Rick Nielsen Quotes

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Rick Nielsen

Profession : Musician

Birth : December 22, 1948

If you don't have a great chorus, write a good bridge first. I often do that and find I write good bridges.

Rick Nielsen

Look at Bob Dylan: his voice is not a great sound, but it gets the idea across... and that is what's really important.

Rick Nielsen

Living someplace like L.A. seemed awful to me.

Rick Nielsen

I just wanted to write about stuff that was happening in real life, and that's not just love songs about your girlfriend.

Rick Nielsen

The only time I have a problem is when I have to get in a vehicle after we play and sit there in a cramped position for a couple of hours to drive to the next place. Then I get super stiff.

Rick Nielsen

I took one guitar lesson, and they wanted me to play 'Mary Had a Little Lamb' or 'Michael Row the Boat Ashore,' and that was the last guitar lesson that I ever took, so I taught myself what I wanted to know.

Rick Nielsen

If you can make it in Rockford, you can make it anywhere.

Rick Nielsen

If you can say something special on the guitar, then you're going to perk my ears up. But if you're just gonna run through all the scales, then I can always find something else to listen to.

Rick Nielsen

I knew the guys in the Allman Brothers way back in the day, before they were famous.

Rick Nielsen

The Sensational Alex Harvey Band - those guys were great.

Rick Nielsen

I love to be the loudest thing in the room.

Rick Nielsen

I've owned about 2,000 guitars through the years because I've traded a lot and given away and sold some stuff.

Rick Nielsen

There's no rush to ever put out a new Cheap Trick record. We put it out when we feel like it.

Rick Nielsen

We always record with the whole band. That's key to capturing the feel, especially trying to get a good basic track.

Rick Nielsen

In 1977, I had Paul Rivera hotrod six Fender Deluxes for me. At that time, a lot of studio guys in L.A. were using those - not so much live guys but studio guys. They had terrific tone and great technique, and I was like, 'Well, I like having terrific tone even though I don't have any technique.'

Rick Nielsen

I always use my Les Paul. I have a Hamer as well. I use a Tele and an Esquire - once in a while, I will use a Strat, and I never use any pedals... except for in my car.

Rick Nielsen

I never tried to emulate The Beatles, and I never really wanted to be like The Rolling Stones. I never really felt that I had the look or the demeanor of veteran musicians.

Rick Nielsen

I was always the wise guy class clown throughout my childhood.

Rick Nielsen

My parents were both opera singers, and they also were both heavily into religious and church music.

Rick Nielsen

I think I've probably had one of my guitars on display at every Hard Rock Cafe in the world.

Rick Nielsen