Mickey Lee Soule (June 6, 1946 in

Cortland, New York Cortland is a city and the county seat of Cortland County, New York. Known as the Crown City, Cortland is in New York's Southern Tier region. As of the 2020 census it had a population of 17,556. The city of Cortland, near the county's western ...

) is an American musician. He was the keyboard player for New York hard rock band

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 ...

and a founding member of

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 ...

. Soule had a band in the mid-1960s until he was drafted into the army. After his honorable discharge he joined The Elves after the band's original keyboardist, Doug Thaler, was severely injured in a car accident that killed guitarist Nick Pantas. In the first years of the 1970s, The Elves (after 1972 known simply as Elf) enjoyed minor success as a consistent opening act for Deep Purple. That connection to Deep Purple opened up the opportunity for Soule (and 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 ...

) to participate in

Roger Glover Roger David Glover (born 30 November 1945) is a Welsh bassist, songwriter, and record producer. He is best known as the member of the hard rock bands Deep Purple and Rainbow. As a member of Deep Purple, Glover was inducted into the Rock and R ...

's 1974

concept album A concept album is an album whose tracks hold a larger purpose or meaning collectively than they do individually. This is typically achieved through a single central narrative or theme, which can be instrumental, compositional, or lyrical. So ...

The Butterfly Ball and the Grasshopper's Feast ''The Butterfly Ball and the Grasshopper's Feast'' is a concept album and subsequent live rock opera appearing in 1974 and 1975 respectively, based on the children's poem of a similar title. The album cover design is from Alan Aldridge's desig ...

''. In addition to co-writing credits on two songs, Soule also sang the lead vocals on the song "No Solution". Soule and Glover would work together sporadically in the years following. In early 1975, Soule and the rest of Elf (minus guitarist Steve Edwards) transformed into

, featuring Deep Purple guitarist

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 guit ...

. During this time the third and final Elf album, ''

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, ...

'', was recorded when the former Elf were not in the studio recording Rainbow's debut album. Elf had effectively dissolved by the time that album was released as the members hoped to continue with Blackmore. However, following the recording of the Rainbow album, Blackmore gradually fired the entire line up with the exception of

Dio Dio may refer to: Given name ''Dio'' or ''Dion'', masculine given name * Dio of Alexandria, Greek philosopher and ambassador (1st century BC) * Dio Chrysostom, Roman philosopher (AD 40–120) * Cassius Dio, Roman historian (AD 160–230) * ...

before Rainbow had begun to tour. In 1976 Soule toured

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan ar ...

with the

Ian Gillan Band The Ian Gillan Band were an English progressive jazz-rock band formed by singer Ian Gillan of Deep Purple in 1975. History After leaving Deep Purple in June 1973, Ian Gillan had retired from the music business to pursue other business venture ...

. Soule continues to play locally in New York. In 1996, Mickey Lee Soule started working as a keyboard tech for Deep Purple's Jon Lord, later he became bass tech for Roger Glover until he retired from touring in 2014. He began working for Roger Glover and Deep Purple again in 2016.

Discography

With Elf * 1972 - ''

'' * 1974 - ''

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. Tr ...

'' * 1975 - ''

'' With Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow * 1975 - ''

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 ...

'' With Ian Gillan Band * 2003 - ''Rarities 1975-1977'' Other * 1974 -

- ''

'' * 1978 - Roger Glover - ''

Elements Element or elements may refer to: Science * Chemical element, a pure substance of one type of atom * Heating element, a device that generates heat by electrical resistance * Orbital elements, parameters required to identify a specific orbit of ...

'' * 1982 -

Eddie Hardin Eddie Hardin (19 February 1949 – 22 July 2015) was an English rock pianist and singer-songwriter. Born Edward Harding, he was best known for his associations with the Spencer Davis Group, Axis Point, and Hardin & York. Hardin, along with the ...

- ''Circumstantial Evidence'' * 1990 - A'LA Rock - ''Indulge'' * 2000 - Deep Purple - ''

In Concert with The London Symphony Orchestra ''In Concert with The London Symphony Orchestra'' (also cited as ''In Concert with The London Symphony Orchestra Conducted by Paul Mann'') is a live album and DVD by the British hard rock band Deep Purple, recorded on 25–26 September 1999 ...

'' * 2002 - Roger Glover - ''

Snapshot Snapshot, snapshots or snap shot may refer to: * Snapshot (photography), a photograph taken without preparation Computing * Snapshot (computer storage), the state of a system at a particular point in time * Snapshot (file format) or SNP, a file ...

'' * 2006 -

Ian Gillan Ian Gillan (born 19 August 1945) is a British singer who is best known as the lead singer and lyricist for the rock band Deep Purple. He is known for his powerful and wide-ranging singing voice. Initially influenced by Elvis Presley, Gillan ...

- ''

Gillan's Inn ''Gillan's Inn'' is an album by Ian Gillan in celebration of his 40 years as a singer. The first release was a DualDisc composed of both a CD and a DVD side. The CD featured re-recorded tracks from all eras of Ian Gillan's singing career. In ...

'' * 2011 - Roger Glover - ''

If Life Was Easy ''If Life Was Easy'' is the fifth solo album by Deep Purple's bass player Roger Glover released by earMusic/edel on July 11, 2011. The album was recorded in 2007 but due to personal reasons it wasn't released until 2011. Like its predecessor, ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Soule, Mickey Lee Rainbow (rock band) members American heavy metal keyboardists American rock keyboardists Musicians from New York (state) People from Cortland, New York 1946 births Living people Elf (band) members Ian Gillan Band members 20th-century American keyboardists