Ozzy and John Sykes

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tedeeoo
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Ozzy and John Sykes

Post by tedeeoo »

I read somewhere that after Randy died, Ozzy tried to get John Sykes as his guitar player and that for some reason it didn't work out. Can anyone here tell me if that is true and if it is, why it didn't work out. Also, give your opinion (if you want to) on how you think that would have sounded if he (Sykes) had ended up with Ozzy.
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Post by Paul Wolfe »

It didn't work out because the amount of money Sykes wanted was considered outrageous by Ozzy if I recall the story correctly... of course seeing as how things went with Bob and Lee, it could have been a reasonable price that Sharon wasn't willing to pay.

If I recall correctly also, Sykes was in Thin Lizzy until '84, so that would have been awkward as well.

Personally, I think he'd have been a great replacement for Randy. John Sykes is an incredible player.
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Post by GUITARIDOL5682 »

I've just had to look in the Ozzy Blizzard 'Bible' Rock Detector it is a wealth of knowledge. Around about the same time as John Sykes decision not to play with Ozzy. As he had returned to England after being offered the Thin Lizzy gig, but he did audition for Ozzy. As well as the likes of Pat Travers offering his services. Gary Moore and Michael Schenker who both said No under the circumstances of Randy's death. But Schenker has said in later interviews that he did regret turning down the offer.
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Post by GUITARIDOL5682 »

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Last edited by GUITARIDOL5682 on Sat Oct 31, 2009 2:53 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by tedeeoo »

If I remember right, Sykes also asked for a large amount of money to play for Whitesnake thinking that they would not pay it and he would continue on with Phil Lynott. I think this was post Thin Lizzy if I remember right, I also remember him saying that Phil encouraged him to do other things. I think John would have been interesting for several reasons, one, he was/is an obvious superstar on stage as is required for the Ozzy gig. I also have always thought that he really preferred to play heavier music than what some of the bands he played for are known for, although he plays everything extremely well. And for some reason I've always thought that Ozzy's voice would have went real well with Sykes style, Ozzy at times has a "bluesy" tinge to his vocals and I could really hear him singing over something like "Still Of The Night". Could have really been interesting. I can't really hear Gary Moore or Pat Travers in Ozzy's band, Schenker could have pulled it off though. Of course all that being said, I honestly can't imagine another guitar player besides Jake E. Lee ending up in Ozzy's band. I don't think anyone could have done a better job of keeping Randy's legacy intact while at the same time establishing his own as Jake did. And I really can't imagine the 87 Whitesnake album without John Sykes, would have been real interesting though.
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Post by GUITARIDOL5682 »

One thing that really amazed me with John Sykes was his singing. When he decided to do the Thin Lizzy project. I always thought Thin Lizzy could never be the same without Phil Lynott. I was a big fan and when Phil died so did Thin Lizzy. So i decided to go and see them back in 2003 i thought they would be like watching a tribute band.. how wrong was i. He sung those Lizzy songs as good as Phil and they went down a storm.
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Post by tedeeoo »

John's singing ability would have been the one reason I could see him not staying with Ozzy very long, he (Sykes) is just to much of a star in his own right. The 2 Blue Murder albums he did were just great, if you have never heard "Nothin But Trouble" (the 2nd BM record), it is well worth searching out, his playing is just off the chart on that record. "Bad Boys Live", the Sykes record he did with Tommy Aldridge and Marco Mendoza shows John at his very best, he does his versions of Whitesnake and Thin Lizzy material as well as Blue Murder and Sykes songs and it just smokes. I have a dvd of Sykes in Los Angelos and it is just killer also. I can't wait to hear his new stuff, I am hoping that Tommy Aldridge will still be his drummer although a Blue Murder reunion with Carmine and Tony would be good too. Of course the dream would be "one night only, Whitesnake with special guest John Sykes" but that has about as much of a chance of happening as Jake rejoining Ozzy!!
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Post by Paul Wolfe »

Never heard the second Blue Murder record, but the first one was great. Ptolemy and Valley of the Kings were very cool and MTV picked up on Jelly Roll - I thought that song was going to make John Sykes the 'next big thing'.

My first experience with him was the Spellbound record by Tygers of Pan Tang...
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Post by tedeeoo »

I have "Spellbound" by Tygers and it is great just for the fact that it is a young and raw (if that is the right word) John Sykes. I did not even know that Blue Murder had done a second record until I got my Iphone (this year) and heard their remake of "Itchcoo Park" on Pandora. The thing that jumps out at me on this album is John's note choice, every note he plays just kills because it fits the song perfectly. In that respect, it reminds me of one of my earliest influences, Mr. Neal Schon (my older sister was a huge Journey fan), who has always had just impeccable note choice. I love the first Blue Murder album also, the main riff on the song "Blue Murder" is just a heavy and killer as "Still Of The Night" to me. I also like "Valley Of The Kings" and "Black Hearted Woman". Speaking of Neal Schon, did any of you see Journey at Download this past year? They showed part of their set on VH1 Classic and they just killed everyone, the only other band that I saw that was remotely in their league (as far as crowd response) was Slipknot.
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Post by McLowery »

Paul Wolfe wrote:Never heard the second Blue Murder record, but the first one was great. Ptolemy and Valley of the Kings were very cool and MTV picked up on Jelly Roll - I thought that song was going to make John Sykes the 'next big thing'.

My first experience with him was the Spellbound record by Tygers of Pan Tang...
Yeah, that first Blue Murder album was awesome! Bob Rock I think produced it too, he got a monster guitar sound on it!

I've always thought Ozzy and Sykes would have made a great sounding Ozzy album. It's just that, Sykes is quite impressed by himself and too demanding as a hired gun, so to speak.
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Post by tedeeoo »

Never really had the impression that Sykes was to stuck on himself, considering everything he has done and all the accolades he recieves from both fans and peers, but you never know. At any rate, he is a great guitarist and singer and although I think it could have been a great pairing, I could not see him staying with Ozzy for very long. Plus, like I said before, I really can't envision anyone doing a better job than Jake E. Lee did in that position. I was reading an older interview with Bob Daisley last night and he said he thought Jake did a really good job of keeping Randy's spirit intact while creating his (Jake's) own identity (or something to that effect). That speaks volumes coming from someone like Bob (I know I'm drifting from the original subject of my post), who has played with all 3 of Ozzy's major guitar players (RR,JEL,ZW) as well as some of his lesser known ones. His story about how Steve Vai came to not be in Ozzy could be a whole post unto itself. It's funny how Sykes could have been with Ozzy and ended up with Whitesnake and how Jake was asked at one point to be part of WS after Coverdale canned Sykes, and then Vai ended up with WS and later did not work out with Ozzy, and then Jake was asked to come back to Ozzy but declined (my timeline may not be correct).
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Post by Paul Wolfe »

I always saw Sykes as self-confident, not stuck on himself. To me, he knows that he has talent because he has spent years developing it. He also has the self confidence to not allow someone like Sharon Osbourne to push him around. So his time with Ozzy would have been short.

We are used to hearing about how humble guitar players are in regards to their own playing (Schenker is like that, Randy was like that, Satriani is like that), so when someone is confident in their ability it comes off as arrogant. at least that's my take.
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Re: Ozzy and John Sykes

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you need to be arrogant to succeed ;)
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