Back in 2005 I was working for DIO (the band) backstage at Merriweather Post Pavillion and was sent to pick up DIO bassist Jimmy Bain. On the short drive from the train station to the venue, Jimmy and I were talking about our favorite Ronnie songs and I mentioned his collaboration with Kerry Livgren. Jimmy said "I've worked with Ronnie for 20+ years and never heard of this" When we got back to the venue and I was showing Jimmy the dressing rooms, Ronnie was there and, to my surprise, Jimmy called to him "Ronnie, mate over here says you worked with Kerry Livgren, is he mistaken?" Ronnie pointed out he had indeed sung 2 songs for Kerry as we all know. I shrugged and said "Mask of the Great Deceiver" Ronnie patted me on the arm and said "Don't forget 'To Live For the King' "
That is incredible Jeff! Thank you so much for sharing your story because I enjoyed reading it. Tell me did Ronnie say anything else about the songs? Did he go into how he felt about spirituality? Did he go into how he felt about God?
Ronnie was in my opinion a great singer but he flirted with satan although he sang these great songs on the album....faith is not about a church or some kind of being good or human....it's all about Jesus Christ There is a great difference between humanismn and faith in Christ. If you believe in humanismn then you will tolerate a lot of things. God never tolerates our anarchy against his commandments. We all have that problem. I make it short. Christ died for your sins and mine not that we can play some kind of religious games, said Glenn Kaiser, pastor and bandleader of Resurrection Band, Chicago, I am a protestant pentacostle in Germany so I hope, my English is not too bad, blessings to you
@@horstdudszus7256What's the big difference between the two, really? I mean let's be honest, us human-is-m..? Well, most of us think "cheese & rice" is great, don't you? 🤔 Blah,ha,ha!!! 😂😜🤣 Seriously though the biggest difference between the 2 is the fact one side believes in the importance of souls here & now in the world they can actually see & talk to everyday. Whereas the other side believes in the cross they wear around their neck of a soul they have not met, not yet! Personally I believe if we all just "Do The Right Thing!" We'd all be cool & accepted by the higher power or wherever this long strange trip takes us next, ya dig? +Peace, Funk & Rock n' Roll 4 Your Soul My Friend+ ✌️😎 Keep on keeping on, it's all good so keep your head up.
This entire record is without question, the best I have ever heard. It's massive, emotional, mesmerizing and Something a lot of people won't understand, set apart for a holy purpose. Every tune is so special and we'll never ever here it's equal again. Thanks Kerry! You're amazing!
Absolutely! Incredible album. Totally overlooked, really. There is a vibe that is inexplicable with that record, still one of my go To's. All of Kerry's music as a believer in Jesus Christ is profound excellence. Good taste, Cary!
I agree - too bad his later albums were so infected with the 80s and a bit more religiosity. I've been working with Christ but can't stand religious music.
I've heard him to sing in an English cartoon in the eighties with a lot of joy and talent in his voice. He was a famous person at the time but that was the point when I got his fan. I think this man was a real rock singer writer. No question.
@@jonblackers4339 You are right it was in the seventies and was a John Halas cartoon (fellow Hungarian) I think that was the first time I heard his voice. Love at the first sight.
I was listening to Kansas songs and knowing that Kerry Livgren was a Christian way before he ever got converted. The Wall, Carry on My Wayward Son, Miracles out of nowhere" were songs that nurtured me and my clients when I became a psychotherapist in the 80's. He has been and always will be a man with a message of good news. Christ nurtured him through all the years of his searching, and He and Kerry gave us this treasure house of songs. A modern day prophet, disquised as a rock star. Awesome.
Ronnie grew up in Cortland, NY... always a decent person and not the "evil" that some believe. He merely pointed out the failings of humanity in any of his bands, especially in Black Sabbath and Dio.
For me Ronnie brought tremendous life to both songs. No one else for me could have sung these songs the way he did. For me being a Christian he was an incredibly talented singer.Loved his voice and what he brought to the table musically. RIP Ronnie.
I think the "controversy" (if there ever was one) was much more musical than it was spiritual. Kerry's lyrics have always been spiritually-minded, and back in 1980, the vast majority of Kansas fans had no idea of Kerry's Christian conversion (news like this didn't travel at the speed of light back in those pre-internet days.) I bought Seeds of Change in 81 or 82 and had no idea it was a "Christian" album (a term you notice Kerry avoids) - I just liked the music. But I remember thinking it was weird that RJD, who was already becoming known as Mr. Heavy Metal was on it -- Kansas had SOME hard rock moments in their music, but they were nowhere close to being a metal band. "The guy who wrote Dust In the Wind is collaborating with Dio?" was my reaction. But it was a great collaboration that worked out really well. Cheers to both of them for thinking outside the box and choosing to make some great music together!
You made some good points here, 'J4jc' to which I agree. I was so impressed with the music of Kansas, after a couple of years I started praying for them. Then, about a year later, I saw a newspaper article with the title, "Rock Musician becomes a Christian", so obviously I had to read it. Afterwards, I was so blessed to realize that Kerry and Dave were converted and that God had heard me and used my intercessory prayers for them. Then next, I witnessed the result of that in, not only the songs that followed, as you referred to in your post (i.e. "Relentless" and "Crossfire"), but also in their appearance and stage presence. For example, Kerry had a shorter haircut and was very calm and reserved on stage....I mean his whole demeanor was different!!! And now....about an hour ago, I heard Kerry state in another updated (RUclips video) interview that now Phil is a devoted Christian!! YES!! Thank God for the power of prayer!! Anyway....I could go on and on about this subject (really, I could), but that would probably take up more time than what most people could afford to spend reading RUclips posts :-) !! KANSAS ~ #1 BEST progressive rock band of all time (IMHO) !!!!!
Batphink Reynolds I don’t think Kerry Livgren was into black magic or the occult really at all as RJD said the interview here. In Kerry’s autobiographical book, (recently updated) “Seeds Of Change” he goes into his spiritual search and Christian conversion which included an number of eastern religions and philosophies but having read the book many times I never saw anything about stuff like that. What you said about Satan making people like musicians and actors rich can be true yet they commit suicide and many times are unfulfilled with all the fame and fortune. Plus, I don’t believe Alice Cooper is a hypocrite, I’ve seen many videos of his Christian testimony and he explains why he makes a living doing what he does.
DragoBalboa I also started to pray for Kerry in 1979, I believe the Lord led me to do that. Same here-I was overjoyed when I saw news that he (and eventually Dave Hope) had received Christ.
The Alabama Savant Praise God, Yes He is good! Great testimony and story! Had a chance to meet Kerry on the Vinyl Confessions tour in Bethlehem, Pa. Don’t know whether Dave was saved at that point. Told Kerry I had prayed for his salvation. Did you ever read Kerry’s autobiographical book “Seeds Of Change?”.
I think this shows that things arent always what they seem. I think I read somewhere that Johnny Cash did a song with the lead singer of Danzig. I won't comment on whether that was wrong or right, especially since Cash was a man of faith (he sang Gospel) and the lead singer of Danzig was into, well, darkness, etc. Still, it shows that life can be much more complex and that shades of gray happen more often than not.
While Black Sabbath certainly delved into dark spooky themes, I'll never forget how SHOCKED I was the first time I heard "After Forever" around 1975. It's essentially a Christian themed song from Sabbath's third album Master of Reality recorded 1971. The lyrics to that song are really amazing and fit right in with Kerry's album Seeds of Change. Bassist Geezer Butler wrote the lyrics as a way to express the band members' dislike of being labeled as satanists. When the first album was released much to the shock of the band, instead of the inside of the album jacket featuring a photo of the band it was an upside down cross. Their producer was trying to be edgy and get publicity but it backfired. Now everyone thought they were satanists when they were actually a bunch of blue collar, hard partying, LSD loving Brits who also loved horror movies, LOL. Geezer did dabble in the occult a bit until an incident happened around the time of the first album. Ozzy gave him a 500 yr old book of spells that he stuffed in a kitchen cupboard. That night Butler awoke to a demon at the end of his bed with red eyes. He was so freaked out that he ran into the kitchen to go burn the book but it was gone. By the time the second album was released various occult groups wouldn't leave them alone because they assumed the band were hard core occult practitioners which they were not. After being rebuffed by the band several times, one of those groups threated to put curses on them for being posers. This really freaked the band members out. Geezer's father was a machinist so he had him make beautiful, large finely machined polished crosses for them which you see them all wearing in the early days of Sabbath.
Believe it or not, Livgren's initial albums appealed to agnostics like myself even after his "conversation". Some of my friends back in college were born agains and we all shared an interest in bands like Kansas, Triumph, Rush, UFO, the Rez Band, etc, be they secular or not. What I appreciate about Livgren's approach is that he doesn't force it down your throat which some of the Christian rockers did back in the late 80's. It really wasn't a shock to see Dio on "Seeds of Change", because you had two great lyricists in their own right collaborating on two awesome songs. The rest of the album is awesome as well. I respect Livgren even though we don't agree on everything. His songs have influenced my own writing and I thank him for his "gift" for a lack of a better term.
I have read Kerry's autobiography, also entitled "Seeds of Change." While it is true that he was previously involved in a number of Eastern religions, he specifically stated that he had never been involved with witchcraft.
Thanks so much for this video. I bought "Seeds of Change" when it first came out and thought the Dio sung songs were by far the best songs on the album. Great to hear the stories behind the music!
At the same time, Kerry has always been the only "Christian rocker" I could ever accept and maybe that's partly because he himself is accepting and doesn't shove religion down people's throats. And honest with himself that RJD was the man for the job. Especially "To Live for the King" is totally a Dio tune!
It's all the same to me. Kerry's lyrics with Kansas always struck me as spiritual (as he says in the interview) and Ronnie's singing always seemed to me to have some kind of spirituality as well. He may not be a Christian, but he was a man with a big heart and (I believe) the right intentions.
When the album FIRST came out, I bought a copy as soon as I saw it because I was (and still am) a huge Livgren fan. Then, as I was enjoying the music (and the lyrics), I started studying what was printed on the album......THEN, as I read that R.J.D. was singing those two songs, I remembered thinking about what a 'contrast that was' for Kerry to have 'this' particular man singing on his record, as it's pointed out in the video. At the time, I did not realize that one day, all of these years later, I would be seeing played out (here) my very thoughts I had so long ago.
Just got the reissue of, Seeds of Change. Still sounds great to my ears. Love it when you mix, two unlikely talents together, and get an amazing result. Actually, the single most beautiful performance's, on this CD, are the tracks featuring Barriemore Barlow on drums, from a little known band, named. Jethro Tull.
Ronnie was a sweet, articulate, musician. It's called "performance art" for a reason. Some Christians don't realize it is a business. Let's not get "Kerried" away here. They both were respectful, I am sure, of one another's beliefs. Ronnie was not a Satanist.
I remember in the early 80's one of my friends telling me he heard Dio singing a Christian song & I couldn't believe it until I heard it. I was confused because this was around the Last in Line days & was a huge fan of Ronnie's since Rainbow & new exactly what he always sang about.. I was not Christian then but part of me still thought there is a little hope for Ronnie after all. I love Kansas now & always did love some of their stuff mainly from the 70's but didn't know it was Kerry's album that Dio was on.
Great pair of interviews that really shed a lot of light and provide a lot of insight into that amazing project. I'm no Christian, and neither was RJD but he was no Satanist; he was an atheist. However just as I do, RJD always had a very spiritual side to himself, and was a very enlightened person. Love this project, love Dio, and love Kerry Livgren as the great songwriter, guitarist and keyboardist he always was.
Great job on the vid. Loved through this also in multiple levels. As a musician guitarist and wanna be singer, I had already idolized Kerry via Kansas and RJD bcuz Black Sabbath. The second level was my older brothers conversion and subsequent obsession with Christian music and musicians. So when Kerry had his first album and RJD was singing it, my brother knew I’d love it and be more open to the genre which had a stigma early on and a history. These songs are epic on rock and in Christian rock. Two super talented people. I had seen Kansas live and Black Sabbath with Ozzie and later with DIO and finally RJD solo.
Regardless of Dio’s beliefs, God gave Ronnie an incredible gift for singing. Rest in peace, Ronnie. Kerry is a gifted musician as well. God bless them both.
Kansas music has ALWAYS had spiritual!! Alot of THERE songs well there lyrics have a god inspiration in it!! Kerry was A great song writer he and steve put out some great music!! A very underrated band!!
To me, I find it even more interesting that the album list Steve Walsh as a backup singer! For Steve to take on that role, after being Kansa lead singer for so long, shows real character! As far as anyone of us know, it's looks like Steve wasn't even going to demand that Kansas get back together! He just wanted to help a friend who gave him a chance.
The guy that did the first Interview is Eric Blair. If any of you have heard of Stryper and their story, he is their friend that walked into their rehearsal studio when they were Roxx Regime and told them to play for Jesus. Eric has interviewed a lot of great Artists on his Show, "Blairing Out" and is a good guy (I knew him breifly back in the 80's) Check him out.
Kerry, I hope you see this comment. I wanted to thank you not only for all of the great work with Kansas but for "Seeds of Change" (the book) which I found at a Christian book store in 1984. I soon found the LP and older Kansas records. I had just begun my journey learning about the Lord and your music was a great encouragement to me. "One of several possible musics" is a favorite as well as AD (I got into DA yrs later) I especially like how, in the book, you continued to search for truth until you were satisfied. I'm still searching, having found the Apostolic truth in 1986 but the devil has had 2,000 years to mess up the first century church and he certainly has. Most of the "churches" by me, I believe, are disqualified, imo, having made money and control gods. Woe unto them. But Jesus still saves folks when we enter in the right way. We must obey Acts 2:38. Thanks again.
Actually Black Sabbath had a lot of "Godly" themed Songs. Like After forever from Masters of Reality. Stryper covered that song on their "Fallen" album. War Pigs has a great message against evil.
yeah, this is what is so difficult about this epoch of music. There actually WERE satanic bands, especially in the eighties, some of them quite popular. But Black Sabbath, despite the horror trappings, really wasn't advocating a satanic message, in my view. Even the original song 'Black Sabbath' isn't exactly glorifying the Devil. There's still the question of whether it's wise for a Christian to listen to such music, especially on a regular basis. But it really isn't fair to refer to Black Sabbath as a 'satanic' band, especially when there are so many heavy metal bands that are actually satanic.
@@bornforburning777 The world has believers and mostly unbelievers. There is really no such as a Christian band, there is no thing as a Satanic band. The late Ken Hensley the creating force in Uriah Heep for years, composed some of the Godliest music on Heeps first seven studio albums. Look at Yourself was a masterpiece. Strange as the title of Demons and Wizards it's one of the Godliest albums of all time. A few so called "Christian bands" in the 1980's had some real bad doctrine lyrically. I even scan through church hym books to this day, that have doctrinal error. Blackie Lawless today is a fundamentalists Bible believer. In the early days of WASP they were definitely hedonistic and pornographic. His last two albums were Godly masterpieces. Babylon and Golgotha. Today in the economy of Grace we live in, Satan's greatest foot hold is religion. Keeping people in performance systems, to "earn" God's favor. It's alive and well.
@@bornforburning777 If listen to to first two Queen albums, many people thought they were a Christian band. You listen to the song "Jesus" from the first album, Old king rat, liar, Keep yourself Alive. Father to Son from the second album ect. Iron Maiden were accused of ridiculous things. Basically a history Rock band. Nicko Mcbrain is a believer. We need to be careful about putting people in a genre box. In simplicity your in Christ, or your in Adam. Alice Cooper did some great stuff in the mid 90's Last Temptation and Brutal Planet. Unfortunately he's been wishy-washy and frivolous ever since lyrically, most of the time.
@@stephensdygert7600 I agree with a lot of what you said. I do think that we do have to discern on a song-by-song basis what constitutes 'Christian' and what constitutes 'Satanic;' which is to say, we have to discern what glorifies Christ and what glorifies the Devil. One place this would be especially relevant would be when deciding what music we ought to play in a church service. Agree with everything you said about Cooper and especially Maiden; talking about the Devil certainly doesn't equate to worshiping him. Never listened to Queen. I do think that WASPS's early stuff is Satanic and I would no longer listen to it as a believer.
What a lot of people don't realize about Dio, is that he was a relatively old man playing a young man's game. He came to sing heavy metal music rather late in life. I recall that he started out in the late-50s doo-wop era. His peers were people like Dion and the Belmonts and Chubby Checker.
Jas Blench And He Put all those so callled Young Metal bands and singers to Fucking Shame! Cause nobody has ever done it better, Even up until 2010 with full blown Cancer Ronnie was on stage Kicking the Ass of every mother fucker who has ever thought they know anything about Heavy Metal Music! Hail The Metal King Ronnie james Dio R.i.p
Dio was 33 when he joined Rainbow, perhaps 7 or 8 years older than when Ian Gillian joined Purple at the age of 24, it aint that much of a difference, Then ofcource you got all this Rockers from the 80's that cant never hold a candle next to the late great Dio\m/
Yeah but he was close in age to who he played with being Blackmore and Iommi and buttler etc Until starting Dio at least.I think when he passed in 2010 he was 67 and Sabbath guys are now at least 74/75 so maybe 4 or 5 years difference not really much.
@@seanrosa1457 He was born in 1942. Clearly of a different generation, pre-Boomer, even pre-early hippie. To put things in perspective, he was closer to Eddie Cochran and Franklie Valli's age than Ozzy. So yes---relatively speaking, he was old for metal
On the other hand, Dio sites a specific instance where Kerry was frightened by a black magic experience he had over the telephone with his wife. So there's got to be more to the story. In the mid-70's Kerry had a fascination with spiritualism and related things like automatic writing and seances. Perhaps, Kerry had a seance and thought he had contacted a demon. I could see where something like this could scare him half to death. It could also give Dio the impression he was into black magic.
I have the LP "Seeds of Change" that I bought in the 80's... Best record ever I got and listen to that as teenager on the way to school (from C-casette) etc, still listen to that as 54... Thanks, Kerry & Ronnie... Love and Peace fellas, no reason to argue in this world...🤘
There should be no controversy. Just great musicians doing their thing, and leaving treasures for us. Just enjoy, and leave the junk and nonsense behind.
There is no controversy in Dio singing songs about christian spirituality - listen to the lyrics of man on the silver mountain - listen to stargazer ( the story could have been taken from the old testament about the tower of Babylon - I am sure, Ronnie was a spiritual person
Thomas Schwarz you should really do some homework about the Tower of Babel. It was really the beginning of organized satanism. You would change your mind.
People, don't get too caught up in Kerry Livgren's spiritual inspirations. He dabbled with several faith based philosophies during his most fertile creative periods while in Kansas during the 70's. He was searching and in the process created his most extraordinary body of work. Of course he had this GREAT band to help him search!
Why are people so put off if a song or band sings about god in a rock band? Songs are sung about the devil and people think its cool. I'm not a Christian, I think if a song rocks and hits you right in your soul and u find out its themed about god, love it anyway. A lot of my favorites are from Christian rock bands. Is there a better band than Kansas?
I agree 100% There is NO BETTER band than Kansas. Deep Purple used to be my 'end-all-be-all' favorite band ... and then came Kansas. I ain't looked back since.
Before Kerry Livgren became a Christian, he was involved with a cult called Urantia. That may be the Kerry Livgren that Dio remembered before singing on this album.
Urantia is like a version of Seventh Day Adventist. Urantia is about God and the trinity. Not all that weird (within the invisible sky daddy realm of religions that is).
I think Ronnie is being a bit facetious with the quote. Dio seems to be perhaps alluding to heavy duty partying and Mrs Livgren saying knock it off Kerry or else... hell raising right? just my thoughts.
As far as I have heard, and I'm a big fan of Dio, he never applauds or promotes Satan. in Heaven and Hell, he proclaims that "The Devil is never a maker," which is basically the same thing St.Augustine and countless other Christian thinkers conclude. And I think it's also the Biblical position; evil has no essence in and of itself and therefore the Devil has no creative power, all he can do is seek to twist the good things which God has made. According to Dio himself, ''Holy Diver" is about a Christ-figure facing and overcoming the temptation to not make his sacrifice (some people claim that it is about Lucifer's fall, but this is bullocks). Many of his songs, maybe even most, are about wrestling with temptation and dark forces and the struggle to do good and be good.
Respectively as he is no longer on the Earth... Kerry Livgren was NEVER into black magic N E V E R and then to say "he made Satan look pretty tame" ? absolute absurd fiction. sheesh.
Lauren, if you understood the Book of Urantia that Kerry based his life on you would never disagree that he was involved in the blackest of thought processes or "Black Magic". Or maybe you do understand and follow that book yourself?
Hi, Lauren Lo Bjorklund. I was put on defense until RJD said, "...he(Kerry) had a real frightening ... black magic experience on the telephone with his wife, which just chased him all around, so he became a born again Christian..." LOL!!!! What creative dry humor!! RJD (from my perspective, & in my opinion) is certainly keeping us on our toes, and helping us laugh at ourselves, reminding us NOT to take ourselves TOO seriously, but "TO LIVE FOR THE KING!" {:-)
I would like to know what "rather interesting things took place in the studio while we were recording." To Live for the King and Mask.....no songs to date, for me, have matched these!
After a while I saw it often as a cutout (horribly overstocked/sale for like $2 when albums were going for at least $10). This may have been in Christian music stores, though, that overestimated its "crossover" popularity, or word got out that it wasn't a superficial "rah rah" album full of, as Keith Green called them, "Jesus is my boyfriend" ditties.
Of course, what I've said in the past 2 posts are just my opinion regarding how such a misunderstanding could occur. I certainly don't believe Kerry was ever a Satanist, nor do I think Dio was intentionally spreading a malicious lie about Kerry. I'd love to hear what Kerry has to say about the comments Dio made above (from the 2:00 to the 2:20.mark.) That interview with Dio is about 4 - 5 yrs old and I'm really surprised that Kerry has not yet attempted to publicly elaborate on Dio's comments.
1:58 He use to be one of the most backmagic guys on the face of the planet.... I heard something of this /about this YEARS ago, but eventually put it down to baseless rumor. Kerry delved into / courted the dark side? I see no evidence of it myself, not even in any of the early album lyrics. ...never known of any Kansas member to bring it up in an interview.
Actually it's more spiritual than religious. There's really no specific relgion mentioned. Even the word god isn't mentioned. If you want religious listen to Neal Morse.
I never ever saw Black Sabbath whether it was Ozzy or Dio as satanic lyrics. They were just singing a song, telling a story not from an evil point of view but either a neutral view or a song telling people that evil is real and DONT let it consume you. Am I wrong ? For anybody who reads my comment no matter how old it may be, please respond. I don't care if it's 5 years from now although I might be dead by then LOL
When the albums show demons and hell and flames all the time, with 666 and occult symbols and goat/horns....come on neutral? I don't think that's intellectually honest. They were marketing something, and even if you say that was all just the accoutrements of the genre, they leaned into it! ELO, Boston, Queen, Journey had marketing themes, they didn't include occult stuff. To be honest, I could not stand the vocals or subject matter of Black Sabbath but I know the reputation they were milking, even before becoming a Christian about the same time as Kerry.
real strong music wich does lift me up and makes me wonder about where is peace on earth, one love true Dio breaks my heart what true energy send& taken up to GOOD Kenny&Ronny one day....!!!
... my LOVE IS ALWAYS ONLY EVER EQUAL TO my HUMILITY and my GRATITUDE for the CONFIDENCE and the PROWESS that STABILISES my LOVE ... ... GOD BLESS EVERYONE, BLESS EVERYTHING, ALWAYS, AMEN ... signed by ... the ROCK OF PHAGES ... PDA ...
Black Sabbath was never a "Satanic" band. They were in fact quite Christian. Listen to the song "After Forever". In fact they wore the Christian crosses because of this (that goes a bit deeper but I won't go into it here). They wore them for protection against evil.
Ευχαριστώ πολύ για το βίντεο! Ο Ronnie James Dio ήταν "άνθρωπος".Ένας "πολύ καλός άνθρωπος"! Thank you very much for the video! Ronnie was a "good man". A "very good man"!
I was implying that it was an inside joke. Dio's statement definitely implied that he was into the black arts which I lump all together, black magic,occult,satanism and that he put "all of us" to shame". Obviously tongue in cheek. My original statement still stands. It's funny what Dio said and I wonder how many dim bulbs out there think he's telling the truth.
I think there could be a bit more to this story than meets the eye. I'd love to have a one on one conversation with Kerry about the matter. Better yet, I might try to conjur up Dio in a seance tonight and ask him some questions through my Ouija board. :) BTW, have you ever heard Dio's story about how he conjured up the demon Bael in the studio?
***** It was actually David Pack, the Lead Vocalist for Ambrosia. He sang on "Waiting for Ground Zero", the final track. Yes, I have the album, and yes, it rocks!!
+Jeremy Pierce Yes, I know Pack was from ambrosia. It sounded like he said David Paich. Sorry, I'm not too familiar with Kerry's solo work. Probably should.
Dio never said Kerry was a Satanist. He said Kerry was into Black Magic and that he made Satan look pretty tame. Since Kerry and RJD remained friends throughout the years, I think this is likely a misunderstanding or maybe an inside joke. Kerry freely admits that he was once involved in the occult and spiritualism via various New Age religions like Urantia. Maybe Kerry told Dio about his past involvement in the occult and Dio mistakenly equated the occult with black magic & satanism.
Back in 2005 I was working for DIO (the band) backstage at Merriweather Post Pavillion and was sent to pick up DIO bassist Jimmy Bain. On the short drive from the train station to the venue, Jimmy and I were talking about our favorite Ronnie songs and I mentioned his collaboration with Kerry Livgren. Jimmy said "I've worked with Ronnie for 20+ years and never heard of this"
When we got back to the venue and I was showing Jimmy the dressing rooms, Ronnie was there and, to my surprise, Jimmy called to him "Ronnie, mate over here says you worked with Kerry Livgren, is he mistaken?"
Ronnie pointed out he had indeed sung 2 songs for Kerry as we all know.
I shrugged and said "Mask of the Great Deceiver" Ronnie patted me on the arm and said "Don't forget 'To Live For the King' "
the only thing i can cay is, you lucky s.o.b
That is incredible Jeff! Thank you so much for sharing your story because I enjoyed reading it. Tell me did Ronnie say anything else about the songs? Did he go into how he felt about spirituality? Did he go into how he felt about God?
@Jeff - cool story.
Nice.
@@tanner3285 , of the 2 times I worked for Ronnie, other than pleasantries, that's all he ever said to me.
Ronnie WAS NOT evil. He didn't like how religion was used to subject people. I'm Catholic but still love Ronnie James Dio.
Ronnie was in my opinion a great singer but he flirted with satan although he sang these great songs on the album....faith is not about a church or some kind of being good or human....it's all about Jesus Christ
There is a great difference between humanismn and faith in Christ. If you believe in humanismn then you will tolerate a lot of things. God never tolerates our anarchy against his commandments. We all have that problem. I make it short. Christ died for your sins and mine not that we can play some kind of religious games, said Glenn Kaiser, pastor and bandleader of Resurrection Band, Chicago, I am a protestant pentacostle in Germany so I hope, my English is not too bad, blessings to you
@@horstdudszus7256 Ich schätze Ihre Meinung. Danke, dass du das mit mir teilst, und Friede sei mit dir
gut gesprochen!@@horstdudszus7256
@@horstdudszus7256What's the big difference between the two, really? I mean let's be honest, us human-is-m..? Well, most of us think "cheese & rice" is great, don't you? 🤔 Blah,ha,ha!!! 😂😜🤣 Seriously though the biggest difference between the 2 is the fact one side believes in the importance of souls here & now in the world they can actually see & talk to everyday. Whereas the other side believes in the cross they wear around their neck of a soul they have not met, not yet! Personally I believe if we all just "Do The Right Thing!" We'd all be cool & accepted by the higher power or wherever this long strange trip takes us next, ya dig? +Peace, Funk & Rock n' Roll 4 Your Soul My Friend+ ✌️😎 Keep on keeping on, it's all good so keep your head up.
Flirted with Satan lol ?
This entire record is without question, the best I have ever heard. It's massive, emotional, mesmerizing and Something a lot of people won't understand, set apart for a holy purpose. Every tune is so special and we'll never ever here it's equal again. Thanks Kerry! You're amazing!
Absolutely! Incredible album. Totally overlooked, really. There is a vibe that is inexplicable with that record, still one of my go To's. All of Kerry's music as a believer in Jesus Christ is profound excellence. Good taste, Cary!
I agree - too bad his later albums were so infected with the 80s and a bit more religiosity. I've been working with Christ but can't stand religious music.
There's a 3rd element - it was an opportunity for Kerry to share the truth with Ronnie (through the song's lyrics)...
This is one of the most heartfelt and amazing vocal deliveries Ronnie James Dio ever recorded.
Agreed
I've heard him to sing in an English cartoon in the eighties with a lot of joy and talent in his voice. He was a famous person at the time but that was the point when I got his fan. I think this man was a real rock singer writer. No question.
@@PIPIPISTA LOVE IS ALL is from mid 70s and he sang 3 tracks on Roger Glovers Butterfly Ball
@@jonblackers4339 You are right it was in the seventies and was a John Halas cartoon (fellow Hungarian) I think that was the first time I heard his voice. Love at the first sight.
Absolutely. "Mask Of The Great Deceiver" and "To Live For The King" are 2 of his greatest vocal performances ever.
I was listening to Kansas songs and knowing that Kerry Livgren was a Christian way before he ever got converted. The Wall, Carry on My Wayward Son, Miracles out of nowhere" were songs that nurtured me and my clients when I became a psychotherapist in the 80's. He has been and always will be a man with a message of good news. Christ nurtured him through all the years of his searching, and He and Kerry gave us this treasure house of songs. A modern day prophet, disquised as a rock star. Awesome.
The Wall is one of my favorite songs. The lyrics are just awesome and full of deep meaning.
Ronnie grew up in Cortland, NY... always a decent person and not the "evil" that some believe. He merely pointed out the failings of humanity in any of his bands, especially in Black Sabbath and Dio.
For me Ronnie brought tremendous life to both songs. No one else for me could have sung these songs the way he did. For me being a Christian he was an incredibly talented singer.Loved his voice and what he brought to the table musically. RIP Ronnie.
I think the "controversy" (if there ever was one) was much more musical than it was spiritual. Kerry's lyrics have always been spiritually-minded, and back in 1980, the vast majority of Kansas fans had no idea of Kerry's Christian conversion (news like this didn't travel at the speed of light back in those pre-internet days.) I bought Seeds of Change in 81 or 82 and had no idea it was a "Christian" album (a term you notice Kerry avoids) - I just liked the music. But I remember thinking it was weird that RJD, who was already becoming known as Mr. Heavy Metal was on it -- Kansas had SOME hard rock moments in their music, but they were nowhere close to being a metal band. "The guy who wrote Dust In the Wind is collaborating with Dio?" was my reaction. But it was a great collaboration that worked out really well. Cheers to both of them for thinking outside the box and choosing to make some great music together!
You made some good points here, 'J4jc' to which I agree. I was so impressed with the music of Kansas, after a couple of years I started praying for them. Then, about a year later, I saw a newspaper article with the title, "Rock Musician becomes a Christian", so obviously I had to read it. Afterwards, I was so blessed to realize that Kerry and Dave were converted and that God had heard me and used my intercessory prayers for them. Then next, I witnessed the result of that in, not only the songs that followed, as you referred to in your post (i.e. "Relentless" and "Crossfire"), but also in their appearance and stage presence. For example, Kerry had a shorter haircut and was very calm and reserved on stage....I mean his whole demeanor was different!!! And now....about an hour ago, I heard Kerry state in another updated (RUclips video) interview that now Phil is a devoted Christian!! YES!! Thank God for the power of prayer!! Anyway....I could go on and on about this subject (really, I could), but that would probably take up more time than what most people could afford to spend reading RUclips posts :-) !!
KANSAS ~ #1 BEST progressive rock band of all time (IMHO) !!!!!
Batphink Reynolds I don’t think Kerry Livgren was into black magic or the occult really at all as RJD said the interview here. In Kerry’s autobiographical book, (recently updated) “Seeds Of Change” he goes into his spiritual search and Christian conversion which included an number of eastern religions and philosophies but having read the book many times I never saw anything about stuff like that. What you said about Satan making people like musicians and actors rich can be true yet they commit suicide and many times are unfulfilled with all the fame and fortune. Plus, I don’t believe Alice Cooper is a hypocrite, I’ve seen many videos of his Christian testimony and he explains why he makes a living doing what he does.
DragoBalboa I also started to pray for Kerry in 1979, I believe the Lord led me to do that. Same here-I was overjoyed when I saw news that he (and eventually Dave Hope) had received Christ.
The Alabama Savant Praise God, Yes He is good! Great testimony and story! Had a chance to meet Kerry on the Vinyl Confessions tour in Bethlehem, Pa. Don’t know whether Dave was saved at that point. Told Kerry I had prayed for his salvation. Did you ever read Kerry’s autobiographical book “Seeds Of Change?”.
I think this shows that things arent always what they seem. I think I read somewhere that Johnny Cash did a song with the lead singer of Danzig. I won't comment on whether that was wrong or right, especially since Cash was a man of faith (he sang Gospel) and the lead singer of Danzig was into, well, darkness, etc. Still, it shows that life can be much more complex and that shades of gray happen more often than not.
While Black Sabbath certainly delved into dark spooky themes, I'll never forget how SHOCKED I was the first time I heard "After Forever" around 1975. It's essentially a Christian themed song from Sabbath's third album Master of Reality recorded 1971. The lyrics to that song are really amazing and fit right in with Kerry's album Seeds of Change. Bassist Geezer Butler wrote the lyrics as a way to express the band members' dislike of being labeled as satanists. When the first album was released much to the shock of the band, instead of the inside of the album jacket featuring a photo of the band it was an upside down cross. Their producer was trying to be edgy and get publicity but it backfired. Now everyone thought they were satanists when they were actually a bunch of blue collar, hard partying, LSD loving Brits who also loved horror movies, LOL. Geezer did dabble in the occult a bit until an incident happened around the time of the first album. Ozzy gave him a 500 yr old book of spells that he stuffed in a kitchen cupboard. That night Butler awoke to a demon at the end of his bed with red eyes. He was so freaked out that he ran into the kitchen to go burn the book but it was gone. By the time the second album was released various occult groups wouldn't leave them alone because they assumed the band were hard core occult practitioners which they were not. After being rebuffed by the band several times, one of those groups threated to put curses on them for being posers. This really freaked the band members out. Geezer's father was a machinist so he had him make beautiful, large finely machined polished crosses for them which you see them all wearing in the early days of Sabbath.
As I remember, After Forever was Tony's composition???
Believe it or not, Livgren's initial albums appealed to agnostics like myself even after his "conversation". Some of my friends back in college were born agains and we all shared an interest in bands like Kansas, Triumph, Rush, UFO, the Rez Band, etc, be they secular or not. What I appreciate about Livgren's approach is that he doesn't force it down your throat which some of the Christian rockers did back in the late 80's. It really wasn't a shock to see Dio on "Seeds of Change", because you had two great lyricists in their own right collaborating on two awesome songs. The rest of the album is awesome as well. I respect Livgren even though we don't agree on everything. His songs have influenced my own writing and I thank him for his "gift" for a lack of a better term.
I have read Kerry's autobiography, also entitled "Seeds of Change." While it is true that he was previously involved in a number of Eastern religions, he specifically stated that he had never been involved with witchcraft.
I'm totally blown away in a good way.
Now, I've got to purchase Kerry's album.
Thank you!
I saw Barriemore Barlow playing drums with Jethro Tull in November 1971. Great drummer.
He was the best drummer I ever got to see.
It's good to hear that Livgren didn't stoop to name calling, but was very mature with his comments.
Ronnie had the perfect voice for those so ngs. Two great musicians and perforners.
What he did for Leftoverture was create a masterpiece. Lyrically and musically, it is a thing of great beauty.
RONNIE & KERRY OUTSTANDING MUSICIANS
I seriously doubt that Ronnie didn't know that these were religious songs.
Trivia correction. At 3:14 Ronnie mentions "Paul Hammond" from ARS but it's actually Paul Goddard (bass). The ARS singer was Ronnie Hammond.
He follows that with 'David Paich from Ambrosia". David Pack was in Ambrosia. David Paich was in Toto.
Thanks so much for this video. I bought "Seeds of Change" when it first came out and thought the Dio sung songs were by far the best songs on the album. Great to hear the stories behind the music!
At the same time, Kerry has always been the only "Christian rocker" I could ever accept and maybe that's partly because he himself is accepting and doesn't shove religion down people's throats. And honest with himself that RJD was the man for the job. Especially "To Live for the King" is totally a Dio tune!
I feel the same way about Kerry. My approach is similar. I plant seeds , but I don't pester people. It's God's job to bring the seeds to fruition.
...what a delight...just surfed in to check it out only to find I'm the interviewer with Kerry...appreciate the time you put into this...
It's all the same to me.
Kerry's lyrics with Kansas always struck me as spiritual (as he says in the interview) and Ronnie's singing always seemed to me to have some kind of spirituality as well. He may not be a Christian, but he was a man with a big heart and (I believe) the right intentions.
When the album FIRST came out, I bought a copy as soon as I saw it because I was (and still am) a huge Livgren fan. Then, as I was enjoying the music (and the lyrics), I started studying what was printed on the album......THEN, as I read that R.J.D. was singing those two songs, I remembered thinking about what a 'contrast that was' for Kerry to have 'this' particular man singing on his record, as it's pointed out in the video. At the time, I did not realize that one day, all of these years later, I would be seeing played out (here) my very thoughts I had so long ago.
Just got the reissue of, Seeds of Change. Still sounds great to my ears. Love it when you mix, two unlikely talents together, and get an amazing result. Actually, the single most beautiful performance's, on this CD, are the tracks featuring Barriemore Barlow on drums, from a little known band, named. Jethro Tull.
He also played on the first Yngwie Malmsteen album (Rising force), great drums.
Ronnie was a sweet, articulate, musician. It's called "performance art" for a reason. Some Christians don't realize it is a business. Let's not get "Kerried" away here. They both were respectful, I am sure, of one another's beliefs. Ronnie was not a Satanist.
Nothing strange here,two great musicians collaborating
I remember in the early 80's one of my friends telling me he heard Dio singing a Christian song & I couldn't believe it until I heard it. I was confused because this was around the Last in Line days & was a huge fan of Ronnie's since Rainbow & new exactly what he always sang about.. I was not Christian then but part of me still thought there is a little hope for Ronnie after all. I love Kansas now & always did love some of their stuff mainly from the 70's but didn't know it was Kerry's album that Dio was on.
Some very talented guest musicians; Ronnie James Dio, Barriemore Barlow (Jethro Tull) on drums and Steve Walsh on backing vocals!
Great pair of interviews that really shed a lot of light and provide a lot of insight into that amazing project. I'm no Christian, and neither was RJD but he was no Satanist; he was an atheist. However just as I do, RJD always had a very spiritual side to himself, and was a very enlightened person. Love this project, love Dio, and love Kerry Livgren as the great songwriter, guitarist and keyboardist he always was.
If you're an atheist, how are you spiritual?
Great job on the vid. Loved through this also in multiple levels. As a musician guitarist and wanna be singer, I had already idolized Kerry via Kansas and RJD bcuz Black Sabbath. The second level was my older brothers conversion and subsequent obsession with Christian music and musicians. So when Kerry had his first album and RJD was singing it, my brother knew I’d love it and be more open to the genre which had a stigma early on and a history. These songs are epic on rock and in Christian rock. Two super talented people. I had seen Kansas live and Black Sabbath with Ozzie and later with DIO and finally RJD solo.
Great album! Loved it then, and it still remains one of my favorites! Ronnie sounds great on both songs. He had a great voice... very unique!
Regardless of Dio’s beliefs, God gave Ronnie an incredible gift for singing. Rest in peace, Ronnie.
Kerry is a gifted musician as well. God bless them both.
Kansas music has ALWAYS had spiritual!! Alot of THERE songs well there lyrics have a god inspiration in it!! Kerry was A great song writer he and steve put out some great music!! A very underrated band!!
To me, I find it even more interesting that the album list Steve Walsh as a backup singer!
For Steve to take on that role, after being Kansa lead singer for so long, shows real character!
As far as anyone of us know, it's looks like Steve wasn't even going to demand that Kansas get back together!
He just wanted to help a friend who gave him a chance.
The guy that did the first Interview is Eric Blair. If any of you have heard of Stryper and their story, he is their friend that walked into their rehearsal studio when they were Roxx Regime and told them to play for Jesus. Eric has interviewed a lot of great Artists on his Show, "Blairing Out" and is a good guy (I knew him breifly back in the 80's) Check him out.
Kerry, I hope you see this comment. I wanted to thank you not only for all of the great work with Kansas but for "Seeds of Change" (the book) which I found at a Christian book store in 1984. I soon found the LP and older Kansas records. I had just begun my journey learning about the Lord and your music was a great encouragement to me. "One of several possible musics" is a favorite as well as AD (I got into DA yrs later) I especially like how, in the book, you continued to search for truth until you were satisfied. I'm still searching, having found the Apostolic truth in 1986 but the devil has had 2,000 years to mess up the first century church and he certainly has. Most of the "churches" by me, I believe, are disqualified, imo, having made money and control gods. Woe unto them. But Jesus still saves folks when we enter in the right way. We must obey Acts 2:38. Thanks again.
Actually Black Sabbath had a lot of "Godly" themed Songs. Like After forever from Masters of Reality. Stryper covered that song on their "Fallen" album. War Pigs has a great message against evil.
After Forever
yeah, this is what is so difficult about this epoch of music. There actually WERE satanic bands, especially in the eighties, some of them quite popular. But Black Sabbath, despite the horror trappings, really wasn't advocating a satanic message, in my view. Even the original song 'Black Sabbath' isn't exactly glorifying the Devil. There's still the question of whether it's wise for a Christian to listen to such music, especially on a regular basis. But it really isn't fair to refer to Black Sabbath as a 'satanic' band, especially when there are so many heavy metal bands that are actually satanic.
@@bornforburning777 The world has believers and mostly unbelievers. There is really no such as a Christian band, there is no thing as a Satanic band. The late Ken Hensley the creating force in Uriah Heep for years, composed some of the Godliest music on Heeps first seven studio albums. Look at Yourself was a masterpiece. Strange as the title of Demons and Wizards it's one of the Godliest albums of all time. A few so called "Christian bands" in the 1980's had some real bad doctrine lyrically. I even scan through church hym books to this day, that have doctrinal error. Blackie Lawless today is a fundamentalists Bible believer. In the early days of WASP they were definitely hedonistic and pornographic. His last two albums were Godly masterpieces. Babylon and Golgotha. Today in the economy of Grace we live in, Satan's greatest foot hold is religion. Keeping people in performance systems, to "earn" God's favor. It's alive and well.
@@bornforburning777 If listen to to first two Queen albums, many people thought they were a Christian band. You listen to the song "Jesus" from the first album, Old king rat, liar, Keep yourself Alive. Father to Son from the second album ect. Iron Maiden were accused of ridiculous things. Basically a history Rock band. Nicko Mcbrain is a believer. We need to be careful about putting people in a genre box. In simplicity your in Christ, or your in Adam. Alice Cooper did some great stuff in the mid 90's Last Temptation and Brutal Planet. Unfortunately he's been wishy-washy and frivolous ever since lyrically, most of the time.
@@stephensdygert7600 I agree with a lot of what you said. I do think that we do have to discern on a song-by-song basis what constitutes 'Christian' and what constitutes 'Satanic;' which is to say, we have to discern what glorifies Christ and what glorifies the Devil. One place this would be especially relevant would be when deciding what music we ought to play in a church service. Agree with everything you said about Cooper and especially Maiden; talking about the Devil certainly doesn't equate to worshiping him. Never listened to Queen. I do think that WASPS's early stuff is Satanic and I would no longer listen to it as a believer.
What a lot of people don't realize about Dio, is that he was a relatively old man playing a young man's game. He came to sing heavy metal music rather late in life. I recall that he started out in the late-50s doo-wop era. His peers were people like Dion and the Belmonts and Chubby Checker.
Jas Blench And He Put all those so callled Young Metal bands and singers to Fucking Shame! Cause nobody has ever done it better, Even up until 2010 with full blown Cancer Ronnie was on stage Kicking the Ass of every mother fucker who has ever thought they know anything about Heavy Metal Music! Hail The Metal King Ronnie james Dio R.i.p
Dio was 33 when he joined Rainbow, perhaps 7 or 8 years older than when Ian Gillian joined Purple at the age of 24, it aint that much of a difference, Then ofcource you got all this Rockers from the 80's that cant never hold a candle next to the late great Dio\m/
Yeah but he was close in age to who he played with being Blackmore and Iommi and buttler etc Until starting Dio at least.I think when he passed in 2010 he was 67 and Sabbath guys are now at least 74/75 so maybe 4 or 5 years difference not really much.
@@seanrosa1457 He was born in 1942. Clearly of a different generation, pre-Boomer, even pre-early hippie. To put things in perspective, he was closer to Eddie Cochran and Franklie Valli's age than Ozzy. So yes---relatively speaking, he was old for metal
On the other hand, Dio sites a specific instance where Kerry was frightened by a black magic experience he had over the telephone with his wife. So there's got to be more to the story.
In the mid-70's Kerry had a fascination with spiritualism and related things like automatic writing and seances. Perhaps, Kerry had a seance and thought he had contacted a demon. I could see where something like this could scare him half to death. It could also give Dio the impression he was into black magic.
Not sure if this statement is accurate. In his bio, Kerry denies ever having been involved in witchcraft. Eastern philosophy yes, but not witchcraft.
I think Dio has it wrong that Kerry was into "black magic."
Kerry Livgren is one of my favorite songwriters and musicians. GOD bless him and RIP. Thank you!
😔🙏🇺🇸🎸🎼🎵🎶❤
I have the LP "Seeds of Change" that I bought in the 80's... Best record ever I got and listen to that as teenager on the way to school (from C-casette) etc, still listen to that as 54... Thanks, Kerry & Ronnie... Love and Peace fellas, no reason to argue in this world...🤘
There is a film coming out on September 28th I believe playing at movie theaters this year 2022 and it's all about Ronnie James Dio.
Great testimony!! Great legacy Ronnie left us!!
There should be no controversy. Just great musicians doing their thing, and leaving treasures for us. Just enjoy, and leave the junk and nonsense behind.
To be controversial, people would have to care first.
Nobody can deny Kerry's great guitar playing.... Greg... Greg Boardman Band...
There is no controversy in Dio singing songs about christian spirituality - listen to the lyrics of man on the silver mountain - listen to stargazer ( the story could have been taken from the old testament about the tower of Babylon - I am sure, Ronnie was a spiritual person
Thomas Schwarz you should really do some homework about the Tower of Babel. It was really the beginning of organized satanism. You would change your mind.
Wow! I didn't know Dio was on "Sedd Of Change" That was a great album!!
People, don't get too caught up in Kerry Livgren's spiritual inspirations. He dabbled with several faith based philosophies during his most fertile creative periods while in Kansas during the 70's. He was searching and in the process created his most extraordinary body of work.
Of course he had this GREAT band to help him search!
His band helped him with his music. Jeff Pollard of Le Roux helped him with his search according to his biography.
such a great story, such great performaces by rjd. i still listen to this album today
Why are people so put off if a song or band sings about god in a rock band? Songs are sung about the devil and people think its cool. I'm not a Christian, I think if a song rocks and hits you right in your soul and u find out its themed about god, love it anyway. A lot of my favorites are from Christian rock bands. Is there a better band than Kansas?
No, there is NOT a better band than Kansas.
I agree 100% There is NO BETTER band than Kansas. Deep Purple used to be my 'end-all-be-all' favorite band ... and then came Kansas. I ain't looked back since.
Before Kerry Livgren became a Christian, he was involved with a cult called Urantia. That may be the Kerry Livgren that Dio remembered before singing on this album.
Urantia is like a version of Seventh Day Adventist. Urantia is about God and the trinity. Not all that weird (within the invisible sky daddy realm of religions that is).
I think Ronnie is being a bit facetious with the quote. Dio seems to be perhaps alluding to heavy duty partying and Mrs Livgren saying knock it off Kerry or else... hell raising right? just my thoughts.
@@buzzcrushtrendkill you need to research how the " Urantia Papers" were produced. Some very dark and disturbing things were going on.
As far as I have heard, and I'm a big fan of Dio, he never applauds or promotes Satan. in Heaven and Hell, he proclaims that "The Devil is never a maker," which is basically the same thing St.Augustine and countless other Christian thinkers conclude. And I think it's also the Biblical position; evil has no essence in and of itself and therefore the Devil has no creative power, all he can do is seek to twist the good things which God has made. According to Dio himself, ''Holy Diver" is about a Christ-figure facing and overcoming the temptation to not make his sacrifice (some people claim that it is about Lucifer's fall, but this is bullocks). Many of his songs, maybe even most, are about wrestling with temptation and dark forces and the struggle to do good and be good.
Respectively as he is no longer on the Earth... Kerry Livgren was NEVER into black magic
N E V E R and then to say "he made Satan look pretty tame" ? absolute absurd fiction. sheesh.
Lauren Lo Bjorklund Uh, How would you know ? Personal friend?
Lauren, if you understood the Book of Urantia that Kerry based his life on you would never disagree that he was involved in the blackest of thought processes or "Black Magic". Or maybe you do understand and follow that book yourself?
Lauren Lo Bjorklund Yeah that is stupid.
Are you saying Kerry passed? I dont think so
Hi, Lauren Lo Bjorklund. I was put on defense until RJD said, "...he(Kerry) had a real frightening ... black magic experience on the telephone with his wife, which just chased him all around, so he became a born again Christian..." LOL!!!! What creative dry humor!! RJD (from my perspective, & in my opinion) is certainly keeping us on our toes, and helping us laugh at ourselves, reminding us NOT to take ourselves TOO seriously, but "TO LIVE FOR THE KING!" {:-)
Ronnie James Dio...Cortland NY's finest!
Kerry has always been one of my favorite musicians.
Great song big fan of Kansas and DIO and it works really well.
Sabbath isn't devil worship. Go listen to Tony and Geezer talk about that.
kenny play Especially Sabbaths song War Pigs where there is a line that says; God has struck the final hour". God Almighty ending all wars.
Thank you for being you Kerry Livgren.
3:18 David Paich was from Toto. David Pack was from Ambrosia.
David Pack buy the way there Ronnie
Ronnie James Dio's two Songs with Kerry Livgren are both Amazing Songs!
I would like to know what "rather interesting things took place in the studio while we were recording." To Live for the King and Mask.....no songs to date, for me, have matched these!
As a dio fan i remember searching for seeds of change . Nowhere to find , sudenly my deep purple fanclub sold one album . Lucky me
After a while I saw it often as a cutout (horribly overstocked/sale for like $2 when albums were going for at least $10). This may have been in Christian music stores, though, that overestimated its "crossover" popularity, or word got out that it wasn't a superficial "rah rah" album full of, as Keith Green called them, "Jesus is my boyfriend" ditties.
Irresistible irony. Love it!
Barriemore Barlow of Jethro Tull on drums as well.....might have to check this album out.
RJD is claiming KL was a Satanist? I spose it could be true, but his lyrics were highly spiritual starting with The Wall.
Of course, what I've said in the past 2 posts are just my opinion regarding how such a misunderstanding could occur. I certainly don't believe Kerry was ever a Satanist, nor do I think Dio was intentionally spreading a malicious lie about Kerry.
I'd love to hear what Kerry has to say about the comments Dio made above (from the 2:00 to the 2:20.mark.) That interview with Dio is about 4 - 5 yrs old and I'm really surprised that Kerry has not yet attempted to publicly elaborate on Dio's comments.
Kerry writes christian geared songs, but their the best Kansas has done since.
Jimmy Winn Disagree.
By 1985 Kansas was Kansas no longer. AD was the new Kansas.
1:58 He use to be one of the most backmagic guys on the face of the planet.... I heard something of this /about this YEARS ago, but eventually put it down to baseless rumor. Kerry delved into / courted the dark side? I see no evidence of it myself, not even in any of the early album lyrics. ...never known of any Kansas member to bring it up in an interview.
Get Kerry livgren book seeds of change
He says interesting things happened in the studio..what.. ? The interviewer didnt pick up on it man : (
I really loved this, thanks you.
Carry On My Wayward Son is religious also...:-)
Actually it's more spiritual than religious. There's really no specific relgion mentioned. Even the word god isn't mentioned. If you want religious listen to Neal Morse.
I never ever saw Black Sabbath whether it was Ozzy or Dio as satanic lyrics. They were just singing a song, telling a story not from an evil point of view but either a neutral view or a song telling people that evil is real and DONT let it consume you.
Am I wrong ? For anybody who reads my comment no matter how old it may be, please respond.
I don't care if it's 5 years from now although I might be dead by then LOL
When the albums show demons and hell and flames all the time, with 666 and occult symbols and goat/horns....come on neutral? I don't think that's intellectually honest. They were marketing something, and even if you say that was all just the accoutrements of the genre, they leaned into it! ELO, Boston, Queen, Journey had marketing themes, they didn't include occult stuff. To be honest, I could not stand the vocals or subject matter of Black Sabbath but I know the reputation they were milking, even before becoming a Christian about the same time as Kerry.
real strong music wich does lift me up and makes me wonder about where is peace on earth, one love true Dio breaks my heart what true energy send& taken up to GOOD Kenny&Ronny one day....!!!
... my LOVE IS ALWAYS ONLY EVER EQUAL TO my HUMILITY and my GRATITUDE for the CONFIDENCE and the PROWESS that STABILISES my LOVE ...
... GOD BLESS EVERYONE, BLESS EVERYTHING, ALWAYS, AMEN ...
signed by ...
the ROCK OF PHAGES ...
PDA ...
I pray he passed knowing that Jesus is Lord. Very interesting video .
@eileenmaryomalley740
If he didn't, would you take his place?
The bottom of the diamond points to an 's'. Not the capital 'O' . God/ Theo is 'θ' in ancient Greek, the language of the New Testament.
People who think that Ronnie James Dio was some kind of satanist obviously have never heard a band like Deicide.
Wow great song there
Great do you think about him singing livrgren song liveing for the king great song
Black Sabbath was never a "Satanic" band. They were in fact quite Christian. Listen to the song "After Forever". In fact they wore the Christian crosses because of this (that goes a bit deeper but I won't go into it here). They wore them for protection against evil.
Ευχαριστώ πολύ για το βίντεο! Ο Ronnie James Dio ήταν "άνθρωπος".Ένας "πολύ καλός άνθρωπος"! Thank you very much for the video! Ronnie was a "good man". A "very good man"!
Kerry RJD and Paul Goddard. thats a supergroup alone.
Weird he had no knowledge of what RJDs past was incl RAINBOW, based on what did he pick him then?
Kerry Livgren practicing Black Magic, no wonder why he felt he needed to do a Christian album!
I am a part of ALL - Cosmos - Universe - All Universes - Cosmos at all
Black Sabbath weren't satanic during the Ozzy era, listen to After Forever, it sounds almost like Gospel.
I was implying that it was an inside joke. Dio's statement definitely implied that he was into the black arts which I lump all together, black magic,occult,satanism and that he put "all of us" to shame". Obviously tongue in cheek. My original statement still stands. It's funny what Dio said and I wonder how many dim bulbs out there think he's telling the truth.
Ronnie was an Atheist. But he never once denounced or bashed any one Else's religion. Too bad muslim's can't be like him.
I think there could be a bit more to this story than meets the eye. I'd love to have a one on one conversation with Kerry about the matter. Better yet, I might try to conjur up Dio in a seance tonight and ask him some questions through my Ouija board. :)
BTW, have you ever heard Dio's story about how he conjured up the demon Bael in the studio?
2:44 i had no idea he was a born again Christian.
I wonder if Dio ever did these songs live
My , RUclips Premium is small tuition for higher learning
3:20 you mean David Paich from TOTO, Ronnie? lol
***** It was actually David Pack, the Lead Vocalist for Ambrosia. He sang on "Waiting for Ground Zero", the final track. Yes, I have the album, and yes, it rocks!!
+RockinReeseBoyd David Pack from Ambrosia is on Seeds of Change. He sings the last track. David Paich from Toto is not.
+Jeremy Pierce Yes, I know Pack was from ambrosia. It sounded like he said David Paich. Sorry, I'm not too familiar with Kerry's solo work. Probably should.
Dio never said Kerry was a Satanist. He said Kerry was into Black Magic and that he made Satan look pretty tame. Since Kerry and RJD remained friends throughout the years, I think this is likely a misunderstanding or maybe an inside joke.
Kerry freely admits that he was once involved in the occult and spiritualism via various New Age religions like Urantia. Maybe Kerry told Dio about his past involvement in the occult and Dio mistakenly equated the occult with black magic & satanism.
Weird deep lore question here, when Dio says "Kerry put Satan to shame," is he referencing Satan the band, or Satan the actual fallen angel?
Old Nick himself, though I'm sure he was saying it somewhat in jest.