Ultimate Rhoads

Classic Rock Revisited: MOTÖRHEAD were the support act for Ozzy [Osbourne] back on the "Blizzard Of Ozz" tour. I am a huge fan of Randy Rhoads. What was he really like?

Lemmy: He was really a good guy. I never could get over how incredibly little he was. He was little like Ronnie James Dio, they were little guys but they had a lot of heart. You would never believe that voice came out of Ronnie James' s body. It was the same way with Randy because he had small hands because he was a little fellow. Boy, could he play guitar. He became an even better guitar player after he died. It is a well-known mystery that guitar players suddenly get better once they are dead. Buddy Holly was the first. Stevie Ray Vaughan is known by a lot more people than had ever heard of him when he was alive.




Now before anyone gets pissed, it's clear that Lemmy isn't bashing Randy. But what do you all think about the idea that guitar players get better once they are dead? I agree with Lemmy's statement but i don't think its just guitar players. I think its just people in general. Seems like after someone passes we only remember the positives... and thats not really a bad thing. Whats your thoughts?

A perfect example of this is the late Gary Moore who was and still is remarkable guitarist and it just amazes me how many people don't know who this guy is. Mainly younger people who are getting into music. As far as legends go and the players who have passed on Hendrix, Morrison, John Bonham etc. Someone like John Bonham, is a good example and his style of playing back in the 70's was copied and admired by many respected drummers. But the style of people's playing now in comparison. They would leave Bonham standing people like Dream Theatre's Mike Portnoy who is a demon player to watch. Rush's Neil Peart is a drummer who has just getting better and better. The point you made about people who sadly die and become more noticed. If the style of the persons playing is modern and doesn't sound dated why would you brush them under the carpet. It would be interesting to see if people like Gary Moore are still talked about or if they do become more popular. Because of the media attention that they become heard of by everyone in the news etc when they do die. Would that make someone go out and by Gary Moore's back catalogue ?.

Worked for Dio!! Dio was popular before death.. but after his death Holy Diver re-entered the top 200. Now people revere him as if he were Ozzy or something. hahahaha.. cheap joke.

Lemmy's got it right and I see nothing bad in his comment. Same thing happened to Jimi, Dime & SRV - very popular and talented players alive but guitar legends after death.

SRV is a great player. In my opinion, his death hasn't glorified him as much as it should have. He was one of the best blues players I've ever heard.

I get what Lemmy is saying and there's some truth to it with the albums sales going up after death, but you've gotta be quality to begin with. Randy wrote music that people are happy to listen to all these years later because it's great and worked perfectly for those songs. If he were still alive he would've improved far beyond how he's remembered, so I think it's a bit cynical to say people are remembered better after death-might be more true in politics or business though. IMO often enough in music it's people who are outstanding in some way who go first-Jimi, Cliff, Bonham etc. and people remember Holly 50 years on mainly cos he wrote great songs, not just cos they're being nice to his memory.

Nor did dying bolster the career of Duane Allman, another brilliant blues player whose output paralled Randy's: 2.5 studio albums, 1 monumental live album and a tragic death in his early twenties.
Eric Clapton even admitted had Duane not shown up and participated, the Layla album would not be what it went on to become. I doubt many folks know that it is Allman and not Clapton who came up with the signature riff of the title track, or that the glass slide bird cries that accompany the piano during the epic outro were his.
That man will be gone 40 years come this October and there is ZERO available footage of him, yet the ABB were practically the house band at Bill Graham's Fillmore East.
It seems you become more of a legend posthumously if you were to die by your own hand, (Cobain, Hendrix, Morrison, Joplin), as opposed to dying tragically in an accident, (Rhoads, Allman, Cliff Burton, Steve Gaines.)

T.

I get what Lemmy is saying.. he's right when most famous musicians die they get even better and bigger

i like lemmy he says the truth weather you like it or not...i didnt find anything wrong with what he was was conveying at all...i think he really liked randy as a person foremost,and that says alot.

I think that what Lemmy is saying is people pay more attention to the playing (it is studied more) after a player has died. Randy's playing has been dissected for 30 years now, picking out every little nuance.

As for "people" not knowing Gary Moore, when was his last Top 40 pop hit? The general public are only aware of those with Top 40 pop hits... sad but true. In addition, how many people can name any guitar players? The general public is simply unaware of who makes the music.

I disagree. I think Randy was just discovering his potential. I think he would have blown the music community away with his material had he lived. I think he would have a lot MORE attention had he lived, and been a much better player. Listen to his early playing with QR, then an early UK show with Ozzy, then a late 81 show, to hear how his playing kept getting more energetic and creative.

I mean, him dying certainly created the "legend" that exists today, but I think he would have been an even bigger force in music if he were still with us.

AceVader wrote:I disagree. I think Randy was just discovering his potential. I think he would have blown the music community away with his material had he lived. I think he would have a lot MORE attention had he lived, and been a much better player. Listen to his early playing with QR, then an early UK show with Ozzy, then a late 81 show, to hear how his playing kept getting more energetic and creative.

I mean, him dying certainly created the "legend" that exists today, but I think he would have been an even bigger force in music if he were still with us.

I agree with AceVader. I don't look at Randy any differently now than I did before when he was still with us. I can see someone becoming larger than life after a death, but I think we all just really got to know Randy on a more personal level after all that has been shared over the years. I always thought his playing was phenomenal and Randy definitely would have been even greater had he lived. I understand what Lemmy said, but I don't feel that applies to Randy. What about Criss Oliva from Savatage? He died tragically at a young age and he hasn't become a huge legend. I always liked his playing. I don't see Criss getting mentioned much or becoming better.

WTF on the login security measures? I couldn't read the codes that well and I didn't know if it was case sensitive or why I wasn't getting in, sorry for off topic.

I understand when a person as special (too me he's just as amazing now as when I first heard him) as Randy was, dies, it's a tragic and difficult time, even if you didn't know him-know him. When they pass they are instantly frozen in time. Randy will never be old, fat, losing his mane, a has been (That is hard to imagine) because his isn't with us. If anyone ever held an angelic ghost of talent and what-could-be it was Randy. Bottom line:Rhoads had the chops. There are a lot of styles of music and it's great to have different tastes and influences but I've never heard another guitar player attack or approach it like Randy did. So his legend is true!

AceVader wrote:I disagree. I think Randy was just discovering his potential. I think he would have blown the music community away with his material had he lived. I think he would have a lot MORE attention had he lived, and been a much better player. Listen to his early playing with QR, then an early UK show with Ozzy, then a late 81 show, to hear how his playing kept getting more energetic and creative.

I mean, him dying certainly created the "legend" that exists today, but I think he would have been an even bigger force in music if he were still with us.

WEll guys, just imagine what we would have said of Eddie Van Halen if he died?? @OH MAN, i'M sure he would have blown us away with technique and rule the world for 20years etc etc@

What EDDIE had become??

With the little we know of Randy, my personnal opinion is that he would have vanished and playing and studying classical music.. (ya, with one or 2 solo album)

Silver Rhoads wrote:

AceVader wrote:What about Criss Oliva from Savatage? He died tragically at a young age and he hasn't become a huge legend. I always liked his playing. I don't see Criss getting mentioned much or becoming better.

well randy was in a slightly bigger "name" band than criss....to a degree outside of the metal community randy is still an unknown name as well