Delores Rhoads, Mother of Randy Rhoads Dead

Delores "Dee" Rhoads, mother of guitar legend Randy Rhoads (of Ozzy Osbourne and Quiet Riot) has unfortunately passed away. Unfortunately neither her age nor the cause of death was given.

The news came from Rhoads's former band mate Rudy Sarzo via Facebook, saying:

“The world today has lost one of the most gracious and sweetest ladies I’m blessed to have known, Delores Rhoads. Please keep her and the Rhoads family in your prayers.”

Delores ran a music school in Hollywood, CA called Musonia School of Music after having graduated with a BA in music in 1949. There she taught Randy everything he knew about guitar and music theory.

On her son, Delores once said:

“Randy grew up musically in my school,” she once said. “I am sure he was influenced by this in many ways. He started when he was so young, he was somewhere between six-and-a-half and seven when he started lessons. In those days, way back then, we started them with the folk guitar where they learned the chords and a few pop songs.

To play in my little group that I had even way back then he had to read [music notation], because he couldn’t play in the group unless he read. And then I worked with him when he was very young. I gave him some piano lessons, so he had to learn to read. I always make my students count very accurately and read properly and do everything the right way, so he had some help in that.”

Kind of sad to see such a legend pass away. However, she really did leave her mark on the world of music, even if it was indirectly. From what I understand she was a very kind woman with an extreme passion for music. Below you can hear the 50 second classical guitar piece Randy wrote and recorded for her called Dee that was on Ozzy Osbourne's debut solo album The Blizzard of Ozz.

Stone Sour and Lzzy Hale Cover Rolling Stones' "Gimme Shelter"

It's not too uncommon for bands over the past few decades to cover a tune from The Rolling Stones. Those guys have put out a slew of FANTASTIC memorable songs. One of the best ones I've heard in a while was just put out in a collaboration by Stone Sour and Halestorm vocalist Lzzy Hale. They chose Gimme Shelter (which can be listened to below via YouTube).

This cover is pretty damn faithful to the original. In fact, it's REALLY faithful to it; so much that you can barely tell the difference except in the vocals and the fact that they added in a harmonica (which honestly I felt was a sexy touch). I was a bit surprised to hear such a heavy band like Stone Sour get so bluesy in their overall musical vibe. I never would have guessed they would choose such a song.

Having Lzzy Hale do the backing vocals was an EXCELLENT choice. In fact, I think I like her backing vocals better than the original. They are more powerful, raspy, and present in the mix. They are a force to be reckoned with.

This cover of Gimme Shelter will be on Stone Sour's upcoming covers EP Straight Outta Burbank which will have five songs on it. The EP will be out on Black Friday. Judging from what is on the track list, I'm pretty stoked for it. I'm intrigued to hear how they will pull off some of these songs.

Straight Outta Burbank Track List:

1: Sailin' On (Bad Brains cover)
2: Running Free (Iron Maiden cover)
3: Gimme Shelter (Rolling Stones cover)
4:Too Fast For Love (Motley Crue cover)
5: Seasons In The Abyss (Slayer cover)

5 Songs to Get You Through the Week #51

5 Songs to Get You Through the Week is a feature I run on Young Ears, Fresh Perspective on Sundays/early hours of Monday morning where I pick out 5 tunes that I think are notable and tell you a bit about them. The point is to give you some rocking music to help you deal with your weekday blues. You can either listen to one each day, listen to them all at once, or any other combination that you feel. As long as you can get through the week without the man getting you down, that's all I care about. Without further ado, here are the 5 tracks I've picked out for this week:

1. Time Warp, by Richard O'Brien

Anyone who was a young adult in the 70's or is even a big rock n' roll and/or theater fanatic these days knows this song and the dance's moves by heart. Time Warp the catchiest and most fun song from the Rocky Horror Picture Show. It's an upbeat rockabilly tune with a darker twist and it definitely beats out more modern dance songs that would attempt to rival its profound legacy in pop culture.

2. Zydrate Anatomy, by Darren Smith

If you're into goth rock, opera, dark futuristic imagery, and gore, then Repo! The Genetic Opera is just what you need in your life. The main single Zydrate Anatomy is beyond dark, and imagery filled. It also is a pretty good way to get what the main idea of the grim setting/plot of the whole rock opera is about. The whole thing is pretty much sex, drugs, and rock n' roll in a whole new way that many people up to the point when the movie came out in 2008 might not have been used to.

3.  Run Like Hell, by Pink Floyd

Run Like Hell from Pink Floyd's The Wall is an iconic part of the story being told because musically and lyrically it illustrates how it is when you have been doing something in a way so wrong for so long that you finally just feel the need to get up and run like hell from it all. Its uptempo rhythm and tension filled guitar riffs further add to that feeling and make you feel the emotions in a way that the lyrics on their own could never convey.

4.  Boulevard of Broken Dreams, by Green Day

This song was an INSANELY popular single when it came out in 2004, but it was part of a much larger musical undertaking by Green Day. Rather than writing another straight up punk album, the guys decided to make a whole concept album/rock opera called American Idiot. This song shows the lonely morose feelings the protagonist St. Jimmy feels while also trying to take pride and power from them.

5. Pinball Wizard, by The Who

Tommy is by far one of the most famous rock operas ever created. It's the story of a boy who loses the ability to speak, hear, and see but then becomes extremely proficient in pinball and becomes a religious figurehead once his senses are restored. The main single Pinball Wizard is melodic, catchy, and gets you caught up in the moment. It's hard not to feel an adrenaline rush in the midst of it and be anticipating what will come next.

 

Ozzy Osbourne Finally Apologizes for Peeing on Alamo

Black Sabbath front man and solo artist Ozzy Osbourne finally made a public apology for one of his most memorable and outlandish acts: peeing on the Alamo in San Antonio, Texas while wearing women's clothing back in 1982 during a drunken escapade.

The formal apology was filmed as a segment for a new program on the History Channel with Osbourne's son Jack Osbourne. Osbourne was banned from San Antonio after the incident, but with a $10,000 donation he made 10 years after to Daughters of the Republic of Texas (the organization that maintains the Alamo) the ban was lifted. Now however he is making the apology public and official.

In an interview with San Antonio Express News, concert promoter Greg Wilson says:

“He was drunk; Ozzy was super drunk. You know, I don’t think anyone would have even noticed what he was doing except that he was dressed in pink tights and ballerina shoes.”

There has been no announcement made yet as to when the show will air. Personally I'm glad that Ozzy is finally putting right some of his past wrongs. In his old age it kind of seems like the right thing to do, especially since I can't imagine he will have that many more chances to do so. Of course one could always take the cynical approach and think that Ozzy is just doing this for publicity, but in this case I think he deserves the benefit of the doubt.

Throwback Thursday: Ready an' Willing, by Whitesnake

 

Once upon a time former Deep Purple vocalist David Coverdale lead band Whitesnake was not the sleazy heavy metal band teased up with enough hair spray to make anyone choke that the world knows them to be today. When Whitesnake started in 1978 they were a blues based hard rock band like Led Zeppelin and Bad Company. In 1980, the band was in top form and put out one of its finest albums (their third) in its catalog: Ready an' Willing.

Ready an' Willing is the old school line-up of Whitesnake at its best. There are so many tunes that move, groove, and brandish that bluesy soul with tongue in cheek lyrics. The songs range from hard upbeat rockers, to slower ballads, to bluesy jams. Of course it helped that this line-up of Whitesnake also included Deep Purple keyboardist Jon Lord and drummer Ian Paice.

Ready an' Willing is a fine title track and is actually one of my personal favorite Whitesnake songs. This song is the definition of music with a groove to it. That guitar riff is so simple, yet it instantaneously hooks itself into your brain while Coverdale is pounding out some pretty overtly sexual themed lyrics. The vocal harmonies however are what absolutely kill it for me (in a good way). It's great when other members of a band have singing talent as well.

Black and Blue is very Little Richard themed. It is a fun upbeat bluesy tune that is primary focused around Lord hammering away on a piano while the rest of the band is jamming out with him. You almost get the picture of the band being in a parlor all gathered around a piano with cigarettes lit their own instruments out just having a good old time. To most people this song would probably just fall by the wayside and be easily forgotten, but personally I feel it's one of the best songs on the album.

Ready an' Willing is a great place to start if you're looking to get into Whitesnake's older catalog. It does a pretty good job showcasing what their sound was like before David Coverdale decided to go in a more commercial direction and get an almost entirely different set of musicians to call Whitesnake. The music on here is earthy, honest, and fun. It's what a good rock record should be and then some. It's worth every last bit of money it costs.

Ready an' Willing, by Whitesnake receives 4 out of 5 stars.

Track List:

1. Fool For Your Loving
2. Sweet Talker
3. Ready an' Willing
4. Carry Your Load
5. Blindman
6. Ain't Gonna Cry No More
7. Love Man
8. Black and Blue
9. She's a Woman

Buy the album on Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/Ready-Willing-LP-Whitesnake/dp/B003ODL45K/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1446797940&sr=8-1&keywords=Ready+an%27+Willing+Whitesnake