George Lynch reflects on Randy & Musonia

Talk about Randy Rhoads here.

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devorerd
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George Lynch reflects on Randy & Musonia

Post by devorerd »

Enjoy

LRI: I have to ask, you’ve talked about your interaction with my all time favorite guitarist, Randy Rhoads. I worked with Kelly Garni on some quote gathering and editing for his upcoming book talking about growing up with Randy and was just wondering, what was the extent of your relationship with Randy?

George: Well, I gotta be honest with you, we were not like best friends or anything, it was more like casual acquaintances. We would play shows together, share a dressing room, hang out and talk. He liked the way I played and we shared a mutual respect in that sense but we didn’t know each other much beyond that. He was obviously on the radar in the Hollywood scene before breaking out but I didn’t understand or have an appreciation for how deep of a player he was until he went to England and made the records with Ozzy. At that point, I took over his teaching duties at Musonia, his mom’s school and really started delving into the repertoire of what Randy had actually recorded. Of course when I later auditioned for Ozzy it gave me an even greater appreciation for the complexity and depth of his compositions.

LRI: We also have an interview with Kelle Rhoads coming up and the history of his mom’s school is real interesting. Was that time spent working at Musonia as a teacher something you look back fondly on?

George: Yes, first and foremost for the purely selfish reason that it flat out made me a better player. When you’re sitting in the saddle for six hours a day teaching you kind of naturally become a better all-around player and hopefully your students do too (laughs).


Exterior sign at the Rhoads family school where George Lynch once taught
LRI: You’re such a monster player that I don’t believe you totally but you’ve made mention in other interviews that you weren’t technically the best player in terms of knowledge of theory or technical music. Was that aspect of musical theory and instruction challenging to you in terms of teaching?

George: Well, teaching was a job. In the same sense that a plumber has a job and a truck driver has a job it was a situation where I had become a guitar player by trade and Delores had given me an opportunity to make money doing something I do. It also made my playing better, like I said and yeah, forced me to learn things I didn’t know during the time when I was teaching. I would be forced to have to explain things that I didn’t understand (laughs). I would have to learn them so I could properly explain them. I would have to actually stop and think and dissect what it was that I was playing when a student asked me something like, “Well, what IS that?”. Before I began teaching I would just play whatever came to mind without thinking about or dissecting any of it. To be honest, I didn’t really understand any of what I was playing. Teaching made me actually think about what it was that I was doing which is something of a double-edged sword. From the creative end of it, there is something of a beauty in the mystery of not knowing what it is you’re doing and I do like things to remain mysterious. It’s nice being able to speak the language without understanding why you can speak it, it’s exciting. When you start to understand the rules then you’re confined by the rules. That’s the catch-22.

LRI: Much has been made of Randy’s distaste for Black Sabbath’s music. When you auditioned for Ozzy were you a fan of those classic Sabbath songs?

George: Oh sure. I mean, I had a Black Sabbath poster hanging on my wall in the early 70s and my band played Sabbath songs. I can remember the first album coming out and blowing our minds and the Paranoid album and all of that, that was the material we cut our teeth on and learned from.


I like how George refers to Randy's compositions...No doubt!..The rolling scale passages in Crowley & Believer, the answer call licks in Crazy & Over the mountain and the flattened 5th's of DOMM...timeless.
Paul Wolfe
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Re: George Lynch reflects on Randy & Musonia

Post by Paul Wolfe »

Very cool read, thanks for posting...
dfanucci
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Re: George Lynch reflects on Randy & Musonia

Post by dfanucci »

I've been lucky enough to meet George a couple times, starting way back in the late 80's and he has always been a really cool guy. Great to read this.

Favorite story of George:

He played a show back in the early 90's in my hometown. There was a hotel in town that every band that came through stayed at. Lynch and Rhoads were my favorites and I just had to meet the guy. I went into the restaurant after Lynch Mob played and he was there eating. I felt like absolute crap wanting to disturb him, but he was my favorite after all. I walked up and asked him "Mr Lynch, I enjoyed your show tonight and was wondering what you thought of our town?" He was very, very, courteous and answered positively. I then asked if he would mind signing my Lynch Mob CD. He replied "Sure thing" and signed it. It still hangs on a wall in my office.

Side note: Met Mick Brown (the drummer) that night as well, and there is a reason they call him "Wild" Mick Brown. lol
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