I'd rather be musical than technical.
— Rick Nielsen
I like 'Salty Dog' by Procol Harum.
I actually did try to emigrate to Australia a long time ago.
If you're going to be ridiculous, be over-the-top ridiculous.
The Sex Pistols had it all - they had the snarl, they had the I-don't-give-a-crap attitude - plus, they could play.
I think I've probably had one of my guitars on display at every Hard Rock Cafe in the world.
I never tried to emulate The Beatles, and I never really wanted to be like The Rolling Stones. I never really felt that I had the look or the demeanor of veteran musicians.
We always record with the whole band. That's key to capturing the feel, especially trying to get a good basic track.
I've owned about 2,000 guitars through the years because I've traded a lot and given away and sold some stuff.
I knew the guys in the Allman Brothers way back in the day, before they were famous.
When a guitarist can evoke a certain mood through his playing, that's what's most important to me.
I took one guitar lesson, and they wanted me to play 'Mary Had a Little Lamb' or 'Michael Row the Boat Ashore,' and that was the last guitar lesson that I ever took, so I taught myself what I wanted to know.
I just wanted to write about stuff that was happening in real life, and that's not just love songs about your girlfriend.
If you don't have a great chorus, write a good bridge first. I often do that and find I write good bridges.
I'm kind of a goony guy, a dweeb or a geek.
I don't know any American rock bands.
I love guitars, and guitars love me, but sometimes they need new homes where they can live to rock another day.
I've seen bands come out and begin their concerts with these long, slow, boring songs. Are they kidding, or what?
Some bands, they're too snooty, or they think they're too this or that and wouldn't talk to us. And some other bands are afraid to talk to us.
I was the Richard Gere non-lookalike in Illinois.
I was never going to be very cute. I always looked for the best people to play with and, 'cause, to make myself look better.
I didn't want to be one of the Beach Boys or one of the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah band. I mean, we appreciated that music. But I didn't want to grow a beard to look like Roy Wood just because I liked him.
My parents were both opera singers, and they also were both heavily into religious and church music.
I always use my Les Paul. I have a Hamer as well. I use a Tele and an Esquire - once in a while, I will use a Strat, and I never use any pedals... except for in my car.
Nobody wants to hear long speeches.
I love to be the loudest thing in the room.
Duane Eddy is somebody I wanted to play like. I discovered him before The Beatles, and he totally got to me. He sent me a note back in 1977 and said that he really liked what Cheap Trick were doing. That's one of those 'Wow!' moments, you know?
I did what I believed in. It got me in trouble, but it also got me a job.
Have a good work ethic. You've got to practice, practice, practice. I'm not telling you what to practice - that's up to you.
Living someplace like L.A. seemed awful to me.
When I write songs, it's just me and a cassette player - or at least it used to be before smartphones - to quickly record a basic idea.
I never wanted to be Keith Richards or Jimmy Page.
I like Harvey Mandel.
Some people design buildings and aircraft carriers and cars - and I designed picks.
I got to work with John Lennon. That was pretty cool.
Every person I've ever met always thinks their parents are weird.
I always hated watching bands: the guy would break a string or be out of tune, and I have perfect pitch, so it would always tick me off when a guy is up there, and he'd break a string.
The Ramones were American, and I knew about them, and I thought they were interesting. But they were like a pop band to me.
I could have moved anywhere I wanted to. But for family reasons, I stayed in the Midwest.
I was always the wise guy class clown throughout my childhood.
In 1977, I had Paul Rivera hotrod six Fender Deluxes for me. At that time, a lot of studio guys in L.A. were using those - not so much live guys but studio guys. They had terrific tone and great technique, and I was like, 'Well, I like having terrific tone even though I don't have any technique.'
There's no rush to ever put out a new Cheap Trick record. We put it out when we feel like it.
The Sensational Alex Harvey Band - those guys were great.
If you can say something special on the guitar, then you're going to perk my ears up. But if you're just gonna run through all the scales, then I can always find something else to listen to.
If you can make it in Rockford, you can make it anywhere.
The only time I have a problem is when I have to get in a vehicle after we play and sit there in a cramped position for a couple of hours to drive to the next place. Then I get super stiff.
Look at Bob Dylan: his voice is not a great sound, but it gets the idea across... and that is what's really important.
The way I look at it, I'm a songwriter that just happens to play guitar.
We all record together. We do it live; then, after that, we do overdubs, if we need to, to repair stuff. Usually when we do stuff, we have to make sure we get the bass and drums down, and by doing it live, you're actually playing the song. You're not piecing together a song.
We played with Rush somewhere way early in our career.
