During an appearance on the May 10th broadcast of Eddie‘s SiriusXM show, Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk, the director of the recently released, Randy Rhoads: Reflections Of A Guitar Icon documentary, Andre Relis, stated that the Rhoads family was not involved in the making of the film. “I do believe the family’s very protective of it,” he said (as transcribed by blabbermouth.net). “They had ideas early on about what they wanted.”
“I wasn’t around when these earlier documentaries were in production — I wasn’t around in the sense that I wasn’t involved with them; I had nothing to do with the earlier ones,” he continued, referencing Randy Rhoads: The Quiet Riot Years, the 2012 documentary from Quiet Riot‘s personal photographer/lighting director Ron Sobol, and another documentary from director Peter M. Margolis and Dakota Films which was reportedly started in 2007 and completed a decade ago, but never made available. “And it appears that there was difficulties from the Osbourne side too, to license music. And beyond that, I really don’t know, man. It’s a weird one. And that’s actually what really intrigued me, because my specialty, as a producer, is to get stuff out that a lot of people have a hard time getting out, whether it be a feature film or a documentary or whatever it may be. There’s been quite a few projects that I’ve honed in on and got stuff done that a lot of people before me couldn’t.”
While Relis was able to license “pieces of the Sobol doc,” he was unable to secure the rights to much footage of Rhoads with Osbourne or any of the music the pair made together. “[Sharon and Ozzy] weren’t gonna give it to me, man,” he said. “And they made that very clear to me once they found out I was doing this documentary. That was the challenging part. I had to go in this on my own without their support. I tried to get their support, but they weren’t having it. So, yeah, every little piece of when he joined Ozzy was very difficult to get.”
“From my research, the Osbournes own all, if not 99 percent, of the live footage from that era,” he explained. “So I had to find a gentleman, and it took me many months, who controlled even some real basic footage of Ozzy with Randy on stage.”
He went on to say that he “got some really interesting communication from Sharon. Not the best, friendliest stuff was coming from that side of things,” he revealed. “I won’t go into detail on that. But I can say that I find it very mysterious.”
“There was another documentary [in the works] — a bigger-budget Dakota Films documentary in 2008, 2009. They did everything, and they were close to getting it released,” he continued. “And from what I understand — I can’t say this, ’cause I wasn’t there — but the Osbournes wouldn’t license ’em any music, and from the perspective of the [Rhoads] family, it seemed to me like they weren’t gonna get on board with anything unless the Ozzy music and the stuff with Ozzy was in that documentary. And if it’s impossible to license, then you’re kind of in a conundrum.”
“It was very bizarre,” Andre said. “And the reason as to why they didn’t want a documentary out in 2008 and they don’t want a documentary out now, I don’t know — I just don’t know. But I’m not gonna let it stop getting a documentary on Randy Rhoads out there. Forty years after, there’s no other documentaries out there on his life, and it needed to be done and out there for the public to really put the respect into this man’s legacy.”
Asked if the interviews with the Rhoads family members is “new footage,” Relis said, “No, that’s not new footage. I tried to get their cooperation. And I don’t need to get into the details of it all. But I’m hoping, now that it’s out there, that they realize that this a real tribute to Randy Rhoads and it’s a piece to show his legacy. But for whatever reason, I think partially because of what was going on with the Osbournes, they just couldn’t get on board.”
The director admitted that he has received some “blowback” from “some of the diehard Randy Rhoads fans” about the fact that the family wasn’t involved in the film. “I tried to get ’em involved,” he said. “I did everything I could — offered ’em participation, everything, to get them involved — but for whatever reason, they didn’t wanna be part of it. And I don’t know why. It’s a big mystery to me. But I’ll ask those fans out there: would you rather have nothing or a documentary that really showcases his legacy?”
Randy Rhoads: Reflections Of A Guitar Icon premiered on Video On Demand on May 6th. Clips from the film can be seen here and here.
4 Responses
This is very frustrating. Ozzy’s legacy is cemented thanks to his wife/manager, but her ruthlessness towards the fans is just immoral. Ozzy will always be loved by millions and she is a big part of that, but the people she has destroyed to elevate her husband is exhausting. Her petty, narcissistic actions deprive fans of great moments and memories to cherish. I’m a late comer to Ozzy. It was “The Ultimate Sin” cassette. When I went back to “Blizzard…” and “Diary…,” I wanted to know more about THAT guitarist – Randy Rhoads. Because Randy was taken way before his time, fans want as much video and music as possible to make up for the loss. It is us, the fans, that keep and want to keep his legacy alive, but Sharon is sitting on a treasure trove of material that she continues to deny us! And for what reason? They have money… Ozzy is a legend…what could her reasons be? Maybe it is because new fans may see how much Randy was an equal star to Ozzy, the real man behind the music (also Bob Daisley), and it may dim Ozzy’s star power a bit. This is something that Sharon will not allow. So, in the meantime, we have the same ol’ YouTube videos and bonus tracks on CDs of Randy and not anything that really gives us his true life story and the music that goes with it. Shame on you Osbournes!
Anyone who is a die hard fan, and read Daisley’s book, know that he, and Rhoads, were responsible for Osbourne’s success. However, I will say, the Osbourne’s certainly have a knack for picking talent.
A lot people don’t even realize that Daisley continued to help Osbourne with all of his albums up through No More Tears. Notice, Osbourne’s records after that album, were not nearly as successful.
D7, good post. Well summarized.
I was listening to Quiet Riot II this morning. Randy’s guitar playing on this album was brilliant and really carried the music.