Craig M. Gruber (June 15, 1951 – May 5, 2015) was an American

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

bassist, best known as the original

bassist A bassist (also known as a bass player or bass guitarist) is a musician who plays a Bass (instrument), bass instrument such as a double bass (upright bass, contrabass, wood bass), bass guitar (electric bass, acoustic bass), synthbass, keyboar ...

Rainbow A rainbow is a meteorological phenomenon that is caused by reflection, refraction and dispersion of light in water droplets resulting in a spectrum of light appearing in the sky. It takes the form of a multicoloured circular arc. Rainbows c ...

. He also played in

Elf An elf () is a type of humanoid supernatural being in Germanic mythology and folklore. Elves appear especially in North Germanic mythology. They are subsequently mentioned in Snorri Sturluson's Icelandic Prose Edda. He distinguishes "ligh ...

, consisting of vocalist

Ronnie James Dio Ronald James Padavona (July 10, 1942 – May 16, 2010), known professionally as Ronnie James Dio, was an American heavy metal singer. He fronted and founded numerous bands throughout his career, including Elf, Rainbow, Black Sabbath, Dio and H ...

, keyboardist

Mickey Lee Soule Mickey Lee Soule (June 6, 1946 in Cortland, New York) is an American musician. He was the keyboard player for New York hard rock band Elf and a founding member of Rainbow. Soule had a band in the mid-1960s until he was drafted into the army. A ...

, drummer

Gary Driscoll John Gary Driscoll (18 April 1946 – 8 June 1987) was an American R&B-style rock drummer who performed in a number of successful bands from the 1960s until his unsolved death by murder on June 10, 1987. He first entered the music scene when ...

and guitarist David Feinstein.

Biography

Elf released three albums before they joined

Ritchie Blackmore Richard Hugh Blackmore (born 14 April 1945) is an English guitarist and songwriter. He was a founding member of Deep Purple in 1968, playing jam-style hard rock music that mixed guitar riffs and organ sounds. He is prolific in creating guitar ...

in his newly formed band Rainbow in mid-1975. Gruber played on Rainbow's first album, ''

Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow ''Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow'' (sometimes stylised ''Ritchie Blackmore's R-A-I-N-B-O-W'') is the debut studio album by American/British rock band Rainbow, released in 1975. Recording During studio sessions in Tampa Bay, Florida on 12 December ...

''. Soon after the album was released, Blackmore fired everyone except Dio. Gruber was also in the early recording sessions on Black Sabbath's '' Heaven and Hell'' album, co-writing "Die Young," until Geezer Butler heard Dio, and returned to the band. Gruber played live with

Gary Moore Robert William Gary Moore (4 April 19526 February 2011) was a Northern Irish musician. Over the course of his career he played in various groups and performed a range of music including blues, blues rock, hard rock, heavy metal, and jazz ...

on his supporting tour for his album ''

Victims of the Future ''Victims of the Future'' is the fourth solo studio album by Northern Irish guitarist Gary Moore, released in February 1984. It was the first album to feature former UFO guitarist/ keyboardist Neil Carter and bassist Bob Daisley. It was also th ...

'', and featured on Moore's 1984 live album '' We Want Moore!'' In 1980 he formed

Bible Black is an eroge video game developed by ActiveSoft and published on July 14, 2000. Sei Shoujo is the original creator of the game's artwork, character design and penned the original script for the game. Milky Studio has since adapted the ga ...

with former

and

drummer

. The band produced two albums before Driscoll's murder in 1987. Gruber had also been working on an Elf reunion, even though such a prospect seemed unlikely given the deaths of Driscoll and frontman

; both of whom had been members of the band from foundation until dissolution. Early in 2010 Gruber formed "ED3N"- a metal band in the classic rock genre. The band featured vocalist

Jeff Fenholt Jeffrey Craig Fenholt (September 15, 1950 – September 10, 2019) was an American musician, singer and actor best known for his performance as the title character in the original Broadway theatre adaptation of ''Jesus Christ Superstar'' and for h ...

and guitarist

David Shankle David Lee Shankle (born March 7, 1962) is an American guitarist. He is known for his shred style of playing. Shankle was the guitarist for the band Manowar from 1989 to 1995 and he played on the album ''The Triumph of Steel''. He was previously a ...

, of DSG and formerly

Manowar Manowar is an American heavy metal band from Auburn, New York. Formed in 1980, the group is known for lyrics based on fantasy (particularly sword and sorcery) and mythology (particularly Norse mythology and Greco-Roman mythology), as well as ...

Death

Craig Gruber died of prostate cancer in

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

on May 5, 2015, aged 63.

Discography

With Elf

* ''

Carolina County Ball ''Carolina County Ball'' is the second studio album by the rock band Elf, released as an LP in 1974 on the MGM label. It was released in the United States and Japan as ''L.A.59''. The album is the first to feature Craig Gruber on bass. Tra ...

'' (1974) (US title: ''L.A./59'') * ''

Trying to Burn the Sun ''Trying to Burn the Sun'' is the third and final studio album released by American rock group Elf, released in 1975. Track listing Personnel Elf * Ronnie James Dio - lead vocals * Steve Edwards - lead guitar * Mickey Lee Soule - keyboards ...

'' (1975) * ''

The Gargantuan Elf Album ''The Gargantuan Elf Album'' compiles Elf (band), Elf's second and third albums, ''Carolina County Ball'' and ''Trying to Burn the Sun'', with the exclusion of the song "Happy". Track listing # "Carolina County Ball" - 4:46 # "L.A. 59" - 4:21 # ...

'' (1978) compilation * ''

The Elf Albums ''The Elf Albums'' (Connoisseur VSOP CD 167) is a CD compilation released in 1994. It consists of Elf's second and third albums, '' Carolina County Ball'' (titled ''LA 59'' in the US) and ''Trying to Burn the Sun'', in their entirety on a single ...

'' (1991) compiles 1974 & 1975 albums

With Rainbow

* ''

'' (1975)

With Ozz

* ''No Prisoners'' (1980)

With
Bible Black is an eroge video game developed by ActiveSoft and published on July 14, 2000. Sei Shoujo is the original creator of the game's artwork, character design and penned the original script for the game. Milky Studio has since adapted the ga ...

* ''Bible Black'' (1981) * ''Ground Zero'' (1983)

With Gary Moore

* '' We Want Moore!'' (1984) * ''Blinder'' (Ca. 1984)

With The Rods

* ''Heavier Than Thou'' (1986)

References

1951 births 2015 deaths American rock bass guitarists American heavy metal bass guitarists American male bass guitarists Rainbow (rock band) members Black Sabbath members The Gary Moore Band members Deaths from prostate cancer Deaths from cancer in Florida American male guitarists 20th-century American bass guitarists Elf (band) members {{US-bass-guitarist-stub