‘Nicest guy who ever played the guitar’
Iggy Pop pays tribute to Scot behind iconic Passenger riff
HE wrote one of rock’s most iconic guitar riffs – and was described by Iggy Pop as the ‘nicest man who ever played’.
Edinburgh-born Ricky Gardiner, who cowrote Pop’s hit The Passenger with the star, died on Friday night at the age of 73 after a battle with Parkinson’s disease.
Gardiner formed his first band The Vostoks in 1962 in Glasgow, where he met his wife Virginia Scott.
He went on to form progressive rock band Beggars Opera in 1969 before becoming Pop’s guitarist in 1977.
Virginia posted on social media yesterday: ‘Ricky passed gently away in his sleep early in the morning of Friday the 13th of May.’
Yesterday Iggy said: ‘Dearest Ricky, lovely, lovely man, shirtless in your coveralls, nicest guy who ever played guitar.
‘Thanks for the memories and the songs, rest eternal in peace.’
In 1975, Gardiner recorded for legendary music producer Tony Visconti, who introduced him to both David Bowie and Iggy Pop. After playing on Bowie’s Low album in 1977, he then recorded for Pop in Berlin.
During these sessions, Gardiner composed The Passenger. He said: ‘After The Idiot tour, I returned home in springtime. I was walking with my guitar in a field near my house one lovely morning in May. The apple trees were in bloom and I was doodling on the guitar as I gazed at the trees. At a certain point my ear caught the chord sequence, which became The Passenger.
‘The riff is exactly as I caught it that day. It was the gift of a glorious spring morning under the apple blossom.’
Gardiner settled with his family in south Wales. His daughter Annie paid a touching tribute to her father, writing: ‘He was stoic, strong and determined right til the end.’
On Sunday night, Visconti paid tribute on social media. He wrote: ‘Another guitar genius and personal friend passed into the next world last night. Ricky Gardiner, who joined David Bowie for the albums Low and Iggy Pop’s The Idiot, ended a long battle with Parkinson’s.’