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Dimebag Darrell

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File:Ecc2aecf460ff603f8bb4150cbd05c10.jpg
Dimebag performing live with Pantera, circa 2000.

Darrell "Dimebag" Abbott (August 20, 1966 – December 8, 2004) (also credited as Diamond Darrell) was a guitarist in the heavy metal bands Pantera and Damageplan.

Early life

Darrell Lance Abbott was born in Dallas, Texas, the son of country songwriter Jerry Abbott. His father owned a recording studio in Pantego, Texas, where Darrell had seen many blues guitarists play, inspiring him to take up the instrument himself. At first, he wanted to play the drums. However, after discovering that he wasn't as good as his brother Vincent, he decided to try the guitar instead. When he did finally learn how to play it, he and his brother jammed to the intro to "Smoke on the Water" (by Deep Purple) for hours. At an early age, Abbott began entering statewide guitar competitions and by the age of sixteen had been banned from entering because he had won too often. He often competed against guitar players who had up to 12 years more experience in guitar playing than him yet he would still win.

Bands

Pantera

Main article: Pantera

Pantera, originally known as Pantego, formed in 1981 with Dimebag's brother Vinnie Paul on drums. In the band's early days, Pantera could be considered what would later be referred to (sometimes in a derogatory sense) as glam metal, but the band eventually evolved into "true" metal (a term used by many scene purists) – often classified under the subgenre groove metal, or, by the band's own definition of it "Power Groove". Pantera went on to become one of the most influential and popular heavy metal bands of the 1990s. The band officially quit in 2003 due to conflicts between members.

Damageplan

Main article: Damageplan

After Pantera broke up, Darrell and his brother Vinnie decided to continue their music careers with a new band, Damageplan, with Patrick Lachman (vocals) and Bob Zilla (bass guitar). Their debut album, New Found Power, reached number 37 on the charts in 2004. The band was effectively ended with Dimebag's murder, and Vinnie Paul has not announced any musical projects since his brother's death. In early 2005, Damageplan manager Paul Bassman announced that a second Damageplan album was nearly finished at the time of Dimebag's death but there is no word yet as to when this material will be released to the public. According to Vinnie, "...as long as I'm around I think eventually they will get heard."[1]

Other projects

Sometime between the breakup of Pantera and the formation of Damageplan, the Abbott brothers teamed up with country singer David Allan Coe for a project called "Rebel Meets Rebel". Vinnie's favourite recorded Dime solo is on this album, part of the track "Get Out Of My Life". Rumours are that the album will be released February 4th, 2006 on Vinnie's "Big Vin" label.[2]

Soon before Dime's death, he went into the studio with a band named Premenishen to do a guest solo on a track titled "Eyes of the South". The band consists of two of Dime's cousins (bassist Heather Manly and guitarist April Adkission).

Furthermore Dimebag Darrell, Kerry King and Zakk Wylde intended to join forces by recording an album together which they would have called "Triple Threat".

Musicianship

Dimebag Darrell's unique, original and versatile guitar playing was the mainmast of several bands, finally including Pantera. He had earned the title of virtuoso, having learned to play several Michael Angelo Batio (Nitro) guitar solos (he once dedicated a set to him when he met him at a Pantera show), putting him on par with the likes of John Petrucci (Dream Theater) and Micheal Romeo (Symphony X) as some of the very few students to have mastered Batio's "Star Licks" instructional video Dean Guitars. Not only was Dime one of the most creative, adaptable and technical players in the studio, but live he was flawless, his "tweener" solos containing some of his most experimental shreds, ala his idol, Eddie Van Halen. Pentatonic Licks, Chicken Picking, Finger-tapping, Pick-tapping, Economy Picking, Sweep Picking and Alternate Picking were some of the techniques Dime embellished upon.

Darrell used a variety of guitar tunings. He was one of the first guitarists to demonstrate the use of tuning every string on his guitar down 1/4 of a step, something that would become his "signature tone". From Cowboys to Vulgar Dime tune tuned down 1/4 of a step, a half step and sometimes an entire step, as well as using drop-d tuning. From Vulgar onwards, Darrell's guitar tuning got lower and lower, giving more of an "edge" to the murkier, heavier feel of many Pantera/Damageplan songs.

Unlike other technical virtuosos, Dime preferred not to "showboat" his talent in music, instead giving his songs a "feel" and his guitar solos a "purpose". However Dime, on several occasions, had displayed his talent in Pantera shows which were later described by Dean Zelinsky (founder of Dean Guitars) as "mindblowing".

Magazine appearances

Dimebag frequently appeared in guitar magazines, both in advertisements for equipment he endorsed and in readers' polls, where he was often included in the top ten metal guitarist spots. In addition, Dimebag wrote a long-running Guitar World magazine column, which has been compiled in the book Riffer Madness (ISBN 0769291015). Total Guitar frequently featured him and wrote about him in the months leading up to his death. One year after his death, they also made a tribute issue.

Equipment

In his early career as a musician, Dimebag used Dean ML guitars (Most notably the "Dean From Hell" that was custom painted in a lightning bolt design) and Bill Lawrence pickups, which he would install in a reversed position to have the treble blade facing the neck. When Dean guitars went out of business he switched to Washburn. Dimebag used Washburn guitars for the greater half of his career (1996-2004), endorsing various signature models. Seymour Duncan also has a signature pickup co-designed by Dime, called the Dimebucker. Dimebag proudly endorsed Seymour Duncan, but continued to use Bill Lawrence pickups in all of his personal guitars. Several weeks before his death, Darrell ended his long relationship with Washburn guitars, and became a Dean endorsee (Dean Guitars was bought and reopened by Dean Zelinsky). As a tribute to the late great, Dean Guitars released the new Dime Tribute line of ML guitars. These guitars come in various models, ranging from lower end ones that have a stop tail piece, a bolt-on neck, Basswood Body, and lower quality pickups, to higher end models with Dimebuckers, a Floyd Rose bridge, and set neck construction. Dean has also produced a unique Dime signature-design guitar, called the "Razorback", reminiscent of Dean's classic ML design, but with a more modern twist. During the height of Dimebag's fame, he also worked together with MXR and Dunlop to produce the MXR Dime Distortion and the Dimebag "Crybaby From Hell" Wah respectively. Dimebag's rig also included Randall Century 200 heads and cabinets loaded with vintage Celestions and Jaguar speakers, Furman parametric equalizers, MXR flanger/doublers, Lexicon effect modules, Korg tuners, Rocktron silencers and Digitech Whammy pedals, amongst other gadgets in his arsenal. When Dime left Washburn a few weeks before his death, he also left Randall Amps, investing and endorsing amps from a brand new company, Krank. He planed to redefine his very own sound by developing the "KRANKENSTEIN".

Influences

Among Dimebag's influences were Judas Priest, Randy Rhoads, Eddie Van Halen and Ace Frehley (Dimebag once said in an interview that if there was no Ace Frehley, there would have been no Dimebag Darrell). In addition, he cited many of his contemporaries among his influences, including Slayer's Kerry King, Zakk Wylde of Black Label Society, Metallica's James Hetfield, and Helmet's Page Hamilton. He also credits Vito Rulez of Chauncy for convincing him to try Bill Lawrence pickups.

Abbott's murder

Abbott was murdered while performing on December 8, 2004 at a Damageplan concert at the Alrosa Villa nightclub in Columbus, Ohio. Nathan Gale, 25, of Marysville, entered the nightclub at about 10pm, just after the performance began, after scaling an eight-foot fence and being chased into the building by club security. He entered the left side of the stage and proceeded across to the right where Dimebag was standing. Gale then shot him three times in the head with a Beretta pistol 9mm. at point blank range. Abbott received a total of five gunshot wounds. He was only 38 years old.

Three others were killed in the shooting: concert attendee Nathan Bray, 23, of Columbus; club employee Erin Halk, 29, of northwest Columbus; and Damageplan security guard Jeff "Mayhem" Thompson, 40, of Texas. The band's drum technician, John Brooks, and tour manager, Chris Paluska, were also injured.

According to police, Gale fired a total of fifteen shots, taking the time to reload once, remaining silent throughout the shooting (although early reports falsely indicated that he made disparaging remarks about the breakup of Pantera. The band was playing when this happened; nobody would have heard him even if he had yelled anything). When security staff and audience members climbed the stage to try to stop him, Gale fired at them, killing Halk (who went after the gunman with a wooden table) and Thompson and wounding Paluska. Gale then took Brooks hostage, holding him in a headlock position after the technician attempted to wrestle him to the ground. When the hostage moved slightly, Columbus police officer James D. Niggemeyer, who was the first officer on scene, shot Gale in the back of the head with a 12 gauge police issue shotgun, killing him.

During the rampage, nurse and audience member Mindy Reece, 28, went to the aid of Abbott. She and another fan administered CPR until paramedics arrived. According to some reports, victim Nathan Bray was also attempting to render assistance when he was killed.

The shootings occurred on the 24th anniversary of the murder of John Lennon, but there is no indication that this was a factor in Gale's actions.

In May 2005, Officer Niggemeyer went before the Franklin County grand jury, which is charged with formally investigating police shootings. As expected, Niggemeyer was cleared and commended on his outstanding police work in the time of a crisis.

Originally, it was thought that Gale acted on rumors of a Pantera breakup, but later investigators have also ruled out the theory that the killing was over a public dispute between Dimebag and Pantera singer Phil Anselmo. [3]

Abbott's family has now decided to sue the night club where he was murdered. They claim that if the club had employed competent security guards, this needless death would have never occurred. The club owner states that his security guards are not trained nor were ever intended to thwart gun wielding guests. The news of this lawsuit comes within days of the anniversary of Abbott's murder.

The song "In This River", from the Black Label Society album Mafia was written before Dimebag's death and later dedicated to Dimebag by his friend Zakk Wylde.

The Nickelback album All the Right Reasons contains a song entitled "Side of a Bullet" which features lyrics dedicated to Dimebag and a guitar solo from the Far Beyond Driven era.

The song "Betrayed" on the Avenged Sevenfold album City of Evil is dedicated to Dimebag Darrell. The lyrics of the song refer to Nathan Gale's admiration of Pantera and Dime himself, and how he "cracked" and decided to kill Darrell.

On their Live from the Inside DVD, Shinedown perform a cover of Lynyrd Skynyrd's Simple Man, and dedicate the song to Dimebag Darrell, a close friend of theirs.

In addition, alternative country group Cross Canadian Ragweed pay tribute to Abbott in the song "Dimebag."

References

  1. ^ b Bowcott, Nick (January 2006). "Dimebag: One Year On". {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |org= ignored (help)
  2. ^ "Dimebag Murder Was Not Motivated By Pantera Breakup". October 21. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= and |year= / |date= mismatch (help)
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