By Annah Moore
Randy Rhoads is my
all-time favorite guitar player for so many reasons. The main reason is
because of the way he blended aggressive, monstrous playing with
intricate, pretty, and flowing passages. His fusion of classical, blues,
rock and other styles made his style unique and, I think, timeless. Not
only was he an incredible musician, he was humble and kind and seemed to
really enjoy life. Top that all off with the fact that he was gorgeous,
and well, he's the perfect rock god!!
I had just started playing guitar shortly before Randy died, and I didn't get the chance to appreciate him while he was alive. I remember hearing on the radio about his death and the plane crash; then they played Flying High Again, which was the first time I had ever heard him, or the Blizzard of Oz. It was very strange, because I remember hearing that song; that incredible guitar playing; and thinking, "Oh my god, this guy just died?" And I started to cry. I didn't even know why!
Randy's style has influenced mine more than any other guitarist's has. In my early years of playing, I spent many hours trying to play Randy's music, and Crazy Train was the first song I ever learned all the way through, including the solos! I was so proud when I could finally play it.
It was a year later that Metal Shop, one of the coolest metal shows on the radio, paid tribute to Randy, and I recorded it. When I listen to it I can't help but get all choked-up and cry. Sometimes I feel like I knew Randy, but I didn't. I guess that is the power of music, or maybe the unseen connection that exists between people. I really miss him. I can only imagine what he would have done in the years to come... he was just at the very beginning of what would have been an amazing journey of music-making and guitar playing.
Once, when I was visiting my parents in California, I took a trip down to Hollywood, to Musonia, Randy's mom's music store. It was a Sunday and the store was closed, but I could see through the windows... there were pictures of Randy here and there. I sat on the walkway by the front door and was humbled knowing that he had walked across that exact same spot countless times.
One night I dreamed that I woke up and he was standing at the foot of my bed, smiling at me. Sometimes I wonder if it was really a dream.
I miss you, Randy.
As you may already know, March 19, 2007 was the 25th Anniversary of Randy's death. As a tribute to him, his music, his family, and all the fans, I would like to offer my performance of his beloved song Dee...
I had been intending to digitize this show from an old audio tape I have had laying around now, for what? Oh, 21 years! Wow. TWENTY-ONE YEARS. Has it really been that long? This weekend, I finally did put the show to digital and am glad I did - I'm not sure how much longer that tape will last!
You will probably notice some strange wavy/warbly sound in the recording, that is because of tape degradation, as is the panning affect (the left side suffered a bit of volume loss on part of the tape). I originally recorded this on my stereo boom box, which had pretty decent sound back then, or so I thought.
Also, this was a one-hour long show, and my cassette was a 60-Min tape, so half-way through it I had to flip the tape. Unfortunately, I lost the part where the announcer says, "When you talk with anyone who knew Randy Rhoads, one word keeps coming up over and over and over again..." and CHOP! I missed the one word! I can't remember what it was, so if you know, let me know!
I did some major restoration work on the audio quality and cut out a LOT of noise. I know there's a lot still there, but you should hear the tape! I have broken the show into two mp3 files for sake of size....
Please enjoy, I'm sure you will. If you want to link to them, that's cool with me, but I would appreciate it if you would just link to this whole page.
~Annah
Metal Shop Tribute to Randy Rhoads Part 1
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