Books On Randy

[dougalhaven]

Hi Everyone,

There have been many books written about Randy and I'm looking for feedback on which are worthy of reading.
I know that recent entries have been the Velocity Publishing book and the Kelly Garni "Angels with Dirty Faces."

My interest in reading is to gain honest insight into Randy as an individual. IWe all know he was a great guitarist, but I want to try and get to know him as a person. It would have been great to have been able to take lessons from Randy, live next door, or have been able to meet him, but few of us were privileged in that regard. A book must suffice. Which one?

[randy will never die]

Hi Everyone,

There have been many books written about Randy and I'm looking for feedback on which are worthy of reading.
I know that recent entries have been the Velocity Publishing book and the Kelly Garni "Angels with Dirty Faces."

My interest in reading is to gain honest insight into Randy as an individual. IWe all know he was a great guitarist, but I want to try and get to know him as a person. It would have been great to have been able to take lessons from Randy, live next door, or have been able to meet him, but few of us were privileged in that regard. A book must suffice. Which one?

off the rails by rudy and velocity publishings book are the best in my head you get to know what randy was like

[Paul Wolfe]

Rudy's book will give you just about zero insight into Randy the person. Joel McIver's booknis good and Kelly's book will be good for what you're seeking.

[alborg]

At this point I 100% can recommend the recently release Velocity book although some feel the price is too high.
Having read all the books released so far except for Kelly's new one this stands right on top of the heap.

[GuitarJoe]

Have heard great things about the new photo book, would love to get it one day but like many here the $$ isn't just laying around. I read the book "Crazy Train" and that was excellent, you really got to know randy, lots of cool stories from his QR days. The Rudy book was great as well.

[Paul Wolfe]

For the record, I considered getting an RR book for Christmas so I checked them out...

Here is the Ron Sobol book with the DVD for $69.

Here is the Kelly Garni book for $45.

And then there's the other one for $100 we've discussed to death already.

So the verdict is... not gonna do it. Sure RR info is scarce, but as far as I'm concerned, no one really cares about furthering the "legacy" of Randy Rhoads, in my opinion they just see an opportunity to make money off a gullible group of fans.

It's a shame that the memory of such a great talent will die out over the next few years because anyone interested in learning about him has to pay so much for the information. Makes me want to take my memories of years of interest in this man, lock them away and move on to something new that won't rape my wallet to learn about.

[hansolo]

Has anybody received the Ron Sobol book with the DVD for $69? I ordered it but they have been telling me for weeks that they are still printing...

[Mitch]

Hansolo,
The Ron Sobel book/DVD is in the book binding stage and should ship to you before Christmas according to their Facebook page. They are always updating it with the latest info.

Mr. Wolfe
I really do not see Randy's interest dying off in a few years. Over the years(when there was nothing new on the Randy front), he has managed to stay in the media just due to his huge influence in the rock world. Hendrix hasn't done anything new in 40 yrs and look how his legacy has endured. The one thing we as fans can say positive about Randy's legacy, is that even if the Rhoads' or the Osbournes still have un-released material, it will be quality material. Hendrix's family, I feel has tried to cash in on his name(quantity over quality). I for one would prefer the quality.

[alborg]

For the record, I considered getting an RR book for Christmas so I checked them out...

Here is the Ron Sobol book with the DVD for $69.

Here is the Kelly Garni book for $45.

And then there's the other one for $100 we've discussed to death already.

So the verdict is... not gonna do it. Sure RR info is scarce, but as far as I'm concerned, no one really cares about furthering the "legacy" of Randy Rhoads, in my opinion they just see an opportunity to make money off a gullible group of fans.

It's a shame that the memory of such a great talent will die out over the next few years because anyone interested in learning about him has to pay so much for the information. Makes me want to take my memories of years of interest in this man, lock them away and move on to something new that won't rape my wallet to learn about.

I don't feel that these have been put out to make money off fans (well, maybe Kelly's book was...). At least something nice was finally put out. I am still waiting for the Quiet Riot Book/DVD but looking at the site it looks as though it will be a great release too. The guy was a friend & photographed them so I'd rather see those pictures than have them locked up away somewhere. I don't feel like I'm a GULLIBLE fan just because I crave something new & I'm willing to pay for it... I know money is tight with some people but I never expected any of these books to be $19.95... I can't imagine any Randy fan who gets the $100 book being disappointed with it as it was done in a respectful way & included content from some people who were closest to him at the time.
Paying for stuff is the way it is... I'd much rather have paid $50 for the book instead of $150 with postage to Australia. Same thing with the QR book,

Item total $69.99
Tax $6.12
Shipping and handling Shipping and handling: (to ) loading...$60.00
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Total $136.11 USD


There is enough free content about Randy's life on the net if any new fans wish to learn more about him so there isn't a gun head to peoples heads to buy these or any other RR items...

[dougalhaven]

Thanks to all for the input. After reading the responses, it occurred to me that perhaps we could solve some of the financial difficulties by buying books as a group and operate as a sort of library. I don't generally need to own anything. Once I've read a book, or seen a movie, I'm fine with not owning a copy of it and very rarely do I ever wish to read or view something again.

It would be beneficial to everyone in this forum that desired to read the Velocity book, Sobols book or the Garni's book to not have to purchase it. If the forum owned the material, or a couple copies of the material, we could simply "check it out" and return it within a reasonable time frame. Perhaps checking out a book with a credit card to insure it's return would work. I'm not sure if the moderators of this forum would want to organize such a venture, but it would certainly serve the masses that were interested in perusing several hundred dollars worth of Randy Rhoads material(s) with a minimal amount of financial obligation. There are a great number of us in this group and if we all made a donation to buy material for the forum, we could easily amass a reasonable library of material. If the forum moderator charged a small "handling fee" for checking material out, the forum could be self sustaining.

If that idea wouldn't fly, perhaps a group of people not interested in spending $100 for a book could buy as a group and send the book along to one another after reading it.

I'm just throwing out a couple of ideas on how this forum could be used to make the material affordable for the fan base that can't rationalize a $100 book purchase during difficult times.

[CanuckRhoadsFan]

Bought Garni's book. You get the first 13 chapters via digital download, as an "appetizer". As well as a signed copy of the book, you will get a digital copy of the book as well, it seems. Not bad for $45, really.

The book is pretty good so far. While everyone may not be a fan of Garni's, it's another piece of writing about Randy out there, and that, folks, ain't a bad thing.

To be honest, I'm more interested in Randy's time with Ozzy, but this book looks to be one of the definitive documents that deals with the Quiet Riot years, warts and all.

[RRFan4Ever]

So the verdict is... not gonna do it. Sure RR info is scarce, but as far as I'm concerned, no one really cares about furthering the "legacy" of Randy Rhoads, in my opinion they just see an opportunity to make money off a gullible group of fans.

It's a shame that the memory of such a great talent will die out over the next few years because anyone interested in learning about him has to pay so much for the information. Makes me want to take my memories of years of interest in this man, lock them away and move on to something new that won't rape my wallet to learn about.

Gotta remember it is a capitalist economy, and with the new books available on Randy, his legacy must be growing if there turns out to be decent demand for those books. If you feel this strongly about possible motives behind the books, how do you feel about the latest KISS book in comparison?

[The Rock]

Gotta remember it is a capitalist economy, and with the new books available on Randy, his legacy must be growing if there turns out to be decent demand for those books. If you feel this strongly about possible motives behind the books, how do you feel about the latest KISS book in comparison?

My password got screwed up so I had to make a new screenname 'til I can get it sorted...

First of all, I am not a fan of the Kiss books other than Ace's (haven't read Pete's). All the others (and all the merch in general) is just Gene being a greedy whore.

Now as for the Randy books. I don't see over-charging as a 'capitalist economy' thing or a furthering his legacy thing. Capitalist is not synonymous with greed. As for the legacy, these guys knew Randy and could have put these out years ago but chose now because over-inflated prices are being paid for this stuff now. They see a market here at UR and think, "I could make some money off these guys". It's great that the info is out there now, but that doesn't change the fact that the prices are out of line.

I consider Kelly Garni to be a friend of mine, but I cannot justify the price of his book. I'm sure it's good - the chapter I read was great - but not worth $45. I'd pay $25... I wouldn't pay more than that for any book.

Cheers, Paul

[RRFan4Ever]

I don't know about you but I consider lazzies faire (sp) capitalism and greed one in the same and I don't want to argue symantecs cos I don't know the intentions of each particular author however I'm glad that the books are finally coming out for those that choose to buy them. But that's just me.

[The Rock]

I don't know about you but I consider lazzies faire (sp) capitalism and greed one in the same and I don't want to argue symantecs cos I don't know the intentions of each particular author however I'm glad that the books are finally coming out for those that choose to buy them. But that's just me.

And, as always, I support everyone's right to have their own opinion on the subject. Any of you who find the prices reasonable, by all means, buy the books.