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On March 19, 1982, Randy Rhoads, the _wunderkind_ guitarist for Ozzy Obsourne's then new solo band, died tragically in an airplane crash. Heavy metal lost yet another genius guitarist.
Seven months later, an album was to be recorded which was originally meant to be the definitive Ozzy live solo set, including material from _Blizzard of Ozz_ and _Diary of a Madman_. But with guitarist and producer Rhoads now gone, and Black Sabbath about to release their new live album (_Live Evil_) without Ozzy on vocals, Ozzy decided to have _Speak of the Devil_ be a live Sabbath album, since he owned rights to the songs as well.
So he gathered up a supergroup to play the Sabbath songs:
- Tommy Aldrige (drums) - Rudy Sarzo (bass) - Brad Gillis (guitar)
Aldrige had played with Pat Travers in his prog-rock band, since 1971, and joined Ozzy's band before Randy died, two days after _Diary of a Madman_ was recorded.
Sarzo played with Rhoards in Quiet Riot before he was asked to join Ozzy's band. (same day as Aldrige)
Brad Gillis was an SF bay-area guitarist who had recently joined the band Stereo which would later become _Night Ranger_. I'm still not 100% sure how he auditioned for Ozzy's live band, but in either case, he got the gig.
_Speak of the Devil_ has become a heavy-metal classic. Gillis' insane whammy-bar additions and tweaks of Sabbath songs gave them the modern treatment they needed, and his solo on _Paranoid_ blows away the original.
While I'm sure that Night Ranger would have been successful anyway, Gillis' street cred amongst heavy metal guitarists rose when they recorded the live material for _Speak of the Devil_.
For sure, he wouldn't be nearly as well-known as he is today if it hadn't been for Ozzy taking him on as Randy's temporary replacement.
So I've been thinking about how rock artists over the past 30 years or so have always run in tight circles. This guy used to play in this band, introduced someone to another band, used to date the same person, who auditioned for someone else, and so on.
Growing up playing guitar in high school, talking trivia about rock artists was a big pastime. My friends and I would talk about players and singers like we were trading baseball cards...the more esoteric the trivia, the cooler you were. Who played drums for Zappa ? how about just in the 70s only ? Who has played bass for AC/DC ? On and on.
Some pieces of trivia always fascinated me...missed or lucky opportunities. For example, one juicy tidbit is that the guitarist mostly known for playing in the 80s band Mr. Mister had once auditioned for replacing famed guitarist Ace Frehley of KISS. The band clearly liked Farris' chops, because he has a solo on Creatures of the Night, on the title track, which Farris doesn't receive credit for.
So what happened ? Did Farris somehow piss off Paul Stanley or Gene Simmons ? Did he not have the KISS "look" ? However it went, KISS went on to attempt a comeback, passing on Farris, and moving on with guitarist Vinny Vincent, and it would seem that Farris missed out. But they never saw the same fame as they did in the 1970s.
Meanwhile, Farris joined Mr. Mister, and enjoyed a US #1 hit album with them before splitting up. He later toured with Whitesnake , and worked with Tori Amos and 4 Non Blondes.
So what do you think ? Would Farris have been better off if he had gotten the gig with KISS ?
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I haven't MOGged in a while, cause of the new baby being born and all, but I'm going out on a limb this morning, possibly ruining any cred I had to begin with:
I think that Billy Squier gets a bum rap. So his "Rock Me Tonight" video was really bad. Ok, it's was really really really bad. But so ? "Don't Say No" was a classic album, and the producing on it was great. (produced by Reinhold Mack, who produced albums for Queen)
Thoughts ? Hate me for saying it ?
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I think it's interesting that a whole type of artist, the hard rock/metal solo-act, doesn't exist anymore. Squier, Hagar, Ozzy, they just don't make them anymore.
Hey, I gotta agree with you on Squire. Yeah, his voice sounds a lot like Robert Plant, OK, but he can sing. And the songs on Don't Say No were seriously great rock songs. I used to listen to the entire album from start to finish and rock out. Favorites were My Kind of Lover, Lonely Is The Night, In The Dark, Too Daze Gone and of course, The Stroke. The Stroke was a huge hit, and yeah, it was a bit reminiscent of Queen's Another One Bites The Dust (producer's influence?) but it was a killer heavy pop-rock song with that one instrument that sounded like a synth but was still heavy.
Squire gets a bum rap these days - people call him a poser or a wanna-be or what have you. But all you have to do is listen to that album and you can't deny he made some kick-ass music.
yeah! it's good to have support on this idea. I wonder what Hyman's gonna say, if he comments at all. :)
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That album is like that James Bond movie with George Lazenby. It was pretty good, but it is the only one that exists with that guy.
I STILL need to buy that one! The jelly coming out of his mouth on the cover freaked me out as a kid. probably why i still don't have it!