Richie Sambora on the Attitude and Emotion of “Wanted Dead or Alive”

Shifty is joined by former Bon Jovi guitarist Richie Sambora, who together with Jon Bon Jovi himself formed the band’s songwriting braintrust. It’s Sambora’s first-ever podcast appearance, so buckle in. We’re making history.Sambora tells Shifty that he started playing guitar around the age of 13, at first just air-guitaring along with an acoustic to British Invasion tunes from The Beatles and Rolling Stones until his fingers figured out where to go. “You could say I learned ass-backwards,” he grins. “I was a breach baby.” He explains he wrote the infamous, “cascading” 12-string acoustic riff for “Wanted” while he was hanging out in his mother’s basement, waiting on a pizza delivery from Jon. The intent, he says, was to bring the acoustic 12-string back into rock music like Led Zeppelin had done. In the present day, Sambora gives Shiflett a demonstration of the intro riff on a 1964 Martin 12-string.
Equipped with a dirtied-up Vox combo and a Charvel with a Floyd Rose, Sambora dive-bombs into the solo section, instructing Shifty on the attitude and emotion of the solo’s memorable, saturated squeals: “Nobody put chords in a solo!” remarks Sambora.
Elsewhere, Sambora talks about how the emergence of speed-shredders like Yngwie Malmsteen and Eddie Van Halen impacted the scene, and he and Shiflett take a few moments to swap stories about their late contemporary, Jeff Beck. Plus, Richie suggests he and Bon Jovi are mulling the possibility of his return to the band: “We’re talking about it,” says Sambora. “There’s a demand for it.”Connect with Chris!Website / Instagram / Facebook / TikTok / Twitter / YouTube / SpotifyCreditsProducer: Jason ShadrickExecutive Producers: Brady Sadler and Jake Brennan for Double ElvisEngineering Support by Matt Tahaney and Matt BeaudionVideo Editors: Dan Destefano and Addison SauvanSpecial thanks to Chris Peterson, Greg Nacron, and the entire Volume.com crew.