Al Pitrelli: Fascination Rock'n'Roll

Other than Alex Skolnick , Al Pitrelli appears to become much more for Savatage than just a temporary ' hired gun'. In spite of many productions ( a.o. Asia, both Widowmaker albums , CPR and Joe Lynn Turner ) and tours ( a.o. Alice Cooper ) that Al has taken part in for the last 15 years, he never managed to play with a band for an extended period, a thing he regrets: " Even Widowmaker proved itself to be a dead end street for me".

Little Al had pictured this quite differently back in 1968/69, when he was holding his first guitar in his hands: " At that time, a garage band was jamming in our neighborhood. All of them had long hair and a bunch of girls, who were passing by all the time. That was my first encounter with Rock music, and it fascinated me on the spot."

In the summer of '95 Al was hired for the production of ' Dead Winter Dead '. " First I met Jon Oliva, a guy you simply have to like, and gradually also the other guys, and I concluded; Hey, we are all about the same age, have similar backgrounds and are all equally crazy! The real touchstone was the tour, on which we got along perfectly with each other, and eversince I have been a regular member. I love the music and the folks in the band. Savatage will not easily get rid of me !"

He can cope with the fact that he plays together with another guitarist, after a large number of years. " Normally, I would have had a problem with that, but Chris is such a nice guy, very respectful, and on top of that he's a cool guitarist. I don't like guitarists a lot, because most of them spread an exaggerated ego."
He's got that reputation himself as well, but manages to reduce it: " Ehmmm, yeah, I also used to be like that - each one of us goes through that phase . Today, I am rather relaxed, 'cause I know what I can do and who I am. Besides, my wife really doesn't take any rockstar - bullshit. When I get home from a tour, it's like: " Al, here's a shovel. Get rid of the dog shit in the garden!"

from: RockHard Legends, Savatage

translated by: Ellen Bakvis