Ultimate Rhoads

NicDots wrote:Way to ruin this thread for the fans, guys.
Whatever.

RRfish wrote:Thanks for the pic of EVH and MJ classic! I love that pic.

Paul Wolfe wrote:

NicDots wrote:Way to ruin this thread for the fans, guys.
Whatever.

Sorry Nic, didn't mean to ruin this for you.

Michael had the foresight to have EVH play on a record that a lot of 'metalheads' never would have paid attention to. As a result, everybody wanted guitar solos on their records after that. To me that was brilliant.

Regardless of his 'off-the-wall' behavior at times, he did bring a lot to the table. The music world would be a different place without having had his input.

Michael Jackson kind, generous, thoughtful


Letters to the Editor

Published: June 28, 2009

My memories of Michael Jackson stem beyond buying his albums, watching his videos, concerts filled with crying men and women who loved him and the scandals and trials that drove him to move out of the country that once loved him.

Instead of all that, my tears of joy and mourning, I remember July 27, 1991, at Neverland Valley Ranch. It was Joseph Jackson Day, the Jacksons' father's birthday.

For years, the Jackson family hired my father, family, to cater Joseph Jackson Day. My father Fred Burrell, owner of Burrell's Rib Cage in Santa Ana, Calif., catered parties for many celebs and sports stars ranging from Reggie Jackson to Gene Autry.

Of them all, I remember Joseph Jackson Day with the Jackson family, meeting Janet Jackson and, God rest his soul, Michael.

He treated me, my father and my Grandmother, Cecelia Reinhardt, "Sissy" as Michael called her, with the utmost love and respect.

I was 20 at the time, and Michael showed me around the estate, before showing me his favorite video game in the arcade — Moonwalker.

Imagine that. He pulled his favorite chair in front of the game, showed me how to play it, then left the arcade.

Moments later, I see him and Janet laughing as they race golf carts down a long strip of paved road leading to and from the security checkpoint and the house at Neverland.

A monumental moment, followed by getting his autograph, then Marlon's and Jackie's autographs later on that day. I still have the autographed menu of the food we served from that day, in plastic.

I never did get Janet's, because she had to fly out somewhere, leaving in a helicopter that landed in an open space on the property.

I remember her mother, Catherine, laughing at me as we ate jelly beans in the kitchen. My jaw dropped watching Janet pass through the kitchen, then out a side door to fly away. She knew I was in awe of her daughter.

Michael bragged about my grandmother's peach cobbler, her warmth and love. He never forgot my grandmother, a Hickory native who passed away here at 83.

When he heard the news, through my father and his publicist, Michael sent a huge flower arrangement from halfway around the world to her funeral.

After the funeral, it took an hour or so just to break it down, using every vase and cup to put the flowers in. My aunt, Martha Boston, who lives in Hickory, still has that card.

Needless to say, Michael's death hit me like a ton of bricks.

People got paid millions after wrongfully putting their kids through ordeals to lie to get money from a man who would've given them the money if they needed it.

It's funny how nobody accused him of sleeping with kids in Africa or other countries where he simply camped out with kids who had nothing — nothing but true love for the man, as I do.

I had what the media and millions of other people wished they had the chance to do, and that's spend time with him.

No media, crowds or fans, just my father, grandmother, the Jackson family and Michael. These are my memories.

Rest In Peace Michael, and thank you so much.