2004.10.DD - Total Guitar - Do You Do Requests? (Slash)

by **Blackstar** Fri Sep 02, 2022 4:09 am

Transcript:
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DO YOU DO REQUESTS?
THE WORLD'S GUITAR PLAYERS ON THE STUFF THAT MATTERS...

SLASH
The Velvet Revolver guitarist goes back to his roots with Jimmy, Jeff and Eric

What was the first riff, song or solo you learned on the guitar?

Probably Deep Purple's Smoke On The Water or Stevie Wonder's Cos We've Ended As Lovers - but the Jeff Beck cover version.

Who are your all-time favourite guitarists?

I don't have one; because I never tried to emulate guitarists exactly, I just pick up bits and pieces from each guy. But when I first started, I would say Jimmy Page because he was a mixture of all the other guys. There were those three around at the same time - Page, Jeff Beck and Eric Clapton, and they all had such inimitable styles. Even Jimi Hendrix - although I can't stand people who try to play like him, it's so fucking boring. The thing about Jimmy Page was that he had this worldly music sense and a great catalogue of styles.

Is there a riff or lick you wish you'd written?

Tons of them. Back In The Saddle by Aerosmith, The Ocean by Led Zeppelin, the middle section of Sabbath Bloody Sabbath and Jeff Beck's Superstition, or Stevie Wonder's Superstition. I could go on!

Punk or heavy metal?

All things considered, I've always loved punk with the whole rock 'n' roll thing, but it was missing something and heavy metal was great but it was also missing something. So neither of them really, but maybe a mixture of the two and a little of something else...

If you wanted to impress someone with your guitar playing, what would you play?

Probably something somebody else did! I'm not the kind of guitar player that's impressed by his own shit, so I wouldn't know. I'm still working on it.

You're asked to get onstage at a wedding and play a song, what song would you play?

Probably an instrumental version of A Whiter Shade Of Pale. I played it, believe it or not, at an anti-war rally one time with Jackson Browne. It's just a great melody, and it translates well on guitar.

■ Fall To Pieces is out on 20 September through RCA.