XX. Notes

Soulmonster wrote:Who the hell was Gary Sunshine and how come he was involved? I suppose this will be clearer with more recent quotes, but what I need to know now is whether to set aside a chapter to him.

Blackstar wrote:

Soulmonster wrote:Who the hell was Gary Sunshine and how come he was involved? I suppose this will be clearer with more recent quotes, but what I need to know now is whether to set aside a chapter to him.

He taught Axl guitar. I think he was his friend. Brando (Appetite For Distortion) interviewed him a while ago.

Probably he was the friend who Axl was taking guitar lessons from in 1996, too, and not Paul Huge/Tobias.

Maybe he could be included in a chapter about the "other musicians" (besides band members and famous guests like Brian May) who worked with Axl during that period, like Billy Howerdel.

Blackstar wrote:

Soulmonster wrote:Who the hell was Gary Sunshine and how come he was involved? I suppose this will be clearer with more recent quotes, but what I need to know now is whether to set aside a chapter to him.

He taught Axl guitar. I think he was his friend. Brando (Appetite For Distortion) interviewed him a while ago.

Probably he was the friend who Axl was taking guitar lessons from in 1996, too, and not Paul Huge/Tobias.

Maybe he could be included in a chapter about the "other musicians" (besides band members and famous guests like Brian May) who worked with Axl during that period, like Billy Howerdel.

Cult Members Reunite

Singer Ian Astbury and guitarist Billy Duffy of the gothic hard-rock band the Cult shared a stage for the first time in four years Monday night at the Viper Room in Los Angeles. Joined by latter-day drummer Matt Sorum and his bandmates in the Neurotic Outsiders, they performed three Cult songs, including "Wild Flower" and "Love Removal Machine." The get-together came at the end of an hour-long set by the Neurotic Outsiders, a supergroup featuring Sorum along with his onetime Guns N' Roses bandmate Duff McKagan, Steve Jones (Sex Pistols) and John Taylor (Duran Duran). Astbury, Duffy and Sorum plan to tour as the Cult this summer and then release an album, a band representative said.

MOBY OFFERS ADVICE TO GUNS N' ROSES

Last week Moby took to the stage at a Virgin Records store in Manhattan to debut his new live show. During the set, Moby entertained requests from the audience, and one fan called out for an old GN'R classic -- and Moby seemed more than happy to oblige as he played a few bars from Sweet Child O' Mine.

A few weeks earlier, MTV News asked Moby, who turned down an offer to produce the next Guns N' Roses album, if he had any advice to offer Axl and company about their long-awaited new record.

"My advice to them would be to stop worrying about it and just make a record," Moby said. "Go into the studio for a month and at the end of the month, your record has to be finished. Go in and play and have fun and sing songs and don't worry about selling billions of records, just have fun and make a nice record. At this point, they've spent so many years on it, and they don't seem to be any closer to actually having a finished record."

We could call this the Foo Fighters route perhaps, although the album features several drummers of note such as Matt Cameron, Ministry’s Bill Rieflin and one Josh Freese, formerly of the Vandals and now session man to the stars. Including one Axl Rose. In fact Freese seems to be fast becoming the hot session man around town...

Yeah, he’s a busy guy, grins Chris. He was showing up playing from like noon to four, then he’d go off from like nine till four in the morning playing with Axl, and then he’d show up the next day when we needed him. He’s got lot of energy though, so he was OK.

So, did you get any sneak insights into the Guns N’ Roses record?

Not really. He’s also very, uh, word careful. We asked him certain questions, but he knew what he should and shouldn’t talk about. I just wanted to know what it felt like for him to be playing ‘Sweet Child 0’ Mine’ with a band made out of all these punk rock guys and Axl, cos I think that’s really fucking weird, but it must be kind of cool.

Going from Chris Cornell to Axl Rose and back must have been a bit of a trip - two very different ways of working, I would imagine.

Yeah, but I think they actually have a lot of creative freedom with what they’re doing with Axl, they’re getting to write parts and stuff - and when he’d come to work with me it’s almost the opposite of what you would think. I would tell him exactly what to play when the song was finished.

Now there’s a thought - Chris Cornell out control-freaking Axl Rose...

"I have respect for Axl Rose, I wish him all the success that he deserves and if his album sounds a little industrial, I will take it like a compliment... On the other hand, when we played MTV awards, he made pass a press release announcing that it would cut of his disc all the parts of guitars played by Robin Finck (former guitarist of NIN with which Mr. Rose worked during two years and which finally joined Reznor a few months ago) and I find that a little ridiculous, it is a whim of star."

Blackstar wrote:Trent Reznor on Axl and Robin Finck; Rock & Folk Magazine (France), December 1999:

"I have respect for Axl Rose, I wish him all the success that he deserves and if his album sounds a little industrial, I will take it like a compliment... On the other hand, when we played MTV awards, he made pass a press release announcing that it would cut of his disc all the parts of guitars played by Robin Finck (former guitarist of NIN with which Mr. Rose worked during two years and which finally joined Reznor a few months ago) and I find that a little ridiculous, it is a whim of star."

https://web.archive.org/web/20001007025904/http:/www.nineinchnails.net/news/articles/RocknFolkDec99.html

Soulmonster wrote:

Blackstar wrote:Trent Reznor on Axl and Robin Finck; Rock & Folk Magazine (France), December 1999:

"I have respect for Axl Rose, I wish him all the success that he deserves and if his album sounds a little industrial, I will take it like a compliment... On the other hand, when we played MTV awards, he made pass a press release announcing that it would cut of his disc all the parts of guitars played by Robin Finck (former guitarist of NIN with which Mr. Rose worked during two years and which finally joined Reznor a few months ago) and I find that a little ridiculous, it is a whim of star."

https://web.archive.org/web/20001007025904/http:/www.nineinchnails.net/news/articles/RocknFolkDec99.html

A press release where Axl claims to cut out all of Robin's parts? That doesn't sound right. Granted, Axl did say that Robin's leaving was a blessing in disguise and that they could not up the ante a bit on the guitar work, but that doesn't necessarily imply that Robin's parts were removed, just that they could get different guitarists in to add parts to other songs. And Axl also said that it wasn't a problem that Robin left, because, and I am paraphrasing, his work was already done.

Blackstar wrote:

Soulmonster wrote:

Blackstar wrote:Trent Reznor on Axl and Robin Finck; Rock & Folk Magazine (France), December 1999:

"I have respect for Axl Rose, I wish him all the success that he deserves and if his album sounds a little industrial, I will take it like a compliment... On the other hand, when we played MTV awards, he made pass a press release announcing that it would cut of his disc all the parts of guitars played by Robin Finck (former guitarist of NIN with which Mr. Rose worked during two years and which finally joined Reznor a few months ago) and I find that a little ridiculous, it is a whim of star."

https://web.archive.org/web/20001007025904/http:/www.nineinchnails.net/news/articles/RocknFolkDec99.html

A press release where Axl claims to cut out all of Robin's parts? That doesn't sound right. Granted, Axl did say that Robin's leaving was a blessing in disguise and that they could not up the ante a bit on the guitar work, but that doesn't necessarily imply that Robin's parts were removed, just that they could get different guitarists in to add parts to other songs. And Axl also said that it wasn't a problem that Robin left, because, and I am paraphrasing, his work was already done.

Yeah, I don't know where that came from. Definitely not from Axl's Oh My God state, and there wasn't any other press release that I'm aware of.

Soulmonster wrote:
I won't add it then. Could be some translational issue from English to French.

Can Axl Rose successfully revive Guns n' Roses?

30% Yes
70% No
[Thursday, Sept. 9]

Can Guns N' Roses conquer the airwaves again?

39% Yes
61% No
[Tuesday, Oct. 12]

Zakk Wylde

By Matt Thompson

[...]

After “No More Tours,” Ozzy announced plans for retirement and Wylde was up in the air for something to do. A professed Sabbath/Ozzy freak, Wylde said hearing and playing those tunes night after night sent him looking for other aural pleasures. Exposed to such Southern Rock outfits as Lynyrd Skynyrd and the Allman Brothers Band thanks to his brother and childhood friends back in Jersey, Wylde began exploring the mixture of Southern twang with metallic crunch. The result was Lynyrd Skynhead, a jam band for between Ozzy gigs that eventually morphed into Pride & Glory (with drummer Brain Tichy and bassist James LoMenzo). The trio released an excellent eponymous album on Geffen in 1994, full of metallic riffs, Southern Rock solos and clever songwriting that Wylde said can only be described as “country metal,” and flew directly in the face of the “alternative revolution” of the time.

“Basically, it’s just a clusterfuck of the two,” Wylde joked. “I just do what I want to do, and don’t worry about what’s big at the time. I am who I am, and people can’t tell when shit’s fake and when don’t mean it. P&G, man, It’s real, no bullshit. We just get up and play.”

Despite the success of P&G, the mid-nineties were something of a dark period in Wylde’s life. Lynyrd Skynhead’s original drummer, Greg D’Angelo, hit Wylde with a lawsuit concerning credits for P&G. “I was sitting in my living room watching football, and I got papers served on me that said I was being sued for a half-million dollars by the guy who stood next to me at my mother’s funeral,” an incredulous Wylde said.

Also about this time, Ozzy came out of “retirement” for his latest studio release, Ozzmosis , which featured Wylde on guitar, and the Ozzman was itching to get back on tour. What’s more, Wylde owed Geffen another album, but he found the label less-than-friendly towards his desires. And if that wasn’t enough, he got a call from Axl Rose and Slash of Guns ‘n’ Roses about possibly filling in on second guitar. In the end, just about all of it fell through.

“Slash said he’d only play with Les Paul or me, and Axl said, ‘I may be wrong, but I don’t think Les is gonna want to tour anytime soon. Let’s call Zakk,'” Wylde laughed. “We did ( Ozzmosis ), and Ozzy asked me what’s up. Then, Axl called me up and said ‘Let’s do some jammin’.’ Man, when I was there, there was no synths or no bullshit, just jammin’, and it all looked good. But once you get the lawyers and that horseshit involved, they slow the process down like molasses in January. I got a fax from Slash saying they wouldn’t need my services, and Ozzy got Joe Holmes to play on the tour, so I wound up doing Book of Shadows .

“Mostly you don’t want to bum anyone out and let anybody down, but I wound up sorta stringing everyone along. But at the end of the day, that’s why there’s beer!”

[...]

Zakk Wylde: What's in a Name?

By R. Scott Bolton

[...]

Rough Edge: Your previous albums are being re-released on Spitfire records. "Book of Shadows" seemed a bit of a stretch for you.

Zakk Wylde: The thing is that I had all these tunes from the "Ozmosis" record, you know. Aside from writing all the fuckin' heavy shit because at the time we were doing "My Jekyll Doesn't Hide" and the "Perry Mason" stuff. And then "Thunder Underground," just like fuckin' pure riff fuckin' music. So aside from doing that I always had acoustic around because it's just great for your chops. You know, you sit down and jam on an acoustic when you pick up an fuckin' electric guitar it's like fuckin' lightning.

Rough Edge: It's like a batter in baseball...

Zakk Wylde: Yeah, you put the fuckin' doughnuts on the end there, man. Hell, yeah, man. And the action's a bit higher. So I'd be jammin' on an acoustic all the time and I'd have all these ... I'd just be dickin' around writing songs all the time. So whether I'm writing riffs all the time or I'm writing regular flat-out songs, I just had all these tunes and I was like, man, it's like fuckin' beer-drinking music at the end of the night, you know? I had all these tunes lying around and that's when Geffen - they asked me to do another album. I tried to get out of it, because I owed them like three records when I signed with them so we did the P&G thing and then Kalodner left and went to Sony and it was just like fuckin', I didn't know what the fuck was going on. Let's put it this way: They wanted me there about as much the Pope wanted to have lunch with fuckin' Anton Levay, man. Which was basically not gonna ever fuckin' happen. The whole thing was like, "We gotta get outta here, man." So we did the "Book of Shadows" thing - I tried to get off the label but it was more cost effective for them to have me go in an do another fuckin' record - so we ended up doing the record and after that Ozzy called and said, "Dude, you wanna do this 'Ozmosis' record?" so I was jammin' with ... actually, I got it backwards here, fuckin' "Book of Shadows" was after the "Ozmosis" record. In between jammin', we'd go back to trackin' the stuff and I'd go back to this bar that was right next to the hotel and I'd be in there until, like, six in the morning drinking with everybody. They'd be like, "Dude, go get your fiddle and play us a fuckin' tune." So I'd be jammin' for 'em - I'd be playing all this new shit for 'em. You know, that's pretty much how that record came about. In between all that stuff that's when Axl (Rose) called me up and he's like, "Dude, you wanna do some jammin'?" and all this shit. So I'd be writing and doin' demos over at Duff's house - basically, the stuff I was writing was pretty much Black Label. Then Ozzy was like, "Zakk, you gonna do the tour?" and I said, "Oz, I don't know the fuck's going on with the Guns guys." And I told Axl, "Dude, can't be dickin' Ozzy around. You guys gotta let me know what the fuck's goin' on?" Then, you know, once you get fuckin' lawyers and managers fuckin' involved, suddenly everybody's on the clock and everything takes fucking five trillion fucking years to get done. You know what I mean? So I finally told Ozzy, "Oz, I don't know what the fuck is going on with these guys" and he said, "Zakk, I gotta get somebody else" and I was "All right, dude, I understand" but after that, you know, the Guns thing kinda ... nothing, nothing really ... it didn't end ... nothing. I said, fuck this, I got all these fuckin' tunes lying around, you know what, fuck it! I'm just gonna do 'em. And that's pretty much how Black Label was born.

Rough Edge: Good for you. So the Guns'n'Roses thing's kind of in limbo. [...]

Zakk Wylde interview

by Greg Burk

[...]

Wylde’s penchant for violence linked him temporarily with Axl Rose’s appetite for destruction a few years back; a Wylde-Rose intertwining was supposed to be the axis for a new Guns N’ Roses. So what happened? Wasn’t Axl vicious enough?

“No — Axl, he likes the violence, that’s for sure. I think what happened was you got all the lawyers and all those motherfuckers working together, and all that bullshit. I just saw him not too long ago in the studio when we were doin’ our BLS record, and Axl’s like, ‘Well, Zakk, I heard you wanted $5 million upfront and your own tour bus.’ And I go, ‘Fuck me, what do you think, I’m some kind of fuckin’ whore?’ I said, ‘At least $9 million, motherfucker!’ No, we’re still buds, and I hope everything works out with what he’s doin’.”

[...]

Blackstar wrote:Based on the Zakk Wylde interviews above, mainly the first two, it can be concluded that he remained involved with GnR (with his status being uncertain) for another few months after the jam with the whole band in January 1995 - and, in the meantime, he lost the Ozzy gig because of that - until he understood he wouldn't be part of the band (probably sometime in mid to late '95). Then he went to do his Black Label Society project, and that was when the conversation with Axl mentioned in the third interview took place.

The Rolling Stone piece from May 1995 is vague as to the time period Zakk Wylde was involved, but t doesn't seem that he had any involvement after 1995.

Soulmonster wrote:

Blackstar wrote:Based on the Zakk Wylde interviews above, mainly the first two, it can be concluded that he remained involved with GnR (with his status being uncertain) for another few months after the jam with the whole band in January 1995 - and, in the meantime, he lost the Ozzy gig because of that - until he understood he wouldn't be part of the band (probably sometime in mid to late '95). Then he went to do his Black Label Society project, and that was when the conversation with Axl mentioned in the third interview took place.

The Rolling Stone piece from May 1995 2000 is vague as to the time period Zakk Wylde was involved, but t doesn't seem that he had any involvement after 1995.

Yes, sound right. I update the corresponding chapter with hese new quotes.

Is it true you that there was a time when you were going to join Guns N' Roses?

Yeah, I was jamming with them for about six months. I saw Axl about a year and a half ago, when I was working on 'Stronger Than Death'. He was in the next studio . We were drinking beers all night, and Del James asked why it never worked out between us. Axl says: "Well, Zakk, I heard you wanted two million up front and your own tour bus." And I said: "Do you think I'm some dishrag whore, you motherfucker? I want nine million and two tour buses!" We were all laughing about it.

But it didn't happen because once you get lawyers involved, and managers and agents and all that bullshit going on... I looked at Axl and asked: "Who tells you this shit? If I get two songs on a Guns N' Roses record I make a million bucks. Are you out of your mind?"

Why didn't Axl just ask you?

Because once money is involved and all these jackasses start getting involved, everybody just fucks the whole thing up.

Is Axl a barking-mad loon?

Nah. I'm friends with the guy, so I think he's fucking awesome. Like I said, Ozzy, Bon Scott and him are the three best frontmen that ever lived. I just hope he gets it together, as he's such a fucking talent it's ridiculous. I'm definitely on his side.

I ran into Duff a couple of nights ago in Tokyo and said: "Why don't you guys just make a phone call and get it on?" He said: "Zakk, I gotta be honest with you, we ain't exactly calling him, either." Ah, whatever.

What is it about notorious frontmen that attracts you to them?

Because they kick fucking ass, that's why. Flat out, bottom line.

May 5th 1995

OZMOSIS Update... Zakk is now finishing up the guitars on the track "The Whole World's Falling Down" which will be the bonus track for Japan. The mood at the studio has now grown even sadder as this will be Zakk's last day working on OZMOSIS and working for Ozzy. As you all know, Ozzy has given Zakk his freedom so that he can try to pursue his dream gig with Guns N Roses. So there's lots of good-byes happening all around today. I hope you'll all join us in wishing Zakk good luck with his pursuit of the second guitarist slot in Guns N' Roses.

Soulmonster wrote:And great on the 6 month quote. Clear about a few things.

As for any comment on GNR, Freese, as many who are (and were) involved with the project are tight-lipped.

Blackstar wrote:Related to the latest chapter of the History section
https://www.a-4-d.com/t4046p420-the-history-in-their-own-words#18013

It seems that formal or informal NDAs were in place for both former and current members of the CD project and for the people associated with it in general.

I think this short interview with Tommy from February 1999, where he says he can't talk about the album, is also an indication:
https://www.a-4-d.com/t4528-1999-02-26-star-tribune-everythings-coming-up-guns-n-roses-for-replacements-stinson

Also this from Josh Freese in March 2000:

As for any comment on GNR, Freese, as many who are (and were) involved with the project are tight-lipped.

Thanks, that was helpful!


https://www.a-4-d.com/t4584-2000-03-28-knac-com-a-perfect-circle-takes-shape-josh

Salas News

Jammin' with the New GNR

Stevie jammed with the new Guns N' Roses line-up at a recording studio in Los Angeles. They played such classic songs as "Welcome To the Jungle," "Its So Easy, "Sweet Child O' Mine," "Paradise City" and "You Could Be Mine." The jam session went on for about 5 hours and reportedly they really rocked!

[...]
I spent an evening jammin with a band that was called Guns N' Roses, five hours at 300db. It was loud!!! But it wasn't the real Guns. There can't be a Guns without Slash! Keith and Mick (Rolling Stones) Steven and Joe (Aerosmith), Axl and Slash... That's the way it is! But Axl's new music was taking chances and I have to respect that.

"At the end of Zim Zum's tour of duty as guitarist in Marilyn Manson he entered into self-imposed exile for a year in his Chicago home.He turned down offers to join a band which he describes as having "an appetite for destruction," along with record label offers before he even recorded a note."

Last, the band is touring in support of its seventh and latest studio album, simply called “VII.”

One of the songs that appears on “VII” is “Who Wants to Go to Heaven.” A few years ago, the song was slated to be included on the soundtrack for the movie “Interview with a Vampire," based on Anne Rice's book. Jay Aston says he wrote the song for Rice; however, it was passed over for another song.

“We played in New Orleans about five years ago and some of her (Anne Rice's) people approached me after the gig and said she was a fan of ours and always played the song ‘Kiss of Life.’ I wrote Who Wants to Go to Heaven' and they really liked it,” says Aston via telephone from Los Angeles.

Aston adds: “At the last minute, they gave it (the open slot on the soundtrack) to Guns N’ Roses because it was a David Geffen picture and they were on Geffen Records. Guns N’ Roses were going through some problems with their own album, but the movie was done by David Geffen’s production company, and that’s the politics of the game.”

[...]

[Elton John is] sharing his views in a monthly column in Interview magazine, which is edited by his friend Ingrid Sischy. And John proves a reliable judge. Among the quality artists he has championed in his four columns so far: Macy Gray, Moby, Groove Armada and Travis.

In the August issue, John recommends new releases by several female artists, including Sinead O’Connor, k.d. lang, Aimee Mann, Cindy Bullens and Amanda Ghost.

But his grandest praise is for Eminem’s controversial “The Marshall Mathers LP,” which has been criticized in some quarters as being both misogynistic and anti-gay.

“It feels like the nuclear bomb has just hit . . . ,” John writes of the album. “Rap records are often full of [expletive] and this is really hard-core stuff, but it’s intelligent hard-core stuff--it’s funny, it’s clever, it’s poetry, and it’s also musically interesting.”

In an interview, John, who is gay, told The Times, “I don’t think it’s homophobic in the least. Axl [Rose] went through this thing as well, and every time I’ve met Axl he couldn’t have been nicer to me. He inducted me into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. . . . I just think Eminem has made a really fantastic album. Rock ‘n’ roll has always supposed to have been about pushing the buttons, hasn’t it?”

[...]

III. Packin' Heat With Guns N' Roses

KNAC.COM: You did some work with Guns N' Roses in the past. First, their label Uzi Suicide, through Geffen Records, re-released the Hanoi Rocks back catalog here in the States and then you played on their Use Your Illusion albums and sang on The Spaghetti Incident. How did you hook up with them?

MM: Um, when I was doing the video for "Dead, Jail Or Rock 'N' Roll" in uptown New York at Alphabet City and there was supposed to be a stage and everything but then it started pouring down rain and there was no plan B, even though all week I said, "What if it starts raining?" And it was like, "Oh no, it's not gonna rain," and it was the worse downpour in years. So then we went up top to SIR, a rehearsal space there, and got some police cars and Axl was hanging out there on the corner buying a sandwich and asked, "What's goin' on here?" They were like, "Oh, it's Michael Monroe's video shoot, so he was like, "Oh wow," and excused himself and went over to our bus. But he had a bunch of people with him so I didn't let him in. (laughs) "Nice to meet you, I'll see ya later!" But then we were doing the song and he was digging it and I saw that, so I asked him if he wanted to come up to do it a few times and he was like, "Yeah, sure why not?" He had heard my record and he was really into it so we did a few takes with him and he was like a cameo in the video. Then we got to talking and he was even more impressed when I said that "Not Fakin' It" was a song by Nazareth originally and he didn't know that. He said, "Oh wow, it's great and now I like it even more." I said even though its a Nazareth song I made it my own. He said he was a big Nazareth fan and he used to lock himself in the bathroom and listen to them when he was a kid 'cause his parents wouldn't let him listen to rock n' roll; heavy, heavy, heavy childhood. Must be crazy. He seems to have effects of it still. It must be hard and getting so fucking famous so fucking fast, no wonder.

But I'm glad that Guns paid tribute to Hanoi by re-releasing our records and paid some respect and didn't hide like Poison or some weaklings like that who didn't have enough of their own thing so they acted like us. "Hanoi who?? What?? Never heard of them." That's bullshit. GnR had enough of their own thing and were secure enough to acknowledge Hanoi and pay tribute to us. I also did things with Slash, like our cover of "Magic Carpet Ride," for the Coneheads soundtrack.

KNAC.COM: Do you still talk to Axl?

MM: I haven't talked to him for quite a few years now. They invited me to do some stuff, like a show at the RIP party. I did "Heartbreak Hotel" with Guns onstage and that's when Axl was wearing a kilt (laughs). I was like are you sure you're gonna wear that? But, uh, he was cute, I guess. They were preparing for the shows opening up for the Rolling Stones. That's where I met Alice Cooper. I just did "Heartbreak Hotel" with Guns and then someone said that Alice was there and he wanted to see me. We had a nice chat and he was so fuckin' super nice that, uh, it wasn't disappointing because I knew he was a nice guy. But he had that look in his eye, same as Bob Ezrin (famed producer of Cooper, Kiss Pink Floyd and more and KNAC.COM Chairman Of The Board) sometimes. The same demon or something is in there. It's really fucking cool. I saw that the same twinkle in their eye, that connection the legacy or whatever they both had.

[...]

However, the Rose Tattoo beast has continued to show signs of life. In 1993, Guns 'n' Roses, who covered "Nice Boys" on their Live Like a Suicide EP, requested that the band reunite and support them on their Australian tour. All the 1978 members of Rose Tattoo were present, save for Digger Royale, who died in 1991 after a long struggle with drug addiction. According to Wells, the experience was a good one.

PW: We made a couple of bucks, and spared no expense. [Guns 'n' Roses] were very rich. They spilt more champagne than they drank, dropped more cocaine on the floor than you could imagine.

KNAC: Listening to some of Guns 'n' Roses early stuff, I sometimes think that it might as well be a young Rose Tattoo playing.

PW: I don't remember them, but they used to turn up at gigs when we toured America. I don't know where they're from - Axl's from Butt-Fuck, Idaho or someplace - but he used to come to gigs and the guitar player used to come to gigs. They were around for a dozen-or-so years in different lineups, trying to get a record deal. Back in those days what they were signing in Los Angeles was bands like The Knack. There were all these bands [GNR] and about twenty others - Motley Crue was one of them - who couldn't get arrested, just playing in bars and stuff.

[...]

G N' R Drummer, Wallflowers Guitarist Collaborate

Wallflowers lead guitarist Michael Ward and Guns N' Roses drummer Josh Freese have formed a "free-improv, noise, jazz-rock" band with session bassist Michael Elizondo (Dr. Dre, Fiona Apple), according to Ward. The band, whose first album is being mixed and edited, is tentatively called Crazy Cakes. Ward formerly played guitar for rock band School of Fish and is also working on a guitar-dominated instrumental solo album. Ward's other side project, All the Miserable Times, which includes his wife on vocals, released its first album, I Love You Loudly, last year. Ward's solo work is available at his official Web site, hosted by his record label, Fish of Death (www.fishofdeath.com)

Wonder Girls is the new project/supergroup featuring Ashley Hamilton, STP's Scott Weiland, and Orgy's Jay Gordon. What started as a song for Ashley's solo record F.I.N.E., took on a life of it's own in the form of Wonder Girls. Guests include Failure's Troy Van Leeuwen, Chris Lloyd, and GN'R skinsman Matt Sorum. The list of talent continues with contributions from Sugar Ray's Mark McGrath, as well as members of Orgy and Porno For Pyros. Watch for the Josh Abraham produced debut album coming soon.

SLASH JOINS TOM JONES FOR D.C. GALA

ARCHIVE-SORELLE-SAIDMAN
01/03/2000

Slash played the giant America's Millennium Gala in Washington, D.C. on New Year's Eve, but things didn't go exactly as planned.

The former Guns N' Roses guitarist was originally scheduled to perform in an all-star rock band fronted by John Fogerty. After bonding with Tom Jones in the hotel bar prior to the show, however, Slash opted to play with the Welsh crooner instead.

The leather-clad rocker missed out on Jones' rendition of his '60s hit "It's Not Unusual," but he joined the hip-swinging singer front and center for the Gala's post-midnight finale. Sporting his traditional top hat, Slash joined Jones and other key Gala performers for workouts of the Wilson Pickett classic "In The Midnight Hour," Bob Marley's "One Love," and a post-broadcast rendition of "This Land Is Your Land," complete with a "Hallelujah" chorus.

Slash's manager Tom Maher told MTV News that the rocker went back to the White House for a post-show party, where he hung out mostly with Jones and country popster Kenny Rogers. Maher added that it's a good bet that Slash will work with Jones in the future.

"They really got along great," Maher said. "They definitely bonded."

The Gala, hosted by Will Smith and organized by Quincy Jones, featured a variety of musical styles, poetry, and commentary relating to the past century, all presented to a crowd of roughly 500,000 people in front of the Lincoln Memorial. There were other unusual pairings over the course of the evening, including Trisha Yearwood and Brian McKnight performing the 1968 protest song "Abraham, Martin and John" (made famous by Dion), Usher and Kris Kristofferson duetting on The Band's hit "The Weight," and Kathy Mattea and Luther Vandross teaming up for The Impressions' classic "People Get Ready."

Other veterans performed their best known hits, including Fogerty offering up Creedence Clearwater Revival's "Proud Mary," Foreigner's Lou Gramm and Mick Jones performing "I Want to Know What Love Is," and Don McLean singing "American Pie."

A major highlight of the production saw U2's Bono and the band's producer, Daniel Lanois, perform an acoustic version of "One," preceded by a moving speech on world unity. The Irish singer was introduced by President Clinton.

Slash worked on the soundtrack for the Charlie Sheen/Emilio Estevez movie, Rated X. The movie airs on Showtime (producers) beginning in May. The Showtime schedule lists it on May 13th, 18th and 29th. It'll air in June on the 4th and the 10th.

Slash has been known to engage in some surprising collaborations (i.e., Tom Jones, Michael Jackson), but the top-hatted guitarist surprised even himself when he found himself in the studio working with none other than Rod Stewart.

"That's where you draw the line," says Slash, with a laugh. The former Guns N' Roses guitarist, who's getting ready to tour with AC/DC with Slash's Snakepit, said that while he played on two songs, he doesn't know their names or what they sound like. "It was all Pro Tools," he explains. "I sat there playing guitar for, like, 28 hours and then they'll just use what works for the song." Not exactly his way of doing things.

And, for the record, there's no truth to the rumor that Slash will perform live or tour with Stewart.

German singer DORO PESCH is gearing up to issue her first U.S. release in 10 years via Koch Records on September 12. The album, Calling the Wild, includes a collaboration with LEMMY KILMISTER on MOTORHEAD's "Love Me Forever" and a second duet, "Alone Again," plus guest performances by guitarists SLASH, AL PITRELLI (MEGADETH). Peasch also covers BILLY IDOL's "White Wedding" on the disc.

RECORD SET FOR OCTOBER 10, 2000 RELEASE

New York, NY... Former Guns N' Roses axe man, Slash, has officially signed with KOCH Records. His new record entitled Ain't Life Grand, hits the street this October. Bob Frank, President of KOCH Entertainment says, "we're extremely happy to be working with such a legend and we look forward to a long and healthy relationship."

Slash and his band have just completed their new record and are poised to hit the road in early August. The record is a jarring plethora of hard-hitting songs. The CD also includes a hearty ballad entitled "Back To The Moment." The first song on the CD, "Been There Lately," will kick you in the face and leave you wanting more. The third song, "Shine" is the song that crosses all barriers.

Rod Stewart is recording a new record and has asked Slash to sit in. Most recently, Slash also jammed with Herbie Hancock in Los Angeles. The legendary guitar player will also be featured on an upcoming segment of MTV Cribs which is set to air this August.

Slash's band members are: Rod Jackson; lead vocals, Johnny Blackout; bass guitar, Kerry Kelly; guitar and Matt Laug on drums.

Slash and his band will be on tour in mid August. The band will also be playing Popkomm in Cologne, Germany on August 17, 2000.

Regarding his new record label, Slash is excited. He says, "It's so nice to be working with people that care about what I care about. Making good music, having a good time and just getting it out there."

[...]

KNAC: But you just did a new Slash disc?

JD: That I did. Great guitarist, total pro and really great to work with. Slash was really computer un-friendly at first, but after a while, I couldn't peel him away from the screen when we were tracking he'd ask, "Have we totally loaded the disc drive, is it backed up yet?" But deep down, he liked the good old stuff, so we cut with the best set up, 16-inch, two-track tape.

KNAC: Is there pressure on him to kiss and make up and re-do Guns?

JD: Enormous pressure, like 100 million dollars worth. And he's not against it, if Axl goes back to being the Axl that he loves. Slash isn't using drugs at the moment, but after 11pm or so, he'll morph into the Dean Martin of rock- - "martini time!" He's a gas. Also the only guy I ever produced who was hauled off by the cops in the middle of a guitar solo.

KNAC: WHAT?

JD: That's right. Slash had been charged by this crazy girlfriend of his with assault and had a warrant out. When the cops finally showed up, we expected it. The girlfriend had caused a major scene already, showed up at my hotel room and demanded to know where he was. I said nothing, so she talked the clerk into giving up his room number. She finds him and stabs him with a pencil! After he pushes her off, she charges him with assault! Anyway, the cops show up in the middle of the session, looking for "Mr. Slash," cuffed him and took him away. He had the bail bondsman's number in his teeth at the time, on a piece of paper. Had him out in no time.

KNAC: How rock and roll, eh?

JD: Totally. He lives for that shit, the edginess.

[...]

Get Loaded on Friday

Since Guns N' Roses imploded earlier this decade, bassist Duff McKagan has been busy' both in the studio and on the stage fronting various all-star lineups of punk-cum-metal bands. The Neurotic Outsiders gathered members of GN'R, the Sex Pistols and Duran Duran. McKagan spent some time reviving his old Seattle punk band, 10 Minute Warning. He also released a 1993 solo album, “Believe in Me." Now McKagan’s Loaded borrows Black Flag veteran Dez Cadena, Reverend Horton Heat drummer Patrick “Taz” Bentley and a guy named “Bunny” (a k a Michael Baragan).

Now sober, McKagan in his GN'R days was literally loaded, until his pancreas exploded.

The music starts at 10 p.m. Friday at Hairy Marys. The Chicken Hawks and Radio Caroline are the openers. Cover costs $10. Call 255-2456.

— Kyle Munson

Duff McKagen, former bassist with the band Guns N’ Roses, has listed his town-house on the water at Lake Arrowhead at $369,000.

McKagen, 35, splits his time mostly between Washington state, where he was born, and Los Angeles. He quit Guns N’ Roses in 1997 but still tours, writes songs and records solo albums.

His two-bedroom, 1,500-square-foot townhouse has what is described as “a gentlemen's game room.” Decorated in purple and black velvet, the room (with a wet bar) cost him $40,000 for the interiors. The condo also has an outdoor spa, lake views and a boat dock.

Screaming Trees frontman Mark Lanegan has been in Los Angeles working on the follow up to his much acclaimed 1999 solo album I'll Take Care of You.

Lanegan has been collaborating on various tracks with former Guns'n'Roses bass player Duff McKagan. The new album, said to comprise of all original songs, should be released on Beggars Banquet some time this year.

The Presidents' (formerly known as Presidents of the United States of America) new album, Freaked Out and Small, features Duff McKagan of on bass on a track called "I'm Mad".

G N' R's Duff McKagan Joins Presidents For TV Show

Former Guns N' Roses member Duff McKagan joined the Presidents Of The United States for their appearance on The Late Late Show With Craig Kilborn on Thursday night (September 14). McKagan played bass, freeing up Presidents' frontman Chris Ballew to play keyboards on the song "Tiny Explosions," the first single off the group's new reunion album, Freaked Out And Small. McKagan also played bass on "I'm Mad," which was taped for airing on Kilborn's show on election night (November 7). The song is, according to Presidents' guitarist Dave Dederer, the group's "only political song ever."
McKagan's bass playing can also be heard on the studio version of "I'm Mad." Dederer tells LAUNCH that his longtime pal inadvertently evoked the sound of his former band during the recording on that song. "It was great," Dederer says. "He played this little intro lick on it and it was just straight out of 'Welcome To The Jungle,' and of course, I didn't say anything until after he left because I didn't want him to fix it. He said he, he called me about a month later and he's like, 'Yeah, Dave, I was playing that song, that 'I'm Mad' song, for my old bass tech McBob and he said, "That's 'Welcome To The Jungle.'"' And I said, 'That's right. Gotcha!'"

Freaked Out And Small was released last week on the Music Blitz label. It is the Seattle band's third conventional release and its first since 1996.

The Gentlemen are Dave Dederer (The Presidents of The United States of America, Subset, The Young Fresh Fellows) and Duff McKagan (Guns 'n' Roses). A few weeks ago this band was Known as The Uptights, which featured a member of The Fastbacks. Dave decided to trim that branch and delve into another side of his prowess.... The Gentlemen.... Dederer and McKagan will perform as a guitar duo, singing and playing their own songs and some of their other favorites. They are looking forward to the relaxing drive down Interstate 5 from Seattle. Look for them at Powell's bookstore before the gig.
Playing NXNW Thursday, Sept 21 at 12:00 a.m. @ Satyricon in Portland, OR

More info about the North By Northwest Music and New Media Conference at their site (http://www.nxnw.com/).

The Gentlemen will release an album in October on Orange Recordings