2017 - August 30 - Mr. Crowley

Sometimes the good old days really were that good. Yngwie Malmsteen has often been seen as the man who brought the neoclassical guitar to the forefront, although fans of Ritchie Blackmore will probably argue that he has elements of it as well (although that might have been more courtesy of Jon Lord - but that's another discussion). In picking today's song, I found a bridge between the two in Randy Rhoads. He was the extremely gifted guitarist who played with Ozzy Osbourne following his ouster from Black Sabbath. Their output together is pretty small - only two studio albums and one live album - but it is powerful. Their collaboration started in 1980, but was cut short in an accident with a small airplane after Rhoads was a passenger during several passes over the tour bus where a wing got clipped on the roof of the bus and the plane careened into a tree in 1982, 35 years ago. This sent Ozzy into a massive downward spiral again (remember, they kicked him out of Black Sabbath), and he is marked by this death to this day.

One of my absolute favorite Ozzy Osbourne solo tracks is from his debut album as a solo artist, Blizzard of Ozz. It is about old British occultist Aleister Crowley, and while there are lots of references to Satan in the lyrics, it is not a satanic song. I sense a loneliness in the song more than anything else. I found a live tv clip from 1981, and by then the band was Tommy Aldridge on drums, Rudy Sarzo (best known from Quiet Riot) on bass, journeyman Don Airey (who know plays in Deep Purple, filling Jon Lord's seat), and Randy Rhoads on guitar (he also got his start in Quiet Riot like Rudy Sarzo). Watching Ozzy perform this piece is about as lonely and tragic as the figure Aleister Crowley - but Randy Rhoads is on fire. And - what I always expected to be tapping in the guitarsolo is actually picked. It is amazing. Please enjoy Mr. Crowley. I wonder what could have been if Randy Rhoads had lived longer.