Randy Rhoads

Let's talk about legendary Ozzy guitar wiz Randy Rhoads. He was a true guitar genius

very classically trained since he was a classically influenced in his music with a bit of an

edge. He actually learned to play guitar at age 7 from his mom Dolores' guitar school .

A guitar prodigy who was a bit of Andres Segovia meets Mick Ronson of David Bowie fame both whom he wa influenced with the likes of Leslie West , Ritchie Blackmore, Mick Ronson and Jeff Beck along with the classical music in his home.Whether you are a fan of his music or a guitar historian no one can say that Randy Rhoads cause he doesn't. Look at the film footages and listen to how he plays. At least he was not a dull moment.

He was a shy quiet guy who can play like a beast and with grace and beauty. He maybe a

"heavy metal" guitarist but he was more than that. He may have a flash but he had soul and

cathartism in his music as he expressed it in his writing of his music and was very patient in

perfecting his style.He reminded of Mick Ronson guitar wise and visually, plus he looked like a drag queen.

Prior to joining former Black Sabbath frontman Ozzy Osbourne as his guitarist, he was a founding member of Quiet Riot, a power pop band in the LA area. His famous guitar solos like

"Crazy Train", "Mr Crowley", and "Over the Mountain" had this edge and can play fast and

he could have given his contemporaries like Eddie Van Halen and George Lynch a run for its money.When I first saw Randy I thought that was chick playing guitar. I mean he was so tiny and

frail but he was strong playing the fretboard like a monster. He loved playing the art of the instrumental whether its classical acoustic or electric. He pumped steroids on his Marshall amps

Randy was a phenomenom on top of that based on his interviews he was a humble guy and very

down to earth but when he was in the studio he was all business no fucking around. Randy accomplished alot during his brief 25 years of his life. Ozzy as a frontman was kind of gimmickry

and knows how to gie a show in the fashion of Alice Cooper.But I see an Ozzy show I see Randy

upstaging Ozzy with his fingers doing the talking. The performance at the palladium in NYC was one of the most memorable concerts , Randy outperformed Ozzy onstage and Ozzy was his typical showman though his singing was good great vocal harmony vocals but he does all these gimmicks and antics that is somewhat juvenile and cliche of what Alice Cooper did a while back.

At the time of his passing, Randy was planning to go back to school for music theory and make a classical guitar album who knows what he would have accomplished. Unfortunately, on March 19, 1982 we lost a true guitar hero since Jimi Hendrix in a tragic plane crash at age 25. He is a great influence to alot of guitar players and his legacy remains of his music on the first two albums "Blizzard Of Ozz" and "Diary Of A Madman".

Here is a clip from "After Hours" here is Ozzy with the late great Randy Rhoads with his most memorable guitar solo on "Crazy Train"

This one has a classically influenced guitar acoustic with a symphony sound with the London symphony recorded in 1981 and comes the dramatic sound with "Diary Of A Madman"

A song Randy wrote dedicated to his mom Dolores which is an instrumental acoustic song simply titled "Dee"

God bless you Randy