new Lee interview with Bravewords.com

[rokket]

....and I wonder if all of those thousands of Ozzy fans realise that without Bob, Randy and Lee, their favorite song wouldn't be 'Crazy Train", or "Suicide Solution", or any of the other songs on those albums, because they wouldn't exist.

[GUITARIDOL5682]

Just stumbled upon this is an excerpt from a December 2009 interview with Lee Kerslake by Ville Krannila & Kimmo Tattari on KK Downing's Steel Mill site.
If this is old news to some, I apologize in advance. It is new to me. I believe if one reads between the lines here, glimpses of Lee's gregarious personality can be identified. In my OPINION, this may be considered as a small piece of evidence as to why Lee 'rubbed Sharon' the wrong way. While Bob seems rather unassuming in his interviews, Lee sounds like he might have a bit of an ego going on. I read it as such, anyway. Obviously, you may not see it the same way. Note too, he identifies Mr. Arden as a crook, before he signed with him...

After you left Heep, they recorded one album in 1980 without you..
Yeah they did “Conquest” and I was doing my own solo album. Then I got a phone call from an agent for Black Sabbath in Germany. He said: “I’ve got a friend of yours, Ozzy Osbourne, who wants you to join his band.” I thought about it for a while and then asked “Well, who’s their manager?” And I found out it was Don Arden and thought: “Oh my God, the crook, the villain!” (laughs)
But I told them I would audition for them and they would audition for me and we’d see how we get on. I had never heard Randy (Rhoads) at that point. So we set up studios for rehearsal and as I didn’t know any of the songs I was given “Crazy Train” to learn before. And Randy started playing the riff and I went: “Whoaah! Yeah!!” (laughs). I thought to myself what a guitarist! It was mind boggling. Within two weeks we were in studio recording the first album. They had already written most of it but I put in a lot of arrangements, a lot of ideas, riffs and parts. 

With Ozzy Osbourne, you recorded two of his most classic solo albums: “Blizzard Of Ozz” and “Diary Of A Madman”.. 
Yes and I wrote the songs on “Diary Of A Madman” with Randy and Bob (Daisley). Then my mother fell seriously ill so I had to leave and take care of her. But that was a great time and those were great records. “Flyin’ High Again” was one of my ideas, “Over The Mountain” was another. The basic tracks were just Bob’s words, my vocals – though some of the words I wrote – and Randy’s playing. It was unreal. And then we got Don Airey to come in and do the keyboards. Soon after I was back out on the road with Uriah Heep in America. And suddenly the album was number 10 on the charts! We’d done it again!

Being on the road with Ozzy must have been an experience since he was a quite wild man? 
Yes he was wild guy, but I was only with him on the English tour. I didn’t go to America because before that we had a big fight with his wife Sharon and she got rid of me and Bob. It was really unfair but there you go, and that was that. And I’m really glad in one way because I probably would have been on that plane with Randy. I used to love flying, so I could have been killed. I wish Randy had never been on that plane either, I wish he never would have stayed with Ozzy. Because he was going to leave Ozzy, he was going to study classical music and would have wanted to work with me and Bob. And that would have been brilliant. But I didn’t know that until later on.

Still do you have great memories about being part of those two classic albums?  
Yes, I wrote a lot of them. I remember every minute. I remember there was a huge piano in the middle of the studio, I played something with it and Randy picked it up and a song would come out of it. And other times Randy would do a solo and I’d come up with an idea for it. We all helped each other out.

You returned to Uriah Heep for 1982’s “Abominog,” which was a heavy record.. 
Yeah, that was a great album. Geffen Records wanted Uriah Heep in America and that album was ready to go, but they didn’t want Gerry Bron. And Gerry just sniffed it. The album would have gone to top-10 but the way it went, it just died. It was such a shame. That album was a return back to real heavy rock.

That was an interesting read but i don't know what to make of your comment ?.
"While Bob seems rather unassuming in his interviews, Lee sounds like he might have a bit of an ego going on. I read it as such, anyway. Obviously, you may not see it the same way. Note too, he identifies Mr. Arden as a crook, before he signed with him..."
Lee has an ego ? how can you pick that up from reading an interview ?. Mr Arden was a crook. Yeah he would go to record companys and threaten people with menaces. He carried a gun all the time and he would take a team of heavies with him for back up. Very much like a gangster, he worshipped James Cagney the actor and i think he wanted to be very much like him as portrayed in his many type cast roles as a villian / crook / gangster. So to answer your question he was a villian, so Lee must of been a good judge of character.

[shred1]

A good judge of character? He identified Don Arden as a crook before signing on (figuratively), then worked for him on those two albums, with what appears to be unsigned contracts, trusting he would get paid. 30 years have gone by.

As to ego, well there are lots of 'I's and 'mys' in this interview. I'll give him credit for some of the success of those two albums, but not as much credit as he gives himself.

Listen to Head First by Uriah Heep. Bob and Lee and NO Randy, no Ozzy, no Don and Sharon - a wide open creative environment. It is a crap album. Terrible reallly. Don't know how one can go from such high quality material to such low quality, unless, of course, the reason those albums with Ozzy were so great was mostly because of Randy Rhoad's contribution.

You don't have to agree, but yes, I think Lee is a little full of himself.

[whoopiecat]

I honestly believe that the whole was greater than the sum of it's parts considering the Blizzard of Ozz Band Mach I. In my opinion, the best lineup.
Bob and Lee did not find any greater chart/ financial success after Ozzy. Nor did Ozzy reach those same musical heights again after those two albums. Ozzy has had chart and financial success, of course, but it was with the template that Bob, Lee and Randy had forged in shaping the band's sound.
Folks point to NMT as a major album, which it is, but this album was also the start of Ozzy bringing in outside writers. Aside from the title track, this album is more known for the three ballads.
To this day, Ozzy leans harder on the debut that NMT for his live setlist.
It's funny to think out of all his albums, Diary probably had the least played live, but it's still a major influence on guitarists and the genre of hard rock/ heavy metal.
This passage fromn the Sharpe-Young book says it best:
Two decades later an Ozzy confidante would observe "You could see that Randy's influence had simply stayed there with the band. That chugging, rhythmic guitar style of 'I Don't Know' and 'Crazy Train' virtually defined the sound of Ozzy and none of the guitarists afterwards could really step too much out of that mould. Each new player had a dynamic approach, but they had to incorporate aspects of Randy's style. Randy had really defined what an Ozzy riff was. Everyone involved was very concious of this and you could see it still there many, many years later-right up to 'No More Tears' that Randy style is still there."
They were just better when they were together. Everyone bought their A-game to the table and it is a shame that there wasn't a third album from this lineup.
Ozzy came close with BATM and NRFTW: two fine albums, but nothing Ozzy has done can or will supercede Blizzard and/or Diary, IMHO.
In short, Ozzy did his best work with those three guys, and Randy, Lee and Bob did their best wotk with Ozzy.

~T.

[electricmombie]

Well written and well said, whoopiecat.

As far as Lee Kerslake's ego, gregariousness, etc., sure; maybe he and Sharon clashed as personalities. It happens sometimes. I think what it came down to is that keeping a finer eye on the business side wasn't as important to anyone else within the Blizzard Of Ozz except for say, Don, Sharon, and, maybe, Ozzy..

Everyone wanted to jam, man! Coming up with something good, which of course, turned out to be 'Blizzard Of Ozz' and 'Diary Of A Madman'.

That original band was magical, and, indeed, created the ongoing foundation of Ozzy's solo career. Those two albums haven't been topped by anything else Bob, Ozzy or Lee have done since. It was The Chemistry of Bob, Lee, Ozzy and Randy that made everything what it was, and still is. Sharon's her father's daughter and wanted more control, which she got, unfortunately at the expense of the best rhythm section Ozzy would ever have again aside from Geezer Butler and Bill Ward in Sabbath.

Bob and Lee with Ozzy and Randy: incomparable and inimitable.

Magic & Chemistry.

It's just a shame it couldn't have developed further than two albums, but Thank God we even have that!

Cheers.


p.s.: My bad if I unwittingly reiterated your points there whoopiecat! Peace.

[shred1]

Uriah Heep brought in outside writers for Head First too.
They covered a Bryan Adams tune on there. And not very well I might ad.

Head First vs. Ozzmosis for example? I will take Ozzmosis - it is weak compared to the Blizzard classics, but is on a whole other level compared to Head First.

To this day, I wonder why the BOO rhythm section wasn't snapped up by someone else following on the success of those two albums - i.e. Whitesnake, MSG, or Rainbow perhaps. Nada.
The iron was hot for Bob and Lee back then, and they ended up in Heep - who were, commercially speaking, well past the best before date. The rhythm section that replaced them (Tommy and Rudy) were in demand after their Ozzy tenure, so much so, they were airlifted and dropped into Whitesnake. Slip Of The Tongue sold 4 million copies worldwide, and was considered a failure.

I agree totally with your comments whoopiecat. The one common denominator to 'great' works from Ozzy, Bob and Lee was Randy Rhoads.

It is the quantum drop in quality of Bob and Lee's output, post-Ozzy, that makes me second guess their importance on those two Ozzy albums.

'I don't work for you, you work for me'. Lee's gregariousness, in this instance, cost him, big time. I don't disagree with Sharon's decision in this instance, as she saw Lee as a liability for the upcoming tour, as they didn't like each other, and feared he would challenge her again and again once the US tour started. A cold personal decision, I agree, but the RIGHT business decision.

my thoughts

[rokket]

I'm not sure how many of the fans here have been in a band with a manager, but it does change the playing field a lot. I had the pleasure I seeing a band I had been in for two years fall apart only after a manager was installed into the equation. Sometimes it works well, sometimes it's a disaster. You often get one or two in the band who want to listen to the manager in all regards, and one or two that think the band should make the decisions concerning the "band" and the manager should stick to the business side, booking gigs, media etc etc.....thats when it becomes a problem. Even more so if a manager takes one person aside, usually the singer or lead guitarist, and say's..."you are the star in this band, you stick with me, we'll go places".......and it's usually true, but also can mean the end of a "band" situation.

I can only imagine what was going on in the Blizzard camp around that time, but what I imagine isn't probably far from what actually happened by the sound of it, after reading numerous stories.

[shred1]

Couldn't agree more rokket.

[Alex]

xx123456

[tedeeoo]

You know I've read all the stuff about Bob and Lee through the years and I hope what I'm about to say does not sell their contributions (esp. Bob's) short. If you really want to know who was responsible for those first 2 records sounding the way they did, you only have to look at the reason you are on this site, Randy Rhoads. Just ask this question, have any of the other participants in those records, including Ozzy, been able to re-create the songwriting or sounds that made those 2 records what they are? None of them have even come remotely close. It pains me to say that because I am a HUGE Jake E. Lee fan, but facts are facts. No one will ever make me believe that all of the riffs and song structures on those 2 records are not 100 percent Randy, vocal melodies, yeah whatever, but hard rock and heavy metal is driven by the guitar and in Ozzy's case it has always been driven by the guitar player. If you look at Ozzy's albums they are distinguished by what guitar player he had writing riffs at the time, be it Tony,Randy, Jake or Zakk.

Now, this has nothing to do with the legal aspects of Bob and Lee's contributions, that is completely different, and as I said it's not to sell Lee and Bob short, they played magnificient on those albums, all I'm saying is that if Ozzy had had Randy and anyone else writing lyrics, and any other great rythym section, we'd still be talking about how great those 2 records were because they are essentially Randy's records, his stamp and no one elses save for Ozzy's singing is all over them. Just my opinion, I know alot of you won't agree with me and that's okay, to each their own.

[sytharnia]

He did not want to go on with Ozzy as he wanted to stay with us. I said 'No you have to. The album is going to go through the roof.' I wished I hadn't said it now as he would still be here. Fate and destiny are frightening things.”

I wish Randy had never been on that plane either, I wish he never would have stayed with Ozzy. Because he was going to leave Ozzy, he was going to study classical music and would have wanted to work with me and Bob. And that would have been brilliant. But I didn’t know that until later on

he seems to contradict himself

[shred1]

That isn't the first time Lee has contradicted himself.. Also, he states his mother was ill and he had to leave. His other version of this was he got 'THE' call about the firing while he was vacationing. This is from Mick Wall's book.

He totally excludes Ozzy's participation in the writing completely.... which in my OPINION, is rubbish.

'Yes and I wrote the songs on “Diary Of A Madman” with Randy and Bob (Daisley).' He even puts himself in front of Randy and Bob's efforts.

Ozzy composes his melodies the same way Ian Gillan does - skatting 'gibberish' to shape the melody, then Bob would go back and pen lyrics to fit the shape.

The BATM 'demoes' on YouTube bear this out. Those classic BOO and DOAM melodies, I believe, are Ozzy's. The lyrics are Bob's. Lee will take credit for everything else.
Anyone ever hear his solo album?

And if he 'didn't find out until later' that Randy wanted to work with him, then I can assume that Randy didn't actually say it to him - face to face, or on the phone, while he was alive.

Hypothetically, if Rhoads was still alive and had the same royalty issues as Bob and Lee, I can't imagine that Randy's tracks would not have been replaced on those re-issues. Can you?

[GUITARIDOL5682]

Hypothetically, if Rhoads was still alive and had the same royalty issues as Bob and Lee, I can't imagine that Randy's tracks would not have been replaced on those re-issues. Can you?

Out of total respect to Randy because he wasn't here. But if he'd had an issue like Bob & Lee whats to say that Zakk wouldn't of replaced his guitar work ?. It's not like he couldn't do it ?. I was very surprised that someone would of replaced the rhythm section on those classic albums. So you could never speculate on an issue like this. It's not like Randy's parts are impossible to play.

[shred1]

Total speculation on my part of course, but, no, I don't think it would have happened.
His public profile was/is just too high. To the general public, and not us Blizzard zealots, Bob and Lee are kind of anonymous. Certainly not saying that is the way it should be either.
I mean they did pull it off (the re-issues) with the rogue rhythm section, but it would be just too obvious in the guitar department.

Randy was a 'star' in his own right, even before his tragic end. Bob and Lee are well respected in hard rock musical circles, but are basically unknown to the general public.

Duping a drum groove is one thing. Duping Rhoads is another. It would sound like, well Zakk playing Randy, which we have all heard before. He does sparkling renditions, and so did Jake.
I always thought Joe Holmes stayed closest to the original RR recordings, actually.

I don't even recognize the grooves that Bordin and Tommy C. have applied to the Ozzy standards.

cheers

[zennman]

Total speculation on my part of course, but, no, I don't think it would have happened.
His public profile was/is just too high. To the general public, and not us Blizzard zealots, Bob and Lee are kind of anonymous. Certainly not saying that is the way it should be either.
I mean they did pull it off (the re-issues) with the rogue rhythm section, but it would be just too obvious in the guitar department.

Randy was a 'star' in his own right, even before his tragic end. Bob and Lee are well respected in hard rock musical circles, but are basically unknown to the general public.

Duping a drum groove is one thing. Duping Rhoads is another. It would sound like, well Zakk playing Randy, which we have all heard before. He does sparkling renditions, and so did Jake.
I always thought Joe Holmes stayed closest to the original RR recordings, actually.

I don't even recognize the grooves that Bordin and Tommy C. have applied to the Ozzy standards.

cheers

I think it could have played out similar to how KISS handled it. They simply recut the songs with different players, sell them as something new & special, then only use those tracks to sell for commercials, promos, etc.... That's how all of the bands these days are doing it.