I'm a guitar player and Gary Richrath was, hands down, one of my favorites. He had the whole package; the talent, the looks, the gear, and the chops. He was nailing Slash's tones with Les Pauls and Marshall amplifiers a decade before the world ever heard of Slash.
Sad though, he let his demons get the best of him and allowed himself to get kicked out of the band he started after singer Kevin Cronin wanted to take REO away from rock and into the direction of sappy ballads (that paid the bills).
Shortly before he passed in 2015, a wretched, morbidly obese alcoholic, the band invited Richrath on stage to play one of their biggest hits, "Riding the Storm Out." It was a one-off performance. Clearly, a reunion would be out of the question. Richrath was not up to it physically or musically. The chops were gone. His health was shot. Those Gibson Les Pauls long ago sold to Japanese collectors. Perhaps Cronin could sense his days were numbered and wanted to give him one last stroll on the stage.
This is the Gary I like to remember. You'll not find a more energetic version of this song. He's clearly having a blast.
REO Speedwagon - Roll With The Changes (Midnight Special version)
Yet another gifted artist with a tortured soul.
Cronin gets a lot of heat for what he did to Gary. People really rake him over the coals for his intro to Golden Country. From “we wrote this song”- there is no Credit to Cronin on it...to “as i watched
that last marine helicopter as it lifted off over saigon”..the song was written before that...
he is a piece of work..but dealing with a raging alcoholic is a nightmare. So we can’t really judge what happened...all we know is that it is a sad ending for a talented guy.