A Phil Brodie Band Tribute Page
DICK
WAGNER
Saginaw, Michigan, U.S.A.
Have you
ever wondered who's soaring guitar it is behind Alice Cooper? Well sessionist
Dick Wagner was Alice's right hand man, in song writing, composing,
production and of course lead guitar. Dick was usually accompanied by
lead guitarist and friend Steve Hunter, they have played together since
the 60's. But this page is for Dick. I will do Steve another day. First
a fact or two , as some people still don't seem to know, it is Dick
Wagner not Joe Perry on Aerosmith’s 'Get Your Wings' album, on
the track ‘Train Kept A Rollin’’, now become a signature
riff. Dick also 'ghosted' on Revenge by Kiss and on Kiss’s 'Destroyer'.
.
Even the
world's greatest rock and roll showmen can't monopolize the affections
of the world's youth without some help. Sorry, Alice Cooper. Sorry,
Lou Reed. Yeah, they had help. Big time! Especially from Dick Wagner
and Steve Hunter! Both Cooper and Reed enlisted hired-gun guitarists
Wagner and Hunter to help sustain their creative zenith during the 1970s
..quote
from V.Guitar.
[above] Dick in 1964 in
The Bossman
PART INTERVIEW by VintageGuitar.com
What
equipment did you use in Reed's band?
I was playing a Les Paul TV Special, which has
since been stolen. I used a 100-watt Marshall half-stack. A guy named
Red Rhodes did some work on it. I was also playing through an old Echoplex
and a MXR phaser.
You were a ghost writer/performer on Cooper's
records before you joined his band, correct?
Right. Cooper's School's Out was the first really big album I played
on. They would usually bring me and Steve in when they needed some hot
solos or things the other players couldn't pull off in the right way.
The first song (producer) Bob Ezrin, Alice, and I wrote together was
"I Love The Dead." I sold my portion of the song to them because
I needed money. So, I wasn't credited on the album. At that time, Alice
and his original band were living in a mansion in Connecticut. It was
a bizarre place. They drove around in these old Rolls Royces and I was
like, "Okay!"
You did sessions for several other big artists,
like Aerosmith and Kiss, as well?
Yeah. Kiss, they came out of nowhere. They didn't have the studio knowledge
guys like me had to accomplish that kind of stuff. They did most of
their own stuff but once in awhile they needed something special, a
style they couldn't really pull off. Same with Alice's original band.
They were younger players and they couldn't do what Bob Ezrin and Alice
Cooper were envisioning, musically.
Any advice for up-and-coming session players,
particularly for guitar solos?
When you do a session for anybody, know the song! If you take the song
personally, your solos will fit and take off as an extension of the
song's philosophy. When you're doing a solo, don't just blaze away and
hope for something. You want to ask what the song's doing melodically
and let yourself go from there. Solos are an extension of the songwriting.
The creativity in the studio must have been intense
during your first few years as a session player!
It was constant flow, and it was electric! Those were great days! Now,
it's a more mellow, wiser kind of creativity. You've already been there
and you know what your doing. In those days, you'd never been there
and you were discovering it all, which was exciting in that sense. I
got very excited every time I played a solo. It was a learning process.
You often used B.C. Rich guitars in Cooper's band,
correct?
Yes. I was playing a B.C. Rich Eagle through the late-'60s Marshall
heads. Mine was one of the first Eagles ever made. B.C. Rich also made
me a Seagull, which I used occasionally. The Seagull was stolen at the
Boston Airport. DiMarzio was making these super-hot pickups for me.
They were wound specially for me and Steve.
[above] 1974 whilst with
Lou Reed
LITTLE
BIT OF HISTORY
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. Ezrin used Wgner & Hunter 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
which Wagner had penned back in the late '60s, and has subsequently
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 and 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 Garbriel'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 Da Da, as Wagner
focused solely on his songwriting throughout the remainder of the decade,
penning songs for such artists as Meatloaf, 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 has created his own recording studio,
Downtown Digital Studios, runs the Wagner Music Group record label,
and also plays 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. ~ Greg
Prato All Music Guide
[above] Dick Wagner with the Alice
Cooper Band
DISCOGRAPHY
1964-67
The Bossmen Various Singles Guitar, Vocals,
Composer
1967-68 The Fabulous Pack I've
Got News For You/Wide Trackin' (singles) Composer
1967 Dick Wagner and the Frosts Rainy
Day/Bad Girl (singles) Composer
1967 Dick Wagner and the Frosts Sunshine/Little
Girl (singles) Composer
1967 The Cherry Slush I
Cannot Stop You (single) Composer, Producer
1968 Elation Fields Light
Side Table/Heat Wave (singles) Producer and Arranger
1969 The FROST Frost
Music Guitar, Vocals, Composer
1969 The FROST Rock
and Roll Music Guitar, Vocals, Composer
1970 The FROST Through
the Eyes of Love Guitar, Vocals, Songs, Producer
1972 Ursa Major Ursa
Major Guitar, Vocals, Composer
1972 Alice Cooper,
School's Out Guitar
1972 Ursa Major Let
The Music Play - Single Guitar, Vocals, Composer
1973 Alice Cooper, Billion
Dollar Babies Guitar
1973 Alice Cooper, Muscle
of Love Guitar
1973 Elliott Murphy, Aquashow
Vocals, Vocals (bckgr)
1973 Flo & Eddie Flo
& Eddie Guitar, Composer
1973 Lou Reed, Berlin
Guitar, Guitar, Vocals
1974 Aerosmith Get
Your Wings Guitar
1974 Alice Cooper, Greatest
Hits Guitar
1974 Justin Paige, Justin
Paige Guitar
1974 Lou Reed, Rock
& Roll Animal Guitar, BkgVocals
1975 Lou Reed, Lou
Reed Live Guitar, BkgVocals
1975 Alice Cooper, Welcome
to My Nightmare Guitar, Vocals, Composer
1975 Alice Cooper, Alice
Cooper Goes to Hell Guitar, Arranger, Vocals, Concept, Composer
1976 KISS Destroyer
Guitar
1977 Alice Cooper, The
Alice Cooper Show Guitar, Composer, Bkg Vocals
1977 Alice Cooper, Lace
& Whiskey Guitar
1977 Peter Gabriel, Peter
Gabriel [car on cover] Guitar, Bkg Vocals
1977 Peter Gabriel, Solsbury
Hill (single) Guitar
1977 Richard Wagner, Richard
Wagner Guitar, Composer
1978 Tim Curry, Read
My Lips Guitar
1978 Etta
James, Deep
In The Night Composer
1978 Burton Cummings,
Dream of a Child Guitar
1978 The FROST Early
Frost Guitar, Vocals, Producer, Composer
1978 Mark Farner, Mark
Farner Guitar, Producer, Composer
1978 Ray Manzarek, The
Whole Thing Started from Rock and Roll, Guitar,
1978 Alice Cooper, From
the Inside, Guitar, Composer
1978 Hall & Oates Along
the Red Ledge Guitar
1978/9 Alice Cooper, Alice
Cooper, Guitar
1979 Tim Curry, Fearless
Guitar, Producer, Composer
198? Jolly Brothers Jolly
Brothers Guitar, Producer, Composer, Arranger
1982 Alice Cooper, Zipper
Catches Skin Guitar, Composer
1983 Alice Cooper, Da
Da Guitar, Bass Guitar BkgVocals, Composer
1983 Meatloaf Midnight
at the Lost and Found Composer
1984 Patti Austin, Patti
Austin Composer
1984 Jah Mahla, Jah
Mahla Guitar
1985 Muppets Welcome
To My Nightmare Composer
1985 Air Supply Air
Supply Composer
1986 Lee Aaron Call
of the Wild Composer
1986 Etta James, The
Late Show Composer
1986 Meatloaf Blind
Before I Stop Composer
1988 Paolo Fresu Only
Women Bleed Composer
198? Rod Stewart (unreleased)
Composer
198? Fiona (unreleased)
Composer
1989 Tim Curry Best
of Tim Curry Guitar, Composer
1990 The Throbs, The
Language of Vagabonds Producer
1990 Lita Ford, Stilletto
Composer
1991 Alice Cooper, Hey
Stoopid Guitar
1991 John Bradshaw, Homecoming
PBS Television Theme Song Composer
1991 Richard Wagner, Remember
the Child LP Composer, Guitar, Vocals, Producer
1992 Lita Ford, The
Best Of Lita Ford Composer, Producer
1992 Richard Wagner, Creating
Love Composer, Producer
1992 Kiss Revenge
Guitar
1992 Lou Reed, Between
Thought and Expression: The Lou Reed Anthology Guitar
1992 Peter Gabriel, Revisited
Guitar, Vocals
1992 70's Greatest Rock Hits:Vol.2 Heavy
Hitters 70's Greatest Rock Hits:Vol.2 Heavy Hitters
Guitar, Vocals, Composer
1993 John Bradshaw, Creating
Love PBS Television
1993 Monsters of Rock Monsters
of Rock: Vol. 1 Guitar, Composer
1993 Bill Kennedy's Showtime Rock
N Roll Music Composer
1993 John Farnham, Then
Again (Only Women Bleed) Composer
1993 Steve Perry, (unreleased)
Guitar, Composer, Producer
1993 Carmen McCrae, Only
Women Bleed Composer
1993 Elvira Presents:
Haunted Hits Composer, Guitar
1994 Bossmen, The
The Bossmen Guitar, Vocals, Composer, Producer
1994 Burton Cummings, The
Burton Cummings Collection Guitar
1994 Tina Turner, Only
Women Bleed Composer
1995 Richard Wagner, Rock
Hitstory: PROFILE Composer, Producer, All Instruments
1995 Cleveland International, Just Us Girls
Cleveland Int'l Records Guitar, Producer
1995 Meatloaf The
Definitive Collection Guitar, Composer
1995 Only Love: 1975-1979 You
and Me Guitar, Composer
1995 Alice Cooper, Classicks
Guitar, Composer
1996 Omar & the Howlers World
Wide Open Composer
1996 Forever Pop: Vol. 1 Only
Women Bleed Guitar, Composer
1996 Only Rock N Roll: 75-79 Only
Women Bleed Guitar, Composer
1996 Rhumba Shine
Silently Composer
1996 Eva Svobodova Only
Women Bleed Composer
1997 Vanguard Collector's Ed Vanguard
Collector's Edition Guitar, Vocals
1997 Omar & the Howlers Monkeyland
Composer
1997 Ruth Copeland, Take
Me to Baltimore Composer
1997 Michigan Rocks Michigan
Rocks (bootleg) Guitar, Composer
1997 Legends of Guitar: Rock
Legends of Guitar: Rock 70s, Vol. 1 Guitar
1997 Matt Besey Matt
Besey Piano, Producer
1997 Nils Lofgren, Shine
Silently Composer
1997 Nils Lofgren, Code
Of The Road: Greatest Hits Composer
1998 Brother Love Brother
Love Producer
1998 Sonic Vibe Sonic
Vibe Producer
1998 Love Rocks You
And Me Guitar, Composer
1998 Alice Cooper, Prime
Cuts DVD Guitar, Composer
1999 Christine Smith River
of Grace Producer
1999 The FROST This
Band Can Rock And Roll Forever Guitarist, Producer, Composer
1999 Gwen Goodman Down
on My Knees Producer
1999 Church of the Open Bottle Church
of the Open Bottle Producer
1999 Alice Cooper, The
Life and Crimes of Alice Cooper Guitar, Vocals,Writer
1999 Aegri Somnia Aegri
Somnia Producer, Engineer
1999 Humanary Stew Tribute
to Alice Cooper Composer, Guitarist
1999 Alice Cooper,
Super Hits Composer, Guitarist
1999 Pop In The 70's Vol. 2. Only
Women Bleed Composer, Guitarist
1999 Felicity Soundtrack Here
Comes The Flood Bkg. Vocals, Guitarist
1999 Etta James,
Heart Of A Woman Composer
1999 Alice Cooper, Welcome
To My Nightmare DVD Composer, Guitarist, Bkg. Vocals
1999 Air Supply The
Definitive Collection Composer
1999 Various Artists Hits
of the 70's Composer, Guitar, Bkg. Vocals
1999 Bill Kalmar Bill
Kalmar Producer
2000 The Jim Cummings Band The
Jim Cummings Band Producer, Composer
2000 Flatline Flatline
Producer
2000 Broke Broke
Producer
2000 Meatloaf Simply
The Best Composer
2000 Perpetual Jones Perpetual
Jones Producer
2000 Darin Scott, Darin
Scott Producer, Composer
2000 Laura Morris, Summer
Days Guitar, Composer
2001 Carol Guarino, Carol
Guarino, Guitar, Composer
2001 Dick Wagner, Remember
The Child Guitar, Composer
2001 AliceCooper, Monsters
& Mascara Guitar, Composer
2001 Dave Wagner, (unreleased)
Guitar, Arranger
2001 Solid Rock Solid
Rock Live Producer
2001 Robert Wagner, (unreleased)
Guitar, Composer, Arranger
2001 Gwen Goodman, Gwen
Goodman Live Producer
2001 Bleedstreet Roots
Guitar, Producer
2002 Robert Wagner, Robert
Wagner Producer
2002 Janis Leigh, Runnin'
On Fumes Composer, Producer, Arranger
2002 Darin Scott, Views
From Mulholland Producer, Arranger, Kybds.
2003 Skinner
Rat In The
Box Guitar
2007 Wensday Torch
Rock Guitar, Songwriter, Composer, Arranger, Producer
Quote
March 2004:
"The 27th we’ll be back at Whites Bar in Saginaw for another
round of original music in a smoke filled down home environment where
I can really let loose on my Black Beauty." Where he plays regular
gigs. So
I hope I am right Dick, this is your Black Beauty below.
LATEST UPDATES
2008
To
The Women Of the World
and
the
Men Who Honor and LoveThem
Dick Wagner and Wensday's powerful and
moving rendition
with a little extra of
"ONLY
WOMEN BLEED"
Powerful Guitar ~ Powerful Vocals ~ Powerful Message
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mKaZ1Smgmlo
For
best quality visuals, click the "Watch in High Quality" -
button,
located on bottom right just under the word "views."
2007
February
28th, "Torch Rock", the debut album by powerhouse
pop/rock/blues/jazz singer Wensday is released; which Dick produced,
wrote/co-wrote and played lead guitar. He has told friends and associates
he feels that "Torch Rock" is one of the finest works of his
career, and it has certainly taken him into a very different genre,
if not new genre. Dick has created some really powerful music on this
CD. Torch Rock also includes Wensday singing an amazing bluesy, soulful
rendition of “Only Women Bleed,” one of Dick's groundbreaking
collaborations with Alice Cooper.
July
3rd, only a week after appearing
live on stage
in Phoenix with Wensday, promoting "Torch Rock", Dick suffered
a massive heart attack at his Arizona home. He spent five days in intensive
care on a life support machine. His kidneys had failed and his
left arm and hand were rended completely
useless. He was given angioplasty to remove blockage and later had a
pacemaker implanted.
July 8th, the good news came that Dick is expected to make a
full recovery.
July 23rd, Suzy Michelson, Dick’s close friend
and one of his two partners in the
Phoenix based label Desert Dreams Records, emailed QUOTE: "the
great news is that Dick is recovering. As of today, he is no longer
in hospital, but he is now in rehabilitation to rebuild strength in
his left arm. He will soon be back in action."
When Dick is fit again, he will be recording some new music with Steve
Hunter and Fred Mandel (of the "Welcome to My Nightmare" band)
for the upcoming Wagner/Hunter documentary, which also features Alice.
That is something NOT to be missed.
2006
This summer, Dick started to produce a talented young singer Miss Wensday.
Wensday has a rich voice, singing jazz to blues to rock, but is a classically
trained singer, and has studied both opera and jazz. Dick spent most
of the summer and fall immersed in the writing songs, composing music
and the production of Wensday's CD. With Dick on guitar, Wensday made
her debut performance December 16th at Alice Cooper's Christmas Pudding.
This is Alice's annual charity concert to benefit The Solid Rock Foundation
For Children.
2005
Dick permanently moved to Phoenix, Arizona, where he is currently writing
again with Alice Cooper for a new album.
Desert Dream Production + purchase "Torch Rock"
Dick Wagner + Band & Wensday: Bulldaog Blues
Dick
Wagner + Band & Wensday: It's My Body
Wensday’s
official website
