Auditioning for an Ozzy Tribute

[Sir GuitarCozmo]

So I was asked to audition for an Ozzy/Sabbath tribute band from up this way called Bark at the Moon, as their guitar player is leaving to pursue original music. These guys are kind of a big deal around here, so it’s pretty damned cool that they approached me to audition, as opposed to me approaching them about it. They’re playing good theater rooms in the regional NY/PA/DE/MD area and seem to be attracting good crowds. This is a HUGE guitar challenge. Iommi, Rhoads, Lee, Wylde. Crazy.

They gave me three songs to record myself playing:

Diary of a Madman
Killer of Giants
Rock N Roll Rebel

I did, sent them along, with another of me doing Bark at the Moon live, then was asked to come do an in person audition today. I learned a bunch of songs to prepare:



so LOL.  Singer didn't realize that there was a 12:00 and a 2:00.  Thought it was only 2:00.  I was set up, as the bass player was arriving, trying to find the singer.  He just woke up and would be another 2 hours getting there.  So we decided to wing it with three of us and I'll sing some here and there myself.  I'm pissed, but keeping it to myself.

So we do Crazy Train (I sang the whole song, so now they know it's something I can do), I Don't Know, Bark at the Moon, Mr. Crowley, Fairies Wear Boots, and Rock N Roll Rebel (the bass player needed a minute to remember how the middle part went).  Then we did one more, they said are you more comfortable with Killer of Giants or Diary of a Madman.  I said "Honestly, I'm more comfortable with Killer of Giants... so let's do Diary of a Madman."  They got a funny look, like that was totally unexpected, and we went with it.  They seemed to dig it.

So now they want to set up another time for me to come up and do this right, to be fair to me, so a couple weeks from now.  I have the advantage now of knowing how THEY play, so I know how immaculate my playing has to be or doesn't have to be. 

[TAC]

  Then we did one more, they said are you more comfortable with Killer of Giants or Diary of a Madman.  I said "Honestly, I'm more comfortable with Killer of Giants... so let's do Diary of a Madman."  They got a funny look, like that was totally unexpected, and we went with it.  They seemed to dig it.

This reminded me of the clip where Robert Trujillo suggested Battery in his Metallica audition, and Lars shit his pants.




That's awesome Coz. It's cool you got to sing and show that off. Plus I'm sure they thought you were cool by able to go with it, while the singer wasn't there. His absence might prove a blessing in disguise.



Keep us posted, man. You tell them you know an actual Mr. Crowley and that he approves.

[wolfking]

That's awesome mate.  Take that opportunity with both hands.  Very jealous haha. 

[Sir GuitarCozmo]

Dude, these songs are fucking hard. If nothing comes of this, at least my playing has leveled up some.

[wolfking]

Dude, these songs are fucking hard. If nothing comes of this, at least my playing has leveled up some.

Songs like Crowley are simple enough when you look at them broken down but Randy had such great phrasing with his notes and his placement and selections were world class.  Never a note for the sake of it, everything he did had its purpose.  The Mr Crowley solo I love.  That climax at 3:54 is difficult to get right and pick each note, really skillful stuff.  That part at 4:03 is clever and again, tricky to really get it right.  Even that run at 4:19, simple D minor scale but each note is beautifully executed and it's harder than it sounds.

That main solo too, even 2:13 to 2:21, such brilliant phrasing.

Check out Revelation if you have time, that ending solo could be my fav from Randy, it's fucking brilliant.  Over the Mountain is great too, very inventive solo with what's going on.

I haven't checked much of Zakk's stuff playing wise.  I know the songs well but never delved into playing songs from that era, but Zakk seems easier to play and even his solos, changing them up a little wouldn't have much of an implication in comparison with Randy.  I feel Randys solo need to be played note for note.  He's that sort of player.

Jake was no slouch either.  That Bark at the Moon solo is classic.  Pretty strict D minor but that ascending run at the back end of the main solo is really intricate and difficult to nail.  That reminds me of something Randy would do.

Iommi is the easiest of the bunch but a sound that's hard to get right.  His solos are always pentatonic, some minor and blues scales and fun to improvise around.  I love playing a lot of Sabbath stuff, especially Martin era stuff where he got a little more adventurous.

Anyway, sorry I'm getting off track but yeah mate, whatever happens a great experience but sounds like you can nail it so fingers crossed.

[Sir GuitarCozmo]

For sure, Randy's solos just felt like every note was hand selected by God himself (RIP EVH). I did Crowley last night, fairly intoxicated. There's a few stinkers in there, like the single note lines before the end solo, but I was fairly pleased with it, for having been drinking all day long. I have video of me doing a number of these, actually.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/ii848wg4o2u9uoe/Mr.%20Crowley.mp4

[Sir GuitarCozmo]

https://www.dropbox.com/s/mdvb42z4axzjgs5/Flying%20High%20Again.mp4

https://www.dropbox.com/s/5wzfr15zbrlvut7/Over%20the%20Mountain.mp4

https://www.dropbox.com/s/mibjt4g49tk1f4l/I%20Don%27t%20Want%20To%20Change%20The%20World.mp4

https://www.dropbox.com/s/k560mh5cdy1y5jg/Secret%20Loser.mp4

https://www.dropbox.com/s/29kdy6yj7kpewpn/Miracle%20Man.mp4

https://youtu.be/LqqOnxpblRI

[wolfking]

Nice, I'll check these out later mate.

[King Postwhore]

You got this shit!!

[Sir GuitarCozmo]

Thanks. It's been a crazy week. Last Sunday, my left thumb started getting numb and tingly and I freaked. Took the day off, as I'd been playing a couple hours every day that week. Eased back in this week and am seemingly fine. The weight of this has been coupled with work bullshit, being down 3 out of 5 cars here, the unexpected passing of my dog, and then my stepson's grandmother passing. As mentioned in the other thread, I totally understand how people become alcoholics, just to cope with life.

A few others:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/77f9vmwbvl6xqw1/BATM%20Audition%20-%20Rock%20N%20Roll%20Rebel.mp4

https://www.dropbox.com/s/telu32apce1u0vw/BATM%20Audition%20-%20Killer%20of%20Giants.mp4

https://www.dropbox.com/s/shsf2kvsjned3mt/BATM%20Audition%20-%20Diary%20of%20a%20Madman.mp4

[wolfking]

Some nice playing in those vids mate! 

[Sir GuitarCozmo]

Thanks! Secret Loser was one I wasn't familiar with, but I grew to love it immediately. Great song and fanatic solo! They'd given me a recent set list to pick songs from and that just happened to be on there.

I agree with you about the Zakk stuff, there's stuff I've changed around to suit myself, but because it's demanding. Like descending 16th note triplets at the end of I Don't Wanna Change The World solo.

E:  17  15  12
B:                       17  15  12

That sort of thing. Does it 4 times then the figure shifts up a couple times, with different fingerings. Way harder than I thought it would be.

It's been interesting noticing certain hallmarks of each guitarist's style.  I gotta say Black Sabbath bores me a little, honestly. I haven't even tried to specifically commit those solos to memory. I get the solo in the ballpark, visit a couple of the more recognizable licks, then improvise the rest.

[Stadler]

This sounds so cool.   I went and saw a... I guess it's a "Blackmore-ish" Tribute band, because they play Purple, Rainbow and Whitesnake, and the guitar player (Jimi Bell) is really good.    He's in Autograph now (the drummer is in Dokken, I think).  It's a fun night out.   

I'd love to come see you play if you get the gig!   (For a friend: play "Tonight"!)

[wolfking]

Thanks! Secret Loser was one I wasn't familiar with, but I grew to love it immediately. Great song and fanatic solo! They'd given me a recent set list to pick songs from and that just happened to be on there.

I agree with you about the Zakk stuff, there's stuff I've changed around to suit myself, but because it's demanding. Like descending 16th note triplets at the end of I Don't Wanna Change The World solo.

E:  17  15  12
B:                       17  15  12

That sort of thing. Does it 4 times then the figure shifts up a couple times, with different fingerings. Way harder than I thought it would be.

It's been interesting noticing certain hallmarks of each guitarist's style.  I gotta say Black Sabbath bores me a little, honestly. I haven't even tried to specifically commit those solos to memory. I get the solo in the ballpark, visit a couple of the more recognizable licks, then improvise the rest.

I'll check out that Zakk solo and have a play around.  Nice pentatonic stretch there by the looks though.

Secret Loser was an instant fav from TUS, wonderful song.

Iommi's solos are pretty straight forward pentatonic and I've always found his hard to remember.  So easy to improvise though.

[Sir GuitarCozmo]

I'll check out that Zakk solo and have a play around.  Nice pentatonic stretch there by the looks though.

He does a similar stretch on the first solo lick in Breaking All The Rules, much faster, though. But Change The World, that's a super fun solo, that lick aside.

This sounds so cool.   I went and saw a... I guess it's a "Blackmore-ish" Tribute band, because they play Purple, Rainbow and Whitesnake, and the guitar player (Jimi Bell) is really good.    He's in Autograph now (the drummer is in Dokken, I think).  It's a fun night out.   

I'd love to come see you play if you get the gig!   (For a friend: play "Tonight"!)

That sounds like an incredible band to see!

[Dublagent66]

Damn Coz!!  That sounds like a lot of fun.  Hope it works out for you.

[TempusVox]

Nicely done. Best of luck to you! 

[Chino]

Those were some sweet vids.

[Stadler]

Yeah, I just watched those too.  Lookin' good!

[Sir GuitarCozmo]

Thanks, guys! I've been on vacation this past week. Last weekend, I played through this stuff after not even so much as LOOKING at a guitar for a week. I feel like I played it even better. Back to the grindstone this week for the second audition next Sunday. Hoping to learn a few new ones. Goodbye to Romance is deceptively super involved.

[bosk1]

Awesome.  Hope you get the gig!  And while I don't see it happening, I really hope they do a 3-part guitarist audition video series.

[Sir GuitarCozmo]

*Mike mangini reaction.jpg*

[TAC]

We need photoshop!

[wolfking]

*Mike mangini reaction.jpg*

Congrats mate.  Well deserved.

[Sir GuitarCozmo]

  I hadn't considered how that looked. I was responding to Bosk's post. Still have a second audition this Sunday.

[TAC]

I hadn't considered how that looked. I was responding to Bosk's post. Still have a second audition this Sunday.

Well, to be fair, Wolfking is in Australia, and they're what, a week ahead of us?

[Sir GuitarCozmo]

I hadn't considered how that looked. I was responding to Bosk's post. Still have a second audition this Sunday.

Well, to be fair, Wolfking is in Australia, and they're what, a week ahead of us?

[bosk1]

That's true.  Wolfking probably knows how the audition turned out, and the rest of us just have to wait with baited breath.

[wolfking]

[Sir GuitarCozmo]

Worked on Breaking All The Rules, Lightning Strikes, Shot in the Dark, and Goodbye to Romance today. Need a completely separate guitar for SitD. Stupid tuning.

[Stadler]

Worked on Breaking All The Rules, Lightning Strikes, Shot in the Dark, and Goodbye to Romance today. Need a completely separate guitar for SitD. Stupid tuning.

And yet of course it's the hit, right, so the chances of it being played are high.

[Sir GuitarCozmo]

Worked on Breaking All The Rules, Lightning Strikes, Shot in the Dark, and Goodbye to Romance today. Need a completely separate guitar for SitD. Stupid tuning.

And yet of course it's the hit, right, so the chances of it being played are high.

Oh of course. If you used no guitar pedals for the purpose of drop tuning,  you'd have to tune the low E and A strings up 1/2 step and the other 4 down a half step. You could attempt it by tuning everything down a half step, but it'll never be fluid.

[wolfking]

Worked on Breaking All The Rules, Lightning Strikes, Shot in the Dark, and Goodbye to Romance today. Need a completely separate guitar for SitD. Stupid tuning.

Yep.  Very bizarre and definitely unique.

[jammindude]

Have you guys read the Wiki article on SITD?

Quite fascinating.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shot_in_the_Dark_(Ozzy_Osbourne_song)?wprov=sfti1

[wolfking]

Have you guys read the Wiki article on SITD?

Quite fascinating.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shot_in_the_Dark_(Ozzy_Osbourne_song)?wprov=sfti1

Yeah.  There's some definite early FM vibes on that song I think.  No doubt Steve Overland would have had something to do with it.