Craig Gruber (Rainbow / Gary Moore), RIP

The death of bassist Craig Gruber has been announced at the age of just 63. Craig formally entered the Deep Purple Family Tree forty years ago, when Rainbow began recording their debut album in Germany.  He had been a member of Elf in 1974, the band then (having been spotted by Messers Glover and Paice), supported Purple on American, UK and European shows.
Craig appeared on the second and third Elf albums, after Ronnie Dio decided he wanted to relinquish his bass work and concentrate on singing.  Both these albums are well worth a listen.
Ritchie Blackmore then invited the band to help him on some session work and later (less their guitarist) form the first official line-up of Rainbow.  They recorded the first Rainbow album in early 1975 but by the time it was released the following Autumn, Ritchie and Ronnie had dispensed with the rest of the group and assembled a new line-up to tour. Nevertheless Craig’s skilful bass work remains on the album, and his role in the formation of Rainbow is now part of the band’s history.
Following these changes, Craig continued to work as a musician with a number of bands, including a spell with Gary Moore, work with Black Sabbath , and even designing a range of custom made bass guitars. He is the third member of Elf (and the first Rainbow album line-up) to pass away. Drummer Gary Driscoll died in 1987 and Ronnie Dio in 2010.

More info on Darker Than Blue.