In a new interview with The God Cast, former Whitesnake and Ozzy Osbourne bassist Rudy Sarzo recalled his earlier days. During the discussion about his life when he was a teenager, he blamed the US government for trying to get rid of rock and roll.
Why The US Tried To End Rock and Roll
Being born in Cuba, the rocker was asked about his early life in his hometown. The rocker referred to his early life in Cuba as interesting and revealed that life in Cuba was not ‘teen-oriented.’ He then went on to explain what the government thought of rock music:
“Life, I mean, if you look at the history of civilization, rock and roll became the first teen music. It was for kids and they thought, ‘Well, the kids are gonna grow up and phase out of it they’re gonna move on to something else, some serious music.’
With the rise of rock music in the ’60s, many new musicians who are now renowned appeared, such as Elvis Presley, Chuck Barry, and more of which all have something in common. The bassist revealed:
“I think what happened was that in the United States, the government, and I’m just looking at the facts they could actually control. They sent Elvis to the army. ‘Okay, we got rid of that one, okay— next, Chuck Barry. Okay, well, let’s get him in some cross-state bringing young ladies across the state so we can put him in jail for that. Okay, great, we got that one.’ Little Richard, well, he became a minister, and then you got Jerry Lee Lewis, who was married to his cousin. ‘Oh, we got that one okay, out of here, you’re married to your cousin.'”
The Rocker’s Early Years
Following the conversation, the rocker noted that he did not put music in different genres back in the day because he didn’t know there was such a thing, and it wasn’t commonly known.
After he came to the US, apparently, it was The Beatles who changed everything, not only musically but culturally and socially as well. He recalled how the shifts happened and said:
“We all were children. I had just turned 13, and the Beatles came on the Sullivan Show in the United States in 1964. That changed everything. That night, everything was aligned to a point that boom, there’s the shift not only musically but social consciousness shift, cultural shift, and it was The Perfect Storm because it coincided with Kennedy having been murdered shot, our president.”
He noted when the incidents happened:
“So that happened in November. So we had November, December, January, by February, the youth was ready for something positive to happen in our lives. The light at the end of the tunnel.”
Although the appearance of The Beatles seems to be the first to change everything, many came to an end in the following years. Elvis gave his last performance for eight years, The Beatles performed their final gig, and through the end of the decade, pop music started to rise.
16 years after arriving to US, the rocker started his first rock band, Quiet Riot as a club band, and eventually rose to fame as Ozzy Osbourne’s bassist. Ultimately, the bassist made it to many bands such as Dio, Blue Öyster Cult, Queensrÿche and more.
Below, you can watch the interview.
