1993.10.DD - MTV - Interview with Slash

Transcript:
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Tabitha Soren: The late great Jimi Hendrix will be the subject of an all-star tribute album due out next month. It’s called Stone Free and it will feature cover songs by Jeff Beck, Eric Clapton, P.M. Dawn and Slash of Guns N’ Roses, among others. Our colleagues at MTV Europe went into the studio with Slash, when he recorded his tribute to one of the most charismatic and influential guitarists in rock history.

Eddie Kramer: It’s a labor of love, something I’ve been working on for about 18 months. It’s a tribute to Jimi Hendrix. We wanted different artists to perform Jimi’s songs, and we asked Slash and Boo Radleys to do something with the Band of Gypsys – the two remaining members, Billy Cox and Buddy Miles. It came rather quickly, actually. I was pleased.

Slash: We had a list of songs to use from, you know. Some of it was, like, inherently Hendrix.

Eddie Kramer: And you just couldn’t touch.

Slash: You just don’t... with it (laughs).

Eddie Kramer: Leave it as it is.

Slash: And so we –

Eddie Kramer: This one was good, because it was a nice jam that we could do.

Slash: And it was just natural for us to do a good homage to Jimi. But at the same time, I’m not trying to rip him of, or use too much – you know, try and copy him, like a lot of guitar players do.

Voice-over: Jimi Hendrix’s tribute album is just one of the many projects Slash is involved in. Coming soon, Guns N’ Roses punk album.

Slash: There was no marketing strategy for it or some, sort of like, ploy to get us to a certain place. We just wanted to record some songs and release them. So to everybody who’s waiting for it, it’s like, whatever it is, it is. So don’t take it too seriously.

Voice-over: The last two and a half years have seen Guns N’ Roses come of age, with the longest major tour in history.

Slash: You want to keep progressing or keep achieving goals, or just keep going forward and that’s going in itself. You love music, and that’s what you do. You don’t, like – this isn’t a job, this is your life. So you’re gonna play for ever. As long as you love it, you’re gonna be playing, and I couldn’t ever – I couldn’t even imagine all of a sudden going, “Okay, I’m done with this.” I could be done with the business, I’ll still be playing.

Tabitha Soren: The Jimi Hendrix album, Stone Free, is due out November 9th, to be followed by a Guns N’ Roses album of punk rock cover tunes called “The Spaghetti Incident.”