My first introduction to Randy was in a pool hall while playing Asteroids, I was about 17. “I Don’t Know” blasted from a speaker above the game and I was listening and just floored by the song and the solo. I was an immediate fan and bought the album asap. For a friends birthday, I bought him the Blizzard cassette. Listening to the album repeatedly, the songs Mr. Crowley and Revelation had the most impact. The solos are so intense and electrifying and I listened over and over. My high school friend Tom Young played guitar and took pics at a lot of concerts. Tom went to the Day on the Green. We talked a few days later and he asked if I had heard of this ripping new guitar player in Ozzy’s band. Obviously I knew but I didn’t realize that Randy was being noticed by a few of my friends that played. Tom took a few pics of Randy at DOG. You have seen them. I bought Diary and at first listen couldn’t believe how killer Over the Mountain’s solo was. I knew the songwriting was better but I liked immediately Over the Mountain, SATO, and Diary. Weird is that I thought Flying High was a filler tune out of the whole LP, although the solo was amazing. I bought every Diary promo LP and there was a lot, sticker, patch, book that Randy was in or on and saved them. On 12/30/1981, I attended the 1st Diary show at the Cow Palace in SF. When we got there, the parking lot was full and the wildest I had ever seen. I have never seen the Cow Palace so full. Before the show, The front barrier broke and they asked the crowd to take a step back so they could fix it. The show was great and my brother and I were there for Mainly Randy. The show had a lot of technical difficulties. The opening song the curtain got caught on the lighting rig, so it was only partially taken down. The hand Ozzy was to come out in got stuck and they couldn’t get it back into the steps. The set was cut short as the encore was only Paranoid, Children of the Grave, and Iron Man were cut out. After the show I was greatly anticipating the next LP and tour but as we know the history, Randy fans would be disappointed. On the 2nd leg of the Diary tour, Ozzy came back in July. I talked to this kid that went to the Santa Cruz show in a very tiny venue and he got Randys pick. He kept it with him and he showed it to me, a fender medium with scratch marks all over it. When Randy’s guitar models were made, I kept my eyes open for their release date. I just happened to be going by Guitar Center in San Jose and they had a White Rhoads Custom serial #RR0004. I put it on layaway and bought it. I still have the warranty card from Jackson, I sold the guitar later and have no idea who owns it or where it is. I attended the US fest in 83 and the day before 3 of us went to Musonia and got there at 4pm. We went in like we were walking on holy land. Mrs. Rhoads asked if she could help us and she did. She answered any question we had for about 2 hours and took us on a tour of the school. She showed us Randy’s room as well. It was like we were in a dream. As a guitarist, no doubt that Randy was an influence. I have done many records with my bands and have done guest appearance work on different genres of music. I always remember Randy’s approach to soloing that I read in the magazines. Even today, I look at the chord structure and wonder how Randy would approach it and go from there. It is unbelievable that he is gone even after so many years have passed and with so little work recorded and he has influenced now generations of players. I wonder how this small little guy could play guitar so beautifully then have the most ferocious rip your head off solo lying ahead in a song. Only in our dreams can we imagine what his capabilities were and through his inspiration we may hear something from a guitarist that may remind us of him. Further, he still appears on magazine covers. Last, I want to say thank you to the Rhoads family, your son and brother has influenced countless guitarists and musicians. All the Rhoadies out there, I am glad to share this page with you and one day I will make it to one of the celebrations. I was at RRR backstage but missed many of you somehow. God Bless everybody. All the best Rick
Posted on: Tue, 07 Oct 2014 23:54:17 +0000
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