Reb Beach

Reb Beach
Beach performing in 2019
Beach performing in 2019
Background information
Birth nameRichard Earl Beach Jr.
Born (1963-08-31) August 31, 1963 (age 61)
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Genres
OccupationMusician
InstrumentGuitar
Years active1985–present
Websiterebbeach.com

Richard Earl "Reb" Beach Jr. (born August 31, 1963) is an American rock guitarist. He is a member of the bands Winger and Whitesnake.

Career

After graduating from Fox Chapel Area High School and attending Berklee College of Music in the early 1980s, he played in Fiona's backing band and became an accomplished studio musician, working with the likes of Howard Jones, Chaka Khan, The Bee Gees, Twisted Sister, and Roger Daltrey, among others, showcasing Beach's ability to adapt to various musical styles.

While working with Fiona, he was introduced to Kip Winger, who was touring with Alice Cooper at the time. Eventually they formed the band Sahara along with Rod Morgenstein and Paul Taylor, which was later renamed to Winger.

Winger recorded and toured in support of three albums, Winger (1988), In the Heart of the Young (1990) and Pull (1993). The band also released a number of hit singles, including "Seventeen", "Madalaine", "Headed for a Heartbreak" and "Miles Away".

After Winger disbanded in the mid-1990s, Beach first joined Alice Cooper's band and later replaced George Lynch in the heavy metal band Dokken. With Dokken he recorded one studio album, titled Erase the Slate, and a live DVD, titled Live from the Sun.

He was also involved with Sega, as he recorded the soundtrack for the video game Daytona USA 2.

Since leaving Dokken, Beach has been a part of several different recording and touring projects. In addition to sporadic touring with Winger, he released a solo effort entitled Masquerade in 2002. Since 2002, he has been a member of David Coverdale's current incarnation of Whitesnake and has been the longest-serving guitarist/member of the band to this day, excluding Coverdale.

A "supergroup" project called The Mob with King's X frontman dUg Pinnick and Night Ranger drummer Kelly Keagy resulted in a single self-titled album, released in 2005.

A reformed Winger released their first studio recording in over a decade, IV, in 2006.

He replaced Jeff Watson in Night Ranger for a series of dates in Japan and the US, but announced his departure in January 2008.

He splits his time between Winger and Whitesnake, recording Better Days Comin' in 2014 with the former band, and The Purple Album with the latter in 2015. He continues to tour with both acts.

According to bandmate Kip Winger, Reb is quite adept at coming up with multiple rock riffs at a time, though he is often unable to remember them later.[2][3]

Ibanez guitars produced his signature RBM models (stands for Reb Beach Model) in the early 1990s. On the 2005 Whitesnake reunion tour, he primarily used custom models by luthier Suhr Guitars.

In 2023, Winger released its seventh studio album, Seven (Winger album).

Discography

Year Projects Titles Notes
1986 Fiona Beyond the Pale Guitars, tracks 2–4, 7, 10
1988 Winger Winger
1990 In the Heart of the Young
1993 Pull
1999 Dokken Erase the Slate
2000 Live From the Sun
2001 Reb Beach The Fusion Demos Self-released, Recorded in 1993
Masquerade Label: Universal
Winger The Very Best of Winger
2005 The Mob The Mob
2006 Whitesnake Live... in the Still of the Night DVD+CD
Live... in the Shadow of the Blues
Winger IV
2007 Winger Demo Anthology
Winger Live
2008 Whitesnake Good to Be Bad
2009 Winger Karma Label: Frontiers
2011 Whitesnake Forevermore
2013 Whitesnake Made in Japan
Made in Britain/The World Record
2014 Winger Better Days Comin'
2015 Whitesnake The Purple Album
2017 The Purple Tour
2019 Flesh & Blood
2020 Black Swan Shake The World Label: Frontiers
Reb Beach A View From The Inside Label: Frontiers
2022 Black Swan Generation Mind Label: Frontiers
2023 Winger Seven (Winger album) Label: Frontiers

Guest appearances

  • Howard Jones – One to One (1986)
  • Chaka Khan – Destiny (1986)
  • Bee Gees – E•S•P (1987) on the songs, "E•S•P", "Overnight"
  • Twisted Sister – Love Is for Suckers (1987)
  • The Lost Boys soundtrack (1987) with Roger Daltrey on the song, "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me"
  • Brian McDonald Group – Desperate Business (1988)
  • Minoru Niihara – One (1989)
  • Xenon – America's New Design (1989)
  • The Karate Kid Part III soundtrack (1989) with Winger on the song "Out for the Count"
  • Bill and Ted's Bogus Journey soundtrack (1991) with Winger on the song "Battle Stations"
  • Guitars that Rule the World (1991)
  • Danger Danger – Cockroach (1993)
  • Smoke on the Water – A Tribute to Deep Purple (1994)
  • Andy Timmons – EarX-tacy 2 (1997)
  • Alice Cooper – A Fistful of Alice (1997)
  • Guitar Battle (1998)
  • Daytona USA 2 Game soundtrack (1998)
  • This Conversation Seems Like a Dream (1998)
  • Bat Head Soup – A Tribute to Ozzy Osbourne (2000)
  • A Tribute to Van Halen (2000)
  • Brian McDonald – Wind it Up (2000)
  • War and Peace – Light at the End of the Tunnel (2000)
  • Stone Cold Queen: A Tribute (2001)
  • Brian McDonald – Voyage (2003)
  • Ken Tamplin and Friends – Wake the Nations (2003)
  • XCarnation – Grounded (2005)
  • Kelly Keagy – I'm Alive (2006)
  • Northern Light Orchestra – Celebrate Christmas (2010)
  • Rob Moratti – Victory (2011)

Video albums

See also

References

  1. ^ McPadden, Mike (August 6, 2015). "The 10 Most Underrated Hair Metal Guitarists Of The '80s". VH1 News. Retrieved August 14, 2021.
  2. ^ "Metal Sludge Rewind with Kip Winger". Metal Sludge. Archived from the original on January 1, 2009. Retrieved January 1, 2009.
  3. ^ "Reb Beach (Whitesnake, Winger, Black Swan, guitarist) Interview – PariahRocks.com". The Hard, Heavy & Hair Show – PariahRocks.com. Retrieved June 18, 2021.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Reb Beach.