RIP Gary Richrath (REO)

[jr/shotglass]

I know REO Speedwagon wasn't everyone's cup of tea, but the guy could do a helluva guitar solo. RIP.

Gary Richrath of REO Speedwagon dies - CNN.com

 

[albert77]

REO had one truly awesome song (Golden Country) and a whole lot of dreck on their resume, but, yes, Rickrath could play. RIP

 

[Shropshire Slasher]

1981 is the dividing line for REO. Before that, it was honest-to-God midwestern rock 'n' roll. After 1980-81, they went pop and, though they had great commercial success, it got really schlocky.

 

[BadgerBeer]

County Fairs around the country will never be the same. I accidentally purchased You Can Tuna A Piano from the record club and I don't think I played it more than once. I did however clean a lot of weed on it in college. RIP

 

[Captain_Kirk]

Enjoyed the Tuna a Piano Tune a Fish album. 'Lucky for You' as a deep cut beyond the album's more famous numbers,

The live You Get What You Play For is still a fine listen today--'Keep Pushin', 'Son of A Poor Man', '157 Riverside Avenue', 'Music Man', among others.

Richrath had been on the outs or ousted for many years now as Kevin Cronin assumed control of the band.

Always felt the turning point for REO was "Time For Me To Fly". Beautiful power rock ballad that Cronin seemed to be able to re-invent formulaically, which begat 'Take It On The Run' and 'Keep On Loving You', which begat 'I Can't Fight This Feeling', etc. A long way from 'Golden Country' for sure.

 

[Football_Bat]

Power rock ballads were the bane of the 80's and early 90's. Thank God for grunge.

 

[mpcincal]

REO, I felt, went to the power ballad well way too often, but I always figured I could cherry pick some songs from their catalog and make at least one good "album" (or playlist) out of it.

To me, the dichotomy of the band really showed in "Keep on Loving You," which had the opening piano notes telegraphing that this was going to be another syrupy ballad, but then Richrath's guitar work on the song, especially the opening power chords, salvaged the song for me. There was nothing he could do to save the later "Can't Fight This Feeling," though.

FWIW, when the news of his death came out, a couple of stories included recent photos of him. Man, he did not look good at all. But RIP to a strong musician.

 

[93Devil]

I always loved the keyboard part during the bridge of this song.

But, **** the 1980s.

Bands or artists like REO, Styx, Chicago, Steve Winwood and even Bruce sold their souls to sappy bull**** glossed over syrup. The music of the 80s was just a **** sandwich.

 

[Huggy]

Nothing wrong with "Roll With The Changes".

This is one of my fave REO songs:

 

[Songbird]

I'm gonna let "the music of the '80s was just a **** sandwich" hang in the air, like a cheap pinata, a little longer.

 

[old_tony]

For someone who owns a ****load of music (probably more than 700 CDs) I have never owned a single thing REO Speedwagon. Then again, I didn't have back when they were popular because you couldn't walk from one end of my dorm hall to the other without hearing their music coming out of at least three different rooms.

 

[Riptide]

The '80s were great if you went for alternative music.

 

[Songbird]

What was alternative in the '80s?

 

[93Devil]

Y

I'm gonna let "the music of the '80s was just a **** sandwich" hang in the air, like a cheap pinata, a little longer.

You are probably missing the reference.

 

[Songbird]

Possible.

 

[93Devil]

What was alternative in the '80s?

New Order, Smiths, U2, REM...

The great Pixies were created in the 1980s, but even their greatness cannot overshadow all the lick my love pump glam rock and mind numbingly bad pop rock.

 

[jr/shotglass]

Hence, why I said REO wasn't everyone's cup of tea.

 

[swingline]

REO: Champaign's own -- at least until Cronin joined.

Golden Country was their only good song.

 

[I Should Coco]

RIP to Gary Richrath and props to REO Speedwagon ... they paid their dues and made it big, living the dream thousands of Midwestern musicians dreamed in the 1960s and 1970s. I enjoyed the music of their late 1970s and early 1980s heyday, and I think the often-overlooked "Nine Lives" album is very solid.

BTW, I think Richrath got the solo writing credit for "Take it on the Run," and that was a sore spot later between him and Cronin, who claimed he actually wrote most of the lyrics.

 

[jr/shotglass]

Coco, was it Richrath who wanted the band to keep its edge while Cronin was pushing for ballads? I know there was a major struggle about that, but I'm not sure about the second principal.