Whether they come around to it or not, Dick Wagner is a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame worthy contender. His work for Lou Reed and Alice Cooper alone should qualify him, but oh, I forgot, this year Alice got snubbed in favor of. . . ? ABBA? Are you kidding me? Fine, I realize that this controversy deserves a blog of it’s own, but I want to complain to everyone I know about what a travesty this Alice Cooper situation is. And then it dawned on me. I Still have Dick Wagner’s number! (I met and interviewed him for the 2007 Guitar Jam) Why not vent to someone who feels my pain more deeply than me, perhaps.

At least by proxy Wagner could’ve joined the club with Lou Reed (not the VU, obviously, but solo stuff like Rock n Roll Animal and Berlin), and then maybe in the same class as Aerosmith (remember, that’s him on “Train Kept A-Rolling;” the solo that was the blueprint for Joe Perry’s sound), and now he should be part of the class that Alice Cooper (he co-wrote two of Alice’s biggest hits, “Only Woman Bleed” and “You and Me” )should be inducted in. . . like yesterday; before the Beastie Boys, before Madonna, before ABBA! And that’s not even getting into the whole Kiss (played on a little album called, Destroyer)thing, another band that was passed over this year in favor of ABBA(?).

As much as Dick Wagner is known for his session work, his solo career isn’t anything to sneeze at either. In fact, his late-60s band, The Frost, was a very popular act in Detroit where Alice was watching him. His next band Ursa Major also had a following, but before he knew it, Dick would become a demanded session guitarist, and after Lou Reed, Alice Cooper, Aerosmith, Kiss, Meatloaf, Peter Gabriel, Rod Stewart, Ringo Star, Hall & Oates, Etta James, Roy Orbison, Tina Turner, Jerry Lee Lewis, Little Richard (Air Supply notwithstanding, is there any doubt that this isn’t a Hall of Fame worthy resume?) who’s got time for a solo album? Still, in 1979 he went up to Long View Farm in North Brookfield, Massachusetts, and set about making a solo record. Work called again, so the project was shelved, but all these years later the tapes somehow resurfaced, prompting Dick to remaster the tracks so he could finally release them to the public.

He’s calling the album Full Meltdown, and you can buy it on the usual music websites, or directly from HIS WEBSITE More important than the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, or his new CD, is Dick Wagner’s health. I was really happy to check in with him to see how he was feeling since suffering a heart attack and a stroke last year. Dick was in a coma, and when he woke up he had lost the ability to play the guitar. The great news is that with rehab, a great attitude, and an inherent need to rock, Dick’s guitar playing is back! You can listen to him tell you the story of his recovery, his new album, and that dreaded Hall of Shame right RIGHT HERE in this PHONE CALL TO DICK WAGNER.

Tags: ABBA, Aerosmith, Alice Cooper, Cobo Hall, Desert Dreams, Dick Wagner, Full Meltdown, KISS, Lou Reed, Meatloaf, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

This entry was posted on Saturday, December 19th, 2009 at 10:03 am and is filed under Daniel Siwek's Blog. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.