is. But he’s the one who fired me, and yet he went on to portray it as if I left the band.
Why did he fire you?
When we started the band, Ronnie said to all of us: "We’ll call the band Dio for my name recognition, but if this goes well, by the third album we’re going to have an equity situation." But we worked for peanuts. We wrote that music, we put our blood, sweat and tears into those albums, and we got royally *Edited by Admin*. What got me fired was I just called the guy on his word.
Before Ronnie died, did you make your peace with him?
No. I never saw him again after he fired me. But that was Ronnie. He was a difficult man to work with, and I’m not the only one who ever thought so.
But if Ronnie had lived, could you have put your differences aside? Could the original Dio line-up have toured again one last time?
Absolutely. I do think that would have happened, actually. I think between Ronnie and I, it could have happened. It’s sad that never had that chance.
Interview: Paul Elliott
Last In Line UK tour
Aug 8: Belfast Limelight
Aug 9: Glasgow Cathouse
Aug 10: Bloodstock festival
Aug 11: London Islington Academy"
plus Japan in October
www.classicrockmagazine.com/features/campbell-original-dio-would-have-toured-again/
Posted 8th Aug 2013
""Between Ronnie and I, it could have happened. It’s sad that never had that chance," says guitarist Vivian Campbell
For Def Leppard guitarist Vivian Campbell, 2013 has been a tough year, but it’s getting better.
In March, Campbell was diagnosed with the cancer Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, and has since undergone a course of chemotherapy. Yet he was still able to perform with Leppard in April during a month-long residency in Las Vegas. And this week, Campbell goes back to his roots, playing four UK club shows with Last In Line, the band in which he is reunited with three fellow ex-Dio members, bassist Jimmy Bain, drummer Vinny Appice and keyboard player Claude Schnell, plus former Lynch Mob singer Andy Freeman.
Two years after the death of their former bandmate and leader Ronnie James Dio, Last In Line will be performing songs from the first three Dio albums released in the early 80s. “It’s a great thrill to play these songs again,” Campbell says.
Firstly, Viv, how are you feeling right now?
All indications are that the chemo is doing the work that it’s supposed to. I certainly feel like it is. So I’m very hopeful of a 100 per cent recovery. I’ll have to remain vigilant for the rest of my life, but I’m very confident that with this cancer, I’m going to kick its bum. And it’s important not to let it overwhelm the rest of your life.
How did you cope with doing the Leppard shows in Vegas right after your chemo began?
Leppard started rehearsals in LA on March 11, and I went under the knife for a surgical biopsy. Needless to say, I didn’t make it to rehearsals that day. But they’d caught the cancer in the early stages, which is good. So my oncologist was comfortable putting my chemo back a month so I could do the shows in Vegas. It was bizarre to be out there on stage. I was a little preoccupied. And I was totally knackered. But I had to do it. The guys in the band said, ‘If you don’t want to do it, that’s fine. We’ll get a ringer in.’ But I said, ‘*Edited by Admin* that !’ I didn’t want someone else out on stage doing my parts.
Why did you decide to go public about your illness?
Well, I told my family and I told the guys in the band. Other than that I didn’t want it to be common knowledge, for obvious reasons. But then the chemo started and my hair was falling out in *Edited by Admin* handfuls. So I had a choice: go public with this or wear a wig…
Did you try the wig option?
Oh yeah. I had a custom-made syrup made by this theatrical wig maker in LA. It looked exactly like my hair. So I could have gotten away with it. But when I tried it on it just felt so *Edited by Admin* weird. I wore it for 15 minutes and haven’t worn it since. I just thought: where do you draw the line? Do you wear it 24/7, or do you just wear it on stage… you know, like Steel Panther?
On a different subject, what prompted you to revisit your past with Last In Line?
As sweet as it is to be in Def Leppard, the challenge in that band for me is in the vocals, not the guitar parts. So to go back to this is really challenging as a guitar player. And playing with the Dio guys again, it sounds like we never split up.
Does your singer Andy Freeman sound like Ronnie James Dio?
He doesn’t sound like Ronnie but he has a similar kind of power and range, and that passion in the voice.
There is, of course, another band out there playing those old Dio songs: Dio Disciples, featuring former Dio members Craig Goldy, Simon Wright and Scott Warren…
The original band had a real chemistry and a real magic, and that’s what made those original records so good. Dio Disciples are like a bar band by comparison.
There has also been criticism of Last In Line from some Dio fans.
Yeah, all these idiots on the internet saying that Campbell’s only in it for the money. Let’s get this straight: it’s costing me a fortune to fly seven guys from LA to the UK for four club shows. There’s no money in this. It’s a labour of love. I’m fortunate that I’ve made a good living with Def Leppard. I’m doing Last In Line because it’s fun and this is my heritage. These are my songs as much as they are Ronnie’s songs.
But it’s well known that there was animosity between you and Ronnie.
He said about me and I said about him. It is what it is. But he’s the one who fired me, and yet he went on to portray it as if I left the band.
Why did he fire you?
When we started the band, Ronnie said to all of us: "We’ll call the band Dio for my name recognition, but if this goes well, by the third album we’re going to have an equity situation." But we worked for peanuts. We wrote that music, we put our blood, sweat and tears into those albums, and we got royally *Edited by Admin*. What got me fired was I just called the guy on his word.
Before Ronnie died, did you make your peace with him?
No. I never saw him again after he fired me. But that was Ronnie. He was a difficult man to work with, and I’m not the only one who ever thought so.
But if Ronnie had lived, could you have put your differences aside? Could the original Dio line-up have toured again one last time?
Absolutely. I do think that would have happened, actually. I think between Ronnie and I, it could have happened. It’s sad that never had that chance.
Interview: Paul Elliott
Last In Line UK tour
Aug 8: Belfast Limelight
Aug 9: Glasgow Cathouse
Aug 10: Bloodstock festival
Aug 11: London Islington Academy"
plus Japan in October
www.classicrockmagazine.com/features/campbell-original-dio-would-have-toured-again/
