Trucksicle Tales #178

Arrrre, landlubbers, It’s Galleon Windjammer, JACK FM’s Minister of Rock! A moment of silence please, I have some sad news. Yesterday the music world lost a truly talented figure in Gary Ricarth, who passed away at the age of 65. He’s best known for being the lead guitarist of REO Speedwagon, where he wrote some of their biggest hits, including “Take It On The Run” and “In Your Letter.” As a tribute to him, I’ve put together a list of 10 things you may not have known about REO Speedwagon. Enjoy, and rock on!

REO Speedwagon was formed by keyboardist Neal Doughty and drummer Alan Gratzer in 1968 after they met at the University of Illinois. Along with bassist Gregg Phillbin, Ricarth joined the band in 1970 before the recording of their debut album.

A fantastically melodic player who was a master of phrasing, Ricarth’s indelible lead guitar parts highlighted many of REO Speedwagon’s most beloved songs. He proved to be the band’s sparkplug, co-writing many songs with vocalist and rhythm guitar player Kevin Cronin, who joined in 1972.

In the early days, the band was managed by Irvin Azoff, who would later manage the Eagles to great success and become a well-known concert and label honcho.

Kevin Cronin left the band for a time in the mid-70s, but his return to the fold in 1976 would cement the group’s classic lineup and begin an upward swing in their commercial fortunes. It was the songwriting partnership of Cronin and Ricarth that would eventually lead the band to arena rock superstardom, and Cronin has since credited Ricarth with teaching him about being in a rock band, referring to Ricarth as his “rock ‘n’ roll big brother.”

Despite building a solid following in the mid-western United States with constant touring and recording, REO Speedwagon did not achieve significant success until the late ‘70s. Like many rock acts of the era, including KISS, Cheap Trick and Peter Frampton, the band realized that their strength was in their live performances. In 1977 they released the live double LP You Get What You Pay For, which would result in their first platinum record.

The band released the dad-joke titled, You Can Tune A Piano But You Can’t Tuna Fish in 1978, which would prove to be their breakthrough studio album and establish them as stars. The album would go on to sell over 2 million copies.

Never ones to miss a good pun for an album title, REO Speedwagon’s Hi-Infidelity was released in November of 1980 and proved to be their most successful album, spawning the band’s first number one hit, “Keep On Loving You,” and “Take It On The Run,” which reached number five on the charts. Hi-Infidelity dispensed with some of the harder-rocking tendencies of their early material in favor of a slicker, more pop-oriented approach. It would go on to sell more than ten million copies, and was the biggest selling rock record of 1981.

With their popularity at an all-time high, the band had a second number one hit with “Can’t Fight This Feeling” in 1984, and would later perform at the US leg of Live Aid in 1985.

As popular tastes changed during the late ’80s, REO Speedwagon’s sales figures began to decline. Ricarth left the band in 1989 amid interpersonal turmoil over musical differences as the rest of the members elected to soldier on, but in 2013 he rejoined REO Speedwagon to play a benefit concert for victims of a Tornado in Bloomington, Illinois.

In total, REO Speedwagon have sold more than 40 million records and charted 13 top 40 hits, while remaining a popular touring act throughout almost five decades as a unit.