Wow, 43K views! Thanks for the kind words guys. To everyone else, I want to set the record straight. I probably shouldn't post this here but nothing I'm about to say is controversial. If a BOC show averages about 100 minutes and I play a max of 4 minutes of lead guitar, then that means I'm playing rhythm guitar or keyboard for 96% of the show. Buck is the master, I agree, but even if you are the most die-hard Buck fan, 4% of my lead playing is really nothing to get upset about. This is done intentionally. We've discussed the differences in styles and how it enhances the show to have some interplay between the two of us, and the audience reaction usually confirms this approach. It's not a competition, it's 2 different interpretations. Besides if it were a competition, I'd lose. Buck is a master improviser who could keeping coming up with new and interesting stuff long after I'd run out of licks! So everybody just relax! LOL
Richie, thanks so much for being part of BOC's current incarnation. I've seen BOC more times than any other band. Saw you guys this summer at Paso Robles, and it was still excellent - my regret was that I was with friends who had to leave so I couldn't stay for the second show! Your playing was great, Buck's was still top-notch, I don't see the need for a pissing match. I first saw BOC in, well, it musta been about 1977 but I've refreshed my memory by watching some of the old RU-vids from that era and I honestly feel that the musicianship is better now. Your comments about "master improviser" are spot on; it seems to me that the very best (Buck, Zappa) can play within the same songs and still come up with amazing and wonderful readings that were never the same. Of course, it probably helps if one is 'on tour Forever'. :-) You can feel so blessed that you are being compared with Buck, just getting to that plateau says loads about your fantastic skills.
Dude....how many people here would love to be playing with Buck Dharma? And would get the same kind of negative comments? You're fortunate and can obviously handle soloing. And playing lead with him on such a classic song.That takes guts. I would be honored to do that as you seem to be.
I have seen BOC live at least 30 times since the mid 70's I miss all the original members however they have carried in very well. this is a great performance of one of my fav boc songs.
in 1999, I asked Buck and Allen to play this... and was told they hadn't played it IN YEARS - didn't even know if anyone could get thru it. I told them I always thought it was one of their best and highly underrated songs... and should have been released as a single - would have certainly been a hit. That night they actually did it for me, and did it well, like here. Funny, afterwards as they walked by me backstage, Buck said they may have to bring it back into the set list, Allen agreed... RIP Allen. What a song to show off...
we bought the 8 track and played it till it wouldn't play, rewound it and wore it out again. Way before their monster hits, but still probably my favorite. I think I liked the band better on the early albums, because they were a bit of a secret. After the reaper went through the roof everyone jumped on board.
ha! - YOU suggested it and they played it. boo-hoo-ha-HA! I've seen them do it in all 28 shows I've attended. Maybe you can suggest/request that they play "She's As Beautiful AS a Foot" - us diehard fans would LOVE to FINALLY hear that quirky track... and THEN I'll thank you.
Just saw them Saturday in Tacoma. Un fricking believable! They played for over two hours with a 4 song encore. I love how they have let evolution take its course on this tune. It gets better everytime; better than when I saw them 20 years ago.
I've seen BOC a few times now live, and I always think Ritchie's solo is amazing, but Buck always rises to the occasion and shows who the true master is... I think this is the first time that I have seen them as equals. What great guitar work by the both of them.
You are correct on the jazz part for sure. He has that background and exposure, and it makes him different. Sort of a Jeff Beck in hard rock. One of my favorite players.
Me too. This clip is pure theatre. No sooner have you stood to applaud Richie's solo then your mouth is wide open watching Buck do his. I've shared this clip with numerous friends who agree that this is live guitar playing at its best. BOC--you just get better and better!
They have changed over the years but still with the new members , this has got to be the best guitar duel that I have seen in many years. I was very fortunate to catch them at this rock weekend in Somerset. Thanks for the clip
Amazing...great video. First guy plays just great, (but doesn't overdo cos it would kill what's quite a sensitive song) then Buck frys the cheeseburger! Thanks for sharing.
Roger Ritchie is extreemly talented but I too miss Allen Albert and Joe, there's a certain magic made when the right people are a as one nothing came close to the original line up.
Richie, I appreciate your post and you flat jam I'll give you that but Buck is phenomenal as he's in context of the song. Hell, it's his song no doubt.
Richie is good but has limited vibrato skills and needs a shitload of special effects on his guitar -- buck on the other hand is a real master with tones and skipping strings in his technique. Richie plays with raising his fingers much further of the fret board. Buck barley raises his fingers. Another sign of superior technique. Melodically Buck is far better. Richie sounds like he is playing speeded up Deep Purple licks.
Just lovin this performance it is TIGHT and I cranked it up til my neighbors thought they might have to hire an EXORCIST to fix me, R.I.P. Allen you are missed...
I think they both play great, each guitarist is a product of their experiences, their age, and their influences .It was a different world back then when Buck was coming up and he reflects that in his playing and in the same way the other guitarist reflects his influences and his era which is quite different than Bucks,personally I enjoyed both and think it's a good thing to have both styles represented on the same stage
Wow, I didn’t know Alan L. passed away. It did not surprise me to read what the cause of his death was. My wife and I refer to him as the cigarette smoking man. I knew he had left the band because of health reason a while ago.
BOC is our favorite live act. We've seen them five times, and it's always an excellent show by all. Love the shredding contest between Ritchie and Buck.
I think Castellano has learned a lot in BÖC since 2013. He probably can play 3 times faster than Buck but music is not only technique and speed. His last performances on this song are much better in my opinion. He and Jules Radino give BÖC a new youth yet they don't replace Albert and Allen.
This is certainly a different take on the song. Not better or worse, per se. It's a matter of taste. Listening to this as its own thing, I like it.But it's much more a standard rock staple thing than what THDOM originally was (subtle, as someone else mentioned). The version they played in Atlanta at the Fox Theater during the OYFOOYK tour is my fave. It was close to what was on the album (whick clocks in just after the one I heard live), and remains to this day one of my favorite songs ever. Period.
So I know this was not on Secret Treaties,. but I was listening to S.T. again the other day for the 100,000th time and it occurred to me why that LP is so cohesive -it is Buck's guitar - almost like a narrator informing the listener - it weaves in and out of the songs tying them together. Richie is trained/schooled-an unbelievable multi-instrumental (and vocal) talent, but Buck was one of my first major guitar influences and is still one of my favorite players of all time. There is just something about that sound -you know instantly who is playing.
I've been a BOC fan since '73 and I can't stand this version of the band. This song is supposed to be subtle and the second guitar histrionics ruins it. Listen to Allen Lanier and Buck from A Long Days... for how it should be done.
+Jim Dunmire like a late friend of mine who was great guitarist himself. I'll play it any way I want and that's the way it's supposed to be played. You can go back and listen to old live versions of the song, and everyone I've heard, both guitars solo for a while. I suspect if it had been their call the studio version might be much the same, but they probably didn't have a lot of input in final production that early.
This group Horizon from W Chicago used to play this, around 76 or 77. Thats the first time I heard this song, it blew me away I had to get the cassette! BUCK RULES!
Think you just got a new fan-great song heavy rock with a difference or is it, hear parts like led Zeppelin,Black Sabbath and Deep Purple.I like the unusual songs subjects hidden meanings you have to work out yourselves.Have you ever did Australian tour ,with promotion may have a big audience.
I've got two of those Music Man Axis's same color one is a quilt and the other is a AWESOME flame. Out my 12 electrics those are my favorite they put my Fenders and Gibson LP's & SG to shame, silky smooth necks & lightening fast necks, balances perfectly and ever so comfortable to play. Worth every penny!!
I saw them play this last night... Ritchie's guitar playing was so good it nearly upstaged Buck, but Buck brought it in for a landing! Outstanding! There's a band I finally got to see, after wanting to since I was 12 in 1979!
One of my favorite BOC songs, but imho, overdone for the gravity of the song-the "On Your Feet Or On Your Knees" version is far more intense. After missing them a dozen times in 30 years, I'll see them up close and personal in Feb in Florida.But it's still not a bad version...
