I knew a guitarist had to look good and have a good attitude, but other than that… Randy was the exception. You must have had more confidence when you found Jake E. You never know what you got till it’s gone." I used to think it was all too ordinary, but it seems to have stood the test of time. I was never sure whether my work with Sabbath was any good. "Yeah, and now I think it’s gone, but you never know. The first two Ozzy albums are by far the greatest things I’ve ever done. Randy was very instrumental in bringing me out of me. "It was a bit like going to music school. But he was always supportive and would say things like, 'Try bending a note here,' or 'Try this key.' It was potentially a very frustrating situation for him because I couldn’t play a musical instrument. Randy had patience because he was a guitar teacher. His attitude was that I was the singer, I was allocated a space, and if I couldn’t come up with anything then I was screwed. I had just come from Sabbath and Tony Iommi was a bit of a tyrant. What were Randy’s weaknesses as a player? Was there any aspect you had to help him with? I’ve just been lucky that everybody’s liked my taste in guitar players." "It’s like shopping for a new suit: there may be a whole rack of blue suits, but only one will grab you. How do you know when a guitarist is right or wrong? Ozzy Osbourne (left) and Randy Rhoads perform at the Nassau Coliseum in Uniondale, New York on Aug(Image credit: Gary Gershoff/Getty Images) I thought, 'Oh god, what have I done? I hope he can play!'" They told me I didn’t dream it and that he was coming that day. "The next day I told someone I dreamed that I hired a guitar player. I told him to come by the next day and that he had the gig. Even in my semiconsciousness he blew my mind. Some guy woke me up and said, 'He’s here!' I looked up and Randy started playing from this tiny amp. "Unfortunately, when he turned up, I was stoned out of my mind. He was so frail, tiny and effeminate that I thought, 'Oh no, oh hell.' But out of politeness, I invited him to play the next day. Shortly afterward, Randy came over to my Los Angeles apartment. "I had almost given up when somebody told Sharon about this great guitar player in town named Randy Rhoads. One guy even hooked up several tape recorders and echo units so he could play both the lead and rhythms to Hendrix tunes simultaneously. I heard nothing but Purple Haze and Foxy Lady riffs. How do you tell someone that they’re not what you’re looking for? Back then, everyone was trying to clone Jimi Hendrix. "The auditioning process was so embarrassing.
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