A Small History Lesson For Ya, Junior

Gary Richrath passed away the other day......as you may or may not know he was the guitar whiz
behind REO Speedwagon......now, of ALL the bands of the era that I make fun of regularly, REO ranks, along with Styx and Foreigner, at the top of the heap....for the most part, they were awful, a generic 1980's mishmash of idiotic album titles("You Can Tue a Piano But You Can't Tuna Fish", Hi-Infidelity", etc) and even MORE idiotic songs  (The vomit inducing "Keep On Lovin You", "Tough Guys" and LOTS more).....however, PRIOR to that kidney stone of a decade (the 80's), they could really rock the room, on the stage (saw them once, opening for someone, forget who exactly).I was, eventually, as surprised as anyone that they got "big".......but in a decade where swill like Poison and the like were considered good rock n roll, should be no surprise really.

Why am I messing around with this even? Couple reasons.....the "Live: You Get What You Play For" (ANOTHER stupid album title), released sometime during my high school yearas in the late 1970's, is a good one, sounding just like a midwestern metal band who has been playing the tavern circuit for years, which would pretty much be the reality. No "classic" by any means, in fact, it contains pretty much every live-metal cliche known to man, down to the Chuck Berry encore ("Little Queenie" which is pretty good), but a damn good showcase for Richrath's guitar work, with some very good, hard rocking tracks ("Son of a Poor Man", "Like You Do", and the absolute definitive version of "Ridin' the Storm Out", the studio version of which is SO very lame in comparison, worth checking out just for this track, by far thier finest moment.) By the way this is ripped from glorious vinyl, and it sounds SO 1970's......have never heard a digital rip and, well, frankly, ya know.....

And for you REO freaks out there (BOTH of ya), here's a little surprise/rarity for ya, a two disc 1979 Chicago boot......they were well on thier way to suckville by this time, as there are tracks from early in thier "big time" era ("Time For Me To Fly", "Only the Strong Survive"), but also includes a version of "Ridin' The Storm Out" and a couple of others, not the greatest but I don't recall from where I got it, nor have I seen many copies of it, so have at it.....

I have not been kind to this band in the past, justifiably, too, I think (I mean, GEEZ, REALLY? "I
don't wanna sleep......I just wanna keep...............on lovin' you" COME ON), but I don't mean to dis thte 1970's metal guitar greatness of Gary Richrath......not especially an original or an innovator, BUT , for what he was, he was a metal guitar slammer who DEFINITELY could bring the goods on stage........Rest In Peace Gary!



LIVE: YOU GET WHAT YOU PLAY FOR-01 Like You Do/02 Lay Me Down/03 Any Kind of Love/04 Being Kind (Can Hurt Someone Sometimes)/05 Keep Pushin'/06 (Only a) Summer Love/07 Son of a Poor Man/08 (I Believe) Our Time is Gonna Come/09 Flying Turkey Trot/10 Gary's Guitar Solo/11 157 Riverside Avenue/12 Ridin' the Storm Out/13 Music Man/14 Little Queenie/15 Golden Country

CHICAGO 12/28/79 DISC 1-01 House Announcer/02 Intro/03 Say You Love Me Or Say Goodnight/04 Like You Do/05 Heavy On Your Love/06 Drop it (an Old Disguise)/07 Only the Strong Survive/08 Easy Moeny/09 Roll With the Changes/10 Time For Me TO Fly (cuts out)/11 Back on the Road Again (cuts in)

CHICAGO 12/28/79 DISC 2-01 The Unidentified Flying Turkey Trot/02 157 Riverside Avenue/03 Keep Pusih'/04 Ridin' The Storm Out/05 Audience/DJ Comments/06 Little Queenie/07 Rock n Roll Music/08 Golden Country/09 Closing (introductions)/10 DJ Comments

Links will be up in a little while.......in the meantime, the next post (above this one) is a serious labor of love from a true FRIEND OF THE BLOG!