Guitar god - Gary Richrath, REO Speedwagon!

If you ask my cousin Alan who was the greatest guitarist of the 1970's in one of the "rocking-est" bands, he will tell you Gary Richrath. Who? Yeah that's what I hear nowadays. Richrath was one of the preeminent rock and roll guitarists of the era. He was the creative and driving force behind the band in the early days.

His main guitar was a Gibson Les Paul Standard. He was great at the pick scratch and had a way of making notes squeal. He presided over 20 million albums sold including 4 gold and 6 platinum.

My introduction to Gary Richrath and REO Speedwagon came when I moved to Florida and lived with my cousins family. Alan and his friends were into Live: You Get What You Play For and You Can Tune a Piano but You Can't Tuna Fish. Gary's frenetic playing style and crazy pick attacks reminded me of no one else. I couldn't peg him style wise, with any other guitarist. REO was purely a rock and roll, party, bar band at that time. Success eluded them though as they labored under such star bands as Journey, Boston and Foreigner. Their turn came in 1981 with the release of Hi Infidelity. Unfortunately as much as I loved the album, it didn't compare with their former recordings. They pretty much sold out with Kevin Cronin assuming the leadership of the band. I think Gary lost heart in the band as it steered towards commercialization. But what do you do? How do you succeed without some form of sell out?

REO Speedwagon remains one of the most popular bands of all time. It's too bad that Gary and Kevin had their differences which led to Gary's departure. I still play Gary's music and in our band we play Roll with the Changes as our tribute to Gary Richrath's rockin' style of electric guitar.

Journey with Night Ranger - Orlando, FL Amway Arena

Last night Cindy and I went to see Night Ranger and Journey at the Amway Arena in Orlando, Fl. The kids bought the tickets for Mother's Day/Birthday. The seats weren't bad. We sat slightly to the left in front of the stage. I figured the sound would be pretty good since it would come straight at us and not bounce around. We sat down with a couple of beers (10 bucks a pop!) and watched the roadies finish getting ready for the show.

It's amazing how the "concert clientele" has changed over the years. Last night in front of us was a dude with his wife and two preteen sons, couples from their late teens to late thirties, a lot of fans my age (or older) and a number of small kids. It was like going to the movies! When I saw Alice Cooper in 1973, there was nothing but teenagers and young adults. The lights went down and everyone lit up! Not anymore, nothing but clean smoke free air! Obviously the groups get older and so do their fans. We saw Night Ranger twice in the early 80's and Journey twice during the same time frame. The arena had the upper bowl blocked off (and parts curtained off) and the area around from the edge of the stage around the back to the other side was blocked off too. The three quarters or so of the lower bowl that the fans sat was pretty much filled up. Not too many empty seats. On each side of the stage were two
enormous video screens. Through my binoculars I could check out the impressive sound equipment and mixing boards on the back of the floor directly in front of the stage. There was also a video camera which I'm sure was going to fill those video screens.

We weren't there more than 20 minutes or so when the lights dimmed and Night Ranger took the stage. Jack Blades on bass, backing and lead vocals, Brad Gillis on guitar, backing vocals, Kelley Keagy on drums, backing and lead vocals, Joel Hoekstra on guitar, backing vocals and Christian Cullen on keyboards and backing vocals.

This is the latest reincarnation of Night Ranger. Blades, Gillis and Keagy were the original founding members along with Jeff Watson on guitars and Alan Fitzgerald on keyboard. This was the lineup for their initial success in 1982 and the one I remember most!

The stage was set with Keagy's drum riser to the right of stage (as opposed to the usual center stage setup). When I first went to a Night Ranger concert, I couldn't figure out the reason for this. It soon became apparent when I realized he also sang lead vocals and he could see the fans (and vice versa). Brad Gillis played to the right, Jack Blades in the center, Joel and Christian were on the left side of the stage.

Brad Gillis played his original red Fender-styled Strat (Fernandes?) with the Floyd Rose tremolo unit, Seymour Duncan pickups and a special wireless unit under the pickguard. The guitar looks beat, but boy, does it sound sweet! Joel Hoekstra played a Gibson Les Paul Standard gold top (also a Flying-V and an acoustic). Jack Blades played what looked like a Hamer bass, white, hollow body with two pickups.

The band played all of their hits including a few from Jack Blades' tour of duty with Damn Yankees. Sing me Away, Eddie's Comin' Out Tonight, When You Close Your Eyes, Don't Tell Me You Love Me, Sister Christian (with Deen Castronovo, Journey's drummer on drums while Kelley sang), and (You Can Still) Rock in America and High Enough and Coming of Age from Damn Yankees.

Brad Gillis is fantastic on guitar. He has always been one of my favorites over the years. I love his aggressive attack! His work with the Floyd Rose is genius! Joel Hoekstra was pretty good also. I was wondering if they were going to play (You Can Still) Rock in America due to Jeff Watson's eight-finger tapping effect during the solo. They did and Joel did a great job with it!

Hats off to Night Ranger! It was great to go back to 1982!



After a half hour or so break, Journey took stage...

Journey was a favorite band of mine back in the late 1970's. Me, my cousin Alan Schroeder and friend Gary Miller discovered Infinity, their first album with Steve Perry, with a little song called "Lights". From that point it was all Journey all the time. I had the pleasure of seeing Journey for the first time with the original line up of Steve Perry, Neil Schon, Ross Valory, Greg Rollie and Aynsley Dunbar. The concert was at the Miami Jai Lai fronton. We sat a few rows back in the center of the stage. Thin Lizzy opened. What a great concert!

Journey this time around has only two of the original members from that time. Neil Schon (guitar) and Ross Valory (bass). Now we have Jonathan Cain, (from the great super group, the Babys) (keyboard, vocals), Deen Castronovo (drums, vocals) and Arnel Pineda (vocals).

Neil Schon was on the right side of the stage. He mainly played a Gibson Neal Schon Signature Les Paul. It's pretty cool with diamond inlays, a Floyd Rose tremolo and Fernandes pickups. He also played a white Fender Stratocaster with a rosewood neck for the song "Lights". Ross Valory, who mainly stayed at center stage in front of the drum riser played a number of different basses. Nothing I could identify. Occasionally Jonathan Cain (keyboards on the left side of the stage) would step out and play rhythm guitar using either a Fender Telecaster, Strat or a Gibson SG Standard. Arnel Pineda was all over the stage when he sang and would disappear when Deen Castronovo sang a couple of Steve Perry's hits.

Journey played through their catalog of hits. They started with Separate Ways and on into Stone In Love, Only The Young, Lights, Wheel In The Sky, Faithfully, Don't Stop Believin', and Anyway You Want It among others. Neil stepped out with a guitar solo or two. The only problem was his playing speed blurred the notes into white noise sometimes. Still, I'm not complaining! Jonathan Cain played some great piano and along with Deen's drumming and Ross's solid bass, the band was as tight as I remember.

They did have an odd turn in the middle of the concert with Neil playing what looked like an electric mandolin and Jonathan playing a harmonica. I thought I was transported back to a Paul Butterfield Blues concert! Arnel Pineda did a good take on the great Steve Perry. I've heard all of the "Journey lite", "Journey tribute" band cracks. It's got to be a difficult turn with Steve Perry's ghost always in the background.

Two hours later it was over. After the concert, Cindy remarked how she missed Steve Perry's heart and soul in the band. She felt she could see Steve coming out of Arnel on some of the songs. I had to agree. Hearing Don't Stop Believin' just wasn't the same. Still it was a great show by both bands and I would recommend to any Night Ranger or Journey fan to go and check them out.

For an evening, Cindy and I felt great! It was wonderful to go back and experience once more the joy and happiness music makes us feel...

The Smoker You Drink, the Player You Get!

I was coming home from yoga last night and I plugged in a CD I made a few weeks back. After listening to Ten Years After, Toto and Queen, one of my favorite tracks came on from one of my favorite bands. "Stop" by the James Gang. For some reason, this live guitar sound, to me, is one of the most rockin' around! Joe Walsh plays his Gibson Les Paul Standard gold top through a Vox wah pedal into a Marshall amp.

"Stop, baby can't you see that I can't take it no more..."

Trouble was I couldn't recreate his sound. One day I was messing around and accidentally created that live sound by turning off the speed, delay time and depth of my DOD Stereo Chorus. The sound came out compressed and tight. Sounded exactly like Joe Walsh on the live album! I play the song using my Les Paul into the Vox wah, through the chorus pedal and on into the Marshall.

Joe has had a helluva career from the James Gang, through Barnstorm and on into the Eagles. He is a very talented and versatile musician. Check out his keyboard playing on "Tend My Garden". Maybe someday I'll have the chance to see him live. Until then...

"Stop, if you keep it up I'm gonna go through floor!"

Robin Trower, blues-rock guitarist extraordinaire!

I have loved Robin Trower's guitar sound since the early seventies.

The shimmering, ethereal, sad minor notes! Stereo chorus and phase shifted, heavy feedback sound coming from his Stratocaster through stacks of Marshall's! Sweet!

He's a British guitarist who belonged to Procol Harem back in the 1960's and formed his trio later that decade. I bought "Bridge of Sighs" back when I lived in Connecticut. It was summer in between school.

I would play the album out on the porch in the dark. I would just lay on the couch with headphones on and feel the music swirl within my head. What a rush!

At first I wasn't sure that he was a dude. His name is Robin, hmmm. I thought it would be so cool if he was a chick guitarist. I only thought this because there were no pictures on the album sleeve. Had no clue who he was (or even gender!).

The "Bridge of Sighs" (actually a bridge in Venice Italy and Oxford England) album consisted of songs like "Day of the Eagle", "Lady Love", "Too Rolling Stoned", "In this Place" and the title track. Reg Isador was on drums and the late, great James Dewar handled bass and vocals. His voice was perfect and distinctive for this type of blues-infected rock.

Trower had a number of albums through the seventies, eighties and nineties. He was unfairly pegged as a Hendrix imitator but I think he just took Jimi's music to the next level, maybe even improving on it. Unfortunately he had to live with that ghost!

I saw Robin Trower in Baltimore, Maryland back in the mid-80's. Mountain opened the show and both groups were in rare form. I hope to see him again next month at the House of Blues here in Orlando. I will worm my way up to the front of the stage! I want to know the chords he uses for "Lady Love". I always had trouble with that song. Check into Electric Guitars Rock for more great information.

Ah yes, our group has been together for around six months now. Me on guitar, Scott on drums and Rick on bass.

Our set includes "Wheel in the Sky" by Journey, "No Matter What" and "Baby Blue" by Badfinger, "Fool for the City" by Foghat, "Closer to Home" by Grand Funk Railroad, "Crazy Train" and "I don't Know" by Ozzy, "Smokin',"Piece of Mind" and "More than a Feeling" by Boston, "When I Come Around" and "Holiday" by Green Day, "Love Shack" by the B-52's, "Under my Wheels" by Alice Cooper, "Walk don't Run" by the Ventures, "Pleasant Valley Sunday" by the Monkees, "Funk #49" by James Gang, "Pretty Fly for a White Guy" by Offspring, "Plush" by STP, "Radar Love" by Golden Earring and a bunch more.

Since we don't have a vocalist, I'm elected to fill in until we luck out and get one. I do pretty good on most of the songs, but some I just can't do and play at the same time. Damn. We have a lead on a singer I found through Craig's List. He's around our age and sings some of our set list. He has his own list with a band he was in that recently broke up. Hopefully we'll get together this week and see how it goes. Stay tuned and keep a rockin'!

I'm goin' home! See my baby! Goin' home! See my wife!

Another mind altering guitarist from the late sixties, may I present Alvin Lee of Ten Years After. Alvin is a blues guitarist from England who rocked my world when I bought their album Ssssh... An amazing work from "Bad Scene"to "Two Time Mama". But he is most remembered for his fantastic virtuosity on "I'm Going Home" off of the Woodstock album. This just blew me away, three chord blues structure, I-IV-V. A to D to E. Couldn't be more simpler than that. But the passion and style, whoa! It's still one of my all time favorite guitar pieces. Check out his work on their other albums, Cricklewood Green, A Space in Time and Watt. I would love to see him live playing that Gibson ES-335 semi-hollow body. Rock on, Alvin! Electric guitars truly rock!

Sir Lord Baltimore! Check them out, now!

One of the baddest ass guitarist of the early 1970's. Louis Dambra set a new standard of playing long before Frank Marino, Robin Trower, Eddie Van Halen and a host of other shredders going back to the '80's. Check out his phenomenal chops on their debut album Kingdom Come. Sir Lord Baltimore was, to me, the first heavy metal band. Three guys, only three guys created a mind blowing wall of sound.

Their home base was New York City. John Garner was drummer/lead vocalist, Gary Justin on bass and Dambra on all guitars. Listen to Garner a fantastic drummer who also sang lead! Don't know how he did it!

I bought this album back in the early 70's. I don't remember why, but I was probably drawn to the cool cover of a pirate ship made entirely of bones. "Master Heartache", "Kingdom Come", "Hell Hound", "Helium Head", and even the slow harpsichordal "Lake Isle of Innersfree" blew me away. High levels of distortion (even in the bass), multi-track recording and overdubs were way ahead of their time.

Unfortunately they never gained traction along the likes of Black Sabbath, Deep Purple and Alice Cooper. Their second album "Sir Lord Baltimore" was a complete 180 from "Kingdom Come". They added another guitarist and slowed the frenetic pace of the songs. It's OK, but their debut is definitely the bomb! You can sometimes get both on one CD. Check out their website at Sir Lord Baltimore

Even now I'll pick up and play one of their songs. Just overall great heavy metal music! Later gator! Rob

Sticker shock!

OK, it's been awhile since I bought picks or a guitar strap. I went to the local Guitar Center today just to kill time at lunch. I needed a strap of my Messenger guitar which I want to play some Grand Funk songs in the band.

I checked out what I thought were cheaper straps. I bought a leather one for my Les Paul last year at the same GC for about 45 bucks (which I think is still high). The strap I chose was like the ones I bought years ago for about 10-12 bucks. Not now. There was no price on it and an employee named Luis scanned it for me. 23 bucks.

Hmmm. OK, I need it so I put it around my neck and picked up a Mexican Strat to noodle around with. Played through a small Marshall. Since our band had no practice this week, I played the songs on our set list. I got bored after some time, put back the guitar and wandered around checking out their Gibson stock.

Luis found me and I decided to check out. I asked for two sets of Ernie Ball blue label strings and a pack of Fender medium picks. He rang me up and said $42.56 please. Damn! There must be a mistake, the strap was 23 buck, how much was the rest? I scanned the receipt. The strings were $5.49 per set and the picks were $5.99 for 12!

Now bear in mind I'm always surprised by the receipt no matter where I go. Home Depot, the grocery store, doesn't matter. I can't add it up in my head and I always think it should be a lot less.

But here's a case where I remember when strings were a couple of bucks for a set and picks were three for a quarter. But 50 cents a piece? WTF! Maybe I'll check out eBay for cheaper picks! It's not like the picks have changed over the years. The same crappy plastic! Anyway, rant over, I'll have to deal with it. Come on over to Electric Guitars Rock! Got a new page on patch cords.

Whoa! A trip down memory lane.

This was taken back in 1974. Jeff is at the left. I don't know what he's playing. Paul is next on the drums. John is in the middle playing my Messenger Stereo and I am on the far right with my Gibson SG Special.

I'm not sure what Jeff played through, but John and I played through my Univox 100-watt stack which I bought because it was endorsed by Jimmy Page. We practiced in Jeff's back yard. We got complaints from two miles away. We played mostly what was popular at that time. Free, BTO, Grand Funk and Bad Company. What a blast. We never went anywhere but had a great time regardless.

A Man and his Guitar!

What more can be said about Jimi Hendrix? Not a whole lot. I have nothing new to add except my first impression and thoughts about him as a pioneer rock guitarist. I first heard him on AM radio back in the late sixties. It might have been Purple Haze or Foxey Lady. Man, did he sound different. I was used to guitarists like Eric Clapton, Alvin Lee and Pete Townsend. Jimi turned the guitar sound upside down.

My first album was "Are You Experienced?" followed by "Greatest Hits then "Band of Gypsy's". I tried to imitate him the best I could considering my talent at that time. I could figure out a chord or two but, difficult? Oh Yeah!

After seeing him play on the film, Woodstock, I pretty much gave up. Now, thirty some odd years later, I still have difficulty imitating(!) him. It seemed like whatever popped in his mind came out his hands on the fretboard. I'm still simply amazed whenever I hear or see him on youtube. It's crazy what he accomplished in three short years as the Jimi Hendrix Experience. It's even more amazing the absolute plethora of Hendrix recordings released over the years. It is almost like he never left the planet. Listen to Frank Marino (of Mahogany Rush) or Robin Trower or even Dan Hartman (of Edgar Winter Group) doing a turn on the Stratocaster channeling Hendrix during the middle of "Lets get it on".

He's still amongst us. Smoking a cigarette and saying only "cowboys are in tune"...

Peace out until next time, Rob

Mark Farner of Grand Funk Railroad and his Messenger guitar

Here's Mark Farner of Grand Funk Railroad. Probably taken around 1969. He is the one who turned me on to the guitar as an instrument to play. I originally wanted to be a drummer. I would tap along on an old cigar box to Steppenwolf, Steve Miller, Ten Years After and the Rolling Stones back when I was growing up in Connecticut.

I belonged to the Capitol Record Club at that time. You would sign up for a 12 month stretch and receive a monthly catalog of records(!). You'd choose either their selection for the month or you could choose your own.

One month, Grand Funk Railroad (the Red Album) was the rock selection. Usually I would forget to send the card in with my selection and Capitol would automatically send out their choice. Well I received the GFRR album in the mail and thought "great, another crappy selection I'll play once!" Since that time, a mistakenly sent album rocked my world! I have been a Grand Funk fan since then but only recently had a chance to see Mark Farner play. It was fantastic! He played a Parker Fly guitar because of back problems.

The guitar he originally played was a Messenger Stereo made by San Francisco-based Musicraft. It was a green type of sunburst finish with two pickups, an aluminum neck (very futuristic for the time), built in fuzz unit and stereo outputs. It was also had a semi-hollow body style. (He would tape over the cats-eye f- holes to try to control feedback).

Needless to say, I had to have that guitar! I found one back in 1974. A dude was buying a Les Paul Custom and he needed the money. I got it for two hundred bucks.

It has a regular sunburst finish along with a Bigsby tremolo unit (but no built in fuzz). Everything else is the same as Mark's Messenger. It's a great guitar that stays in tune like nobody's business! Supposedly the neck is tuned to "A". The tone is great. Playing "Closer to Home" and "Aimless Lady" sounds like the man himself. The only problems (inherent on all Messengers) is the crappy single coil DeArmond pickups, sonically very weak, and the nut at the top of the neck. Somehow they filed it too low on the high-E side causing the string to slip out of the groove. Otherwise a groovy guitar that you don't see very often. I understand there are only around 300 or so that were made since Musicraft didn't last very long in the guitar production business.




Check out my website at Electric Guitars Rock!

I just added another page to my website, Electric Guitars Rock!
It concerns the ever present guitar solo. What is it that sears a particular solo in ones brain? They're just a collection of notes strung together to form a musical phrase.

But somehow they stick in my head. I can remember solos from many years ago (in my head, of course!), but trying to pick them out on a guitar is difficult without practicing them before hand.

Anyway, I gotta practice tonight for band practice tomorrow night! I have to work on Journey's Wheel in the Sky. Having a bit of trouble, but I'll figure it out!

The next guitar I wanna get!

I have always thought the SG Custom (in white) was one of the most beautiful guitars around. The first one I ever saw was on the back of Alice Cooper's Love it to Death album. The photo shot showed the group standing around a seated Neal Smith (drummer). Michael Bruce in the foreground held a Gibson SG Standard and Glen Buxton in the back holds a white SG Custom.

The sexy curves of the body, three humbucker pick ups, gold hardware everywhere and mother of pearl inlays on the neck and head stock. It has to be lighter than the Les Paul Custom I have. The LP weighs 11.1 pounds!

The SG was introduced in 1961 mainly to satisfy guitarists craving for a new sound and also to compete with the Fender Stratocaster which was becoming popular. Les Paul wanted nothing to do with the new model so Gibson brainstormed and called the guitar "SG" or solid guitar. Here's a good ezine article on the history of the SG.

Prices on vintage SG Customs are out of sight. Probably 10 grand or so. Check out eBay for pricing if your going to buy one. This gives you an idea of what used Customs go for. Hopefully in the near future I'll be lucky enough to get one. Have to save up a few bucks though!

Check out my electric guitar site!

The first guitar I ever owned was the Gibson SG Special. I first saw this guitar in Pete Townsend's hands in a Scholastic magazine in high school. Remember, back in the late 60's early 70's, there was no internet and very rarely could you find a picture of a guitar (back then I thought a Les Paul was a French named guitar!).

I knew I had to have this guitar! When I decided to take lessons, I asked the music store if they could find one. I didn't want a cheap acoustic to learn on, I wanted a Gibson. Low and behold they found one on consignment for me to check out. When I opened the case, I saw it was refinished from cherry to a type of mahogany stain. I also noticed three holes below the bridge where the original tremolo unit was attached. Like most SG's of the period, the trem unit was removed and a bar tail piece added. My dad ponied up the 200 bucks and said it was my graduation present.

It was weird going to guitar lessons with an electric guitar. The teacher played an acoustic. He would teach me songs by James Taylor, Jim Croce, America and Jose Feliciano. Strange playing acoustic songs on the electric. Anyway after a year and a half of lessons, I struck out on my own to learn rock guitar. I would hole myself up in my bedroom and learn songs off of a three speed record player and I played the SG through an old PA tube amp my dad had lying around. I can still feel the shocks it would give me every once in a while.

I wasn't even sure what year the guitar was made in. I wrote Gibson a letter after I bought the guitar and received an answer that it was manufactured in 1962. Later on in an internet search, I found it was really a 1968 model based on the size of the pick guard. Who knows.

I still have that SG Special. Over the years I refinished it a number of times. Now it's Camaro Blue (I had one back in the 80's and had some leftover paint). I also cut the pick guard to accommodate two humbucker pickups and tried a refret on the neck. Some day when I get a little extra cash, I will have a luthier refinish the guitar to the original condition (Luckily I saved the original P-90 soapbar pickups).

Until next time, visit my website at Electric Guitars Rock!

Some of our instruments.

My babies!
I'm currently in a band. We got together about 4 or 5 months ago. No name yet. We practice at Scott's house. He's the drummer who recently bought a beautiful Gretch set. Our bass player is Rick who wields a Fender P-Bass through a small but loud bass amp.

We are currently looking for a singer and maybe a keyboard/vocalist. Our set list is around 40 or so songs long. Everything from Boston, Badfinger, Green Day to Mountain, Grand Funk and Alice Cooper. We gather once a week, down a few brews and just generally raise hell.

Come visit my website Electric Guitars Rock!

This will be the first of many posts on everything Electric Guitars! I hope you enjoy my passion for guitars as much as I do. Right now I have five guitars in all:

• 1982 Gibson Les Paul Custom (Oxblood finish with Tim Shaw pick ups.)

• 1975 Fender Stratocaster (modified to look like Hendrix's Strat when he played the Newport Jazz festival in 1969. It also has a Floyd Rose tremolo and a Tele neck).

• 1968 Gibson SG Special (with soap bar pick ups).

• 1967 Messenger Stereo (like the one Mark Farner used in Grand Funk Railroad).

• Mid-90's Alvarez acoustic.

I play through a 1983 50-watt Marshall head driving a Traynor 4x10 cabinet. I also use a Tom Scholz Power Soak for volume control. Pedals consist of a Vox wah and a DOD stereo chorus. I also have a Rockman X-100 made by Tom Scholz also which sounds amazing through headphones. That fantastic Boston sound!

Visit my website at Electric Guitars Rock.com