Rock Guitarist Dick Wagner Dies

Thanks for the post. The duel guitar interplay on "Intro to Sweet Jane" on Rock and Roll Animal is one of my favorite electric songs and the album is consistently ranked as a top live recording on this blog. After reading your post I checked out Wagner's bio on Allmusic and was interested to learn about some of his other session work. Apparently he also played on the duel guitar intro to Aerosmith's Train Kept a Rollin'.

Wow, what a BUMMER! I, too, saw Hunter and Wagner playing with Alice and those guys were among the greatest guitar duos there ever was. And the "Intro To Sweet Jane" is absolutely my favorite opening guitar sequence.

So long, Dick, we loved you man!!

-RW-

Just saw this and I'm sad. I'm also with you...listened to a lots of Wagner and Hunter as a kid in Queens. Reed and Alice fans we were.

Known to fans and friends as, “The Maestro of Rock,” Dick Wagner’s songs and lead guitar have been featured on more than 350 renowned albums, garnering more than 35 Platinum and Gold records, BMI songwriter awards, and numerous prestigious international awards.

The Detroit area native helped define an era in rock history by playing lead guitar or writing songs for Alice Cooper, Aerosmith, Kiss, Lou Reed, The Frost, Peter Gabriel, Meat Loaf, Steve Perry, Etta James, Rod Stewart, Tina Turner, Air Supply, Hall & Oates, Ringo Starr, Guns & Roses, Tori Amos, Frank Sinatra, and dozens of others.

Legendary for his groundbreaking collaborations with Alice Cooper, Wagner was musical director, lead guitarist and co-writer of the icon’s biggest hits, including “Only Women Bleed,” “You and Me,” “I Never Cry,” and “Welcome To My Nightmare.” Wagner was Cooper’s right hand man on such groundbreaking albums as, Welcome to My Nightmare, Alice Cooper Goes to Hell, Lace and Whiskey, From the Inside