Rick Nielsen
Every other year, I spend Thanksgiving in England with Dave Clark from the Dave Clark Five and a bunch of other people.Collection: Thanksgiving
Duane Eddy is somebody I wanted to play like. I discovered him before The Beatles, and he totally got to me. He sent me a note back in 1977 and said that he really liked what Cheap Trick were doing. That's one of those 'Wow!' moments, you know?
Playing it safe isn't fun; you have to take a chance.
Nobody wants to hear long speeches.
Whenever we tell the truth, nobody believes us. We lie, and people take it as etched-in-stone fact.
When a guitarist can evoke a certain mood through his playing, that's what's most important to me.
Look at Bob Dylan: his voice is not a great sound, but it gets the idea across... and that is what's really important.
We all record together. We do it live; then, after that, we do overdubs, if we need to, to repair stuff. Usually when we do stuff, we have to make sure we get the bass and drums down, and by doing it live, you're actually playing the song. You're not piecing together a song.
When I write songs, it's just me and a cassette player - or at least it used to be before smartphones - to quickly record a basic idea.
Some people design buildings and aircraft carriers and cars - and I designed picks.
I love guitars, and guitars love me, but sometimes they need new homes where they can live to rock another day.
We played with Rush somewhere way early in our career.
I like Harvey Mandel.
I don't know any American rock bands.
I never wanted to be Keith Richards or Jimmy Page.
I'm kind of a goony guy, a dweeb or a geek.
The way I look at it, I'm a songwriter that just happens to play guitar.
If you don't have a great chorus, write a good bridge first. I often do that and find I write good bridges.
Living someplace like L.A. seemed awful to me.
I just wanted to write about stuff that was happening in real life, and that's not just love songs about your girlfriend.
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.
Have a good work ethic. You've got to practice, practice, practice. I'm not telling you what to practice - that's up to you.
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.
If you can make it in Rockford, you can make it anywhere.
I did what I believed in. It got me in trouble, but it also got me a job.
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.
I knew the guys in the Allman Brothers way back in the day, before they were famous.
The Sensational Alex Harvey Band - those guys were great.
I love to be the loudest thing in the room.
I've owned about 2,000 guitars through the years because I've traded a lot and given away and sold some stuff.
There's no rush to ever put out a new Cheap Trick record. We put it out when we feel like it.
We always record with the whole band. That's key to capturing the feel, especially trying to get a good basic track.
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.'
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.
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.
I was always the wise guy class clown throughout my childhood.
My parents were both opera singers, and they also were both heavily into religious and church music.
I think I've probably had one of my guitars on display at every Hard Rock Cafe in the world.
I could have moved anywhere I wanted to. But for family reasons, I stayed in the Midwest.
I didn't want to be one of the Beach Boys or one of the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah band. I mean, we appreciated that music. But I didn't want to grow a beard to look like Roy Wood just because I liked him.
The Sex Pistols had it all - they had the snarl, they had the I-don't-give-a-crap attitude - plus, they could play.
The Ramones were American, and I knew about them, and I thought they were interesting. But they were like a pop band to me.
I was never going to be very cute. I always looked for the best people to play with and, 'cause, to make myself look better.
If you're going to be ridiculous, be over-the-top ridiculous.
I always hated watching bands: the guy would break a string or be out of tune, and I have perfect pitch, so it would always tick me off when a guy is up there, and he'd break a string.
I was the Richard Gere non-lookalike in Illinois.
I actually did try to emigrate to Australia a long time ago.
Every person I've ever met always thinks their parents are weird.
Some bands, they're too snooty, or they think they're too this or that and wouldn't talk to us. And some other bands are afraid to talk to us.
I like 'Salty Dog' by Procol Harum.