An Interview with Randy Resnick of Pure Food and Drug Act & John Mayall

Photo-credit-salva1745.png

With Pure Food and Drug Act, and John Mayall, guitarist Randy Resnick was a staple of the blues-meets-rock scene in the ‘60s and

In retrospect, it’s clear that Resnick’s style, and specifically, his tapping, heavily influenced the likes of Eddie Van Halen, and all that followed in the ‘80s. But Resnick is sweating that now, and instead focuses on creating new and inventive music, even as he approaches 80 years of age.

But Resnick does have words of wisdom for younger players, telling ClassicRockHistory.com: “I tell younger players that there are two things that will help you be successful in music… the first is luck, which, by definition, you have no control over.

“Second,” he adds. “Is socializing with your peers. Networking is important because every significant break I got was through others. I hung with, like, Paul Lagos and Larry Taylor. My regret is that I didn’t do more of that, because I had opportunities to visit studios and such that I didn’t take advantage of.”

Beyond that, Resnick feels that following one’s instinct is best. “If you have a feeling for the guitar and keep at it, you will never regret being able to play it, whether you play alone, for one person at home, a few people in a club, or for 3,000. Keep playing, listen and grow. I’m still doing that at 79.”

What are your first memories of music in your life?

My father had a Hammond Organ, and I tried to make chords on it and turn the Leslie on and off, but it wasn’t even close to music! My brother Art Resnick became a world-class jazz pianist, touring with Freddie Hubbard, Gary Bartz, and names big like that. He also recorded several albums. Art definitely inspired me to play, but not jazz, rock.

What drew you to the guitar, and when did you decide the sort of player you wanted to be?

Then, my uncle regifted me a nice Goya classical guitar. I played it for a day or two and went to trade it for a Silvertone guitar and amp. I messed around, and we had a rock band with Owen Husney (who discovered and developed Prince) and a couple of other high school friends.

I copied licks from what was on the radio and got good enough to play with a working band, then got offered a bar gig. In those days, a club would have a band for months at a time, three sets of covers starting at 9 PM until 12 or 1 AM. People danced and were fans of the band.

They came to hear a particular band. Then came the tornado, Jimi Hendrix. We listened to that first album, Owen, David Z, and I in someone’s basement, and our minds were blown! I’ll bet every guitar player alive remembers the first time they heard Jimi.

How did the scene you grew up in impact you as a player?

I think the important thing about growing up then was how easy it was to get together, listen to records, and try to play those songs. There were at least a hundred local bands in the Twin Cities, and most were actually playing live somewhere.

A decent player could usually get in a band and play out. In places like L.A., where I landed in the 70s, there were probably ten times more music things happening. Clubs, shows, concerts, and recording, too. So, you could actually make a living in music as a sideman, for example.

The ‘60s were a wild time to come of age. How did that affect you as you were getting into things?

Hendrix and bands like Led Zeppelin and Cream were all so rich in musicality in the ‘60s. Most of us started getting into a lot of blues, too, as this was where a lot of that came from. The British Invasion, with the Beatles and the Stones, evolved original sounds when they stopped copying Chuck Berry and Little Richard. Then bands like The Doors, The Zombies, I think I could name 50 bands with totally different sounds.

What led to the formation of Pure Food and Drug Act?

My brother and I had a band out in Simi Valley, and we went through a few drummers until we found one that was right for Art’s music. That was Paul Lagos, who had played with Kaleidoscope. I had also been playing in a club in Fresno, but when I got back to L.A., Paul called me and said, “I’m working on something. »

Paul was on a John Mayall tour with Sugarcane Harris, Larry Taylor, and Harvey Mandel. Paul assembled the group, The Sugarcane Harris Band, with Don [Sugarcane], Larry “The Mole” Taylor, and me. We played a few clubs like The Troubadour, but they asked Harvey to join for a bigger sound and maybe more label interest.

Harvey had played with Canned Heat and Mayall and had his own album [The Snake] out as well. Soon after, The Mole quit, and I called Victor Conte, who was in a Fresno band with me, to play bass with us. Victor was a great player who went on to play with Tower of Power and Herbie Hancock’s Monster Band.

As you mentioned, you were in the band with Harvey, who, while a great player in his own right, has either taken or been given credit for a lot of techniques you came up with. What can you say about that?

There is absolutely no doubt that Harvey saw me tapping every night and took that technique for himself. At first, he claimed he started it on his own. The author of Van Halen 101 wrote me to ask about that, and I told him the story. He talked to Paul and Victor, who confirmed it.

But I have never claimed to invent anything. We all know there were guitarists using the same techniques for decades before Eddie Van Halen. After all these years, I have still not heard any guitarist using tapping like I still do. I was inspired by African music.

The first thing I did was to play one note low on the neck, and tap one other note high up, an octave or more, which you can’t play any other way. Then I found many other phrasings using pull-offs and tapping. Everyone uses these techniques, but again, I think what I do with them is much different.

What led to the end of Pure Food and Drug Act and your joining John Mayall?

The two things are unrelated. I left PFDA because I wanted to be able to solo more. The connection to John Mayall came through Larry, who’d done several Bluesbreaker tours and records. When I first got to L.A., I met Jesse Ed Davis one night at the Whisky.

He was playing there with Taj Mahal and was nice enough to talk to me, wanna be guitarist, about the music scene. Jesse was supposed to do an album and a tour with the Bluesbreakers. Without getting into why, he couldn’t do the gig, so Larry suggested me, and I went and auditioned. My dream had come true!

I’d recorded in the studio with Don and Harvey, but the Europe tour was like a movie for me. I couldn’t believe it, it was like heaven, playing with greats players like drummer Soko Richardson, Larry on bass, legendary jazz saxophonist Red Holloway, and John! Lots of room to play on twelve gigs, mostly improvised like blues or jazz. I even got applause after some solos.

Where did you go from there, and do you feel you’ve gotten more recognition in recent years?

In 1975, I played in a band with violinist Richard Greene [Seatrain], some kind of progressive rock, crazy stuff, very original, also with Larry, and local club gigs with blues harp player John “Juke” Logan. But the music scene was starting to get really sparse. Fewer clubs, not enough money to live on, so I did other things. I left music entirely for years at a time.

Have you stayed in touch with and/or made peace with Harvey?

I haven’t had an occasion to see Harvey for decades, but hold no animosity for him. In 2012, I replaced Harvey in Canned Heat for two nights as he couldn’t come on that tour.

What’s been the key to your rig, and where does it stand today?

I’ve had many guitars after the Silvertone, a Fender Jazzmaster, a Les Paul, and a big Guild hollow body, something like an Artist Award with one small volume control. Once I started playing the Stratocaster, I stuck with it.

My first Strat was stolen from my car, but I bought a new one years ago. I have tried a lot of effect pedals, but don’t use any now. If I play live, I use a Roland Cube amp. I have had two Roland guitar synthesizers and played the GR-55 extensively in Paris with my trio as “Randy Rare.”

At the time, when I played with a piano sound, holding chords while playing a guitar solo over them, people would be looking for the pianist. Or I could play flute and piano at the same time. I also had a Roland VG-8, a guitar and amp emulator with lots of great sounds, using the same hex pickup as the GR-55.

Today, I think with artists who have sequencers or laptops onstage, no one pays attention to those synth features anymore.

What’s something about you as a musician—and listener—that might surprise fans?

A few years ago, I started playing alto saxophone and now record a lot with alto and soprano saxes. Most of my recordings of the past five years are with these or the Yamaha Digital Sax. I think from the days of PFDA, I always wanted to sound like a sax player! Using the guitar synths, I was playing with flute and horn sounds all the time, so it was natural for me to want to go to the real thing.

What’s next for you?

For the past several years, I’ve been collaborating with people all over the world on recordings via Internet file-sharing. I did a jazz and bossa album with Brazilian guitarist Marcio Riscado and another with country artist Robin Lee Field.

That kinda blew my mind because I haven’t played much country music, and she loved what I did on that. My long-term project, An Intercontinental Ja”, brings artists from 10 countries under that name, on Apple, Spotify, YouTube Music, etc.

Check out similar articles on ClassicRockHistory.com Just click on any of the links below……

An Interview with Randy Resnick of Pure Food and Drug Act & John Mayall article published on ClassicRockHistory.com© 2026

Classicrockhistory.com claims ownership of all its original content and Intellectual property under United States Copyright laws and those of all other foreign countries. No one person, business, or organization is allowed to re-publish any of our original content anywhere on the web or in print without our permission. All photos used are either public domain Creative Commons photos or licensed officially from Shutterstock under license with ClassicRockHistory.com. All photo credits have been placed at the end of the article. Album Cover Photos are affiliate links and the property of Amazon and are stored on the Amazon server. Any theft of our content will be met with swift legal action against the infringing websites.