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Artist
Ricky Byrd
12+ albums
Joan Jett and the BlackheartssoulRockers in Recovery
about
“Whachoooooo got for me?” asks Ricky Byrd, in the distinctive born-in-the- shadow–of-Yankee Stadium speak that no number of tours with superstars Ian Hunter or Roger Daltrey (to name merely two of his former employers) or hobnobbing with guitar slingers Woody, Pagey and Keef has ever knocked outta dis boy from da Bronx. But the question, as anyone who is welcomed into his humble presence on or offstage, even before being wrapped in his warm, unaffected bear hug realizes fairly immediately: the question is not what we (or anyone else for that matter) have for Ricky Byrd, it’s what he’s got for us. And it is a surprise. Byrd is probably most closely identified with the monstrous power chords that helped define Joan Jett and the Blackhearts’ platinum cover of “I Love Rock & Roll,” and ensure its eternal rotation daily throughout the universe. His blistering rhythms and soaring leads played equally powerful roles in the Blackhearts’ subsequent great hits. Byrd remains eternally grateful for the opportunity to orbit the globe more frequently than the space shuttle and live out the “Number One with a Bullet” dream most mortals only fantasize about. But after a dozen years, it was time for a change. And the confines of what Joni Mitchell has so poignantly called “the star making machinery” could never have satisfied, much less revealed, the soulful, complete musician and mature artist Byrd proves himself to be on what is, astoundingly, for a dude who’s been making major label albu
