How Ron Keel discovered Yngwie Malmsteen

[@mrshredder0076]

Steeler was one of my favorite yngwie albums - more rock than classical. He was on fire on that Album.

[@sbphillips177]

Freakin love that album..can actually remember all the solos.. Its my fav album still of his. Like Vh1 is to me

[@hypnagogicjerk]

great album. too bad it was such poor production. Obviously Mike Varney didn't have the budget of some of the bigger labels.

[@Vbnklll]

Keel is awesome! Great albums!

[@NoirHammer]

He chose a demon on guitar for better or worse but Yngwie's talent would have been recognized eventually.

[@insidethemusicalmind7207]

Agreed.

[@douglasnisbet1189]

Pity Yngwie couldn't be more humble and grateful to Ron.

[@12floz67]

Why? Ron’s voice wasn’t that good and the combined musicianship was average at best. Yngwie was always going to be a solo thing. The cream always rises to the top.

[@douglasnisbet1189]

@@12floz67 but that doesn't mean Yngwie has to act like a dick about it. The fact is it was thanks to Ron that he got his shot and initially gained exposure.

[@12floz67]

@@douglasnisbet1189 Neither one of us were around them so maybe he had a good reason to talk shit. Yngwie didn’t need keel, he would have done just fine without him. Yngwie is famous and keel is somewhat famous

[@randymoran67]

@@12floz67 malmsteen plays clubs and small venues hes not as famous anymore ! His direction and his ego led him to that cris impelliteri is just as good Michael batio is just as fast maybe bit faster !

[@12floz67]

@@randymoran67 What’s your point? Still doesn’t change the fact that he would have achieved fame without Keel. As far as small venues, it’s no different than Vai,Satriani or any other shredder. Impelliteri is a great player who but like the rest it’s mostly guitar players who appreciate him. Hell, David T Chastain had a killer shredding band but never played big rooms.

[@swangonzalez4797]

Ron's a Nice Guy. Yngwie wasn't when he started out. But now he's reformed himslef a lot. He's nicer.

[@hypnagogicjerk]

Actually I think it was the opposite. Yngwie actually started off quite humble and it wasn’t until towards the end of his Alcatrazz days that his head swelled and he became a prick. I think he’s only gotten worse over time. He was my favorite guitarist from 83 until the late 90’s but his attitude became such a turnoff. To this day he doesn’t even acknowledge that he had some great vocalists and thinks he actually is a better singer than them. He’s delusional at this point.

[@ActivateBeastMode1]

@John Bruno this is the most accurate take on him. Sadly the fame and money got to his head. I think he got too good too young. Imagine being 18 and being crowned the best in the world

[@ActivateBeastMode1]

@John Bruno this is the most accurate take on him. Sadly the fame and money got to his head. I think he got too good too young. Imagine being 18 and being crowned the best in the world

[@morpho2316]

@@hypnagogicjerk Totally agree. He was like a kid in a candy store (being a Blackmore freak) when he met Graham Bonnet to audition for Alcatrazz. He went from a total fanboy to strangling him. I would bet my left nut the exact point in time was when Alcatrazz was touring in Japan and he saw the "Yngwie is God" signs and then and there "Yngwie the prick" was born.

[@vincentgarzoli3197]

It should be kept in mind that the reason Mike Varney had all of these tapes of hot shot guitarists from around the world was because he had a column called, "Spotlight" that was featured in the last couple pages of Guitar Player magazine beginning in the early-1980s. In addition to Yngwie, guitarists (and sometimes bassists) such as Paul Gilbert, Vinnie Moore, Scott Henderson, Greg Howe, Tony MacAlpine, Marty Friedman, Ritchie Kotzen, Danny Gill, David T. Chastain, Darren Housholder, and Russ Parrish (aka Satchel from Steel Panther) as well as bassists Randy Coven, and Wally Voss, and many others were introduced to the readership of the magazine and in some cases the wider musical audience. A few of these guys (notably Gilbert and Friedman) were people that Varney had already been acquainted with and had been corresponding with him for some time--Paul Gilbert has told a story about Varney attempting to get him an audition to join Ozzy BEFORE Randy got the gig, but Paul declined since he was only 13 or 14 at the time! As to Ron Keel's explanation in this video, I trust that he believes what he stated as matching his recollection and point of view from the time,--that Varney intended to sign him no matter whom he picked to play lead guitar in Steeler; Signing metal bands from various club circuits that featured great guitar playing was one of the types of artists Varney featured on his label, Shrapnel Records, as well as compilation albums with individual songs from various bands whom he was not able to get signed to a full album project; Similarly, Yngwie was one of a short-list of guitarists that Varney was high on getting to record for him--With or without a Ron Keel/Steeler! Mike, also begged Shawn Lane for years and years to record an album on Shrapnel, but Shawn would frequently decline, stating to Varney that he was progressing so quickly on both the guitar and the piano at the time (1980s and into the 1990s) that he wasn't comfortable recording anything, "'Cause, by the time the recording was published, I'd be able to play so much better that when I recorded it, I would just be embarassed about the record"!

[@insidethemusicalmind7207]

Yes, I used to read Varney’s column back then. Shawn Lane should have been much more prominent, he was SO talented.

[@Frodojack]

I first heard of Malmsteen through Varney's column. When Steeler's album came out I bought it solely to hear Yngwie. Everything he did on that record stood out, while Ron Keel's vocals...well...was horrible. Sorry, Ron. If not for Yngwie the album would have been unlistenable.

[@madometal]

Ron Keel is the man

[@DeadSkinMask32]

I still have that album from when it was released.

[@fromalongtimeago]

Love the Steeler album. But, Yngwie and Steeler kind of clash. Sounds like Yngwie did his parts at a different studio, producer, console. Probably a different guitarist would fit in better.

[@Hologhoul]

Ron seems a really nice guy, I'd never really heard this Steeler stuff with Yngwie.

[@jorgeocampo1794]

Please tell me you have the album by now 😊

[@Newbrooklyngirl]

It's great 💯

[@demisophiaofficial7267]

I REMEBER SEEING STEELER AT JOLLY JUG IN S. EL MONTE CALIFORNIA ON GARVEY AVE. RON KEEL & YNGWIE MALMSTEEN TOGETHER 1983

[@scorchin6481]

Anyone remember a Guitar Player Sammy Steel? He was in a band called Mutiny, they opened for Great White at a club called Shamus Obriens in Elmonte Ca? So many Great Bands back in the day, Daggahogget, Raven, Longshot, Stonehenge, Frenchkiss, Blitzkrieg, Dante Fox, US 101, anyone else you might remember?

[@785uli]

Back in 1985 my friend and I saw Yngwie at Summerfest Festival in Milwaukee. We got in at noon when the gates opened, and he was by himself doing a sound check. I asked him “ Can you play some Steeler?” He yelled at me NO! Me and my friend still laugh about that to this day 🤣 I interviewed Ron backstage in 1986 and kept asking him about Steeler, and he got frustrated and said I don’t want to talk about Steeler🤣

[@insidethemusicalmind7207]

Haha, yeah I think he’s (Ron) mellowed out on the topic over the years! Yngwie? I’m sure he’d still say “No” if you asked him to play Steeler. Haha

[@tonyrobertsguitar]

How is this the 1st time I've heard this story! Wow. So Ron Keel should get a little bit more credit than Mike Varney!?

[@insidethemusicalmind7207]

I appreciate you taking time to watch. It’s been a blast interviewing musicians the last few years!

[@tonyrobertsguitar]

@@insidethemusicalmind7207 cool...i will go subscribe now🤘🏻

[@mattmatthews4274]

First was Eddie then was Randy and then Yngwie and the rest was history

[@skolcityblues2132]

Curious who else was on that list

[@insidethemusicalmind7207]

I’d guess it was all the people Mike Varney was pushing those days. He was finding all the shred guys in those days. Paul Gilbert started with him, etc.

[@zjow4755]

​@@insidethemusicalmind7207how come yngwie was never on mikes label?

[@insidethemusicalmind7207]

@zjow4755 well Yngwie joined Steeler, and that band was on Varney’s label, Shrapnel.

[@yngwiemartin5638]

This guy did not discover YJM. Mike Varney did.

[@insidethemusicalmind7207]

Yes, Ron Keel is saying he picked from a list of guys Mike Varney provided him of players he had signed.

[@MrDizzyvonclutch]

Are you doing all the crazy stuff in purpose? lol