Noel Murphy
ROCK’S lead guitarists are a breed of their own. Showmen, riffmasters, technical artisans, they’re often the heart and soul of a band, their soaring, growling and shredding solos often the hallmark of a band’s songs or even the band itself.
The Angels’ Rick Brewster will tell you a decent lead guitar solo has a start, a middle and a finish – all properly phrased and sorted to match the underlying rhythm and chords structure. He’s not one for rough improvisation, it’s his classical music beginnings, he wants his breaks to be recognisable musical works in their own right.
But even he was gobsmacked playing at Le Forum in Paris earlier this year – in the City of Light for the first time in 35 years – when the crowds sang every note of his lead breaks, plus the words to every song the band performed.
“It was the last thing we expected,” he says.
“We were excited because we’d sold out Paris but to have the whole audience, from the very first song, screaming the guitar melodies – I’d never heard that in my whole career.
“It was quite emotional. It nearly blew us through the back wall, it wasn’t just solos but all the lyrics including our new songs.
“They had to be fans from when we played there with Cheap Trick in 1980. A lot of people said ‘We’ve been waiting 35 years’. They’ve stayed with the music and they’ve been buying the new albums.”
Such is the strength of The Angels’ hold on their audiences. Fans all attest to the raw, powerful drive and hypnotic lyrics of their music – as does its ability to survive even the loss of legendary frontman Doc Neeson.
Of course, it’s the songs – classics such as Am I Ever Gonna See Your Face Again?, Shadow Boxer, No Secrets, Dogs Are Talking, We Gotta Get Out of This Place and a raft of hard- rocking faves – that continue to sustain the band into its 40th year.
For Rick Brewster, guitarwork remains as much fun as ever. He might have started out on piano but he decided when the band first padded up for action that he was going to be the lead guitarist.
“I basically taught myself guitar. I said to John and Doc I wanted to be lead guitar, you could make that call when you started back then, but I was right in the deep end – we’d already been booked for tours.
“I learned guitar, invented melodies in my head and worked out how to play them. I listened to players like Angus and Clapton and Hendrix but they were never really a major influence, I didn’t come through the usual channels.
“I had no time for lessons and my strategy on the road was basically classical piano. Solos came from my classical background. I’d write a solo like a piece of music, the objective was a solo you could sing and remember, which I suppose is why the guys in Paris were all singing.”
Like any lead guitarist, Brewster loves his machines. He’s had all sorts down the years but his favourites were an Epiphone Sheraton and a Gibson SG, until they were stolen – along with all the band’s gear and their truck – in Chicago back in the 80s.
He’s used Hamers, PRS, Upfold, Redback, even another Ephipone Sheraton although it wasn’t quite the same.
“A year ago, I gave PRS another shot,” he says. “I’ve got a new guitar I’m now playing with a beautiful double cutaway, a neck that’s really smooth with a beautiful action and a new pickup configuration that’s really clever.”
Yep, sounds like a lead guitarist. You can catch Rick Brewster and the rest of The Angels at Geelong’s Gateway Hotel on Saturday 25 July.
