"Off the Rails" is a journey aboard the crazy train of Ozzy Osbournes's tours in support of "Blizzard of Ozz" and "Diary of A Madman". The book is written by Ozzy bassist Rudy Sarzo who kept journals of both tours. The book is also a tribute to guitarist Randy Rhoads. In the late 70's Rudy Sarzo and Randy Rhoads briefly joined forces in Quiet Riot and Randy Rhoads recommended Rudy for the vacant bass slot in Ozzy's band.
The book is very lively and you truly get the feeling that you are part of the insane tour. The book covers the early 80's, which was Ozzy's drunken period. Of course the book includes the famous incidents regarding the dove, bat and also the Alamo.
Managed by Sharon Arden, whom he also married, the tour is full of craziness. Ozzy tries to establish himself as a solo artist and even though "Blizzard of Ozz" today is considered a classic Ozzy's first US tour was marked by cancelations and poor ticket sales in rural areas.
Sarzo succeeds in holding your attention and you also feel like you know Randy Rhoads. Rhoads is displayed as a serious musician who lived and breathed for playing guitar. Rhoads was a very balanced person caught in the madness of the Osbournes and eventually he gave in helping Ozzy trash a hotel room. The tours changed Randy into something he didn't want to be, so he committed to record one more album and after that he wanted to quit. That certainly took its toll on Ozzy and affected the mood of the tour. On stage the chemistry was electrifying while Ozzy hid in the bottle off stage.
Since Randy Rhoads is displayed as such a sympathetic and likeable guy it is saddening as March 19
th 1982 nears and thereby the tragic death of Randy Rhoads. Rudy Sarzo describes it perfectly:
"
I felt I was back in time reliving all those moments. It was great having Randy alive, if only inside my head, during the writing process, but as I neared the chapter depicting his untimely death, I began to procrastinate. You see, I didn't want to lose him again. That chapter was the hardest one to write"
After Randy's death the band continued to keep the tour rolling with Bernie Torme and Brad Gillis. The band was committed to doing a live album of Black Sabbath tunes, which marked the end of Sarzo and Brad Gillis, who joined Quiet Riot and Night Ranger.
The closing chapter tells how Ozzy punched Rudy in 1984 when Quiet Riot and Ozzy played at the same festival. They made peace the year after and in 1999 Rudy was invited to Black Sabbath's show in Los Angeles. After the show Rudy leads Ozzy down memory lane with some stories while Ozzy grins but looks disoriented. Afterwards Sharon says that Ozzy don't remember much from those days.
Rudy Sarzo's charming way of telling stories makes the book captivating. "Off the Rails" has all the tales of Rock N' Roll and even the sad postscript about Ozzy not remembering much.
The book makes you reflect on several issues. Randy Rhoads is portrayed as a marvelous person and the proverb only the good die young seems true in this case. The book also makes you reflect on the Rock N' Roll life in general with Ozzy's drug abuse in mind and the recent death of Rudy Sarzo's friend from Quiet Riot Kevin DuBrow.
Right after I finished the book I played Ozzy Osbourne "Blizzard of Ozz" plus the amazing "Tribute" album, which really detains Rhoads' skills on the six string and those albums haven't stopped spinning yet
"Off the Rails" is a highly recommendable book and a very fitting tribute to the dedicated guitarist Randy Rhoads. It is also an amazing story of life on the road from back when there were true rock stars.
For more information on Rudy Sarzo and purchasing the book please visit
http://www.rudysarzo.com/
