The World According to Richie

Courtesy of Gibson:

Richie Sambora turns 52 on July 11. Typical of a guitarist in a band that was 2010’s top grossing live act, Sambora will have to squeeze in any celebrations between Bon Jovi mega-shows in Romania and Germany, halfway through the band’s current Circle tour. “My daily planner is the size of a Bible, man!” he recently quipped. And 1959 wasn’t just the year of Sambora’s birth, it was also the year of his most treasured guitar, a sunburst ’59 Gibson Les Paul.

In 28 years of Bon Jovi rockin’, Richie Sambora has experienced many ups and a few downs A member of the Songwriters Hall of Fame since 2009, Sambora is always a generous and witty interviewee, as happy to talk about songcraft, heroes and inspirations, the Bon Jovi “family”, technique and his love affair with the guitar as much as his own considerable talents.

Here are some choice quotes from a guitar-man who has seen a million faces and rocked them all...

On learning to play the guitar...

"I was 14 years old when I decided to teach myself. Some kids are talented at things like sports; well, I had to work really hard at sports, even though I pulled it off OK. Musical instruments, though, were always easy for me because of my ear. I have a good ear. If I hear a song on the radio, most of the time I can go into the dressing room and within five minutes, I know it."

On whether he ever gets bored playing Bon Jovi’s numerous hits...

"No, no, no. Rock 'n' roll is a contact sport,” he told Musicradar.com. “The rush is to take it in front of 70,000 people and have that happen. That's what makes it great. It's like having sex with your clothes on - it's the best thing you can possibly do.

"It's the adjoining of the band and the audience that makes it still really good. And you know what? They're really good songs. Both Jon and I are pretty proud of them. We've discussed it, and we say, ‘Hey, people wanna hear those songs? We're gonna give it to 'em.’ That's it."

And on his admiration for the man Les Paul...

At The Les Paul Tribute concert of 2008; Sambora remembered: “He gave me this special white Les Paul - he wound the pickups himself - for my birthday, first time I met him [during the recording of Bon Jovi’s New Jersey]. I play everything from heavy metal to blues to jazz on it. He just hit it right on the head when he designed the Les Paul. I like it better than most girlfriends I've had. Without him, none of us would have a job."

You can read the rest of the interview here.

Happy Birthday, Richie! May the best memories of this year be the worst memories of the next.

~ Hath