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In 1980, there appeared in the letters section of a major guitar
magazine the following announcement, courtesy of the
then-new Shrapnel Records: "Seeking guitarists who annihilate a la
Van Halen, Ulrich Roth, Michael Schenker, etc."
Within a few years, Shrapnel owner Mike Varney had discovered players
like Yngwie Malmsteen and Paul Gilbert, both of
whom raised the benchmark for virtuoso guitar playing several wide
notches. By the end of the decade instrumental guitar
albums by Joe Satriani and Steve Vai were topping the Billboard charts and
the shred decade reached a ceremonious peak.
While Eddie Van Halen's contributions to virtuoso guitar playing are even
today widely acknowledged the other two guitarists
most responsible, Schenker and Roth have been relegated to little more
than cult status in the United States. But their
influence not only on shred but on almost every form of hard rock and
metal that emerged during the Eighties is undeniable.
The second-generation artists, at least, are keenly aware of their debt
to Roth and Schenker. "Uli Roth had the whole thing
down: his technique, his tone, the Hendrixisms mixed with that
Euro-classic style of modal playing'' was Kirk Hammett's
assessment in Guitar World. Megadeth's Dave Mustaine was more succinct:
When I first heard Michael Schenker he made
my butt cheeks tighten. I learned a lot about playing riffs from
listening to him. Steve Vai, too, remains in awe of Roth's
orchestral arrangements and seven-string playing, and Slash tips his top
hat to Schenker, whose licks he struggled to play
when he first slung on a six-string. But Schenker and Roth's biggest
disciple remains Yngwie Malmsteen who recently paid
the latter the supreme tribute by covering his Scorpions' tour de
force "The Sails of Charon '' on his Inspiration album.
Michael Schenker and Uli Jon Roth invented shred back during a time when
the term was associated more with breakfast
cereal and top-secret documents than guitar playing. In the late
Seventies Schenkerıs playing with UFO on songs like ''Rock
Bottom'' and "Only You Can Rock Me'' and Rothıs performances with the
Scorpions on "The Sails of Charon'' and "All Night
Long'' were characterized by an impressive combination of technical
prowess, rich tone, expressive phrasing and melodic
finesse. The guitarists, both native Germans had something else in
common: each burned up their fretboards with dazzling
displays of speed while playing incredibly tasteful and tuneful licks.
Like Ritchie Blackmore before them and Eddie Van
Halen later, they incorporated classical music motifs into their
playing, demonstrating that one neednıt dwell within the
confines of blues-based pentatonic scales
in order to rock.
With the Nineties coming to a close, Joe Satriani has joined the legion
of guitarists paying tribute to Schenker and Roth by
asking them to join him on the latest G3 tour in Europe, which took
place in May. "Michael and Uli are two of my favorite
guitarists of all time, "
says Satch.
''It was really an honor to be asked to join the tour", says Roth.
'Michael and Joe are among the best players in the world,
though so different in their styles
and approaches.
Surprisingly, prior to Satriani's gesture no one had asked Roth and
Schenker to appear on the same stage together over the
last 25 years, even though the guitarists have plenty in common. Roth
and Schenker became aware of each other when
both were children Hannover, Germany. "Michael and I listened to similar
things when we were growing up" says Roth, "but
we soon branched off in different directions. I discovered Jimi Hendrix
and classical music early on whereas he was more
into Rory Gallagher and Leslie West. But we were both always very much
into melody and weıre both extremely sound
conscious. He has his unique trademark tone and I know that he was always
conscious of making his guitar sound as good
as possible "
"In Germany most of the music we heard came from England," says Schenker,
"but we weren't impressed by it. It was more
difficult to hear rock music in Germany- you had to search for it. We
had more space and freedom to develop because we
weren't being influenced by a market that was dictating what was
fashionable on a day to day basis. ' When Schenker
parted ways with his brother Rudolf's band, the Scorpions, in 1973 to
join UFO, he recommended Roth for the gig. The two
even shared writing credits for the Scorpions 'FIy to the Rainbow'. In
the late seventies both guitarists quit their bands after
recording double live albums (UFO's Strangers in the Night and the
Scorpions' Tokyo Tapes), just as they were on the brink
of Major worldwide success. Afterwards they started concentrating on solo
projects--Schenker forming the Michael Schenker
Group and Roth setting out with Electric Sun. Today, the two guitarists'
business affairs are handled by the same manager.
That no one had bothered asking Roth and Schenker to share the same
stage may be because they've gone in very
different directions since the late Seventies. With the Michael Schenker
Group and MSG, Schenker continued working on
his distinctive brand of melodic hard rock. More recently, Schenker got
back together with all of his original bandmates in
UFO, although he did record a few albums with the Michael Schenker Group
last year, including a live retrospective of his
25-year career The Michael Schenker Story Live (available for $30
only at his shows or from Michael Schenker
Management, 13610 N Scottsdale Rd, Suite 10-108
Scottsdale AZ 85254)
"I almost refused to do the G3 tour because UFO is now my main priority''
notes Schenker. "However there was a gap in our
touring schedule and the band and my manager encouraged me to do it. I
am committed to UFO because I want to know
how much further the band can go. The record after Strangers in the
Night could have been the biggest UFO record ever,
but I quit the band. UFO stopped right in the middle of its progress.
After all these years I felt that I had gone through enough
experiments and now I want to see what more can come out
of the band. I like that mystery".
As for Roth, he started exploring classical music during the Eighties. He
didn't exactly trade in his ''Electric gypsy'' wardrobe
for a tux and tails, however, as a distinct Hendrix influence resonated
throughout his work with Electric Sun. Progressively
distancing himself from the rock and roll world, Roth stopped touring
altogether by 1985. During this time, he wrote several
complete symphonies and a concerto for guitar and orchestra. He played
live only a handful of times, including a televised
concert where he played his first symphony with a 90-piece orchestra, as
well as arrangements of classical pieces such as
Vivaldi's Four Seasons and selections by Mozart, Mendelssohn and
Beethoven. Roth's most recent recorded effort,
Prologue to the Symphonic Legends by Sky of Avalon (Saraya, PO Box 192,
Whitehall, MI 49461) features full orchestral
arrangements and Roth's soaring of electric guitar playing, which has
advanced astoundingly since his Scorpions days.
"Even when I was playing with the Scorpions I was always studying
classical music ''says Roth. I was in a rock band and I
never really saw myself as a rock guitar player. I guess I was one. But
I always wanted to be something else. I wanted to
achieve what you could do on a violin
with a guitar''
Roth's desire to emulate the range and expressiveness of the violin led
him to develop the Sky guitar, which, in its current
incarnation features seven strings and an extended fret board with extra
frets. "Back when I was with the Scorpions a guitar
builder in Brighton offered to make me my own guitar any way I would
like and I thought What a concept! '' says Roth. "I
questioned everything that had come before and tried to improve on it.
I wanted more range, so I came up with a body
shaped like a teardrop, but it wasn't visually appealing, so I added an S
shape to the teardrop to give it more balance. I had
the builder put as many frets on the neck as he possibly could. On my
current Sky guitar the frets above the 24th fret are
placed in whole tones because it is too difficult to play above there
with the frets placed so closely together. "I didn't want to
lose the warm sound of the neck pickup, so we mounted the pickup under
the fretboard'' he continues. "That actually worked
and sounded good. My pickups are made by John Oram, who figured out how
to make a pickup that provides full sounding
tone and great sustain in the guitar's highest range. The next step was
to add more range in the bass end so l came up with
the idea of a seven-string
guitar. ''
Although Schenker is just as meticulous about his tone as Roth, he has
stuck with the same style of Gibson Flying V that
he's used ever since joining UFO. "I borrowed my brother Rudolf's Flying
V once, and I really liked the sound of that guitar
through my 50-watt Marshall" says Schenker. "It reminded me of the tone
that Leslie West used to get. There really isnıt
much to the Flying V. Itıs just a pickup and wood. The important thing
is the combination of the wood and pickup. It's best if
the guitar sounds good right from the beginning without any EQ or
effects. Since it works I haven't had to fix it."
Schenker has gone through several Flying Vs over the years, including a
distinctive black-and-white pattern guitar that has
become his trademark since he formed the Michael Schenker Group. "I left
the first one of those that I ever had behind at the
airport in 1984 " says Schenker. "I went to pick up my children and I
forgot about my guitar " Currently, his favorite guitar is a
white Flying-V that his guitar tech gave
to him as a backup.
While the two guitarists have different tastes in guitars they do admit
to a bias for Marshall amps. Roth has the same 1972
100-watt Marshall Super Lead Tremolo that heıs used since he joined the
Scorpions, which he runs through a 4x 12 cabinet
loaded with 80-watt Celestion speakers. Schenker plays through a
two-channel 50-watt Marshall JCM800. I've heard that
the JCM800 was designed to duplicate the sound I had with UFO, " says
Schenker. I used to use a wah-wah pedal as an
equalizer but now I donıt need to use it so much because the
amp already has that midrange that I like "
Although both guitarists have maintained relatively low profiles of late,
the European G3 tour will certainly remind people that
Roth and Schenker are outstanding influential artists whose music remains
as relevant today as it was in the Seventies- just
ask Kirk Hammett or Yngwie
Malmsteen.
The truth be told even at their respective peaks they didn't really fit
in with what was popular at the time Like a hard rock
equivalent of the Velvet Underground, Roth and Schenker may not have sold
a wealth of records but it seems that everyone
who ever heard them or saw them live went on to
become guitar virtuosos.
"I've never really known whether people are hungry for guitar music or
not'' says Schenker.ıI've always done whatever I liked
to do whether it was hard rock music or whatever. I've survived three
or four different scene changes or trends because,
even though I was aware of it afterwards, I never felt connected to any
trends. I have a certain audience that likes what I do
and those are the people I play for- -and myself. The main thing is
for me to be inspired and to like what I am doing. `
"Musicians nowadays don't seem to challenge themselves to go to the
highest levels of what they can do `. says Roth.
"They're more interested in record sales and making a living. That's
awful because to me music is sacred. You have a great
responsibility as a musician particularly if you become a star. Bands
like Oasis have a God-given responsibility to do the
right thing because you can influence people's outlook on life. You're
Iike a parent to your audience, even if you are only an
18-year old. Not being a good parent towards your children is very
wrong. And the fans are somewhat responsible as well.
We make people into stars by voting for them with our money. It's no
good blaming the leaders when the followers are just
as responsible. Unless our society changes on some deeper level, we
will drift on in this sea of superficiality until we all
drown, numb with repetition and triviality. I hope, somehow that a new
generation of musicians can stop that from happening.
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