Gary Richrath, former guitarist for REO Speedwagon, dies at 65

[Fansome]

He was my brother in law for a few years...


Gary Richrath, former guitarist for REO Speedwagon, dies at 65
By staff and wire reports September 14 at 4:27 PM

Gary Richrath, a former guitarist for the rock band REO Speedwagon who also co-wrote the group’s hit song “Take It on the Run,” died Sept. 13, according to a publicist for the band. He was 65.

Erik Stein confirmed the death but offered no details about the cause or location of death.

Gary Dean Richrath was born in Peoria, Ill., on Oct. 18, 1949. The band formed in the late 1960s at the University of Illinois and came to include Mr. Richrath by the time it released its self-titled debut in 1971. It took years for the group, known for its power ballads, to win a mainstream audience.

REO Speedwagon has released a number of successful albums, including 1980’s “Hi Infidelity,” which sold 10 million copies in the United States. It had two No. 1 hits on the Billboard Hot 100: “Keep on Loving You” (1981) and “Can’t Fight This Feeling” (1984).

Besides “Take It on the Run,” which became a Top 5 pop hit on the Billboard charts, Mr. Richrath was crediting with helping write many other songs for the band, including “Ridin’ the Storm Out,” “Son of a Poor Man” and “Only the Strong Survive.”

He stayed with REO Speedwagon until 1989, exiting amid increasingly tense relations within the band.

Mr. Richrath last played with REO Speedwagon in 2013, when the band performed a benefit concert in Bloomington, Ill., to raise money for tornado victims.

Mr. Richrath released a solo album, “Only the Strong Survive,” in 1992.

No information about survivors was available.

[ff]

Very sorry to hear this Al.  He was one of my early "guitar gods".  I remember hearing "Anti-Establishment Man" back around '73 or so and being grabbed by Richrath's playing.  Please accept my condolences...

[Pigmeat]

Christ! I used to eat burgers with Al Fansome's brother-in-law!

Al, way back when I used to work for two regional concert promoters, Entam and Sunshine Sounds. When I worked for Entam, REO was regular on our little circuit. If I didn't see those guys every couple of weeks I got worried about them. For some reason it was always Brownsville Station as the opener and either REO or Foghat switching out as the headliner/ main back-up.

Geez, the last time I saw Gary was at a truckstop near Lexington, Kentucky. There was a gang of us chucking pieces of popcorn into their snoring drummers mouth in a booth across the aisle. My guess is that it was early 1980.

They were a good bunch of guys.

[Fansome]

Yes, it's true; his main claim to fame will always be that he was my brother-in-law for a short while.

My sister-in-law was a talent coordinator for the Houston Astrodome; she was determined to marry a rocker. REO came through the area; Richrath was divorced, and she was young and pretty, so they hooked up and eventually got married.

When I knew him in the early 90s they were living on his ranch in the hills near Agoura, and me and the wife (now ex) were living up near San Luis Obispo. We visited them a number of times; I recall a Thanksgiving dinner there, with his gigantic iguana giving us the eye from its terrarium. We also attended the christening of their kid, who must be in his mid 20s now. Richrath liked to show videos of him and the band playing basketball with the Lakers; he was a huge basketball fan. At the time he had his own band, and was touring mainly small venues in California.

Eventually I moved away and got divorced, and he and the ex's sister got divorced, and I lost track of all of them. I didn't know him all that well, but he seemed like a nice guy.