Bass legend Rudy Sarzo (Whitesnake, Ozzy Osbourne, Quiet Riot) is featured in a career-spanning interview with Guitar World. An excerpt from the chat is available below.
Q: What kind of guy was Randy Rhoads?
Sarzo: "If it wasn't for Randy, I would have never had the career that I've had, because he trusted me. This was the scenario: Ozzy was about 10 days away from going on the road, and they were in Los Angeles looking for a bass player. Not only a person that could play those songs, because there were many qualified musicians who could do that, but they needed somebody they could trust. I had already worked with Randy in Quiet Riot, so he told Sharon, ‘Listen, Rudy is the perfect guy because he's not going to be a bad influence on Ozzy. He looks good, he's reliable, and he's going to be somebody to hang with on the bus!'"
Q: Jumping from one massive band to another, did you just slot right in with Whitesnake when you joined them in '87?
Sarzo: "One of the blessings in my career is that I get to play with musicians and bands that I am a fan of. That's very rare, especially for some kid from Miami. At the time I wasn't an American citizen yet. I was just an immigrant, a permanent resident, basically – a Cuban refugee that became an American citizen. So for me to go and play with Ozzy and with Tommy Aldridge, whose playing I loved in Black Oak Arkansas, and Randy in Quiet Riot... it was incredible.
As soon as I finished my commitment with Quiet Riot and was a free agent, I got a call from Whitesnake's management, and we met. David (Coverdale) and John (Sykes) were working in the south of France, writing the new record, and Tommy and I went into the office. I was witness to internal conflict within Whitesnake during that tour, and I thought that it would not be wise for me to leave one situation for another situation, so I passed on the opportunity to make a record.
A couple of years later, in '87, when David was ready for the 1987 record to be released and for the tour to start, I got the call to do the 'Still Of The Night' video, along with Vivian Campbell and Adrian Vandenberg. So we all met at that video shoot and it was instant chemistry. We were like, 'Oh wow, if you're doing this, I guess I'm doing this too.' The chemistry was right and it just felt perfect. It was a great combination of people."
Read the complete interview here.
(Photo - Julie Bergonz)
