Ozzy Osbourne w/ Randy Rhoads: Mr. Crowley

To me this is worth it just to listen to Randy Rhoads play for 6 minutes. Randy sure was a tiny little dude. I looked at his Wikipedia profile, it says he was 5'7" and 105 lbs. As most anyone knows, Ozzy's solo career completely took off after he hooked up with Rhoads. Then it was all taken away...........by some IDIOT small aircraft pilot who was showing off his stunt skills. Wikipedia says the guy had been up all night long the night before doing coke.


In the late 70's, I seen Randy play with Quiet Riot about a dozen or so times. Bought the S/T & Quiet Riot II (Japan Import) releases back then as well. Only seen him with Ozzy once, 1981 at The Swing Auditorium. Motorhead opened that gig. Looking at the progression of his playing from QR to Ozzy, it makes one wonder what he may have accomplished had he not passed away? I watched his funeral procession arrive through binoculars from a rooftop of a house that bordered Mt. View Cemetery. I smoked many a joint in the Mausoleum where he was first laid to rest. They later moved him due to theft/vandalism. (IMHO) Another unique player taken way too young...

His mom said in the liner notes of the Tribute album that “his goal was to combine the two fields of rock & classical guitar. In the last 2 1/2 years of his life he became intensely interested in classical guitar”
Randy lives on thru the Tribute cover - it’s one of the great concert photos imo

Randy Rhoads: Reflections Of A Guitar Icon is an excellent documentary, the link above is a 2:20 trailer for it. It's not free but you can rent it (if I remember it's on Amazon) for around $5.99. When Randy was around 14, his guitar teacher told his Mom, "I can't teach him anymore." "Why?" his Mom said. "Because he's teaching me stuff."
I did see Quiet Riot just once in the 70's when I was living in L.A. Randy was a great player of course, but overall they didn't impress me much. IMO the songs were just not that good. Then look what happened when he hooked up with Ozzy.........

I remember when I heard Randy had died. It was such a surprise.
I had been going through a shredder phase and was going to shows with Eddie Van Halen initially then Steve Vai and Gary Moore and saw Night Ranger. Both of their lead players were hot rod shredders.
I was hoping to see Randy then boom he got killed. RIP
I'm not into shredders now. It lasted just a couple of years. Then I went back to Duane and Dickey:)

@robertdee: IMO lumping Randy Rhoads into the category of "shredder" is disrespectful of his skills as a guitar player.

@robslob That is what my guitar player friend in the 1980's called his favorite players and he talked me into going to see Van Halen then Steve Vai with David Lee Roth and Night Ranger.
His favorites were Eddie Van Halen, Randy Rhoades, Joe Satrianti, Steve Vai, the two lead players for Night Ranger, Gary Moore and a few others.
They were all technical wizards and blazing fast at times on the fretboard, lots of bends, whammy bar when they played one with a whammy, harmonics etc.
I see the word "shredder" used while describing these high octane players still today.
I wasn't aware it is a term that puts something negative on these players.

@robertdee: Thanks for the clarification. For me, "shredder" refers to a guy who can play LOTS of notes really, really fast and not much else. This is the first time I've ever heard Eddie Van Halen or Gary Moore referred to as a "shredder", but obviously YOU do not put a negative connotation on the term. I do. When I hear that term what immediately comes to mind is one of these speed metal dudes, stuff that is just God awful to these ears.

@robslob Yeah I was looking around on the net this afternoon and found some reviews of "shredder" guitarists who, as you say, zip up and down the fretboard double stroking with all four fingers on the fret hand running fast scales but there is no inner emotion and sence of melody.
I wasn't aware of the term used to describe those kind of players.
No I don't consider players like Gary Moore, Eddie Van Halen, Steve Vai and Randy Rhoades like that. One dimension players.
Thanks for making me aware of the full meaning of the word.

Posted by: @robslobI did see Quiet Riot just once in the 70's when I was living in L.A.
Did ya ever see Van Halen (Before the debut), The Boyz, Legs Diamond, L.A Rocks, London, Michael White & The White, Xciter, Snow, Dante Fox, Smile, Stormer, Eulogy, Axis, or my old bands Lethal Dose .& Arcane All mid/late 70's So. CAlif. hard rock bands. The Knack came out of nowhere and killed off our scene for a few years. LOL
Posted by: @robslobRandy was a great player of course, but overall they didn't impress me much. IMO the songs were just not that good. Then look what happened when he hooked up with Ozzy.........
I get that from a lot of people. (IMO) They were all over the place musically. Kevin didn't seem to want to focus on what he did good... That raspy Dan Rafferty (Nazareth) style. Instead he gravitated towards that power pop (Cheap Trick/Raspberries/Sweet/Slade) stuff. Ya have to have the hooks in the songwriting to pull that stuff off. (IMO) Randy was the attraction. With his image and laid back personality making people take notice and then... BOOM. They hear what he is/was doing on guitar. In my experience, he was doing different things each time I seen them.

@gotdrumz: No, I did not see Van Halen back in the early days, nor ANY of the other bands you mentioned. I never got into that L.A. metal scene. I regret not making it to see VH back then, especially before the first record, and I certainly could have. I lived in the Valley from 1978 - 1985 and when I first moved there, VH members were posting their shows on telephone polls. The only time I caught VH was much later after I had moved to the Bay area, twice, with Sammy. I thought they were very good. Living in the Valley you could catch some great rock and roll bands at clubs like The Red Onion, Shot Of Gold and Starbaby (where I saw Quiet Riot). Of course occasionally I'd drive down to The Roxy, The Starwood, Universal Amphitheatre, Santa Monica Civic, or The Forum. Saw some of the greats at the Forum in the early 70's: Grand Funk, Zeppelin, Sabbath, all multiple times. Probably my biggest regret from my L.A. days is never going to see The Clash, and I had many opportunities. I just lumped them into that punk scene, which I had categorized as a bunch of trash. It never occurred to me back then that The Clash was way above the rest of that scene. Now I think they are one of the greatest rock and roll bands ever and I have a bunch of their records. I did catch Judas Priest at The Starwood, a 500 capacity club. Talk about blowing the damn walls down! Also saw Yesterday and Today (now Y&T) at the Starwood when they only had one record out. The Starwood was owned by Eddie Nash, one of the biggest drug dealers in L.A. Nash's character was very prominent in the film Wonderland, which was the story of porn star John Holmes' downfall. Holmes made the big mistake of crossing Eddie Nash!

Posted by: @robslob@gotdrumz: No, I did not see Van Halen back in the early days, nor ANY of the other bands you mentioned. I never got into that L.A. metal scene.
The bands I mentioned were from like 1975-1979. That scene gets often overlooked due to what came in the next wave. (1981/82 and afterwards). I got locked up from late 1982 to mid 1987, so I missed Part 2 of the El Lay "hard rock/metal" scene. Did see both Metallica and Slayer in the Clubs before I was off to Gladiator School. LOL
Posted by: @robslobLiving in the Valley you could catch some great rock and roll bands at clubs like The Red Onion, Shot Of Gold and Starbaby (where I saw Quiet Riot). Of course occasionally I'd drive down to The Roxy, The Starwood, Universal Amphitheatre, Santa Monica Civic, or The Forum.
My favorite place to both play and see gigs in the Valley was at The Country Club in Reseda. Ever catch any shows there?
Posted by: @robslobI did catch Judas Priest at The Starwood, a 500 capacity club. Talk about blowing the damn walls down! Also saw Yesterday and Today (now Y&T) at the Starwood when they only had one record out.
My first Priest show was when they opened for Zeppelin w/ Derringer in the middle slot at Oakland Coliseum in 1977. Which was Zeppelin's final gig ever in the USA. Man I dig both those early Yesterday & Today albums. The Starwood was where I caught the majority of the Quiet Riot gigs I seen. Played there a few times, but it was always a bad vibe/experience.

@gotdrumz: Went to The Country Club plenty of times, for awhile I lived maybe two miles from the place. Saw Eric Burdon, Johnny Winter and Chuck Berry there! (Only time ever seeing Chuck and I'm really glad I did). Those were all excellent shows. Also saw my brother in one of his earlier bands, but you never would have heard of them (can't even remember the name of the band myself!) Yes, that first Yesterday and Today record is GREAT stuff!! I still have it on vinyl, this thread will cause me to pull it out sometime. It's been 20 years at least!

Van Halen put out a release several years ago of a pre-famous gig from I think around the era/locale being discussed, from 1975 at Pasadena High School - really thought about picking it up, didn’t - anyone heard it🎼🎶

@gotdrumz: "The Starwood was where I caught the majority of the Quiet Riot gigs I seen. Played there a few times, but it was always a bad vibe/experience." Can you elaborate, from a musician's standpoint, why The Starwood was such a bad vibe?

Posted by: @robslobCan you elaborate, from a musician's standpoint, why The Starwood was such a bad vibe?
Just let me say this, "underage" drinking was not the only illegal thing going on with minor boys in that joint. In the last few years before it got torched, that blatantly moved out in the forefront and what was happening onstage became ambience instead of the focal point.

@gotdrumz: OUCH. Ugliness.......

Posted by: @stephenVan Halen put out a release several years ago of a pre-famous gig from I think around the era/locale being discussed, from 1975 at Pasadena High School - really thought about picking it up, didn’t - anyone heard it🎼🎶
a bootlegger put it out you mean. VH never has released any live concerts from pre 1986

Yes, that was incorrectly typed, the mistake deserves to be highlighted front & center - a correction is hereby submitted
reworded, has anyone ever heard a CD of a 1975 live recording of a pre-famous Van Halen at Pasadena High School in Calif
it was released by a bootlegger as one of those gray-market releases - it’s not an ‘official’ VH release - again, sorry for the bad info on that
returning to topic, great version of Mr Crowley - that band might well have gone places even Sabbath never went, i m h o
in the liner notes Ozzy said that “building the band w/Randy was one of the happiest times of my life”
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