In honor of the passing of Gary Richrath here is Golden Country from REO’s second album. Yeah, the words are liberal twaddle, but the music is good and Gary kicks ass!
In honor of the passing of Gary Richrath here is Golden Country from REO’s second album. Yeah, the words are liberal twaddle, but the music is good and Gary kicks ass!
Great clip. Richrath was a great rock guitarist. I am of the opinion that during the 1970’s, REO defined kickass, midwestern rock & roll. It’s just a shame that they had their biggest hits in the 80’s with wimpy ballads that featured much more subdued guitar playing. No wonder Richrath left in 1989. I can’t blame the guy. I get the feeling his own band didn’t appreciate him, but the fans know. He was the rock & roll soul of REO. R.I.P. Gary.
The same thing happened with Aerosmith. In the ’70s, they rocked hard and partied hard; after that, they sobered up, wrote ballads which got lots of airplay on MTV, and became a chick band. Music video broadened rock’s appeal but also feminized a lot of musical acts.
Night Ranger was another rocking band and then started doing stupid rock ballads like Sister Christian. End of their careers.
That’s why I think R.E.O. T.W.O was their best album. Some really hard core rocking.