Tracii Guns

by **Soulmonster** Thu 5 Aug 2010 - 14:05

TRACII GUNS

Real name:
Tracy Richard Irving Ulrich.

Date of birth:
January 20, 1966.

Band position:
Founding member, lead guitar.

Time with Guns N' Roses:
1985.

Shows with the band:
Tracii played at least {TRACIISHOWS} shows with Guns N' Roses.

Biography:
Tracii Guns (born Tracy Richard Irving Ulrich on January 20, 1966) is an American guitarist best known as the founder of glam metal group L.A. Guns as well as the supergroups Brides of Destruction and Contraband. He was also very briefly involved in the formation of the first lineup of Guns N' Roses but eventually left the group and was replaced by guitarist Slash. [Wikipedia, August 2016].

Quotes:

[...] During the time I was in LA Guns, Izzy and I started doing stuff on the side and calling it Guns N' Roses. Meanwhile, the other band I was in got sick of me sitting around saying "Slash would be great for this..." Finally, I got myself kicked out of the band by putting on a pair of ripped up black jeans and a spray-painted pink and black biker jacket, doing my hair, putting full makeup on and running all around the stage and out into the crowd one night. The guitarist freaked out 'cause it was his band and he was used to getting all the attention. So, before I could say "I quit", he kicked me out. I said, "yeeahhh!" It was so great! [Hit Parader, 1986]

The guitar player in LA Guns; Izzy lived with him, he and Slash was like friends in high school (...). The name Guns N' Roses come from Tracii Guns and Axl Rose [...] and he went back to LA Guns [Interview after show, October 1997].

I've known Tracii from L.A. Guns for a long time and that was a rival thing that I've had with him since junior high [Guitar For The Practising Musician, September 1988]

Tracii, it turned out, was a local hero. He had gone to the same high school as Slash and they had played in rival bands [Duff's autobiography, "It's So Easy", 2011, p. 32]

There were a few other guitar players and bands around my high school, like Tracii Guns and his band Pyrhus. I had a moment of envy when I first started playing guitar, before I owned an electric; Tracii had a black Les Paul (a real one) and a Peavy amp, and I'll never forget how together I thought he was ["Slash", 2007]

Tracii was an incredible guitar player, but his sound was also really metal. My initial impression was that he didn't have the feel I recognized in Slash [Duff's autobiography, "It's So Easy", 2011, p. 59]

Tracii was someone Slash and I knew from Bancroft Junior High School. He used to have the total surfer-boy look with the straight blond hair that all the girls liked. Now he sported jet-black hair and tattoos ["My Appetite for Destruction", 2010]

Rob and Tracii were skeptical about the idea [the Hell tour] from the start. I guess they weren't sure whether to take the leap of faith necessary to leave home with nothing but your bandmates and wits to depend on. And just a few weeks before we were to leave, they broke the news: they weren't up for a no-budget trip. Not knowing where we would sleep each night was too much for them. I assured them we'd find places to crash, and anyway, what did it matter - we would be on tour, a concept that to me was pure magic.

It didn't matter. First Rob and then Tracii backed out [Duff's autobiography, "It's So Easy", 2011, p. 61]

I have an interesting anecdote to tell you [about 'Appetite for Reconstruction]: one day, a barman in New-York told me how much he loved Guns N’ Roses and asked a friend to buy Appetite for Destruction for him so I could autograph it. When the friend came back, he handed me this Appetite for Reconstruction that you mentioned. I hallucinated when I took a look at the credits and realised that all the washed-up has-beens of the West Coast, the losers, the ex-somebodys were all gathered on this shitty record ! [laughs] Even Tracii Guns plays on most of the tracks. Fuck, this album is basically the record all these guys dreamed of making one day ! So I didn’t even bother listening to these covers. It can only be crap anyway. It’s really fucked up. I don’t feel honored or flattered whatsoever. It’s all about money [Slash’s Snakepit: For the love of art, Hard Rock Magazine, October 2000]

L.A. Guns was hired to play the opening slot so long as enough of us showed up to jam with them. Duff, Izzy, Steven, and I showed up reluctantly-at best-to play at least a few songs. We got up there and our crew told me after that L.A: Guns had tried to sabotage our gear; they'd turned down all the amps to make us sound bad. I guess Tracii was worried that I was going to outplay him. Whatever it was, they tried to nip it in the bud, but our people caught it and fixed it. In any case, that show ended any sort of "civil" relationship between Tracii Guns and me [Slash's autobiography, p 228-229]