Talkin' Rock With Meltdown Podcast Two Classic Guitarists - Richard Williams of Kansas and Mick Box of Uriah Heep
Up first, it's Kansas guitarist, Richard Williams. One of the things I asked him about was the passing of Jeff Beck. He said he saw him, but never actually met the legend.
"I saw him, yeah, but I never did, uh, actually meet him. He would be one of those people where he wouldn't have been impressed because I would've just stood there and stammered, and mumbled, and then he would've finally just walked away just thinking I was an idiot. He was my personal fav."
That lead me to ask him if there was any other artists he'd met that had him star struck...there was. "Yeah. Um, it was, let's see, the summer of 1978. We played Boulder, Colorado with, in the football stadium, with the Rolling Stones. And so we had played a few weeks earlier with them at the old, uh, football stadium in Cleveland. But at this particular show, there was a tent city built back to stage and uh, there was screens. We were just in our dressing room rehearsing and I saw the entourage pull up in limousines." He went on "The Stones are here. So sitting there I was just playing my guitar and all of a sudden, Mick Jagger and Keith Richards just walk in the door and says, "Hello, glad to have you on the show. Really love your band. If there's anything you need, just let us know." I just stood there like an idiot. I didn't know what to say and so I said nothing. My jaw was open and I, I'm sure I looked like there was something wrong with me. I was star struck."
We also talk about the 50 anniversary of the band, his recent birthday, playing with Steve Morse and lots more.
Then, it's Uriah Heep guitarist, Mick Box.
Mick was around at the beginning of heavy metal. He said at first they just called it classic rock. "When you think back to those early days, there wasn't any stigma attached to being classic rock, ya know." Mick went on to talk about the diverse musical tours they did back in the 70s....and that's just for starters on this great conversation.
The new Uriah Heep album is out and it's called Chaos & Colour. He told me about the album, how the pandemic played into it, and why they got Jay Ruston to produce it again. He talks about rock cruises, what caused him to pick up a guitar in the first place, and even a story about his first guitar.
He also spoke of the late Jeff Beck. "I love everything that Jeff did. He was my favorite all time guitarist". He meet Jeff a few times "He was a lovely guy." He told me he never learned any of his licks because he was so much of a fan. He told me about knowing Randy Rhoads.
-Meltdown-
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