Johhny Ramone RIP

David L. Donald · Post by **David L. Donald** » 17 Sep 2004 5:51 am

Guitarist for the seminal rock band the Ramones passes.
Only drummer Tommy is left. Truely the end of an era.

Like them or loath them they did encapslate a period in NYC'as scene and influenced groups around the world.

And they were just fun, cause they didn't care, they just liked to thrash about and have a good time.

And they were much better song writers than anyone realized at the time.[This message was edited by David L. Donald on 17 September 2004 at 08:49 AM.]

Ray Minich · Post by **Ray Minich** » 17 Sep 2004 6:50 am

"I wanna be sedated", I identified with that tune more than a few times....

John Poston · Post by **John Poston** » 17 Sep 2004 7:56 am

I saw this on another site, so I can't take credit, but thought people here would appreciate this.

As a tribute to Johnny, here's the tab for his guitar solo to "I wanna be sedated".

<pre>
E-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-|-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-|0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0|-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0
B-----------------|-----------------|---------------|----------------
G-----------------|-----------------|---------------|----------------
D-----------------|-----------------|---------------|----------------
A-----------------|-----------------|---------------|----------------
E-----------------|-----------------|---------------|----------------
</pre>

Terry Edwards · Post by **Terry Edwards** » 17 Sep 2004 8:08 am

I'm reminded of Neil Young's solo on Cinnamon Girl. One note - and very effective!

RIP Johnny.

Terry

Brandin · Post by **Brandin** » 17 Sep 2004 9:11 am

The Ramones are my favorite rock band!
Johnny use to come in the Lava Lounge to hear
The Blue Hawaiians. Maybe he liked the steel
guitar?

GB

Bob Hoffnar · Post by **Bob Hoffnar** » 17 Sep 2004 9:58 am

I know this might sound weird but the reason I'm playing steel is because of the Ramones. I was completely discusted with any sort of music that was on the radio at the time. I wouldn't listen to current music because it was all so empty and I felt like it was poisoning my ears. I just practiced cello at home and went to classical concerts and some jazz shows.
Anywoo, some girl I had the hots for dragged me to see some rock band and the opening act (out of 4 acts) was the Ramones. I thought they were terrible. But the tunes stayed in my head and there was something about it. I decided to check out this punk rock thing and headed down to Mabuhay Gardens in San Fransisco. Then it hit me:

Music should be fun !

I proceeded to have fun playing music in a pile of bands playing bass and a little cello and guitar. Then I thought the pedalsteel would be a cool thing to check out. Now I'm having fun playing the steel.

There are thousands of knuckleheads like me that got turned on to playing in bands because of them.

I still love the Ramones.

And they were just fun, cause they didn't care, they just liked to thrash about and have a good time.

I disagree with part of this. I saw them play plenty of times and they knew exactly what they wanted to do and they did it. They were a precision act when it came to there stage show. Ever notice how the drummer never played a fill ? No extra anything. I think they were one of the greatest rock bands ever.

Bob[This message was edited by Bob Hoffnar on 17 September 2004 at 11:04 AM.]

Post by **Brad Bechtel** » 17 Sep 2004 10:37 am

It's funny. I know many of the people here won't appreciate them, but for what they were, the Ramones were the best. Johnny Ramone's guitar playing was tremendously influential on a whole generation of guitar players. He was one of the two "punk rock" players who defined a style (Steve Jones of the Sex Pistols being the other).
I know his lifestyle was loud, fast and hard, like his music. I hope he's at peace now.

Chris Scruggs · Post by **Chris Scruggs** » 17 Sep 2004 12:04 pm

The strange thing is, in less than four years, the three mainstays in the band have all died. Drummers came and went in the Ramones, and C.J. didn't replace Dee Dee on bass until 1989. but Joey died in 2001, Dee Dee died in 2002, And now Johnny died this week.

I always thought it was strange that all the Ramones WERE alive(and there has been alot of them), when you look at how many dead punk rockers there are(Sid Vicious, Stiv Bators, Johnny Thunders, Jerry Nolan). And then, all of a sudden, the three main members all drop like flies.

I met Dee Dee in 1997 in London. He had just written his autobiography, and was playing a solo unplugged show in a book store. He was playing a Gibson Hummingbird, and was the ONLY soul standing on the stage, yet he counted off every song,"ONE! TWO! THREE! FOUR!". I geuss when you have a trademark, you gotta stick with it. He was nice, but obviously doped up. He book said he had been totally clean for years. In 2002 He died if a heroin overdose.

But Johnny was a health nut, yet he died of prostate cancer(Joey also died of cancer).

Sad,

Chris Scruggs

Chris Scruggs · Post by **Chris Scruggs** » 17 Sep 2004 12:14 pm

Brad,

On playing style, check this out. After Dee Dee quit, Marky and Johnny were auditioning bass players(Joey wasn't there for this). One of the applicants showed up, tuned his bass, and they started to play "Rock and Roll High School".

After about 8 barres, Johnny and Marky stopped playing and Johnny proceeded to chew the guy out for playing upstrokes with his pick. Johnny said,"There are ONLY downstrokes in the Ramones! We play NO upstrokes!"

In Johnny's 22 year career playing all those fast songs with the Ramones, niether he or Dee Dee(or Dee Dee's replacement C.J.) ever played an upstroke. When you try to play their songs that way, it hurts like hell, but it sounds right. I think that he deserves some respect for that. He wasn't a virtuoso, but he did the job, and he undoubtedly worked hard at it.

CS

David L. Donald · Post by **David L. Donald** » 17 Sep 2004 1:24 pm

Bob H. I wasn't implying they weren't tight.

It was more of fun, who cares attitude,
than lazy arranging precision.
I think their style was very concise.

PS Love the TAB! LOL

[This message was edited by David L. Donald on 18 September 2004 at 12:22 AM.]

Tim Whitlock · Post by **Tim Whitlock** » 18 Sep 2004 7:56 pm

It's nice to see that otheres here enjoyed the Ramones as much as I did. They really brought the fun back to rock n roll. I still think Joey is one of the best rock singers of all time. I miss them very much.

Back in around 1980 or so, my friends in the Gluons (seminal Denver punk band) got the opening slot for the Ramones at the Rainbow Music Hall. I asked them if I could be their stage hand so I could meet my punk idols. When we arrived, the Ramones were doing their sound check and working on that "Airwaves" song. They had their roadie sitting behind the stacks, trying to play the lead part over Johnny's strumming and it wasn't working. Johnny looked up and asked if anyone played lead guitar and Mike from the Gluons points at me and says yeah he does. So Johnny asks me if I wanted to take a crack at playing the part. I imagined the Ramones beating the crap out of me if I booted it, so I politely declined. I always regret not giving it a go. At least the story would be more interesting, one way or another. RIP Johnny.

Robbie Bossert · Post by **Robbie Bossert** » 20 Sep 2004 1:51 pm

"Gabba Gabba Hey"!

True American Originals. They got to see themselves as Simpson cartoons performing Happy birthday for Mr. Burns. What more could a band ask for?

R.I.P.

Robbie Bossert