R.I.P. Randy Rhoads

33 years ago today... Gone, but definitely not forgotten. Just listened to Diary Of A Madman this morning. Still so amazing to listen to after all these years.

Heh, with all the RIP threads lately, I jumped up and started to yell "Whaa!" then said "Wait a minute, he's been gone for years!"
 
We can only wonder at what he would have created if he had lived longer.

moral of the story is,
don't let your roadie fly the plane.
 
 
RIP RR

:) Yep, I remember that too. 
 
It's kind of cool to get back into his music as a guitarist so many years later. I've never been much of a shredder, so I took a different direction even though I admired him so much. Now I find myself trying to play some of his stuff, and even if the technique behind it doesn't always seem as elusive as it was when I was 12 or 13, there's just so much emotion in there...
 
When I started out, the solo in Over the Mountain was arguably my favorite guitar moment ever. It was like a punch in the gut, like the guitar was wailing what I felt, like the voice I didn't have. I just stood there, speechless, holding my breath.
 
Years later, I find myself practicing it more or less regularly - like something that you pick up and try every now and then, and put back for a while before you come back to it. I know I'll never play it with as much conviction and feeling as he did, but I keep learning from it.