hard to believe its been that long

Heard "I Don't Know" on the radio yesterday and thought of Randy. What a talent!

Saw Randy and Ozzy on the first album tour on 8/14/1981 at the Nassau Coliseum.

There's an excellent cover story on Randy in the most recent issue of Classic Rock magazine. I think it was the March issue, which may still be on newsstands.

Randy Rhoads.

Fixed.

Man, how time flies! I still love the stuff he did with Ozzy.

It boggles the mind to think what he would have done had he lived.

I'm gonna have to honor Mr. Rhoads with a little listening later.

Listened to all of his Ozzy stuff today, and even Quiet Riot I.

Man, what an influence he was. Saw him on the Diary tour, and I'd love to say how blown away I was, but truth be told, I remember very little about the show other than constantly moving around trying to find a place where we could see. It was one of the first half-house shows at the Civic Arena, and the bugs weren't all worked out. About three weeks later, I heard about the plane crash on the news.

Hard to believe that the bulk of his reputation is based on little more than an hour of recorded material. We can only imagine where he'd have gone with things. Ozzy would have been a rock and roll footnote post-Sabbath - in my mind, his post-Randy stuff pales in comparison (and I like the Jake E. Lee stuff). And in today's world, it's hard to believe how little had been written and published about him at the time of his death, and how hard info was to come by. I still remember being thrilled when Star Licks released a tape with 20 whole licks (not songs, not solos, LICKS). I spent hours trying to learn that stuff. Some day I may even be able to play some of it.

The sad thing is there's precious little live video footage - it was a different world back then, kiddies. I went through two or three bootlegs of the After Hours set before the box set was released last year. They were due to televise an Ozzy show just a few weeks after the crash - they eventually did the show with Brad Gillis, but damn, how close we came.

The hardest thing today is not jumping on the Internet and ordering a Jackson Rhoads model (or one of the tributes I've found).

RIP, my brother, RIP.

Alan

It is so sad what happened. Randy saved Ozzy from despair and reinvigorated him to heights where they could have been THE best metal band in the 80's and that saying allot. But it was not to be. I know some will not like me saying this but I think he took what Eddie Van Halen did and then to the next level. Again, just my IMO.

God Bless you Randy, gone but never forgotten.

Rick A.

31 years ago today. Man does time fly by.

Hell I agree with that completely. If Randy hadn't died prematuraley he would've been the undisputed guitar god of the 80's.

A very good case could be made that RR was the BEST metal guitarist ever.

I personally could come close to copying Van Halen licks, but I didn't even bother with Rhodes; his playing was miles beyond my skill level.

And back in the day, Eddie used to claim that Randy was copying him.

I remember a Musician interview a few months after Rhoads' death and Eddie's comment went something like "He did me to the bone, God bless him."

Really? Did he really say that? That's insane. Randy only made two albums and depsite that many have said he was the better guitarist between the both of them (which I'm inclined to agree with).

IMO, the 2 styles are not even close. EVH uses a ton of one handed hammer ons, where as RR played weird ass melodies at the speed of light.

I don't mean my comments as an anti EVH rant; but as a RR was freakin' amazing statement.

Actually while I consider them quite disposable, RR was also the guitarist on a couple Japan only Quiet Riot albums before he hooked up with Ozzy.

Yes, he did. I remember it distinctly.

Oh I believe ya mate. I've never been a Van Halen fan. You think that I would. When I was hardcore into Metal and guitar heroics (Steve Vai, Joe Satriani, Ynwie Malmsteen) I still couldn't feel VH. Eddies an amazing virtuoso guitarist but I just couldn't dig his music. Statements like Rhodes is copying him makes me glad I didn't.

Eddie is a head case, no doubt, but I still enjoy his music. My respect for him as a person has diminished over the years, particularly in response to how he's mistreated some former band members over the years. I was reading a guitar world interview from 1982 and even then, he was bashing VH bassist Michael Anthony, accusing him of not pulling his weight and essentially getting a free ride as a member of VH. I guess there was always a nasty side to Eddie, but I didn't take notice of it back in the day.

Funny you should say that - I can relate to Rhoads' playing a lot more than Eddie's. Not that I approach his level. And I did put far more time into trying to cop Randy's stuff than Eddie's. I can get reasonably close on some stuff, but when I sit down and try to work with the transcriptions, wow. But I think Randy showed more growth over the two Ozzy albums, even though they were recorded close together, than Eddie has. And if you factor in the Quiet Riot albums, it's not even close. It's heartbreaking to think of what he might have done in a few more years.

Two books on Randy have come out in the last year. There's one that is focused more on the Ozzy years that I have - it's a wonderful book, and the kind of document I never imagined I'd ever see about Randy. It is pricey, though, and is also the subject of a lawsuit by the Rhoads family (who are reportedly less than pleased that Randy is not portrayed as the mythical being he came to be after his death - supposedly that's why the documentary was killed, and this book is based on some of the same sources). The second focuses on the Quiet Riot years and comes with a DVD. I haven't picked that one up yet, but it's said to be very good as well. Again, a bit pricey though (but about $30 shy of the other book).

And rumor is that Bob Daisley's book should be released this year. Daisley's battles with the Osbournes have been well-documented, so I'd expect this will fill in some of the gaps. Daisley reportedly pulled his involvement with the documentary (and thus the book), so it'll be interesting to see what dirt is tossed.

I treated the neighborhood to Blizzard and Diary today. Why not?

I didn't even try to cop RR's licks, I felt he was just too far beyond my skill level. Again, I also couldn't do EVH note for note, but I could come close enough that the drunks in the audience were happy.

33 years today. Already have the CDs queued up for this afternoon (and I've told my son I'll leave the basketball tournament on, but the CDs will be playing).