Don Airey Interview

[Paul Wolfe]

It's new to me...

Here...

[GUITARIDOL5682]

Thats another reason to support Bob & Lee when a fellow band mate is giving them both praise. For everyone who likes to wave the banner of 'Bob's full of shit'. Why would a guy who played in the band with him say such words. Cheers for posting that up Paul .

[Paul Wolfe]

Love the part where he says that in the beginning it was a band called Blizzard of Ozz and the further along it went the more it became Ozzy.

[axeman_12656]

For everyone who likes to wave the banner of 'Bob's full of shit'. .

I don't think anyone really denies how important Bob and Lee were. I think to some, me included, it SEEMS like Bob wants ALL the credit these days.

It's like, Bob isn't given his due... But he doesn't give his due to the others either.

[Sky]

For everyone who likes to wave the banner of 'Bob's full of shit'. .

I don't think anyone really denies how important Bob and Lee were. I think to some, me included, it SEEMS like Bob wants ALL the credit these days.

It's like, Bob isn't given his due... But he doesn't give his due to the others either.

Please give examples, because from what I've read, Bob does give others their due.

[axeman_12656]

Please give examples, because from what I've read, Bob does give others their due.

Why don't you give examples of when he does. lol (Joking. all in good fun)

in an interview a few months back Bob even lead on about how critcal he was in helping RANDY write his guitar parts. I don't for a second pretend that they all didn't give opinions on the guitar parts to help build the songs. But i find it hard to believe Bob was the creative genius behind Randy's playing.

Bob doesn't give Ozzy credit for any of it. The little credit he does give is half assed. "Ozzy did write the line WINE IS FINE BUT WHISKEYS QUICKER. I wrote everything else". Maybe that is true for the lyrics. Doesn't mean Ozzy didn't help out. Of course we know the melodies were Ozzy's. I'm not gonna sit here all day looking up 10 year old interviews. But Ozzy had a hand in writtig those songs also. And I know and agree, Ozzy and Sharon don't want us to know Bob wrote anything. It's going both ways. And I don't like it anymore than anyone else does. truth is together the 3 of them wrote Blizzard Of Ozz. Together the 4 of them wrote Diary Of A Madman.

everyone deserves their credit.

The main Thing Bob (or it may have been Lee) have said that I agree with is this..
"All I really want are my platinum records" I agree 100% they deserve that recognition.

[Paul Wolfe]

in an interview a few months back Bob even lead on about how critcal he was in helping RANDY write his guitar parts. I don't for a second pretend that they all didn't give opinions on the guitar parts to help build the songs. But i find it hard to believe Bob was the creative genius behind Randy's playing.

Listen to what Randy was writing wit Quiet Riot in 1979 and then listen to what he wrote in 1980 with Bob, Lee & Ozzy. He had to get the spark from someplace to change his writing so dramatically.

Yes, Randy was a brilliant player, but his writing was average up until he teamed with his Blizzard bandmates... this in and of itself dictates that Bob probably was very instrumental in helping Randy write. Bob had previously been bandmates and with Luther Grosvenor & Ritchie Blackmore who were no slouches at guitar playing, either. Grosvenor, as Ariel Bender, was cited by Randy as a player he really liked. So I have no doubt that Bob was critical to Randy's quantum leap in writing.

[sytharnia]

yet another thread that is going to turn into a bob and lee V's the osbournes one.....and people wonder why this forum is pretty dead these days

[rokket]

yet another thread that is going to turn into a bob and lee V's the osbournes one.....and people wonder why this forum is pretty dead these days

When there's not much news or anything new about Randy, conversation turns to something else. Solve the problem by either banning talk about the other members of Blizzard, or have a "Only post here" section, for anything related to the other members.

[xk319]

Bob's always said it was the magic of four people, take away one of those four and the magic is lost. He's always given credit to everyone, including Ozzy for a lot of the melody (Ozzy has always been a phenomenal at melody, beatles influence). Ozzy has said a song without a great melody is pointless.

And it was partly the other three that helped Randy progress, but Kevin Dubrow always said it was Ozzy taking the shackles off Randy that was the key. Ozzy told Randy just do whatever he wanted, to quote "go for it man". With Randy being a better writer with Ozzy, it wasn't so much an influence of some band member, rather it was more of Randy could go wherever he wanted with the music now. With Quiet Riot, Kevin said the powers that be were always telling them to make this pop hit or that pop hit before they'd record anything for them. Kevin has said Randy was a bit handcuffed with that.

[rokket]

Bob's always said it was the magic of four people, take away one of those four and the magic is lost. He's always given credit to everyone, including Ozzy for a lot of the melody (Ozzy has always been a phenomenal at melody, beatles influence). Ozzy has said a song without a great melody is pointless.

And it was partly the other three that helped Randy progress, but Kevin Dubrow always said it was Ozzy taking the shackles off Randy that was the key. Ozzy told Randy just do whatever he wanted, to quote "go for it man". With Randy being a better writer with Ozzy, it wasn't so much an influence of some band member, rather it was more of Randy could go wherever he wanted with the music now. With Quiet Riot, Kevin said the powers that be were always telling them to make this pop hit or that pop hit before they'd record anything for them. Kevin has said Randy was a bit handcuffed with that.

"go for it man" can mean two very different things...."Go for it man, cause you will come up with some great music...".....or..."Go for it, cause I've got no clue"..............it was the four of them that had the magic.......is BATM as good as either of the first albums??....or Ultimate Sin......or any other "Ozzy" album...???.....take one or more out of the "magic" line up....and it still works, but not as amazing.

[GUITARIDOL5682]

yet another thread that is going to turn into a bob and lee V's the osbournes one.....and people wonder why this forum is pretty dead these days

Well listen to the interview Don has nothing but praise for the guys. Did Don ever get shit on from the Ozzy camp. Did he get his performance royalties and everything that he was owed ?. I wouldn't of mentioned this if he'd said something like "Bob what an ass hole, nothing but an ego tripping wannabe." I would of then been surprised to here someone else giving him a bad time. But the guy has done nothing wrong, but be a part of the band and offered up his skill as a writer and a player. Together with Lee they did a great job in the rhythm section of the Blizzard band. Plus he guided Randy when he needed it, and they fused well as a writing team. Ozzy couldn't read remember and couldn't write so he had to have the lyrics voiced to him to his phrasing and melody. So he couldn't bring much to the table. He may of had ideas which turned into a full set of lyrics thanks to Bob.

[Paul Wolfe]

yet another thread that is going to turn into a bob and lee V's the osbournes one.....and people wonder why this forum is pretty dead these days

Actually it doesn't have to be "bob and lee V's the osbournes"... maybe it could be about what the thread is about - a Don Airey interview.

People who bitch in a thread rather than make positive contributions are the reason the forum is dead these days. The old timers (I've been doing this since '03 online) who've discussed it all before don't want to discuss anything with the younger generation when it turns into a bitchfest every time.

Ever hear the saying, "If can't say something nice, don't say anything at all"? Anyone who is going to simply complain so as to add another post to their count shouldn't even bother posting.

This 'community' is what the members make it. I've been trying to keep it going, the rest of you get to do your part now.

sytharnia, listen to the interview I linked and comment on anything Don said. I would welcome a discussion with you.

[Paul Wolfe]

...Kevin Dubrow always said it was Ozzy taking the shackles off Randy that was the key... With Quiet Riot, Kevin said the powers that be were always telling them to make this pop hit or that pop hit before they'd record anything for them. Kevin has said Randy was a bit handcuffed with that.

See now, I believe Kevin to a point. Quiet Riot continued being a pop metal band after Randy left, couldn't Kevin have changed things up? Not to mention, Kevin went back to the name Quiet Riot to cash in on Randy's notoriety... so some of his comments are vaguely accurate, in my opinion. Regardless of any 'handcuffs' the management put on Randy, he had never written songs with professionals before. With Ozzy he was writing with pros, not kids from the 'hood. The results speak for themselves.

Rudy (and Kelly Garni) has said that Randy would listen to what someone told him to do in Quiet Riot, say, "Yeah, sure, okay," and then do exactly what he felt like doing. Rudy said they'd do something with a pop flavor and Randy would come in with a blow-your-head-off solo.

As Lemmy said, Randy has gotten better and better since he died. When he was alive he was human and relied on input from others to create the masterpieces he did. In death, he's become the ultimate genius who could organically create anything out of thin air. I prefer to admire the human Randy Rhoads.

[tedeeoo]

Not to diminish anyone's contributions but (and I think I said this in a post not to long ago), nobody will ever make me believe that anyone other than Randy was responsible for the guitar parts on those 2 records. I think the most important person as far as helping him was Max Norman and that has more to do with sound than songwriting. Case in point, have any of the remaining principles from those 2 records written anything that remotely sounds like BOO or DOAM since? Not even close, some people might say BATM but to me that was the transition record, Jake AND Bob stayed as close as they could to what was established while still moving forward. I will grant that Bob and maybe moreso Lee had a hand in some parts of the arrangements because drums can dictate a lot in a song, and obviously Bob had a huge hand in writing the vocals, but heavy metal moreso than any other form of music is guitar driven, in this case by one Randy Rhoads. Just my opinion folks, great records, great band, I hope I'm not slighting any of them or anyone here as that it certainly not my intention.

P.S. I would never think of this board as dead