Serious fans of Ronnie James Dio have been longing for official releases of his early 1950s-60s era Doo-Wop / R&B / Vocal Pop recordings. These were done way before Elf and Rainbow even existed. These songs were mainly recorded under the group names Ronnie and the Red Caps and Ronnie Dio and the Prophets, though some were recorded under just Ronnie Dio. 

Here is an example of one of the recordings from this era, his rendition of the classic song "Love Potion No. 9" and performed by Ronnie Dio and the Prophets. If you prefer an original you can listen to "Love Pains", which was written under his legal name Padavona and also performed with The Prophets.

There was only one full-length LP released by Ronnie Dio and the Prophets in 1963 called Dio at Domino's and it fetches thousands of dollars, when found in good condition (VG or better). However, this album was recorded live and did not feature any studio recordings yet it still provides the feel of a studio album (based on the examples online). All the rest of the releases put out during this era were done as 45rpm singles, some of which can also fetch big money. There is one CD that was released in Spain during 2012 called Ronnie Dio and the Prophets - The Early Years, but this release is suspected to be unofficial as it doesn't have any licensing information...and it certainly doesn't exist on vinyl. 

The vinyl community is in dire need of official reissues of these early Ronnie James Dio recordings, including the Dio at Domino's LP. Sure, the original masters are likely destroyed or inaccessible, but even digital files remastered for vinyl would be better than nothing. Or, if clean copies of originals can be sourced then an analog master can be extracted from those and remastered from there. Or, perhaps Ronnie kept an archive of all his work just like Frank Zappa did and the master reels COULD just be sitting in a box somewhere.

Bottom line, we need some form of an official vinyl reissue/release containing these early recordings so that fans can enjoy them on the medium they were meant to be enjoyed. There is no known reason why the only people releasing some of this stuff on vinyl, in the modern era, are "bootleggers" and "counterfeiters" - and even those pressings are sparse and hard to attain at a reasonable price. Unlike with Pantera, it has never been publicly stated that Ronnie's early recordings would never be reissued - not to my knowledge, anyway. All that we ask is that his entire legacy be celebrated, not just his Hard Rock and Metal catalog.  

In addition to those early recordings, a vinyl pressing of And Before Elf...There Were Elves would be welcomed as well (which was officially released in 2011 by Niji Entertainment Group on CD only).

I collect vinyl records myself and I have spent a small fortune trying to collect those early RJD 45s, it's not easy. I'm sure there are many others, like me, who would just love the opportunity to have all of those early recordings presented as a stand-alone compilation LP, or even a 7" box set. We can obviously just go to YouTube and hear the songs that way but there's nothing quite like the sound of vinyl, especially when listening to a record that's been properly mastered for the format.

As a person who runs my own vinyl-centric label, I know all about how to properly prepare audio for vinyl. I would be more than happy to take on the task myself, if granted the rights to do so. After all, some have said that our releases are the best sounding records in their collection. Even though my label primarily releases synth-based music that pays homage to the 1980s (known as Synthwave) - it's not really a genre specific label. But...this isn't about me or my label. The intent of this petition isn't to get them to let me release the stuff...it's to get the stuff released, period. But, of course, I'd love to be involved if the opportunity presented itself. 

Even if you don't listen to vinyl yourself, chances are that if they release it on vinyl then they will likely release it on CD as well so you can still benefit from the hopeful results of this petition if you are a Dio fan. 

The obvious people in charge of getting these early recordings out on an official reissue basis would be Wendy Dio and Niji Entertainment Group. I have actually tried contacting someone in charge of licensing at Niji, but got no reply. It is my hope, that with enough signatures, we can convince the powers that be to give this effort the proper attention it deserves. Without these official reissues, fans will continue to be forced to pay big money for original pressings and bootleggers will continue to benefit from their shady efforts.