Re: XX. Notes

by **Soulmonster** Sun Aug 18, 2019 8:22 am

Blackstar wrote:Yes, I bought the kindle version of the book on Amazon a couple or months ago, but I didn't read it, I left it for later.
https://www.amazon.com/Scenesters-Music-Mayhem-Melrose-1985-1990-ebook/dp/B0795967S7

I tried to watch the DVD, too, but, like you said, it's not available outside USA and Canada.

Hmm, so he can't help... It's confusing, because in the book there is neither mention of a band called Lipstick Fixx nor of the Galaxy club. There is mention of a Lipstick Fixx club, though, in the quotes above.

Okay, then I won't buy it. I will trust you will post anything interesting when you come across it (as you already did).

And I will just conclude that we don't have the answer to the Lipstick Fixx show, but hopefully in the future.

by **Blackstar** Sun Aug 18, 2019 9:03 am

Joseph Brooks: A group of guys that hung out on Melrose, that all had a very similar look, and they all knew each other and were friends. Chris Trent and Izzy were like brothers, they were interchangeable. They had the same look and style, but there were several of them. I can just think of those two off the top of my head side by side, they were like, okay, interchangeable. Right. That it was basically that Johnny Thunders/Keith Richards kind of thing, then it would be an updated Hanoi Rocks.

Joseph Brooks: Izzy said to me, “Oh, we've formed a band.” I'm like, "Congratulations. What's it called?" He said, "Guns N' Roses.” I said, "When are you playing? Of course I want to come." At that time, Tamie Downe (from Faster Pussycat) was running the spotlight at the Troubadour, and working at Retail Slut, and Bruce Moreland (Wall of Voodoo) was working at Retail Slut. There was a big scene, and we all were friends, and it was great.
Guns N' Roses had just started, and I went and saw their first few shows, and I thought they were amazing. I said, "Give me a tape because I want to play it on the radio," and they were like, "Oh my God that's so great." I played it on KROQ, and then I took that tape, and I shopped it around to different record Labels.

Joseph Brooks: I gave a Guns N' Roses tape to Tom Zutaut at Geffen Records. I asked him to come see the show they were playing at the Troubadour. I think they were the opening band at the Troubadour that night. I put him on the list and he didn't show up. The next day I said, "What happened?" He said, "Oh, I went to the door and my name was on the list, but there was a two drink minimum, so I wasn't going to come in." This really happened. He says, "Let me know when they play again where there's no drink minimum."
This is a record company executive, this is what he said. So, the next time they played they played at the Roxy and L.A. Guns were on the bill, too, and I said, "Come to this show.” So he came to the show; he loved them. He said, "Bring me backstage, I want to meet them."
I brought him backstage introduced him to the band and he ended up signing them.

Joseph Brooks: Rodney on the ROQ had a whole other thing going on. He was playing more local stuff, really promoting the hell out of the local bands and the local scene, which was great. We were only playing imports. The only time that we played a local band, I played a cassette tape of Guns N' Roses because they were friends of mine. Before they had anything close to anything, there was like a demo tape that they made. I loved it. I played it on the KROQ show. I said who it was and I said “a local band,” and that was just the beginning of their thing.

Source: Desi Benjamin, Scenesters: Music, Mayhem & Melrose Ave. 1985-1990; 2018

by **Soulmonster** Sun Aug 18, 2019 9:52 am

Blackstar wrote:From the book Scenesters: Music, Mayhem & Melrose Ave. 1985-1990 by Desi Benjamin:

Jenny Price: Little known fact...I was responsible for getting Guns n’ Roses their first offer for a record deal, months before any other labels were interested. Axl and Duff were friends of mine and I worked for Greenworld Records and Distribution in Torrance for a short time when I was about 18 years old.
This was around the same time that I started my club, Lipstick Fixx. Greenworld was a distributor who had a small label which initially put out the first Mötley Crüe and Great White records, before they were picked up by the majors. I coordinated a meeting between Guns and the owner Steve Boudreau, and label managers Peter Heur and Dean Naleway (both Peter and Dean eventually left Greenworld to start Triple X Records and manage Jane’s Addiction). Axl and Duff came to the Torrance offices for the meeting. They did not end up accepting the deal because Boudreau was only offering a pressing and distribution deal of their recordings (their demo which included “Welcome to the Jungle”) and would not pay to re-record their material. It was the worst business decision of his life. Greenworld went out of business a year later.

Who is Jenny Price?

by **Blackstar** Sun Aug 18, 2019 3:00 pm

Soulmonster wrote:
Blackstar wrote:From the book Scenesters: Music, Mayhem & Melrose Ave. 1985-1990 by Desi Benjamin:

Jenny Price: Little known fact...I was responsible for getting Guns n’ Roses their first offer for a record deal, months before any other labels were interested. Axl and Duff were friends of mine and I worked for Greenworld Records and Distribution in Torrance for a short time when I was about 18 years old.
This was around the same time that I started my club, Lipstick Fixx. Greenworld was a distributor who had a small label which initially put out the first Mötley Crüe and Great White records, before they were picked up by the majors. I coordinated a meeting between Guns and the owner Steve Boudreau, and label managers Peter Heur and Dean Naleway (both Peter and Dean eventually left Greenworld to start Triple X Records and manage Jane’s Addiction). Axl and Duff came to the Torrance offices for the meeting. They did not end up accepting the deal because Boudreau was only offering a pressing and distribution deal of their recordings (their demo which included “Welcome to the Jungle”) and would not pay to re-record their material. It was the worst business decision of his life. Greenworld went out of business a year later.
Who is Jenny Price?

There isn't any more information about her in the book other than what she says in this quote.

by **Soulmonster** Sun Aug 18, 2019 3:12 pm

Blackstar wrote:
Soulmonster wrote:

Blackstar wrote:From the book Scenesters: Music, Mayhem & Melrose Ave. 1985-1990 by Desi Benjamin:

Jenny Price: Little known fact...I was responsible for getting Guns n’ Roses their first offer for a record deal, months before any other labels were interested. Axl and Duff were friends of mine and I worked for Greenworld Records and Distribution in Torrance for a short time when I was about 18 years old.
This was around the same time that I started my club, Lipstick Fixx. Greenworld was a distributor who had a small label which initially put out the first Mötley Crüe and Great White records, before they were picked up by the majors. I coordinated a meeting between Guns and the owner Steve Boudreau, and label managers Peter Heur and Dean Naleway (both Peter and Dean eventually left Greenworld to start Triple X Records and manage Jane’s Addiction). Axl and Duff came to the Torrance offices for the meeting. They did not end up accepting the deal because Boudreau was only offering a pressing and distribution deal of their recordings (their demo which included “Welcome to the Jungle”) and would not pay to re-record their material. It was the worst business decision of his life. Greenworld went out of business a year later.

Who is Jenny Price?

There isn't any more information about her in the book other than what she says in this quote.

Okay, thanks.

I am off now for a three-day mountain hike with little to no internet connection and mobile reception.

Bye!

by **Blackstar** Sun Aug 18, 2019 3:20 pm

Okay. Have a great time!

In the meantime, I'll probably add some articles from 1995 and I'll go back to adding stuff from L.A. Weekly when you are back Smile

by **Blackstar** Thu Aug 22, 2019 6:10 pm

Soulmonster wrote:
And I will just conclude that we don't have the answer to the Lipstick Fixx show, but hopefully in the future.

I searched for the address on the bottom of the Lipstick Fixx flyer and for The Galaxy in the L.A. Weekly archive.

The address was indeed The Galaxy. It wasn't a club, though, but a theater called "The Galaxy Stage" which hosted plays and poetry readings. I found only one ad about a musical event there, in a place (which was obviously in the same building) called "The Galaxy Rehearsal Hall."

In the Lipstick Fixx flyer it is mentioned that it was a "new location."

So I think that the flyer and the L.A. Weekly article referred to the club The Lipstick Fixx, which likely didn't have a permanent location and the owners rented various place.

by **Blackstar** Fri Aug 23, 2019 10:09 pm

Ad in L.A. Weekly (November 14, 1986) about a show on November 15, 1986 that I don't see in our database.

I see that gnrontour.com lists it as opening for The Dead Boys and there is a flyer, too:

It's not very clear, but I can see the Weirdos and Guns N' Roses for the show at Fenders.

But according to L.A. Weekly, November 14, 1986 the Dead Boys shows were cancelled. So maybe the other bands on the bill played, since there was the ad in L.A Weekly.

by **Soulmonster** Sat Aug 24, 2019 8:23 am

Blackstar wrote:
Soulmonster wrote:
And I will just conclude that we don't have the answer to the Lipstick Fixx show, but hopefully in the future.

I searched for the address on the bottom of the Lipstick Fixx flyer and for The Galaxy in the L.A. Weekly archive.

The address was indeed The Galaxy. It wasn't a club, though, but a theater called "The Galaxy Stage" which hosted plays and poetry readings. I found only one ad about a musical event there, in a place (which was obviously in the same building) called "The Galaxy Rehearsal Hall."

In the Lipstick Fixx flyer it is mentioned that it was a "new location."

So I think that the flyer and the L.A. Weekly article referred to the club The Lipstick Fixx, which likely didn't have a permanent location and the owners rented various place.

Yes, this is my conclusion, too. An ambulating club concept called Lipstick Fixx that on this date was supposed to take place at the Galaxy with Guns N' Roses playing, but likely didn't happen due to a police raid.

I think we should summarize all shows that we are not entirely sure happened, in a separate thread. What do you think?

by **Soulmonster** Sat Aug 24, 2019 8:25 am

Blackstar wrote:Ad in L.A. Weekly (November 14, 1986) about a show on November 15, 1986 that I don't see in our database.

I see that gnrontour.com lists it as opening for The Dead Boys and there is a flyer, too:

It's not very clear, but I can see the Weirdos and Guns N' Roses for the show at Fenders.

But according to L.A. Weekly, November 14, 1986 the Dead Boys shows were cancelled. So maybe the other bands on the bill played, since there was the ad in L.A Weekly.

November 1986 is that weird month where they for unknown reasons didn't play. A show in this month would make a lot of sense. The show is, of course, not listed by Marc Canter so I lean towards it having been cancelled. I can ask him about this, too.

And this would also go to that thread of mystery shows.

by **Soulmonster** Sat Aug 24, 2019 8:40 am

Talked to Marc, he says that both the March 23 and the November 15 show was cancelled.

by **Blackstar** Sat Aug 24, 2019 8:44 am

Soulmonster wrote:Talked to Marc, he says that both the March 23 and the November 15 show was cancelled.

Great! At least we now have these two shows cleared up.

Did you ask Marc about The Lipstick Fixx?

There is also the February 1, 1986 show at Timbers Ballroom: It was advertised by Axl at the Roxy show of January 18, there are flyers and ads, and Raz Cue wrote that it happened.

by **Blackstar** Sun Aug 25, 2019 9:02 am

An ad in L.A. Weekly (March 6, 1987) about Izzy playing a show with members of other bands as "The Loud Ones."

by **Soulmonster** Sun Aug 25, 2019 9:11 am

Blackstar wrote:An ad in L.A. Weekly (March 6, 1987) about Izzy playing a show with members of other bands as "The Loud Ones."

That was during the recording of Appetite, likely after Izzy had done his parts and were waiting for Axl to finish his.

by **Soulmonster** Sun Aug 25, 2019 9:13 am

At the next GN'R gig, on March 16, Axl would diss the Scream from stage: "I'd like to take this moment to say a couple words about The Scream club. I don't know who's responsible necessarily, but they seem to try to fuck up a lot of people's gigs. They don't like to pay their bands worth of shit. So basically, in general, fuck The Scream."

by **Blackstar** Sun Aug 25, 2019 9:25 am

Soulmonster wrote:At the next GN'R gig, on March 16, Axl would diss the Scream from stage: "I'd like to take this moment to say a couple words about The Scream club. I don't know who's responsible necessarily, but they seem to try to fuck up a lot of people's gigs. They don't like to pay their bands worth of shit. So basically, in general, fuck The Scream."

Interesting. So Axl probably spoke on behalf of Izzy.

by **Blackstar** Sun Aug 25, 2019 9:27 am

Ads in L.A. Weekly (December 26, 1986) about a New Years Eve party at the Glamour:

by **Blackstar** Sun Aug 25, 2019 9:48 am

Mentions of incidents at the Cathouse. I'm not sure if I should add these to the articles archive. What do you think?

---------

Slash and Duff being kicked out (L.A. Weekly, April 17, 1987):

Brawl involving Del James and Steven (L.A. Weekly, June 12, 1987):

by **Soulmonster** Sun Aug 25, 2019 9:54 am

Blackstar wrote:Mentions of incidents at the Cathouse. I'm not sure if I should add these to the articles archive. What do you think?

I think we should. It might seem small but we have so little from this period so it is nice to flesh out that section of the interviews. But more importantly, I will likely be writing about these events in the history section, and then it is easier to cite them sources when they are included in the history section. Later on, I intend to make all citations into URLs that take readers to the source.

by **Blackstar** Sun Aug 25, 2019 10:04 am

Soulmonster wrote:
Blackstar wrote:Mentions of incidents at the Cathouse. I'm not sure if I should add these to the articles archive. What do you think?
I think we should. It might seem small but we have so little from this period so it is nice to flesh out that section of the interviews. But more importantly, I will likely be writing about these events in the history section, and then it is easier to cite them sources when they are included in the history section. Later on, I intend to make all citations into URLs that take readers to the source.

Okay, I'll add them.

Maybe then these about a Drunk Fux show should be added to the articles archive too, since we don't include Drunk Fux shows in the concert archive?

by **Soulmonster** Sun Aug 25, 2019 10:45 am

Blackstar wrote:Maybe then these about a Drunk Fux show should be added to the articles archive too, since we don't include Drunk Fux shows in the concert archive?

Sure.

by **Blackstar** Wed Aug 28, 2019 10:05 am

THE CHICAGO SESSIONS, 1989

https://www.a-4-d.com/t4046p120-the-history-in-their-own-words#15965

According to this L.A. Weekly report, Slash and Duff were seen in Los Angeles between June 17-19,1989:
https://www.a-4-d.com/t4176-1989-06-30-l-a-weekly-l-a-dee-da-slash-duff

Could that mean that they had left Chicago already? By their accounts, though, they were in Chicago when this Chicago Tribune article was published:
https://www.a-4-d.com/t3147-1989-06-26-chicago-tribune-if-you-see-guns-n-roses-in-chicago-just-remember-you-didn-t

So it's likely that they didn't stay continuously in Chicago, but they flew back and forth to L.A. and other places. There is also the case of Steven's wedding and honeymoon during June 1989:
https://www.a-4-d.com/t3221-1989-06-30-the-news-journal-a-gn-r-fan-now-steven

Lonn Friend (editor of RIP Magazine) has written in his memoir that he and Del James went to Chicago in June 1989 and saw the Batman movie premiere with Axl and Slash:

Growing up William Bailey in the heartland town of Lafayette, Indiana, W. Axl Rose sang, stalked, swam, and smelled like no other fish in the big-hair, heavy-eyeliner, poseur-polluted L.A. hard rock sea. While he borrowed bits in vocal technique and body language from his heroes Iggy Pop, Elton John, Freddie Mercury, Thin Lizzy’s Phil Lynott, and, of course, Jagger and Tyler, Axl was a complete and inexplicable original, prone to personal misbehavior and public misunderstanding.

With their record-breaking debut LP, Appetite for Destruction, the controversial EP, GN’R Lies, and the historic double release of Use Your Illusion I and II, the Gunners won the hearts, minds, souls, and ears of rock fans across the globe. Of course, along with the success came the scrutiny of a voracious, tabloid-driven media.

The press, both metal and mainstream, exploited the GN’R phenomenon, zeroing in on the snake-walking, sandpaper-voiced lead singer. When the band finally put its foot down and refused to play the game any longer, ignoring requests for interviews and photo sessions, the backlash of negative opinion from the legitimate and metal media was astounding. I began to realize then, purely and simply, that these newshounds and gossip-mongers just didn’t get it. No one got it, except the ones who usually get it: the fans.

Many nights on tour, the adored front man tested the patience of the good folks who put him on the pedestal. But it wasn’t out of malice or a sociopathic need to fuck with people’s heads. Axl was a pathological perfectionist when it came to getting on stage and delivering. He pushed his vocal ability to excruciating limits because he was emotionally and ethically unable to give a half-assed performance. Hence, if his throat or voice was not ready when showtime came, the show didn’t go on. Some nights when I was out on the road with GN’R, Axl was at the gig, raring to go onstage at 7:00 in the evening. Other nights, it was well past midnight.

Axl could hypnotize a sold-out stadium or an empty room. I witnessed the latter miracle in June 1989 when RIP senior editor (and friend of Axl’s) Del James informed me that Axl and Slash were in Chicago working on material for the next LP. “You up for a road trip?” I asked Del. A rhetorical question to a rising scribe in the early years of his rockin’ journalistic journey. “Dude, let’s go!” and off to Chicago we flew for a glimpse of the creative process that no other magazine had a prayer of witnessing.

The minute we touched down at O’Hare International, Del called Axl. “We’re going to the Metro,” directed my senior editor with the keys to the GN’R kingdom. “He wants to play us something. He sounds excited.” We grabbed a cab and headed for Chi Town’s most famous rock club.

Club owner Joe Shanahan, an influential player in the local rock scene, had built a rehearsal space above the concert venue. WVVX 103.1, Chicago’s metal station, was known as the first station in America to play Metallica, and they were on Appetite months before mainstream radio hopped on the nigh train. Axl liked Chicago. He planned on hanging out there until mid-August.

Del and I entered the airy Metro around 6 P.M. and were guided upstairs, where we found the most persecuted and venerated lead singer in rock seated at a grand piano in the middle of a large room. He was noodling the ivories as Del and I quietly took our seats.

“Hey man,” said Del to his pal.

Axl lifted his head, smiled, and replied, “Hey. You guys wanna hear something I’ve been working on?”

We answered with enthusiastic unison, “Yeah, man. Go for it.”

The fair-haired maestro then took a deep, cleansing breath, laid his hands on the keys, and in the blink of a jet-lagged eye, skated into a rhapsody that from the very first notes harkened a hero Axl and I shared, Elton John. With the exceptions of “Sweet Child” and “Patience,” ballads were nonexistent in the GN’R repertoire. That was about to change drastically.

When I look into your eyes
I can see a love restrained.

These were the first lines of the artist’s moving aortic anthem that would eventually emerge on disc and video as a two-part orchestrated opus of love and loss the likes of which rock had never seen. “November Rain” had been floating around in demo configuration on bootlegs since the Appetite sessions of ‘86, but the structure of the composition was never right for Axl, so it didn’t make it on the band’s long-form destructive debut.

“November Rain” eventually fell in the fall of 1991 on the ambitious Use Your Illusion double-disc package. Its companion track, “Estranged,” the second part of the tragic tale of love lost, was based on a short story written by the long-haired, ten-dollar-an-hour RIP editor seated next to me. Axl was possessed to create something larger than life and rock, heaven and earth. “November Rain” and “Estranged” presented a moment in music history when the bar would be raised so high, even the band members lost sight.

When the song was over, Del and I glanced at each other, goose bumps rising off both his inked and my bare arms. Our golf clap in the dank room did not do justice to the awesome event we’d just witnessed, a first peek at what history may ultimately proclaim as one musician’s watershed creative moment. Then he played around with a couple other tracks and announced that dinner was on him tonight. “Hey, guys,” he said. “Batman just opened. I really want to see it. Let’s grab Slash and go later.”

That night, after pasta and wine, the four of us hit a suburban Chicago multiplex and watched Tim Burton’s stunning celluloid comic-book adventure. One thing that stands out in my mind about that surreal night at the movies was when Axl got up to go to the bathroom. The minute he left his seat, the jingle of his bracelets acted as a magnet for about a half dozen girls seated behind us who were well aware of our presence in the theater. I wondered if he would make it back in time for reel three. To my surprise, he returned in five minutes.

Source: Lonn Friend, Life On Planet Rock; July 2006.

According to imdb, the Batman movie premiered in all USA on June 23, 1989. So if Lonn Friend is to be believed, Axl was already in Chicago by then.

by **Blackstar** Sun Sep 01, 2019 11:39 am

From a preview of an interesting interview David Geffen did for the September 1994 issue of Playboy magazine.

The Baltimore Sun, July 22, 1994:

[...]

This Q&A is a fascinating run-the-gamut offering.

Geffen is certainly one of Playboy's most upfront and candid subjects:

On Anne Rice and fans of “Interview With the Vampire” who objected to the casting of Tom Cruise:

“I don’t give a &%?$ that some people don’t like the idea — and all the worry will disappear when people see the movie. Tom is astounding.

I guess all the criticism inspired him to do his best work."

[...]

On the charge that Guns N’ Roses lead singer Axl Rose is homophobic:

“I don’t believe he is homophobic. I know him."

Geffen does admit, however, to being stunned by Axl’s use of a Charles Manson song on his last album. Geffen says he would not have stopped the record from being put out, “but I would have made arrangements regarding the song’s royalties. Our concern was that it should not enrich or reward Manson in any way." (And, indeed, royalties did eventually go to the child of one of the people killed by Charles Manson.)

But Geffen has dropped artists such as Andrew Dice Clay, Slayer and Geto Boys.

[...]

by **Blackstar** Mon Sep 02, 2019 1:15 pm

Paul Huge:

I'm inclined to think that he was brought in to try out/write/rehearse by Axl before the Sympathy For The Devil recording, in the summer of 1994 while Gilby was fired/not fired and then went out on tour for his solo album.

So Slash had met him then and didn't like him, and that was an additional reason he hated it so much when Axl had Paul record guitar on Sympathy For The Devil.

I guess it'll get clearer when later sources are added.

by **Soulmonster** Mon Sep 02, 2019 1:35 pm

Blackstar wrote:Paul Huge:

I'm inclined to think that he was brought in to try out/write/rehearse by Axl before the Sympathy For The Devil recording, in the summer of 1994 while Gilby was fired/not fired and then went out on tour for his solo album.

So Slash had met him then and didn't like him, and that was an additional reason he hated it so much when Axl had Paul record guitar on Sympathy For The Devil.

I guess it'll get clearer when later sources are added.

Yeah, I was thinking about that possibility too. Hopefully it will get clearer as more quotes are added. At the moment the timeline is a bit of a mess.

by **Blackstar** Mon Sep 02, 2019 1:39 pm

Soulmonster wrote:
Blackstar wrote:Paul Huge:

I'm inclined to think that he was brought in to try out/write/rehearse by Axl before the Sympathy For The Devil recording, in the summer of 1994 while Gilby was fired/not fired and then went out on tour for his solo album.

So Slash had met him then and didn't like him, and that was an additional reason he hated it so much when Axl had Paul record guitar on Sympathy For The Devil.

I guess it'll get clearer when later sources are added.

Yeah, I was thinking about that possibility too. Hopefully it will get clearer as more quotes are added. At the moment the timeline is a bit of a mess.

Yes, it is a mess, and I think even Chinese Whispers has it wrong in regards to Huge.

The Slash quote in Kerrang June 25 1994 where he says they had tried out other guitarists is indicative, as Zakk Wylde didn't come to the picture until January 1995.

by **Soulmonster** Mon Sep 02, 2019 6:25 pm

Blackstar wrote:
Soulmonster wrote:

Blackstar wrote:Paul Huge:

I'm inclined to think that he was brought in to try out/write/rehearse by Axl before the Sympathy For The Devil recording, in the summer of 1994 while Gilby was fired/not fired and then went out on tour for his solo album.

So Slash had met him then and didn't like him, and that was an additional reason he hated it so much when Axl had Paul record guitar on Sympathy For The Devil.

I guess it'll get clearer when later sources are added.

It is also stated here that they tried out some guitarists and that Huge was one of them:

"They tried a few guitarists, “one in particular that's on the Sympathy for the Devil track (Interview With the Vampire sound track) that I cannot stand. I told Axl I refuse to play with this guy.’ That’s where a t of the so-called fighting rumors that you’ve heard - which are blown way out of proportion - came from." https://www.a-4-d.com/t4103-1995-01-26-the-gazette-slash-has-a-new-flame

So Gilby was fired in June, went on tour in July, the band tried out a few guitarists (including Paul Huge), in September or October they recorded Sympathy and Huge came in to add guitar overdubs, in November (after hearing about Sympathy), Gilby admitted being out but would phrase it as him leaving, meanwhile Slash was pissed as hell because of everything and especially Axl brining Huge in to add guitar.

Yeah, I was thinking about that possibility too. Hopefully it will get clearer as more quotes are added. At the moment the timeline is a bit of a mess.

Yes, it is a mess, and I think even Chinese Whispers has it wrong in regards to Huge.

The Slash quote in Kerrang June 25 1994 where he says they had tried out other guitarists is indicative, as Zakk Wylde didn't come to the picture until January 1995.

by **Blackstar** Mon Sep 02, 2019 9:43 pm

Regarding Duff taking Axl's side about Slash's material in 1994:

I think this quote from Gilby states it clearly:

Gilby: Well, it's an Axl thing. He just wasn't into what we were doing, so he's kind of rethinking what he wants to do. He just kind of threw a wrench into everything that me, Slash and Matt had worked to. And then Duff came in. Duff and Axl have an idea what the album should be, and the rest of us have another idea. [Kerrang, May 24, 1994]

by **Soulmonster** Tue Sep 03, 2019 6:40 am

What I wanted to say in my last post (but it disappeared) is that Slash has confirmed [The Gazette, January 26, 1995] they tried out a few guitarists after Gilby was fired, including Paul Huge. So Axl brought him in when Gilby was fired, it didn't work out. Then Axl brought him in again for the Sympathy recordings, unbeknownst to Slash.

Regarding Duff and Gilby. After Slash had conveyed to Gilby he was fired, Gilby had a phone call with Axl that didn't go well, and then a conversation with Duff that ended in a fight. Likely Duff took Axl's side. Later on, when Gilby talks about his friends in GN'R he mentions Matt and Slash, but not Axl and Duff.

by **Blackstar** Tue Sep 03, 2019 9:07 am

I think this Slash quote from the Gazette January 26 1995 is interesting:

Slash: “When this first came up, Gilby, Duff (McKagan, bassist), Matt (Sorum, drummer) and myself were rehearsing. It wasn’t a great rehearsal, I was just trying to get Guns together. I had weird thoughts about what was going on, and then I got a phone call from Axl (about) the fact that he didn’t wanna write with Gilby but we'd keep him on as a side guy. He’s adamant."

So it seems that Axl, although he didn't want to write with Gilby, initially didn't intend to fire him altogether but keep him as a "side guy." I wonder what that could mean and how it could work. Maybe Axl wanted to bring someone else to write with and keep Gilby as a touring member?

And then, after Slash informed Gilby about it and Axl and Gilby had a conversation that "didn't go well" (Slash, The Gazette), Axl fired him. Maybe Gilby's interview with Kerrang on May 24, 1994 and what he said there had also something to do with his firing.

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