In a brand new interview with Rob Cass of dopeYEAH speak, former DIO and present DEF LEPPARD guitarist Vivian Campbell mirrored on his friendship with THIN LIZZY legend Phil Lynott. He mentioned (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): “Effectively, clearly, we met him a bunch of instances. I by no means felt like I knew Phil as a result of, to me, like with the Ronnie [James] Dio factor, these folks had been icons to us. So I all the time sort of felt like they had been to date forward of the place we had been at that time in our lives. And that feeling carried by with me personally with my total profession with DIO. I all the time felt like a little bit of an imposter. This man, I used to be listening to him since I used to be — no matter — 11, 12, 13 years outdated, after which hastily you are in L.A. and also you’re in a band with him and also you’re sitting on the sofa with him and writing songs and stuff. And I sort of felt the identical manner with Phil Lynott. Plus, Phil was the most charismatic particular person. Nonetheless, to at the present time, I’ve by no means met any rock star or film star or any movie star who carries himself in the identical manner. When Phil walked into the room, it was like, ‘Oh my God.’ You did not even must know that he was the bass participant, singer, frontman of THIN LIZZY. I imply, the man simply had a lot presence and a lot charisma. And that was magnified 100 instances when he stepped on stage and fronted THIN LIZZY. He was such a star. So I all the time felt once I was round Phil, I used to be simply in awe. It was simply, like, ‘Oh my God. That is Phil Lynott.’ And to a lesser extent, I felt that manner with Ronnie. I would be on stage with Ronnie, and I knew that I used to be his musical associate; I used to be his guitar man. And he was very pleased with me.”
Vivian continued: “Ronnie was a really sophisticated particular person. Folks all the time say, ‘What was Ronnie Dio like?’ You may’t actually encapsulate what a human being is like in a few sentences. However there have been instances when Ronnie and I actually acquired alongside nice. And there have been, sadly, many instances once we had been simply butting heads. However I knew that he was very pleased with me. And I bear in mind one European tour, we had been on a ferry someplace, clearly in Scandinavia, going someplace from someplace, and we had been simply each standing out on the deck, wind within the hair, watching the water. And he mentioned to me, he mentioned, ‘I met Ozzy Osbourne a number of weeks in the past. I used to be speaking to Ozzy and I mentioned you had been my Randy Rhoads.’ ‘Trigger he mentioned Ozzy was going, ‘Oh, that guitar participant man you bought.’ [Dio] mentioned [to Ozzy], ‘Yeah, that is, to me, what Randy was to you, somebody I might actually work with.’ And I simply bear in mind pondering, ‘Wow.’ I simply felt, at that second, like, ‘Okay, I can work with this man.’ I felt like I belonged there. However then the following day I am nonetheless pondering, ‘Oh my God. I am in a band with Ronnie Dio. Holy shit.’ So I by no means actually might let go of that.”
Elaborating on the complexities of his relationship with Dio, Campbell mentioned: “There was a generational factor. I imply, he was a lot older than me, and I used to be so younger at the moment. And simply being in L.A., the entire tradition shock of that coming from northern Eire. And it was fascinating. Nevertheless it was a tough relationship I had with Ronnie due to his temperament, which ran actually scorching or actually chilly, and due to my uncertainty about my place and my place there. These two components made it tough for us to speak. And I’ve mentioned this many instances earlier than, it was sort of like being in a band together with your stepfather, as a result of there’s this bizarre dynamic, culturally and generationally. Besides your stepfather occurred to be Ronnie Dio. However he did have that type of a paternal affection for me. I might inform he was very pleased with me. He used to take me to the Rainbow Bar & Grill in L.A. and Hollywood and go there on a Friday or a Saturday evening, and Ronnie would have the large desk and the entire entourage can be there. And I might inform that he was very proud, like, ‘That is my man, my guitar participant. I discovered him below a rock in Belfast.’ [Laughs]”
Vivian went on to say that he held a grudge towards Ronnie for a very long time after he exited DIO. “I used to be fired from the band,” Campbell defined. “And for no matter cause, Ronnie went on within the press within the years after that and made {that a} robust level, like, ‘Viv left the band,’ is what he all the time mentioned. And I bear in mind studying these items, and that is earlier than Web and social media. You wanted to have a publicist to have a public discussion board, and I could not afford a publicist. However I bear in mind studying this and pondering, ‘Why did he say that I left the band?’ I by no means left the band. I used to be fired. I by no means needed to depart that band. I actually give one hundred percent to that band. So the entire thing was very, very painful to me. And so I simply shut it out. I needed nothing to do with it. I used to be additionally at a degree in my profession the place musically I felt like I used to be opening up doorways to different facets of my music or my inventive aspect. I actually needed to sing. So this was in my early twenties. I feel I used to be 23, possibly 24 once I was fired from the band. And simply to again up just a little bit, I bear in mind saying to Ronnie… A few issues I mentioned to Ronnie, very first thing I mentioned was, ‘ what? You remind me of Tom Jones,’ as a result of he had that energy, that tonality. I did not imply it as an insult, however I do not suppose he took it effectively… And the look on his face, and I assumed, ‘Ooh, possibly I should not have mentioned that.’ However the different factor I mentioned was, ‘Can I sing backup?’ And his response was this. He mentioned, ‘No.’ He mentioned, ‘Ritchie Blackmore did not sing. Tony Iommi did not sing. You are not singing. Guitar gamers do not sing.’ And I went, ‘Okay. I am not gonna ask that once more now.’ After which I began pondering, ‘Effectively, Rory Gallagher was a singer. Jimi Hendrix was a singer.’ I am pondering of all these guitar gamers who sing. However I did not say that to him.”
Three years in the past, Vivian was requested in an interview with Greg Prato of VintageRock.com if he thought there was ever any chance of him and Ronnie getting again collectively or speaking after he left DIO. He responded: “I would prefer to make clear — I used to be fired from DIO. I didn’t depart DIO. And that is a little bit of an city delusion, as a result of all these many years after, lots of people are below that false impression pondering that I left the band. I by no means needed to depart DIO. I used to be fired in the course of a tour. However I used to be a squeaky wheel. I used to be the one who was attempting to get Ronnie to uphold his guarantees and be true to his phrases, and it did not work out. So, I do not suppose there was ever any likelihood that we had been gonna work collectively once more.
“Ronnie‘s spouse, Wendy, proper up till the day he died, she was his supervisor — and he or she by no means noticed me as being of any worth to Ronnie. She all the time thought I used to be only a guitar participant and I used to be simply replaceable. I feel Ronnie knew just a little higher. So, I feel if Ronnie and I had met one another with out Wendy, and we might gone to the pub and we might had a pint of beer and talked by our variations, yeah, I feel we might have labored collectively once more and it might have been nice. However so long as Wendy was controlling his profession, that was by no means going to occur.”
Requested if he regretted by no means getting the chance to make amends with Ronnie earlier than his passing, Vivian mentioned on the time: “Yeah. Y’know, we each mentioned ugly issues about one another within the media — which isn’t a good suggestion. However you get goaded into these items. And everybody makes these errors. That was unlucky. However Ronnie was an advanced man — like everybody. When folks ask me, ‘What’s so-and-so like?’, it is exhausting to summarize the human expertise in a few sentences. I imply, we’re all sophisticated beings — we have now good days and we have now dangerous days. We have now good attributes from our personalities and we have now unfavourable ones. And Ronnie was sophisticated. We had days when he and I acquired alongside rather well, and there have been days the place I assumed he was a complete asshole…and I am certain he thought precisely the identical about me. However the one factor that we did good collectively was we might make music collectively. I all the time discovered it a really strained relationship due to…and I’ll personal a lot of the duty for that, as a result of I used to be very bashful round Ronnie. As a result of I used to be 20 years outdated and I would been listening to Ronnie in RAINBOW and [BLACK] SABBATH for years earlier than I ended up being in a band with them, and discovering myself within the studio in L.A., and simply on this complete surreal, very completely different atmosphere that I would identified earlier than. And being in a band with this man whose albums I would been listening to since I used to be about 13 years outdated. So, I simply had this unusual type of deference in the direction of him — the place he was a rock star, for my part. Plus, he was a lot older than me. You nearly needed to name him ‘Mr. Dio.’ I did not, however I sort of felt prefer it. Like, I most likely needs to be extra respectful in that regard. So, it was just a little bit unusual to have that type of relationship. I by no means felt fairly snug round him. The one time I did was once we had been enjoying music.”
In a Might 2011 interview with Brazil’s Roadie Crew journal, Wendy said concerning the controversy surrounding Ronnie‘s relationship with Campbell (in 2003, Vivian referred to as Ronnie “an terrible businessman and, far more importantly, one of many vilest folks within the trade.”): “[Vivian] all the time mentioned that he hated all of the albums that he performed on with Ronnie, and that was very hurtful to Ronnie. Very hurtful. Would you want somebody who mentioned one thing like that about your albums? He mentioned loads of issues within the press that I do not wanna get into, as a result of it actually wasn’t Ronnie‘s feud in any respect. Ronnie did not hearth him. I fired [Vivian]. He needed as a lot cash as Ronnie needed. He thought he was as vital as Ronnie was, and that was simply incorrect. However I do not wanna get into that. It is water below the bridge. It would not matter.”
A video clip of Ronnie James Dio calling Campbell “a fucking asshole” and saying that “I hope he fucking dies” in reference to his former bandmate was posted on YouTube in October 2007. The 2-minute clip was shot on March 30, 2007 whereas Ronnie was signing autographs for followers after HEAVEN & HELL‘s present on the Radio Metropolis Music Corridor in New York Metropolis. “He is a bit of shit,” Dio mentioned. “You ever heard the issues he ever mentioned about me? He referred to as me essentially the most despicable human being that ever lived. I went, ‘I assumed I gave you an opportunity and made you any individual. And now you are enjoying with who? DEF fucking who?’ There is a fucking rock band so that you can fucking have diarrhea with.”
Campbell and fellow unique DIO members Vinny Appice (drums) and Jimmy Bain (bass) reunited in 2012 alongside singer Andrew Freeman to type LAST IN LINE. The band’s preliminary intent was to rejoice Ronnie James Dio‘s early work by reuniting the members of the unique DIO lineup. After enjoying reveals that featured a setlist composed completely of fabric from the primary three DIO albums, the band determined to maneuver ahead and create new music in the same vein.
