2004.10.DD - Total Guitar - Hero Worship: Izzy Stradlin

by **Blackstar** Fri Sep 02, 2022 4:03 am

Transcript:
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HERO WORSHIP

IZZY STRADLIN
GUNS N' ROSES/THE JU-JU HOUNDS

You know him by his: Dishevelled, Johnny Thunders-style appearance and loose blues licks that provided the sugar to Slash's spice.

Greatest moment: The beautifully nonchalant riff that purrs through the track It's So Easy. Is he playing the guitar or revving a motorbike?

Back in 1986, when LA hell raisers Guns N' Roses released the unparalleled Appetite For Destruction upon an unsuspecting world, the top hat-wearing guitar monster known as Slash inspired many a youngster to pick up an axe for the first time. But in the background, visually at least, rhythm guitarist Izzy Stradlin was just as vital a part in the Guns N' Roses jigsaw. Playing Brad Whitford to Slash's Joe Perry - not the first time the Gunners have been compared to Aerosmith - Stradlin laid down the swaggering, effortlessly perfect blues licks for his big-haired colleague to widdle all over.

It turned out to be a partnership made in heaven, and spawned three major selling albums before Stradlin decided he'd had enough of the big time and jumped ship to form the short-lived Ju-Ju Hounds. Such was his importance to Axl Roses's band, that they sought out a virtual clone in Gilby Clarke as Stradlin's replacement. Clarke proved to be a sound player, but due to the fact that Stradlin played a major part in writing the songs, Guns N' Roses were never the same again.

While Stradlin may have been spotted intermittently sporting a Fender Telecaster, his laidback style was better served by the softer sound of a Gibson. Just like Slash, Stradlin is a fan of the Les Paul. But he has also been heard playing the ES-175 and, depending on the texture required in the song, the jazz guitarists favourite - the Byrdland guitar.

1992's self-titled album, Ju Ju Hounds, is something of a forgotten classic, and the Faces/Stones style blues-rock of Shuffle It All highlights a very accomplished record. Today Stradlin is soldiering on as a solo artist, releasing fine, if not commercially successful, albums. Meanwhile, without Stradlin to help him write the songs, Axl Rose has yet to release the first Guns N' Roses album in 11 years. Though it is optimistically expected in November. (BC)