He didn't get much love here
"Roll With the Changes" was one of the best feel good rock songs of the era...probably any era. It might even qualify as an anthem.
AND, when I was coming up, you HAD to learn "Flying Turkey Trot." LOL!
From the looks of Gary lately, he must have sold them off and bought a warehouse full of Twinkies.
Sorry, that was a cheap shot.
I strived many, many years to play in front of big crowds and buy cool guitars. Regardless of anyone's perceived talent level, Gary seemed to have done what many of us wished we had done. Now, I would have hoped many of us would be humble if we had made it to Gary's level.
I've said it before, and will say it again. I always thought that Richraths Les Pauls far outweighed his musical talent. HIS talent was in spotting and being able to acquire those instruments. I had a roadie that worked for REO, and heard the numerous jokes they told of standing behind his Marshall stacks and cracking up. Of all the burst players, he had the MOST non burst tone. He could have been using a PV T 1 series for what it sounded like. YMMV. I did enjoy his guitars.
:salude:dude::salude (Did you meet Big Al yet?) R.I.P. Gary...Amen. Ed Seelig, with Silver Strings Music, not only was a close personal friend with Gary but supplied him with many of his Bursts and other topflight guitars (Broadcasters, Strats, vintage D-28's, Gibson J-180's) in addition to the Worthington Ed Seelig model that Gary used on the road sometimes.
There is a picture of Gary in his heyday playing live where he looks very happy with a huge grin on his face. Ed Seelig captioned it "A Midwest kid living his dream".
Ed has a great big heart and "gets" the essence of what most of us who are attracted to the guitar are here for: to have fun and feel good doing it! Regardless of how we look, how we play or even what we play, let's take the high road and appreciate the common ground we do share rather than playing armchair critic. We all learn and evolve in life, making mistakes along the way, sometimes in youthful zeal and sometimes we can get mired in challenges to our health, mind and spirit. Cut people a break sometimes. Gary brought a lot of joy to many people and didn't sell out. I think it sucks that he's no longer with us however I'm comforted that he's in Heaven playing to his heart's content!
I seem to recall reading Guitar Player some years back when Gary was on the cover that his guitar tech rewound the pickups in his 'burst(s) once a year. If that is so, can someone explain the merits of such an action? I'm afraid I don't quite understand the rationle!
I've been listening to the Live album from 77 ever since I heard that he had passed. I haven't listened to that album in probably 20 years, but I remember every single note on it, like I had been listening to it constantly. That stuff is permanently embedded in my brain.:jim