DICK WAGNER
''CAPTURED, DISC ONE''
SEPTEMBER 6 2014
118:40
----------
DISC ONE (61:22)
1 Maestro Strut 08:50
2 Out of the Mirage 03:59
3 Morning Meditation 12:01
4 Remember Rock 02:26
5 Sleep Walking Again 02:29
6 Lovers Dance At Sundown 02:55
7 Welcome the Night 04:06
8 Passion Players 01:08
9 Blues for an All Night Kiss 10:35
10 By the Fire Tonight 03:53
11 Dance of the Pharaohs 04:03
12 My Blue Peach 04:51
DISC TWO (57:18)
1 A Long Night's Journey Home 27:40
2 B Natural Baby Blues 06:17
3 A Midnight Swim in Love's Lagoon 04:46
4 Donner's Pass 04:41
5 West Coast Tsunami 03:29
6 The Thunder Roars 04:09
7 From Madrid to Madness 06:13
----------
Album Notes
by cdbaby
CAPTURED features legendary guitarist and songwriter, Dick Wagner, in the last album he released before his untimely passing on July 30, 2014.
Dick Wagner, known as the “Maestro of Rock,” helped define an era in rock history by playing lead guitar or writing songs for Alice Cooper, Aerosmith, Kiss, Lou Reed, Tina Turner, Peter Gabriel, Meat Loaf, Rod Stewart, Ringo Starr, Guns & Roses, Hall & Oates, Tori Amos, Etta James, and many more.
CAPTURED, A TWO-HOUR DOUBLE ALBUM, Wagner’s first since 2009, features an intimate and personal side of the virtuoso rarely seen by his fans – a moment-in-time jamming privately on guitar.
“Most of these tracks are one-take, live performances, recorded in my living room – just my restless, reckless, everyday jamming by myself, for the very joy of playing from the heart on those six magic strings,” Wagner says. “Captured is an invitation to look through this window of sound into my personal writing and playing sessions… just me and my guitar. It’s my musical thought process caught on tape.”
“If I wanted to categorize this music, I would place it under ‘Soundtrack of the Life of a Guitarist.’”
CAPTURED embodies a wide variety of musical styles, from jazz to blues to rock. It includes newly recorded pieces as well as recently rediscovered songs on reel-to-reel masters and forgotten cassette tapes, buried in an old U.S. mail bag, patiently waiting for just the right moment to reveal their presence.
COMPLETE LINER NOTES by DICK WAGNER:
In the beginning, there was a guitar. It was a Harmony acoustic with an almost insurmountable string action. I’m remembering my youth here, as I did all I could to master the beast. I eventually graduated to my first electric guitar, which I remember playing in the dark basement, bathed in the green light of my Ampeg amp. I was learning while watching that green light dance on the silver strings. Hypnotic…as I hope this album will be for you.
I was 16-1/2 years young and loved, beyond anything, the sound of guitar music. It was a daunting challenge, but to the chagrin of my family, I picked, plucked and strummed ten hours a day. Relentlessly, I studied by ear the guitar music of Duane Eddy, Link Wray, B.B. King, Chet Atkins, Wes Montgomery, and my first guitar idol, Wild Bill Emerson. I learned focus, touch, tonality, emphasis, counterpoint, and all things applicable to being a good musician.
This brings us to this group of recordings collectively known as “CAPTURED.”
From my early work with The Frost, and later with Lou Reed and Alice Cooper, my reputation was made playing rock ‘n’ roll guitar. “Captured” features another side of who I am. I invite you to look through the window of sound into my personal writing and playing sessions... Just me and my guitar. There by nature, I experimented with styles and early influences in an attempt to expand my playing horizons. I’m still trying to master the beast.
Most all these tracks are one-take, live performances, recorded in my living room – just my restless, reckless, everyday jamming by myself, for the very joy of playing from the heart on those six magic strings. Some of these are newly recorded pieces, and many were rediscovered on cassette tapes, buried in a bag of old cassettes and patiently waiting for just the right moment to reveal their presence. If I wanted to categorize this music, I would place it under “Soundtrack of the Life of a Guitarist.”
Please light up, put on your headphones, kick back and enjoy what comes to you. I thank you for taking time out for a little guitar picking.
CREDITS and THANKS:
Produced, Written and Arranged by Dick Wagner
All Lead Guitars and Bass: Dick Wagner
Your interest in my first all instrumental album touches me deeply. I hope you will enjoy this music, and please know that I consider you to be an active part of my legacy.
Dick Wagner
Special thanks to my manager and business partner, Susan Michelson, without whose vision and focus, this or any other phase of my career could not be realized. And to all you Children of Rock, bless you for a lifetime of support.
July 30, 2014
A MESSAGE FROM the DESERT DREAMS family:
Dick Wagner, "The Maestro of Rock"
December 14, 1942 - July 30, 2014
It is with a heavy heart and great sorrow that we let you know that Dick Wagner has left this world. Dick had a huge heart, which is perhaps why it gave him so much trouble, it was simply too full of love, of music and life. His creativity and passion will live on forever in the legacy he has left for us, in his music and his words. We have so much of him to celebrate.
There's a reason that Dick Wagner's fans and friends call him, 'The Maestro of Rock.' Dick's guitar playing was both wild and fluid. His songwriting, guitar playing and musical arrangements were uniquely rockin', majestic and orchestral. Listen back to his monumental arrangements on Lou Reed's Rock N Roll Animal live album. He took Reed's Velvet Underground songs and turned them into ravishing and passionate arena rock.
Dick was prolific not only in the tangible realm of what we can see and hear but in the boundless energy of his spirit, which will never die. He was a fighter, but in the end his body couldn’t keep up with his spirit, and so he lays to rest. Dick said in 2013, “Love is in the air. Breathe deep.” Take Dick’s advice into your own hearts, and embrace all the passion and beauty in the world.
For more on Dick Wagner, please see www.wagnermusic.com
Please join the Maestro's fans and friends on Facebook:
Dick Wagner The Maestro of Rock https://www.facebook.com/groups/maestroofrock/
Dickheads https://www.facebook.com/groups/thedickheads/
ROCK ROYALTY and JOURNALISTS on DICK WAGNER:
• “I first saw Dick Wagner while he was playing with The Frost and quickly filed him under ‘Guitar players I’d like to steal. But Dick isn’t JUST a guitar player. He’s a gifted writer, and I wrote most of the Alice Cooper Hits with him." ALICE COOPER
• Alice Cooper adds this post on his website: "Even though we know it's inevitable, we never expect to suddenly lose close friends and collaborators. Dick Wagner and I shared as many laughs as we did hit records. He was one of a kind. He is irreplaceable. His brand of playing and writing is not seen anymore, and there are very few people that I enjoyed working with as much as I enjoyed working with Dick Wagner. A lot of my radio success in my solo career had to do with my relationship with Dick Wagner. Not just on stage, but in the studio and writing. Some of my biggest singles were ballads what I wrote with Dick Wagner. Most of "Welcome To My Nightmare" was written with Dick. There was just a magic in the way we wrote together. He was always able to find exactly the right chord to match perfectly with what I was doing. I think that we always think our friends will be around as long as we are, so to hear of Dick's passing comes as a sudden shock and an enormous loss for me, Rock N Roll and to his family."
• “Name your all-time favorite rock guitar solos and chances are at least one of them will include the legendary Dick Wagner.” DAVID FOSTER, Producer (Celine Dion, Josh Groban, Whitney Houston)
• My go-to musician and writer on the majority of my projects in the 70s and 80s and now again in the new millennium.” BOB EZRIN, Producer (Pink Floyd, Alice Cooper, KISS)
• “Dick Wagner has always been celebrated as a soulful guitar force to reckon with. From his brilliant work with Alice Cooper and beyond, Dick has forever projected an earthly musical spirit that is pure American R&R & R&B. He is one of the best guitarists in the world.” TED NUGENT, Rocker
• “The Invisible Virtuoso: Wagner's unique rock and roll journey is a touchstone in American music history.” James Campion, Huffington Post
• “I could count the number of "Go-to" guitar players in this country on half a hand. Dick Wagner is one of them.” JACK DOUGLAS, Producer (Aerosmith, John Lennon)
• Gibson.com Top 50 Guitar Solos of All Time #25 “Sweet Jane” (live), Lou Reed (Dick Wagner, Steve Hunter) “What makes a great guitar solo? Is it mind-melting precision or bone-chilling soul? Is it the way it can leave you slack-jawed, wondering, ’How did he do that?’”
• "Dick Wagner was the consummate gentleman axeman. (He) will be missed," Gene Simmons (Kiss), said in a statement, noting that Wagner played the "blistering" guitar solo on the Destroyer track "Sweet Pain."
• Paul Stanley (Kiss): "Dick was a stellar player and his work with Steve Hunter on Lou Reed's Rock&Roll Animal is legendary. He also did great work with Alice Cooper and uncredited ghosting on Destroyer and albums by some of our contemporaries. A huge talent with a huge tone and huge heart. A great unsung hero."
• “When your recording session needed some monster guitar solos, you called Wagner and Hunter first. Period. Just ask Kiss. Or better yet, ask Aerosmith.” Vintage Guitar Magazine
• “Unparalleled ability to chisel memorable riffs, brilliant leads, power chords and even pastoral acoustic textures. Along with the guitar acrobatics, Wagner crunches out hard rock along with power-rock ballads.” Music Business Monthly
• “Heavy, thrilling without threatening to stupefy...The made-in-Detroit guitars of Steve Hunter and Dick Wagner mesh naturally with the unnatural rhythms, and Reed shouts with no sacrifice of wit....This is a live album with a reason for living.” ROBERT CHRISTGAU, Christgau's Record Guide
• “’Aerosmith’s 'Train Kept A Rollin’ might never have left the station if Wagner’s playing wasn’t so dangerously off the rails. And Kiss’ ‘Great Expectations’ could have been anti-climactic if he didn’t lay down the elegant solo. But more than just hot solos, Wagner brought intricate arrangements and even a hit song or two (Alice Cooper’s ‘Only Women Bleed’ and ‘You and Me,’ etc.) to the table.” Daniel Siwek, Music Connection Magazine
• “ONE OF THE FINEST MOST GIFTED MOTORCITY GUITAR VIRTUOSOS THAT EVER LIVED has gone to the big jam
upstairs. Motown BloodBrother Dick Wagner passed yesterday and his musical legacy will live on forever. A kind, positive gentleman of deep spiritual vision, he was the ultimate Detroit shitkicker guitarslinger. You can hear his amazing guitar genius on Aerosmiths "LIVE" Train Kept A Rollin, many Alice Cooper masterpieces and his killer Ursus Major LP with Detroit Amboy Dukes bassgod Greg Arama. Godspeed my friend, jam it up with Jimi, Johnny, Stevie, Bloomfield and all the ace jammers in guitarHeaven. RIP.” Ted Nugent
• "Dick Wagner is one of the icons of rock.” Bob Ludwig, Gateway Mastering, Co-chairman, Producers & Engineers Wing, NARAS (Grammys)
• “Riff This Way: Aerosmith’s Top 10 Riff-Heavy Tracks,” Gibson.com Dick Wagner Guitar Solos: RIFF #1: Same Old Song and Dance, Dick Wagner. Also RIFF #4: Train Kept A Rollin’, Dick Wagner
• “One of the best guitar players ever. And one of the greatest people ever. Mr. Wagner, You more than rock.” Lita Ford, Rocker
• "Dick is one of the great rocker guitar players to come out of Detroit in the 70's. It's wonderful to work with someone where the music still retains its joy. That's magic.” Steve Hunter (Alice Cooper, Lou Reed, Peter Gabriel)
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MORE COMMENTS
BY RYAN SPARKS, WWW.CLASSIC ROCK REVISITED.COM
Before his tragic and untimely passing in July, the legendary Dick Wagner (known as the Maestro to his friends and fans) quietly put out Captured earlier this year, an album that will most certainly go down as being the most eclectic and diverse sounding release of his storied career.
For this two disc, all instrumental album, Dick comes full circle and returns to his first love, the guitar. Known throughout his career as a singer, songwriter, producer, bandleader and a ‘go to’ session musician, it was the guitar that first ‘captured’ the young Maestro’s attention as a teenager and set him on the course to a full-fledged career in rock ‘n roll.
Consisting of primarily first-take, live performances recorded in his living room, Captured takes the listener on a scintillating journey that incorporates a myriad of different styles and ultimately provides a fascinating glimpse into the mind of a fearless musician. For the most part the backing accompaniment is sparse; often just a basic drum machine or some lightly sprinkled keyboards help flesh out the tracks, as Wagner validates just how accomplished and diverse a player he really was.
Disc One kicks off in grandiose fashion with the almost thirty minute “Blues at The Oasis Suite”. Comprised of nine songs, this multi-dimensional suite commences with the aptly named “Maestro Strut”, a blazing nine minute monster that contains all the swagger and bravado that only the Maestro himself could muster up. More importantly, it also sends the message loud and clear that he was all the way back from the stroke in 2007 that not only almost put an end to his guitar playing career, but also his life. The suite concludes with the majestic “Blues For an All Night Kiss”, a ten and half minute track that definitely demonstrates, that while he wasn’t primarily known for playing the blues, it was just another ace that he had hiding up his sleeve that he could play at any given time. The tender “By The Fire Tonight”, along with the heavier, up-tempo “Dance of The Pharaoh’s” and the heavily synth based “My Blue Peach”, close out the first disc in splendid fashion.
Disc Two also begins with a lengthy composition as “A Long Night’s Journey Home” clocks in at a whopping twenty eight minutes! While it could be misconstrued as ‘noodling’, trust me not a note is wasted over the entire length of this laid back and reflective sounding track. Next up is “B Natural Baby Blues”, which is probably my favorite song on the entire collection, as once again Dick shows just how adept and comfortable is was playing the blues, as he turns in six plus minutes of some of the finest playing of his career. The pace slows down a bit for “A Midnight’s Swim In Love’s Lagoon”, another tender ballad guaranteed to hit the sweet spot, before he shifts gears into the harder edged “Donner’s Pass”, a track that sounds like it was tailor made for an action movie soundtrack. The same could also be said for the following cut, “West Coast Tsunami”, which also feels very cinematic in nature. By the time the disc and the collection has concluded with the final two songs “The Thunder Roars” and the absolutely superlative, “From Madrid to Madness”, you realize that the Maestro has served up an incredible two hours of what has to be some of the finest and most compelling music of his career.
Even at the age of almost seventy two Dick Wagner was still a creative force to be reckoned with, as he continued to further expand his musical horizons through both his guitar playing and songwriting. Captured perfectly blends together his sheer love of playing, with an unyielding desire to continue to add more colors to what was already a diverse and rich musical palette. Whether it was rock, blues or jazz, it didn’t matter, because in the end, it all just felt like a natural an extension of the man himself.
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BIOGRAPHY
by Greg Prato (AllMusic)
As one of renowned producer Bob Ezrin's hired guns throughout much of the '70s, guitarist Dick Wagner lent his playing (and in some cases, songwriting) talents to some of the decade's biggest hard rock albums, including Lou Reed's Rock N' Roll Animal, Alice Cooper's Welcome to My Nightmare, and Kiss' Destroyer. Hailing from the Detroit area, Wagner's first true band, the Frost, formed in the late '60s as they built up a substantial following in the Michigan area (which at the time also nurtured such other outfits as the Stooges, MC5, Bob Seger, Ted Nugent, and Grand Funk Railroad, to name a few), and issued a total of three albums during their tenure together: 1969's Frost Music and Rock and Roll Music, plus 1970's Through the Eyes of Love.
After relocating to New York and forming a new outfit, Ursa Major, the group was introduced to Ezrin, who handled the production chores on their 1972 self-titled release. Although the group would break up shortly thereafter, Ezrin and Wagner had struck up a friendship, as he began inviting him (as well as another guitarist, Steve Hunter), to play on sessions by other artists he was working with. Wagner and Hunter's playing meshed well together as the duo was able to construct seamless guitar lines that complemented each other nicely. Ezrin used the duo on Lou Reed's controversial 1973 studio release Berlin (a dark concept album that followed a pair of seedy characters beset by drug addiction, which leads to spousal abuse, prostitution, child welfare, and ultimately, death).
Seeking to lighten the mood a bit on the album's ensuing tour, Ezrin aided Reed in assembling a stellar touring band including both Wagner and Hunter, who helped reconstruct Reed's tunes (including classics from his Velvet Underground days) as jamming arena rockers, as evidenced by a pair of subsequent live releases, 1974's classic Rock N' Roll Animal and 1975's Lou Reed Live. Wagner and Hunter then signed on as guitarists for Alice Cooper's solo group (Cooper had just split from the original Alice Cooper Band), while Wagner also served as a songwriting collaborator with Cooper for his hit 1975 release Welcome to My Nightmare. The album spawned a hit power ballad with "Only Women Bleed," a tune that Wagner had penned back in the late '60s, and has subsequently been covered by numerous artists over the years, including Etta James, Tina Turner, and Lita Ford, among others.
The Wagner/Cooper union lasted for several other albums in the mid- to late '70s, including Goes to Hell, The Alice Cooper Show, Lace & Whiskey, and From the Inside, while Wagner continued to lend his talents to recordings by other artists: Aerosmith's Get Your Wings (it's supposedly Wagner and Hunter playing the "guitar duel" on "Train Kept a Rollin'"), Kiss' Destroyer, Peter Gabriel's self-titled solo debut, Hall & Oates' Along the Red Ledge, Mark Farner's self-titled solo debut, and a pair of albums for the star of The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Tim Curry. In 1977, Wagner found the time to issue a self-titled solo release for Atlantic Records.
Wagner reunited with Cooper and Ezrin for a pair of overlooked releases in the early '80s, 1982's Zipper Catches Skin and 1983's Dada, as Wagner focused solely on his songwriting throughout the remainder of the decade, penning songs for such artists as Meat Loaf, Air Supply, and Lee Aaron (as well as an unreleased song recorded by Rod Stewart), plus penning the theme song (titled "Remember the Child") for the Emmy-nominated PBS special Homecoming, which examined the lasting scars of child abuse.
In addition, Wagner created his own recording studio, Downtown Digital Studios, ran the Wagner Music Group record label, and also played out live with his own solo group, the Dick Wagner Band, in the Michigan area (even reuniting with his original band, the Frost, for several gigs). In 2002, Wagner reissued his long out of print solo debut from 1977, under the new title The Atlantic Sessions. Wagner moved to Arizona in his later years, and experienced debilitating medical events including a heart attack and a stroke, the latter of which necessitated that he relearn the guitar. However, he bounced back and made live appearances into the 2010s. But after suffering respiratory failure following a cardiac procedure, Dick Wagner died in Scottsdale, Arizona in July 2014 at the age of 71.
OFFICIAL WEBSITE
''CAPTURED, DISC ONE''
SEPTEMBER 6 2014
118:40
----------
DISC ONE (61:22)
1 Maestro Strut 08:50
2 Out of the Mirage 03:59
3 Morning Meditation 12:01
4 Remember Rock 02:26
5 Sleep Walking Again 02:29
6 Lovers Dance At Sundown 02:55
7 Welcome the Night 04:06
8 Passion Players 01:08
9 Blues for an All Night Kiss 10:35
10 By the Fire Tonight 03:53
11 Dance of the Pharaohs 04:03
12 My Blue Peach 04:51
DISC TWO (57:18)
1 A Long Night's Journey Home 27:40
2 B Natural Baby Blues 06:17
3 A Midnight Swim in Love's Lagoon 04:46
4 Donner's Pass 04:41
5 West Coast Tsunami 03:29
6 The Thunder Roars 04:09
7 From Madrid to Madness 06:13
----------
Album Notes
by cdbaby
CAPTURED features legendary guitarist and songwriter, Dick Wagner, in the last album he released before his untimely passing on July 30, 2014.
Dick Wagner, known as the “Maestro of Rock,” helped define an era in rock history by playing lead guitar or writing songs for Alice Cooper, Aerosmith, Kiss, Lou Reed, Tina Turner, Peter Gabriel, Meat Loaf, Rod Stewart, Ringo Starr, Guns & Roses, Hall & Oates, Tori Amos, Etta James, and many more.
CAPTURED, A TWO-HOUR DOUBLE ALBUM, Wagner’s first since 2009, features an intimate and personal side of the virtuoso rarely seen by his fans – a moment-in-time jamming privately on guitar.
“Most of these tracks are one-take, live performances, recorded in my living room – just my restless, reckless, everyday jamming by myself, for the very joy of playing from the heart on those six magic strings,” Wagner says. “Captured is an invitation to look through this window of sound into my personal writing and playing sessions… just me and my guitar. It’s my musical thought process caught on tape.”
“If I wanted to categorize this music, I would place it under ‘Soundtrack of the Life of a Guitarist.’”
CAPTURED embodies a wide variety of musical styles, from jazz to blues to rock. It includes newly recorded pieces as well as recently rediscovered songs on reel-to-reel masters and forgotten cassette tapes, buried in an old U.S. mail bag, patiently waiting for just the right moment to reveal their presence.
COMPLETE LINER NOTES by DICK WAGNER:
In the beginning, there was a guitar. It was a Harmony acoustic with an almost insurmountable string action. I’m remembering my youth here, as I did all I could to master the beast. I eventually graduated to my first electric guitar, which I remember playing in the dark basement, bathed in the green light of my Ampeg amp. I was learning while watching that green light dance on the silver strings. Hypnotic…as I hope this album will be for you.
I was 16-1/2 years young and loved, beyond anything, the sound of guitar music. It was a daunting challenge, but to the chagrin of my family, I picked, plucked and strummed ten hours a day. Relentlessly, I studied by ear the guitar music of Duane Eddy, Link Wray, B.B. King, Chet Atkins, Wes Montgomery, and my first guitar idol, Wild Bill Emerson. I learned focus, touch, tonality, emphasis, counterpoint, and all things applicable to being a good musician.
This brings us to this group of recordings collectively known as “CAPTURED.”
From my early work with The Frost, and later with Lou Reed and Alice Cooper, my reputation was made playing rock ‘n’ roll guitar. “Captured” features another side of who I am. I invite you to look through the window of sound into my personal writing and playing sessions... Just me and my guitar. There by nature, I experimented with styles and early influences in an attempt to expand my playing horizons. I’m still trying to master the beast.
Most all these tracks are one-take, live performances, recorded in my living room – just my restless, reckless, everyday jamming by myself, for the very joy of playing from the heart on those six magic strings. Some of these are newly recorded pieces, and many were rediscovered on cassette tapes, buried in a bag of old cassettes and patiently waiting for just the right moment to reveal their presence. If I wanted to categorize this music, I would place it under “Soundtrack of the Life of a Guitarist.”
Please light up, put on your headphones, kick back and enjoy what comes to you. I thank you for taking time out for a little guitar picking.
CREDITS and THANKS:
Produced, Written and Arranged by Dick Wagner
All Lead Guitars and Bass: Dick Wagner
Your interest in my first all instrumental album touches me deeply. I hope you will enjoy this music, and please know that I consider you to be an active part of my legacy.
Dick Wagner
Special thanks to my manager and business partner, Susan Michelson, without whose vision and focus, this or any other phase of my career could not be realized. And to all you Children of Rock, bless you for a lifetime of support.
July 30, 2014
A MESSAGE FROM the DESERT DREAMS family:
Dick Wagner, "The Maestro of Rock"
December 14, 1942 - July 30, 2014
It is with a heavy heart and great sorrow that we let you know that Dick Wagner has left this world. Dick had a huge heart, which is perhaps why it gave him so much trouble, it was simply too full of love, of music and life. His creativity and passion will live on forever in the legacy he has left for us, in his music and his words. We have so much of him to celebrate.
There's a reason that Dick Wagner's fans and friends call him, 'The Maestro of Rock.' Dick's guitar playing was both wild and fluid. His songwriting, guitar playing and musical arrangements were uniquely rockin', majestic and orchestral. Listen back to his monumental arrangements on Lou Reed's Rock N Roll Animal live album. He took Reed's Velvet Underground songs and turned them into ravishing and passionate arena rock.
Dick was prolific not only in the tangible realm of what we can see and hear but in the boundless energy of his spirit, which will never die. He was a fighter, but in the end his body couldn’t keep up with his spirit, and so he lays to rest. Dick said in 2013, “Love is in the air. Breathe deep.” Take Dick’s advice into your own hearts, and embrace all the passion and beauty in the world.
For more on Dick Wagner, please see www.wagnermusic.com
Please join the Maestro's fans and friends on Facebook:
Dick Wagner The Maestro of Rock https://www.facebook.com/groups/maestroofrock/
Dickheads https://www.facebook.com/groups/thedickheads/
ROCK ROYALTY and JOURNALISTS on DICK WAGNER:
• “I first saw Dick Wagner while he was playing with The Frost and quickly filed him under ‘Guitar players I’d like to steal. But Dick isn’t JUST a guitar player. He’s a gifted writer, and I wrote most of the Alice Cooper Hits with him." ALICE COOPER
• Alice Cooper adds this post on his website: "Even though we know it's inevitable, we never expect to suddenly lose close friends and collaborators. Dick Wagner and I shared as many laughs as we did hit records. He was one of a kind. He is irreplaceable. His brand of playing and writing is not seen anymore, and there are very few people that I enjoyed working with as much as I enjoyed working with Dick Wagner. A lot of my radio success in my solo career had to do with my relationship with Dick Wagner. Not just on stage, but in the studio and writing. Some of my biggest singles were ballads what I wrote with Dick Wagner. Most of "Welcome To My Nightmare" was written with Dick. There was just a magic in the way we wrote together. He was always able to find exactly the right chord to match perfectly with what I was doing. I think that we always think our friends will be around as long as we are, so to hear of Dick's passing comes as a sudden shock and an enormous loss for me, Rock N Roll and to his family."
• “Name your all-time favorite rock guitar solos and chances are at least one of them will include the legendary Dick Wagner.” DAVID FOSTER, Producer (Celine Dion, Josh Groban, Whitney Houston)
• My go-to musician and writer on the majority of my projects in the 70s and 80s and now again in the new millennium.” BOB EZRIN, Producer (Pink Floyd, Alice Cooper, KISS)
• “Dick Wagner has always been celebrated as a soulful guitar force to reckon with. From his brilliant work with Alice Cooper and beyond, Dick has forever projected an earthly musical spirit that is pure American R&R & R&B. He is one of the best guitarists in the world.” TED NUGENT, Rocker
• “The Invisible Virtuoso: Wagner's unique rock and roll journey is a touchstone in American music history.” James Campion, Huffington Post
• “I could count the number of "Go-to" guitar players in this country on half a hand. Dick Wagner is one of them.” JACK DOUGLAS, Producer (Aerosmith, John Lennon)
• Gibson.com Top 50 Guitar Solos of All Time #25 “Sweet Jane” (live), Lou Reed (Dick Wagner, Steve Hunter) “What makes a great guitar solo? Is it mind-melting precision or bone-chilling soul? Is it the way it can leave you slack-jawed, wondering, ’How did he do that?’”
• "Dick Wagner was the consummate gentleman axeman. (He) will be missed," Gene Simmons (Kiss), said in a statement, noting that Wagner played the "blistering" guitar solo on the Destroyer track "Sweet Pain."
• Paul Stanley (Kiss): "Dick was a stellar player and his work with Steve Hunter on Lou Reed's Rock&Roll Animal is legendary. He also did great work with Alice Cooper and uncredited ghosting on Destroyer and albums by some of our contemporaries. A huge talent with a huge tone and huge heart. A great unsung hero."
• “When your recording session needed some monster guitar solos, you called Wagner and Hunter first. Period. Just ask Kiss. Or better yet, ask Aerosmith.” Vintage Guitar Magazine
• “Unparalleled ability to chisel memorable riffs, brilliant leads, power chords and even pastoral acoustic textures. Along with the guitar acrobatics, Wagner crunches out hard rock along with power-rock ballads.” Music Business Monthly
• “Heavy, thrilling without threatening to stupefy...The made-in-Detroit guitars of Steve Hunter and Dick Wagner mesh naturally with the unnatural rhythms, and Reed shouts with no sacrifice of wit....This is a live album with a reason for living.” ROBERT CHRISTGAU, Christgau's Record Guide
• “’Aerosmith’s 'Train Kept A Rollin’ might never have left the station if Wagner’s playing wasn’t so dangerously off the rails. And Kiss’ ‘Great Expectations’ could have been anti-climactic if he didn’t lay down the elegant solo. But more than just hot solos, Wagner brought intricate arrangements and even a hit song or two (Alice Cooper’s ‘Only Women Bleed’ and ‘You and Me,’ etc.) to the table.” Daniel Siwek, Music Connection Magazine
• “ONE OF THE FINEST MOST GIFTED MOTORCITY GUITAR VIRTUOSOS THAT EVER LIVED has gone to the big jam
upstairs. Motown BloodBrother Dick Wagner passed yesterday and his musical legacy will live on forever. A kind, positive gentleman of deep spiritual vision, he was the ultimate Detroit shitkicker guitarslinger. You can hear his amazing guitar genius on Aerosmiths "LIVE" Train Kept A Rollin, many Alice Cooper masterpieces and his killer Ursus Major LP with Detroit Amboy Dukes bassgod Greg Arama. Godspeed my friend, jam it up with Jimi, Johnny, Stevie, Bloomfield and all the ace jammers in guitarHeaven. RIP.” Ted Nugent
• "Dick Wagner is one of the icons of rock.” Bob Ludwig, Gateway Mastering, Co-chairman, Producers & Engineers Wing, NARAS (Grammys)
• “Riff This Way: Aerosmith’s Top 10 Riff-Heavy Tracks,” Gibson.com Dick Wagner Guitar Solos: RIFF #1: Same Old Song and Dance, Dick Wagner. Also RIFF #4: Train Kept A Rollin’, Dick Wagner
• “One of the best guitar players ever. And one of the greatest people ever. Mr. Wagner, You more than rock.” Lita Ford, Rocker
• "Dick is one of the great rocker guitar players to come out of Detroit in the 70's. It's wonderful to work with someone where the music still retains its joy. That's magic.” Steve Hunter (Alice Cooper, Lou Reed, Peter Gabriel)
----------
MORE COMMENTS
BY RYAN SPARKS, WWW.CLASSIC ROCK REVISITED.COM
Before his tragic and untimely passing in July, the legendary Dick Wagner (known as the Maestro to his friends and fans) quietly put out Captured earlier this year, an album that will most certainly go down as being the most eclectic and diverse sounding release of his storied career.
For this two disc, all instrumental album, Dick comes full circle and returns to his first love, the guitar. Known throughout his career as a singer, songwriter, producer, bandleader and a ‘go to’ session musician, it was the guitar that first ‘captured’ the young Maestro’s attention as a teenager and set him on the course to a full-fledged career in rock ‘n roll.
Consisting of primarily first-take, live performances recorded in his living room, Captured takes the listener on a scintillating journey that incorporates a myriad of different styles and ultimately provides a fascinating glimpse into the mind of a fearless musician. For the most part the backing accompaniment is sparse; often just a basic drum machine or some lightly sprinkled keyboards help flesh out the tracks, as Wagner validates just how accomplished and diverse a player he really was.
Disc One kicks off in grandiose fashion with the almost thirty minute “Blues at The Oasis Suite”. Comprised of nine songs, this multi-dimensional suite commences with the aptly named “Maestro Strut”, a blazing nine minute monster that contains all the swagger and bravado that only the Maestro himself could muster up. More importantly, it also sends the message loud and clear that he was all the way back from the stroke in 2007 that not only almost put an end to his guitar playing career, but also his life. The suite concludes with the majestic “Blues For an All Night Kiss”, a ten and half minute track that definitely demonstrates, that while he wasn’t primarily known for playing the blues, it was just another ace that he had hiding up his sleeve that he could play at any given time. The tender “By The Fire Tonight”, along with the heavier, up-tempo “Dance of The Pharaoh’s” and the heavily synth based “My Blue Peach”, close out the first disc in splendid fashion.
Disc Two also begins with a lengthy composition as “A Long Night’s Journey Home” clocks in at a whopping twenty eight minutes! While it could be misconstrued as ‘noodling’, trust me not a note is wasted over the entire length of this laid back and reflective sounding track. Next up is “B Natural Baby Blues”, which is probably my favorite song on the entire collection, as once again Dick shows just how adept and comfortable is was playing the blues, as he turns in six plus minutes of some of the finest playing of his career. The pace slows down a bit for “A Midnight’s Swim In Love’s Lagoon”, another tender ballad guaranteed to hit the sweet spot, before he shifts gears into the harder edged “Donner’s Pass”, a track that sounds like it was tailor made for an action movie soundtrack. The same could also be said for the following cut, “West Coast Tsunami”, which also feels very cinematic in nature. By the time the disc and the collection has concluded with the final two songs “The Thunder Roars” and the absolutely superlative, “From Madrid to Madness”, you realize that the Maestro has served up an incredible two hours of what has to be some of the finest and most compelling music of his career.
Even at the age of almost seventy two Dick Wagner was still a creative force to be reckoned with, as he continued to further expand his musical horizons through both his guitar playing and songwriting. Captured perfectly blends together his sheer love of playing, with an unyielding desire to continue to add more colors to what was already a diverse and rich musical palette. Whether it was rock, blues or jazz, it didn’t matter, because in the end, it all just felt like a natural an extension of the man himself.
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BIOGRAPHY
by Greg Prato (AllMusic)
As one of renowned producer Bob Ezrin's hired guns throughout much of the '70s, guitarist Dick Wagner lent his playing (and in some cases, songwriting) talents to some of the decade's biggest hard rock albums, including Lou Reed's Rock N' Roll Animal, Alice Cooper's Welcome to My Nightmare, and Kiss' Destroyer. Hailing from the Detroit area, Wagner's first true band, the Frost, formed in the late '60s as they built up a substantial following in the Michigan area (which at the time also nurtured such other outfits as the Stooges, MC5, Bob Seger, Ted Nugent, and Grand Funk Railroad, to name a few), and issued a total of three albums during their tenure together: 1969's Frost Music and Rock and Roll Music, plus 1970's Through the Eyes of Love.
After relocating to New York and forming a new outfit, Ursa Major, the group was introduced to Ezrin, who handled the production chores on their 1972 self-titled release. Although the group would break up shortly thereafter, Ezrin and Wagner had struck up a friendship, as he began inviting him (as well as another guitarist, Steve Hunter), to play on sessions by other artists he was working with. Wagner and Hunter's playing meshed well together as the duo was able to construct seamless guitar lines that complemented each other nicely. Ezrin used the duo on Lou Reed's controversial 1973 studio release Berlin (a dark concept album that followed a pair of seedy characters beset by drug addiction, which leads to spousal abuse, prostitution, child welfare, and ultimately, death).
Seeking to lighten the mood a bit on the album's ensuing tour, Ezrin aided Reed in assembling a stellar touring band including both Wagner and Hunter, who helped reconstruct Reed's tunes (including classics from his Velvet Underground days) as jamming arena rockers, as evidenced by a pair of subsequent live releases, 1974's classic Rock N' Roll Animal and 1975's Lou Reed Live. Wagner and Hunter then signed on as guitarists for Alice Cooper's solo group (Cooper had just split from the original Alice Cooper Band), while Wagner also served as a songwriting collaborator with Cooper for his hit 1975 release Welcome to My Nightmare. The album spawned a hit power ballad with "Only Women Bleed," a tune that Wagner had penned back in the late '60s, and has subsequently been covered by numerous artists over the years, including Etta James, Tina Turner, and Lita Ford, among others.
The Wagner/Cooper union lasted for several other albums in the mid- to late '70s, including Goes to Hell, The Alice Cooper Show, Lace & Whiskey, and From the Inside, while Wagner continued to lend his talents to recordings by other artists: Aerosmith's Get Your Wings (it's supposedly Wagner and Hunter playing the "guitar duel" on "Train Kept a Rollin'"), Kiss' Destroyer, Peter Gabriel's self-titled solo debut, Hall & Oates' Along the Red Ledge, Mark Farner's self-titled solo debut, and a pair of albums for the star of The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Tim Curry. In 1977, Wagner found the time to issue a self-titled solo release for Atlantic Records.
Wagner reunited with Cooper and Ezrin for a pair of overlooked releases in the early '80s, 1982's Zipper Catches Skin and 1983's Dada, as Wagner focused solely on his songwriting throughout the remainder of the decade, penning songs for such artists as Meat Loaf, Air Supply, and Lee Aaron (as well as an unreleased song recorded by Rod Stewart), plus penning the theme song (titled "Remember the Child") for the Emmy-nominated PBS special Homecoming, which examined the lasting scars of child abuse.
In addition, Wagner created his own recording studio, Downtown Digital Studios, ran the Wagner Music Group record label, and also played out live with his own solo group, the Dick Wagner Band, in the Michigan area (even reuniting with his original band, the Frost, for several gigs). In 2002, Wagner reissued his long out of print solo debut from 1977, under the new title The Atlantic Sessions. Wagner moved to Arizona in his later years, and experienced debilitating medical events including a heart attack and a stroke, the latter of which necessitated that he relearn the guitar. However, he bounced back and made live appearances into the 2010s. But after suffering respiratory failure following a cardiac procedure, Dick Wagner died in Scottsdale, Arizona in July 2014 at the age of 71.
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