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By STEVE MASCORD
A FOUR-DECADE-PLUS associate of Bon Jovi says even at the band’s peak, guitarist Richie Sambora was a better singer than its eponymous frontman.
Steve Brown, guitarist for Trixter and more recently replacement axeman in Def Leppard and producer for Ace Frehley, has known the multi-platinum fellow New Jersey musicians since the early 1980s.
“Richie was way better than Jon and we all know that,” Brown told Hot Metal.
“…as an all-around singer, I think any singer would … anybody who knows would tell you that. Jon was phenomenal but I know the insides and I know that Richie was the vocal police of the band and a lot of those melodies and a lot of those lines were written by him.
“Together, him and Jon were magic. With their voices together, they were magic. I mean, listen to the harmonies of ‘I’ll Be There For You” and listen to them live. Forget about the records. They were a great, great live band and a live vocal band. No tapes. All fucking live. Phenomenal.
“But let’s be real man. Listen to Stranger In This Town, Richie’s solo record. And I was in the studio when Richie was recording that record, with him. And I saw him him sing. I’ve seen him sing … we all know. You’ve seen the guy sing.
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“Even drunk or whatever he is, the guy’s phenomenal. Not to say Jon (isn’t) one of the great rock voices of the whole eighties rock scene. And I’m going technically, technically.”
Brown has just formed a Bon Jovi tribute band, Always Jovi. Explaining his background with Bon Jovi, he said: “Jon was the first guy who got behind Trixter back in 1986. We gave him our demo tape and he called us up and said ‘dude, you’ve guys are great’.
“This was before Slippery (When Wet) blew up. He proceeded to help us. I would always sent him tapes of all the new songs I was writing and he’d call me back and say ‘you’re doing great man’ and he introduced us to the Skid Row guys.
“We’re part of the Jersey Syndicate, you know know what I mean? It’s Bon Jovi, Skid Row, Trixter. We’re all brothers and the band, you know, they were a huge inspiration for us in seeing them.”
Trixter was to tour Australia last month but the trek was cancelled amid considerable controversy.
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