For The Metal VoiceNeil Turbin Interviewed Kelle Rhoads at this years annual Ride for Ronnie 2019 charity. Rhoads talked about the origins of the Classical piece Dee by brother Randy Rhoads as well as Kelle Rhoads’ upcoming studio album.
Watch interview Here:
Kelle Rhoads told The Metal Voice about the origins of the piece Dee and how the record label did not want that piece on the Blizzard of Ozz album.” Rhoads said, “First of all it goes deeper than that, there is a Quiet Riot song called Laughing Gas and most of Dee is in the guitar solo. So what Randy did was make it into a classical composition and then the record company said we don’t really think that that belongs on Blizzard of Oz. And Ozzy Osbourne went to bat for Randy and said if Randy wants this on the album it stays.”
Jimmy Kay from Canada’s The Metal Voice recently interviewed ex-Quiet Riot‘s co-founder, bassist and best friend of Randy Rhoads, Kelly Garni. Part 2
Watch the Pt 2 of the interview here:
Garni spoke about his book Angles with Dirty Faces, which talks how he and Randy disliked Black Sabbath in the early years, Garni conflicts with Kevin Dubrow, Randy Rhoads letters, poor management in Quiet Riot, re-releasing Quiet Riot 1 and 2 and the gun shooting incident with Randy Rhoads that led to Garni being fired from Quiet Riot.
When asked about why he did not get along with Kevin Dubrow
“I never really got along with Kevin Dubrow from the very beginning because I didn’t like him. Kevin was not a nice person. He was obnoxious and he hated me. Kevin loved and adored Randy and he wanted to be really close to Randy and I was like no that is not happening that’s my best friend. If you asked anybody in the music business back then what was Kevin like, they would say he was a prick and that’s even after he is dead. Kevin doesn’t even get any respect after he died. Kevin was a dick, he was a prick and asshole and he certainly made his own bed in that regards. Later on in the ending of my book I talked about how I learned a different side of Kevin and how I became extremely good friends with him and close enough with him, that if I had a brother this is the guy outside of Randy and Kelle Rhoads. ”
When asked about their opinions of Black Sabbath and Alice Cooper at the time in the early years
“Black Sabbath to us were trying to be evil. Randy Rhoads and I didn’t really get it. That is why it’s so weird that Randy Rhoads ended up with Ozzy because we never listened to Black Sabbath, we didn’t think they were very talented. Randy and I loved Alice Cooper it was a whole different realm of music, this was like going to see a horror movie. Black Sabbath to us was like a church of evil to us. That is how we saw them. When you went to see Alice Cooper you understood the entertainment value, it was a show. The Black Sabbath guys to us at the time appeared to be really into worshipping the devil and our upbringing didn’t support believing into anything like that. We didn’t want to be evil at all. Alice appeared to be more crazy than evil. When Randy first told me he joined Ozzy I was like really Ozzy? We hated that shit but Randy said this was different he got to write the music and work with these other guys well respected artists.”
When asked about Randy Rhoads letters to Kevin Dubrow in his time with Ozzy Osbourne
“Kevin did have a tendency to write letters to Randy and Kevin showed me the letters Randy sent to him and Randy was clearly clearly unhappy in Ozzy. When Randy did come to Las Vegas during the Blizzard of Oz tour and we spent time together, Randy was very clear about how unhappy he was in that band. Kevin Dubrow said the most interesting thing to me later on in life that I could never ever believe. He said, you know what after you left Quiet Riot Randy just wasn’t the same anymore and he wasn’t into the band Quiet Riot anymore like he was, he felt alone and Kevin said I think that is why he left to join Ozzy. ”
When asked if Randy appreciated the position in being in Ozzy band
“Randy was given free reign in Ozzy and was really appreciative of Ozzy giving him the opportunity. Randy felt pretty lucky to be playing and writing with band. I know he was particular close with Bob Daisey. Also Bob deserves a lot of credit for helping Randy getting out of his shell that Randy was put in the Quiet Riot days by the people who managed us.”
When asked about the gun shooting incident with Randy Rhoads
“The only thing out there that I would debunk or argue with is people say I tried to kill Randy Rhoads with a gun. People call me out on that one all the time and I almost got into a fist fight with Ozzy about it. Nothing could be further from the truth. First of all when it comes to Randy everyone thinks he was so angelic, well we used to go out and shoot guns all the time. One time the S.W.A.T. team was called at my house because we were firing guns off in my backyard.”
“What happened was I had robbed a bar the night before and stolen all their liquor and I was very drunk that’s why Randy was at my house because we were drinking and we were drinking for about 6 hours straight. Randy and I had an argument over whether was should kick out Kevin Dubrow from Quiet Riot. People say that during that fight I tried to shoot Randy Rhoads and that is not true. I fired a bullet through the ceiling. (in the book Garni claims 10 feet above Randy’s head 8 feet in front of him). The bullet went no where near Randy Rhoads and in no way would I ever try to kill my best friend. And yes a pretty good fist fight happened a rather violent one. Randy left my house bleeding pretty badly and so did I. But that is what friends and brothers do is they roll around the ground, beat each other up and that’s all it was. People have made a big deal about a fight between two best friends who are brothers and have construed it in a completely negative manner then it actually was. In no way did I try to kill Randy Rhoads, in no way. Because of this fight I was thrown out of Quiet Riot, I was kicked out of Quiet Riot because of this. I have no problems saying that. Once I started to pull a gun out the management said he is out of control which I agree to that decision that they made and have no issues with. I deserved to get fired from Quiet Riot, totally deserved it. But I will say Randy called me up after I got out of jail from the incident the next day and he was laughing cause I got thrown in jail. How I got thrown in jail was, I got in my car and I was very angry and I knew that Kevin was down at the Record Plant recording vocals for Quiet Riot 2. Like I said the fight was over kicking Kevin out of the band and we got into a mix about it, the gun was fired and we got into a fist fight, I probably got into a dozen fist fights with Randy over the years. That’s how brothers are you fight, you cry, you say you are sorry and then you do it again. I pulled out a gun to make my point, to make a big loud noise which was sort of my way of saying everyone just shut up. So after Randy left my house with the aid of a friend who was sitting right there who will back up everything I am saying Kim McNair a good friend of Randy’s and mine. I was very drunk and after Randy left I said I am going to fix this deal and I am going to blow Kevin’s ass away. I got in my car and I tried to drive clear over to Holly wood which was 25-30 miles away and I was going to kill Kevin, that was my big drunken plan and as soon as I got in my car and started driving I realized I couldn’t drive. I didn’t have the ability and I was like well there goes that plan, well I’m going to have to go home. So in order to park in front of my house I had to go around the block and I had to go into a major intersection and when I made that turn, I blew the turn and there was a cop car and they pulled me over in front of my house. I had the gun in the shoulder holster and they had me get out of the car . Next thing I know I was on the ground and then I woke up in jail with my face covered in blood. I was charged with DUI and felony possession for a concealed weapon. I know what I did, I owned up to it I am not going to lie about it and I’m not going to try and sugar coat it, there is no way to sugar coat it . I fucked up.”
Jimmy Kay from Canada’s The Metal Voice recently interviewed ex-Quiet Riot‘s co-founder, bassist and best friend of Randy Rhoads, Kelly Garni.
Garni spoke about his book Angles with Dirty Faces, which talks about growing up with Randy Rhoads, playing in bands together prior to Quiet Riot, hiring Kevin Dubrow and getting into trouble with the law. Watch part 1 of a 2 part interview.
Watch the interview, Pt.1, here:
When asked about growing up with Randy Rhoads
“We were twelve years old at the time and Randy made me into a bass player and together we had this dream of becoming rock stars. We did not like hate, adversity, differences, people not getting along or people judging others. Also there were a many times when me and Randy got thrown in jail for some things. We got thrown in jail for being out too late, being in the wrong place at the wrong time and being drunk. Randy even got arrested once for playing his guitar too loud in his house. Me and Randy were jamming in his house, a cop showed up and said the neighbours were pressing charges because we were playing too loud, then the cop put Randy in handcuffs, into the police car and then to jail, he was 15 years old. But didn’t take me to jail? There were also some more circumstances that pissed the neighbours off that aggravated it all that lead to do this as well. But we learnt our lesson and did not annoy the neighbour anymore. ”
When asked if Randy Rhoads older brother Kelle exposed both them to the world of rock music
“I have to say that Randy’s brother influenced us in lots of ways not only in music. He was older than us and he was a lot like us. Kelle was wearing all these cool clothes and we kind of emulated him. Then musically he had played in bands and me and Randy would be roadies for them just to be around the music and to be at the parties. So we watched his brother doing this and we said we can do this too and so we did. Kelle Rhoads also introduced us to a band called Alice Cooper and we really liked the way the band looked. Kelle Rhaods then brought us to see Alice Cooper which was out first real concert and we thought we want to be and strive to be like them. ”
When asked about bringing in Kevin Dubrow as the singer of Quiet Riot
“We auditioned a lot of singers at the time and we were trying to find the right guy and then we met Kevin Dubrow. The second we laid eyes on him we said let’s go. He was not what we wanted. We just thought at the time Kevin he was a complete loser. We both did not like him at all. Kevin was not like anything we were looking for, Randy and me had a dream of having a singer that was like Alice Cooper or David Bowie. Neither of us wanted Kevin Dubrow but Kevin was such a forceful person and such a driven person we just said oh man why the hell not. let’s just go with this guy at least he is into it as much as we are. I will say this about Kevin as much as me and Randy wanted to be rock stars Kevin wanted it even more so he did have that going for him. We then jammed with him at Randy’s house and he sounded terrible. So we finally made Kevin a deal, we said we will be in a band with you but you have to learn how to sing because you can’t. But if you listen to us maybe we can help you. Kevin tried so hard and over time he became passable and then from there we decided to form a real band. Kevin went out and got us a real manager that would put some money into the band and a manager that would give us a real place to rehearse.”
Jimmy Kay from Canada’s The Metal Voice recently produced an online mini-Documentary on the Rhoads family legacy, entitled RHOADS. Interviews shot with Kelle and Kathy Rhoads at Musonia school of music in North Hollywood, (where Randy Rhoads taught and their family ran for 71 years), as well as at NAMM 2019 for Jackson Guitars in Anaheim California.
Watch the interview here:
The mini-documentary covers topics such as: Randy Rhoads involvement in Quiet Riot and Ozzy Osbourne. The Rhoads family relationships. Kelle Rhoads musical outputs and upcoming projects. Kathy Rhoads’ winery. Delores Rhoads contributions to UCLA music Dept. and the school of Musonia’s musical legacy and continuation.
When asked about the Musonia school of music and it’s popularity in the past and it’s economical sustainability today
“The school was completed in in 1948, the school was very successful in the 50’s and 60’s even through the 70’s. In the 1980’s it shifted to where there was a lot of guitar activity, largely because of Randy and Eddie Van Halen’s popularity. We had a lot of students who were very interested in electric guitar studies. Recently in the millennium we have seen a dramatic decline in students, we are no longer able to make a profit from teaching, we have a couple of other things that we do to keep the school a float. We have less than 6 students today, at one time we probably had 200 students . ” Kelle Rhoads
“To name a few artist that have taught or studied at Musonia, Rudy Sarzo from Quiet Riot and Whitesnake, Nick Menza from Megadeth, George Lynch from Dokken, Joe Holmes from Ozzy Osbourne and Zakk Wylde daughter.” Kathy Rhoads
When asked Kelle Rhoads about his musical relationship with his brother and his musical output today
” I started off as a drummer, my brother and I had a band together for a while, the band was called Violent Fox. That band lasted around 9 months, after that Randy played with other bands that eventually became Quiet Riot and I became a singer. After that I made a couple of records in the 80’s, one a solo project and the other called RHOADS (with Nick Menza on drums) which was hard rock, metal. Later on in life I transitioned from singer to classical music composer. I have 4 cd’s that are released world wide. The first ‘TITANIC OVERTURE’. the second one is ‘PORTRAITS of OBLIVION’, the third one is ‘PRIDE & PROFANITY’, and then the last one I came out with is ‘MAGNIFICENT OBSESSION’. The musical style of my music is what I call abstract classical music. A lot of influences from pianist from the 19th century but I am also influenced by some modern keyboard concepts and different kind of instruments. I just don’t only have piano on my albums, I have different pieces of music that have horn, strings etc… I am now working on my 5th album called ‘Architects of Destruction’ the new record still has to be mixed.”Kelle Rhoads
When asked about former Quiet Riot singer Kevin Dubrow personality
“Kevin was a dick. Back in the day when he was in Quiet Riot people used to come up to me all the time and they used to say tell your brother Randy to get rid of that guy. Kevin was loud, obnoxious and mean to people. However what was good about Kevin and I can’t say this about any other singer, Kevin was so persistent and so tenacious that he was only in one real band his whole life and he just wouldn’t give up until finally made it and when he came out with Metal Health and became a huge rock star. ” Kelle Rhoads
When asked Kelle Rhoads about re-recording songs today from the first two Quiet Riot (Randy Rhoads era) albums that were only released in Japan, with limited copies
“I’m thinking about it, I am playing with the idea, I don’t know if I am actually going to do it yet. But I would like to record them with the musicians I work with today. If I were to record them today they would be better than the actual recordings as the originals were recorded in the 70’s and technology today has advanced. I think it would be a really good idea to re-record some songs. Off the bat I would do Killer Girls, Looking in any window, It’s not so funny and Back to the coast which is the only song I co-wrote with my brother Randy. I wrote the lyrics and he wrote the music. I would possible do even more than that but those are the essentials, I would want to start with those. ” Kelle Rhoads
When asked if anyone has anyone ever approached him in acquiring rights to re-releasing the first two Quiet Riot records worldwide
“No, nobody ever has” Kelle Rhoads
When asked about stories of Randy Rhoads that are not true
“There are a lot of stories out there that are not true but because they have been in a magazine or some type of article other people pick up on it and they repeat it and the myth keeps perpetuating. One story that is very untrue is that Randy Rhoads was going to leave Ozzy and not be in the band anymore. Completely not true. Randy was going to work with Ozzy but he wasn’t going to go on the road for awhile cause he wanted to get his degree in classical guitar studies. Kelle Rhoads
Jimmy Kay from Canada’s The Metal Voice recently spoke to Frankie Banali drummer and manager of QUIET RIOT. He spoke about Randy Rhoads, Kevin Dubrow and the upcoming album Road Rage.
Watch the interview here:
On how Randy Rhoads introduced Frankie to Kevin Dubrow
“I used to see Quiet Riot play all the time at the Starwood in L.A. When Randy Rhoads left Quiet Riot in 1979 to go play with Ozzy Osbourne I got a call from Randy asking me to go play. We played together with Ozzy for about a week. Nothing came of it but from that experience of Randy and I working together for that week, Randy recommend me to Kevin Dubrow. At the same time Rudy Sarzo was still playing with Kevin in Quiet Riot in band that was now called DUBROW and Rudy and I have know each other since 1972, so Rudy also recommend me to Kevin. So the two Randy and Rudy were responsible for me playing with Kevin in 1980.”
When asked his opinion of releasing Quiet Riot 1 and 2 albums which features Randy Rhoads on guitar
“I don’t have the rights to those records, those were pre my involvement with Quiet Riot. That is something I have no control over. There are a lot of people involved, the original label Sony Japan, there were managers involved, there were producers involved, musicians and in the case of Randy and Kevin, their estates. They would all have to come together and commit to some kind of agreement for those records to be officially released. I can tell you that if Kevin was alive he would be against releasing them, cause he didn’t think they were as good as they could have been. Kevin didn’t feel he was as good as a singer as he eventually became from his perspective. I don’t think he would have been happy about it but it’s not my call.”
When asked if the press in 1983 was to harsh on Kevin Dubrow when he claimed that Without Quiet Riot other LA bands would be nothing and never got signed
“From my perspective I didn’t agree with what Kevin said, I didn’t agree on how he said it but I supported his right to give his opinion. One of Kevin’s biggest faults is he was so incredibly honest. Kevin just spoke his mind, if anything he was guilty of being way to honest and it came back and ultimately affected him personally and affected the band professionally.”
When asked if there were any left over tracks from the Rehab recording sessions prior to Kevin Dubrow’s death
“There are a couple of things that I have on my drives in the archives whether they will ever see the light of day it’s hard to say, we will just have to wait and see”
When asked what he saw in new singer James Durbin that he didn’t see in the other singers he worked with that did not work out
“I hadn’t met him before and I really didn’t follow American idol but I did see that one season where he sang with Rob Halford Judas Priest and I said to myself this guy is really talented. His voice is not the same as Kevin’s but he has the range that Kevin had and he has got a very melodic style of singing. And he’s got that same kind of energy as a performer that Kevin had and for me that is something that has been missing since Kevin passed away since 2007. I needed someone who can sing the old material live as well as someone who can bring something new to the table.”
When asked what is the musical similarities between the new album Road rage to the Quiet Riot catalogue
“It’s bits in different places if you take a track like Freak Flag and Wasted, I think they are siblings to some of the material we did on Metal Health and Condition Critical and then there are songs that are completly different than anything we have done in the past . I just let the music just come out and progress as it did. The only thing that is the same from the original Road Rage is the music. We got rid of all the lyrics and the vocal melodies of the first version and had James created all new lyrics and all new melodies. James to this day has not heard the original record cause I wanted to make sure that he had a blank canvas.”
When asked if they will record a live album or a biography
“There is a real possibility that would happen if the situation is right for a live album. There is definitely several books in me, its a possibility”
Jimmy Kay and Sean Peck (Cage, Denner/Shermann) on Canada’s The Metal Voice recently spoke to Randy Rhoads‘ Brother and Sister, Kelle and Kathy Rhoads in regards to their brother’s legacy, unreleased material, hobbies and personality. The siblings were interviewed live at The Hall of Heavy Metal History on January 18 2017 and accepted the award on behalf of their brother.
Watch the interview here:
The Metal Voice episode is a tribute celebration of the life of Randy Rhoads who died on March 19 1982 in a tragic airplane crash while on tour with Ozzy Osbourne.
When asked if there were any un-released video material of Randy Rhoads
“Not that were aware of and according to Sharon Osbourne no. I have to tell you that probably somewhere down the line somebody’s got something in their attic, that they filmed and they died so somebody else in their family probably has it. The same thing happened with classical composers, people found stuff that Mozart wrote 180 years after he wrote it, it was in somebody’s attic. I got a question that has never been satisfactory answered. Ozzy is a front man, he started Heavy Metal as far as I’m concerned, Ozzy puts a brand new band together and nobody shoots any video of that initial European tour? It doesn’t make any sense? So here is the answer to your question, not that I know of. Here is my personal opinion, there has got to be footage.” Kelle
When asked if Randy Rhoads would have continued on the path of Heavy Metal
“I get asked that a lot and there is no way to know who knows what he would have done? ” Kellie
“Randy really loved Classical music and had a passion going in that direction, my belief is he would have done something in between Classical and Heavy Metal. ” Kathy
“Randy could play anything if he heard a Polka he would learn how to play it, if he heard Hawaiian music he would learn how to play it, he didn’t want any boundaries he didn’t want to be just a Heavy Metal musician and he was an absolute virtuoso. I think someone like him comes about every 200 years. People don’t generally have that kind of talent it is very extraordinary. Not only was he a great performer he was a virtuoso and he was a great writer. He didn’t write lyrics and he didn’t sing. When he was in Quiet Riot the management said he would have to have a mic in front of him but he made them turn it off. ” Kelle
When asked about his personnel life
“He loved trains, he had the smallest trains he could buy, he had to get them in Germany, the size of a walnut.” Kelle
“Randy was the kindest most humble person you would ever want to meet, he was genuine. ” Kelle
“Randy used to dress up the dog and put cigarettes in their mouth. The dog had Walkman earphones and a cigarettes in his mouth” Kelle
“Randy had a devious sense of humour.” Kelle
When asked if there were any music that was carried on from Quiet Riot to Ozzy Osbourne’s band
“You know there are somethings he wrote with Ozzy that were carried over from Quiet Riot, NO BONE MOVIES and YOU LOOKING AT ME LOOKING AT YOU. Those were cord structures that he had when we was in Quiet riot he just didn’t get to use them.”
