XX. Notes

People may not know that Slash auditioned for Poison. Why didn't he work out?

Slash is one of my all-time favorite guitar players and I believe he would have steered our sound a little more in the Aerosmith direction. He was basically the same guy he is today. What you see is what you get. It never really had a chance to work out or not. The band decided C.C. (DeVille) was the best choice for us.

In 1991, Soundgarden opened for Guns N’ Roses. What do you remember most about that tour?

Without saying anything negative about Axl, what I remember the most was Duff and Slash and everyone else being regular, sweet, warm guys in a rock band that just wanted to play rock music. And then, like, there was this Wizard of Oz character behind the curtain that seemed to complicate what was the most ideal situation they could ever have been in: They were the most successful and famous rock band on the planet. Every single show, hundreds of thousands of fans just wanted to hear songs. For some reason there seemed to be this obstacle in just going out and participating in that. That is what I remember the most. It’s sad.

He Made Me Seem Like the Meanest Mother in the World!
Posted on May 15, 2012

If you would ask any mother about raising her children, she would probably say each child is different! Each one has his or her own personality. In my case, my three Sons are as different as day and night. In Steven’s book my appetite for destruction, he made me seem like the meanest mother in the world! I would like you to read my story Sweet Child of mine and know my side of the story. I think every mother will relate to my story and feel that they are not alone anymore in their struggles in regard to raising their sons or daughters. I have made lots of mistakes as we all do and I cannot change the past but I know one thing, I’m going to make every day that I have left the best that I can. It’s a good feeling to finally realize that the only person I’m responsible for is myself.

Deanna Adler

Dr. Drew Vindicated Me On His Radio Show
Posted on May 16, 2012

Today I received exciting news! I’m having friends from Cleveland and Michigan visit me at the end of the month. It’s been years since we all got together! Maybe, I will go on a diet! I said maybe! When we get together it’s like time has stood still. We just pick up from where we last saw each other. It’s amazing! I am so lucky to have These friends for the past 57 years. Wow did I just say 57 years! These friends have gone through all the stress and disappointments with me that I have had through the years with Steven. They know everything I’ve gone thru. The one constant thing about having good friends is that they never judge and they have always believed in me. When Steven told all those lies on national TV they were the ones that e-mail and called Dr. Drew and said he was lying! I saw Dr. Drew months later and he told me how he had many phone calls and e-mails saying that Steven was lying. I asked Dr. Drew if he believes what Steven was saying to him and he answered no! In fact someone told me that they heard Dr. Drew vindicate me on his radio show.. So now I am looking forward to seeing these wonderful friends of mine and enjoying a few days reminiscing and enjoying each other’s company. I’m excited!

Divorce is Never an Easy Matter
Posted on May 18, 2012

Divorce is never an easy matter. The adults go on with their lives but what about the children? I don’t feel sorry when someone tells me they’re getting divorced! I just feel bad for the children involved. They are the ones that suffer. I remember when I got divorced from my first husband. I was glad because I was very unhappy with my situation. At the time my oldest son kenny was three years old and Steven was three months old. I can still remember kenny looking up at me with a very sad look on his face and asking me “ when am I going to see my daddy” I told him I don’t know! I wanted him to come see the children but he didn’t want to have anything to do with us. They never saw their father again. Like I say it’s the children that suffer! When Steven was 13 years old we were driving in the car and all of a sudden he said to me I know why you and my real father got divorced. He then went on to tell me it was his fault! I explained to him that it had nothing to do with him, to please not feel like that. So now I find out that for the past 13 years Steven has been blaming himself for my divorce and for his father not coming to see him! Again this is what I mean when I say its the children who suffer the most. Years later when Steven was touring with guns and roses he was going to play in Cleveland Ohio, his birthplace. He told me he was going to look up his father and beat the shit out of him. But he never looked him up. When I asked him why not his answer was “what for,” he never wanted to see me so after 25 years “what for” we later found out that he had passed away but we don’t know when or where. There are so many stories I want to share so I hope you pre order my book Sweet Child of mine. I know you’ll enjoy reading it.

Captain Casual
Posted on May 20, 2012

Capt. Casual, that was the name Steven used when he was in guns and roses to check into hotels while on tour. He would change it often but the time we went to see him that was his alias. Guns and roses were touring with the”CULT” he really wasn’t speaking to us that much but Jamie had heard he was going to be performing in orange county and he wanted to see his brother. Believe me, if it wasn’t for Jamie I would never have gone, but Jamie missed his brother so much and wanted to see him. I always tried to make excuses to Jamie why Steven never called. We arrived at his hotel around lunchtime and I asked the clerk for Capt Casuals room. We knocked on his door and after a few minutes he answered and the first thing he said was Why are you here? I didn’t invite you! You can never imagine the hurt we felt! I told him Jamie wanted to see his brother! It’s so sad for your own son to say that to you. If Jamie wasn’t with me I would have left then. Steven told us to go to the hotel restaurant and get some lunch and he would be there soon. Of course Steven never showed up. After lunch we went back to the room to tell him we were leaving and to take care of himself. He answered the door and let us in. The room was dark and I asked Steven to turn on a light. Next to his bed was a set of metal suitcases. He said they were a gift from Aerosmith. I started to open the smaller one and all of a sudden Steven screamed don’t open that. He was so angry. Later on I learned that was where he kept his drugs! I wished I could leave but Jamie wanted so bad to be with Steven and to see him play. God! He hurt us so much through the years. My heart was broken for Jamie. Jamie must have been eleven years old at the time. He loves Steven so much! We went to see the concert. My husband and I sat toward the back of the venue and watched the people come in. Jamie was near the stage with Steven’s bodyguards. It seemed like everyone was smoking pot and no one cared. This was not the environment I wanted for Jamie but I promised him he could watch the show. On the way home Jamie fell asleep and I nursed a giant headache! It must have been all the pot I inhaled. I have many stories to share so pre-order my book Sweet Child of mine. You won’t be disappointed!!!

The Stroke!
Posted on May 23, 2012

I was watching TV and the phone rang, it was a call from a nurse at Century City Hospital. She told me that Steven had overdosed “again” but this time he was in a coma! I was living in Las Vegas now, I thought I could run away, but in reality I couldn’t. I didn’t know much about what Steven was doing. Oh! I knew he was still doing drugs but we hardly talked. Now I get a call from a nurse and she is telling me that if Steven does not get a dialysis treatment he would die within 24 hours!! So I asked why they don’t give him the dialysis? She said they needed permission from me since I was his legal guardian at that time. That’s what happens when you’re a drug addict. You need to have someone take control of their situation! Which I did for a time, but that’s another story! I had them fax me over a permission slip which I signed right away and faxed back to the hospital. I was so thankful that they got hold of me. You see, my family in Los Angeles didn’t want me to know that he had overdosed. They know how hurt and miserable I’ve been for so long and they thought he would pull out of it again, but this time he had a stroke! Sometimes when he talks he slurs his words. But that’s because of his stroke. No mother wants her child and I say child because he will always be my child, to be sick.

Missed Opportunities
Posted on May 26, 2012

Missed opportunities! Steven was not entirely without friends who wanted him to succeed. Any time something good was about to happen he just couldn’t handle it. I remember one time when he was with his band roadcrew, this was after he was dismissed from guns n roses. They were about to sign a recording contract. The record executives were standing in front of Stevens house talking when Stevens drug dealers drove up and right in front of the executives Steven executes a drug deal! Money and drugs were exchanged. Why didn’t he tell the guys to come back? The answer to that is the drugs were more important to Steven than his band roadcrew and a record contract! Of course the executives left and in the next week or so roadcrew dismantled! It’s like every time something good is about to happen he destroys it! Today as I’m writing this Steven looks great and feels great. A lot has happened over the last 25 years. Pre-order my book Sweet Child of mine, you’re in for a surprise!

Petty Cash!
Posted on May 29, 2012

Petty cash! When I moved to Las Vegas in 1996 I was paying all of Stevens bills! Of course it was his money but he wanted me to help him so I did, what a mistake that was! I would pay his bills and send him $1000 a week for spending money! Under normal circumstances $1000 a week would be enough for anyone but not Steven. In reality he was spending close to $150,000 a year just on drugs! How many rehabs how many interventions? It just never seemed to stop! Finally the money began to run out and as I said before taking care of his finances was a big mistake! He accused me of stealing millions of dollars from him but in reality he was the one spending millions on drugs through the years. Yes, he took care of my husband and I financially and I will be forever grateful for that. But you know that drug addicts always blame someone else for their mistakes and in my case he blames his mother!! pre order my book Sweet Child of mine, I don’t think you’ll be disappointed!

Money!
Posted on June 3, 2012

Money! Money! Money! The root of all that is evil! Especially when you are dealing with the drug addict! Every time the phone would ring I would panic because I knew it was Steven. If I didn’t send him the money immediately I would become his worst enemy. Whore! Slut! Bitch! And I could go on. Those are just a few of the names he called me. But the worst thing was the tone of his voice that made me quiver. preorder my book ‘Sweet Child of mine’ so maybe you can understand my life. One thing for sure it’s been a hell of a ride!

It’s The Drugs Talking… Not My Son
Posted on June 4, 2012

June 2001, my phone wouldn’t stop ringing today! Steven Started calling me first thing in the morning for money. I just gave him $1000 two days ago. So when I couldn’t take it anymore I answered the phone. I told him I would send him some money today. 15 minutes goes by and again he calls , I’m not sending it fast enough. Go to Western Union Now!!! He starts to verbally attack me. The names he calls his own mother you can’t believe them, but I know in my heart that its the drugs talking not my son. Sometimes it gets very hard to pretend that I’m so strong. Sleepless nights filled with worry that I’m going to get that one phone call a mother dreads when they have a child that’s a drug addict! ‘Hello Mrs. Adler this is the Los Angeles County Coroner’ that’s one call I pray that I never receive.

What’s The Sense!
Posted on June 6, 2012

2001, this year has been very stressful for me. Every time the phone rings I look at the phone and I wonder who it will be and what do they want! I am truly afraid for every time the phone rings there is something else I have to deal with. This time it is my daughter-in-law Carolina. What a blessing she has been! Carolina is Stevens wife. I had called her earlier in the day to ask how Steven was doing. She tells me that Steven is doing alright and he is sleeping. I respect her so much for what she has gone through with Steven. She gives me some phone numbers and tells me to call up the phone company to block these numbers because they are Stevens drug dealers. She doesn’t want the drug dealers calling the house anymore. It’s just too much for her. I understand completely. I had the numbers blocked but it doesn’t do any good because you see Steven will just call them. What’s the sense! It seems like we’re always trying to protect him but it doesn’t do any good!

Pre-order my book “Sweet Child of Mine” see what really goes on when he leaves the stage!

A Dozen Or More Times
Posted on June 11, 2012

What does it feel like your son checks into a rehab center a dozen or more times and why does he do it? One reason is to keep himself out of jail! When it comes to manipulating the legal system Steven is very bright! So when he checks into a rehab it is not to clean himself up but to stay out of jail!!

I Stole Millions of Dollars from Him??
Posted on June 12, 2012

Today when I picked up the mail I had a nice little surprise! A letter from an attorney. It seems that Steven was suing me because I stole millions of dollars from him! Of course I’ never took a dime from him, why would I? He gave us everything we needed and more so there’s no reason to steal anything from him. I called him up and told him about the letter. Steven tells me that if I don’t give him what he wants he will sue me and take all his money back! I asked him where he got the lawyer from and his answer was his drug dealer! Of course his drug dealer gave him the lawyer. Why not!
Read what happens by Pre-ordering my book “Sweet Child of Mine“

Sucked Dry by the Drugs!
Posted on June 13, 2012

The year is 2006, after all these years and earning millions and millions of dollars he has spent all but 20,000. Every dime has gone to either the drug dealers, the doctors, or the attorneys! Steven has nothing to show for all the money. So now the last of his money will go to the attorneys as they fight over meager residue of what could have been impressive bank account. I look at my son and cannot believe that he is my son. Steven is a frail emaciated skeleton sucked dry by the drugs!

Heroin
Posted on June 29, 2012

The year is 2006, Steven has a great opportunity to play a gig in Argentina. Gilby Clark who played with Guns & Roses at one time has his own band and invited Steven to join them on a So American tour. I hope all goes well, but Steven in on methadone and can’t go a day without it. By the way, methadone is legalized herein that the government dispenses at local clinics every day. As with heroine if you don’t take the methadone you are going to get very, very sick and it’s not a pretty sight. Steven had called me a few days into the tour and said he was fine and having a great time. I hung up the phone and said “thank God” but I thanked God too fast because the next day the band’s manager called to tell me he was sending Steven home. It seemed Steven took an overdose of methadone and was completely out of it. So they sent him home on the next flight to L.A. He screwed himself again. Does it ever end?

Celebrity Rehab
Posted on June 25, 2012

What’s it like to have a son that no matter how much he destroys himself and the people around him he can do no wrong in the public eye? I have met people who think I am the worst mother in the world, in fact, I am known as the meanest mom in the world. When Steven appeared on Celebrity Rehab I was on it for maybe one minute. I came across as horrible. People don’t see what really went on behind the scenes. They edit the film to suit them. People want drama so they made me look like a bitch! After the show aired I was having breakfast with Steven and asked him why he made me look so bad, his answer was “Ma you looked good, they wanted drama and we gave it to them”. I told him it just wasn’t right and next time I will know better. Hopefully there will never be a next time.

Funny Moments
Posted on June 28, 2012

I don’t want you think that we didn’t have some funny moments while Steven was in Guns and Roses. One in particular happened when he was first signed by Geffen Records. They were playing at the Roxy in Hollywood. His grandmother “Big Lilly” wanted to see him play so I took her with me. We arrived at the venue and a few minutes later I could not find her. She had gone to the front of the stage in front of all these hugh speakers and was waving to Steven and throwing him kisses. Steven was laughing. Now picture this: a 75 year old woman about 4 1/2 ft. tall in front of the stage, Right on stage where she was standing is Axl Rose wearing chaps! No underwear, just chaps, and his tushey was facing her. I ran down to the front and took her back to where we were sitting. I was laughing so hard and could see that Steven was still laughing. But you know what, she didn’t even notice Axe. She had eyes only for her grandson Steven. What a night!

The Drug Dealers Lawyer
Posted on August 14, 2012

When Steven was living in Vegas I was always scared that his drug dealer would come over to my home and kill me! What a way to live! I used to have all my blinds on my windows closed all the time. At that time I was in control of Steven’s money and he was running short so I couldn’t give him as much money as he wanted to have for his drugs! And his dealers knew I had control over his money. It was a very frightening time for me. In fact it was his dealer that got Steven a lawyer to have control taken away from me! The drug dealers lawyer!

Thrown out of Guns and Roses!
Posted on August 18, 2012

I remember when Steven was thrown out of Guns and Roses! It was in 1990 and I was watching the MTV award show and Axl Rose announced in front of the whole world that Steven was a drug addict and was not going to be in the band anymore because of his use of drugs! I couldn’t believe it! I know they were all on drugs but why was Steven kicked out! I wanted to die because now everybody would know that my son was a drug addict! I didn’t want to go to work the next day but I had to! You know what, not one person said anything to me about Steven after that night! Never again at work my coworkers or my customers said one word about Steven! My husband told me that no one will say anything to me because they didn’t want to hurt me. They all knew my heart was broken.

Rehab
Posted on August 23, 2012

After Steven was dismissed from Guns and Roses (I like to say that because it sounds better to me than thrown out) his heroin addiction was completely out of control. I can’t even remember how many rehabs he went into without any success. There were so many that I lost count! Every time he decided to enter a rehab it wasn’t because he wanted to stop using heroin, it was usually a choice between going to jail or rehab and he chose the rehab. Some of them were court appointed and some he did on his own but it was never successful. Did you know that a rehabilitation center charges you $25,000 or more and if you walk out the next day, they don’t return the money to you! Hundreds of thousands of dollars down the drain but you pay because you want to believe this time it will work.

65 Prescriptions
Posted on September 3, 2012

When I was doing some research for my book I discovered some papers. When Steve was detoxing up in Mill Valley California (again) he was on so much medication that when I would call him he was either sleeping or so incoherent that I couldn’t understand what he was saying. In one month 9-25-95 to10-25-95 he was prescribed from his doctor or should I say crackpot doctor a total of 65 prescriptions. Can you believe that, 65 prescriptions in one month . Steven must have nine lives, to live through all that he has endured. I’m so thankful that my son is alive and well today. I never met the doctor but if I ever did I would try to have his license taken away from him forever!

Welcome to my World
Posted on September 15, 2012

In 1981 Steven was 16 years old and was sent to a foster home, (read the book for all the details) that first night the foster mother called me and said “she can’t understand why he was there he was so sweet and kind.” I told her I was glad she thought that and to call me tomorrow morning and let me know how he is doing . The next morning she called and started screaming that she wanted Steven out of her house. Seems he stole some beer out of the refrigerator and started picking fights with her own children. I told her welcome to my world. This was age 16!

Why did Drugs have to Enter the Picture?
Posted on September 17, 2012

In July of 1987, “Appetite for Destruction” was completed and they filmed their first video in an old theater in downtown Los Angeles. Steven invited us to be extras. I have to admit that was very exciting for us. They really didn’t need us to be extras because there had to be more than 300 kids crowding around the stage. If you ever see the video of “Welcome to the Jungle” you see two drumsticks in the crowd. That’s Jamie, sitting on some guy’s shoulders waving the drumsticks. Everything seemed to be going well for Steven, why did drugs have to enter the picture!

Steven’s Last Will and Testament
Posted on September 21, 2012

Steven’s last will and testament! Now that was a real joke! Here he is so high on drugs and making so much money that his lawyer and managers tell him he has to make a will. They sent me an unsigned copy! He was leaving everything to his lawyers, his accountants , his accountant’s children, the lawyers secretary, his dogs and his manager! They thought he was going to overdose. He didn’t know what he was saying. He just listened to what they told him to say. What drugs do to a person. Wow!

Beautiful on the Inside
Posted on October 2, 2012

Every time I get off the phone with my daughter-in-law Carolina, I know that Steven marrying her was the best thing he could have possibly done. I admit that when they got married I wasn’t very pleased but only because I couldn’t understand why she would want to marry him! After all at that time he was deep into drugs! It was a very bad situation, but all that is over now. I believe now that she is the best thing that ever happened to him! Not only is she beautiful on the outside but also inside. She is smart and I am proud to call her my daughter-in-law.

Call from Steven
Posted on November 6, 2012

I finally talked to Steven today. It’s been a while and I’m glad he’s doing well. Next time I go to Los Angeles I’m hoping to have lunch or dinner with him and his wife Carolina. Boy! Is he lucky to have her in his life. He told me he is practicing every day and looks forward to the future. After all he’s gone through it’s such a relief to hear him talk like that.

Reliving the Past
Posted on November 14, 2012

It’s 3:30 in the morning and as usual I can’t sleep. When am I going to stop thinking about my past ? I want to be able to live life now! So many sleepless nights. I don’t want to dwell on my life with Steven. All of a sudden I wake up and remember when Steven came over to my home and took all of the awards he had given me off my wall in the living room. He was so out of it, so desperate for his drugs that I knew he didn’t know what he was doing. My husband was an invalid and couldn’t do anything to stop him. The look on Steven’s face is one I don’t think I can ever forget. I finally stopped him by threatening to call the police on him. The other night I saw the movie ‘Jungle Fever’ on TV and there was this scene in the movie where the drug addict’s son waited for his father to leave the house and then he went into the house to see his mother. That was so familiar to me. I know I’m not the only mother filled with so much pain. I don’t ever think I’m ever going to stop reliving the past but I sure wish I could!

You Just Might be Surprised!
Posted on December 24, 2012

When you see a famous person, be it in the music business, the theater, the movies or any person in the public eye that are involved in drugs, does anyone ever think about how that drug habit affects the family.. especially the mother? Not really! That’s one of the reasons I wrote my book Sweet Child of Mine. I want people to realize that the person you see on the stage or on the screen has a private life also. I remember the night Steven won his American Music Awards. My son Jamie and I went to see him. Of course he didn’t know we were coming as we couldn’t get hold of him. His management team left tickets for us at will call. Jamie and I were very excited as we thought we would see him. No luck! Here we were in the audience but had no access to him. Afterwards as we were walking away from the venue we ran into Duff. He told us Steven left already. Of course he left, he had to go back to the solitude of his home. I can’t tell you how times Jamie and I have been hurt. We love Steven so much and we keep saying that this time will be different but it never is. So think of the reality of the situation. Yes, they are famous and yes they are loved by millions of people but also know they are regular people with family that love them very much but are devastated each time something is said or printed negative about them. Today as I write this Steven’s life has changed dramatically. He has a beautiful loving wife and slowly we are trying to end our differences. It’s going to take a long time but I’m patient. So when you see a celebrity try to remember that you are looking at a façade of the real person. Think about what really goes on behind closed doors! You just might be surprised!

Speaking to ArtScenics TV this past June at the Hellfest festival in Clisson, France, Bach stated about his relationship with Jon Bon Jovi (see video below), "Bon Jovi took us on our first tour and we signed some papers with him that he got a cut of, if we made it big, that he would get compensated for helping us out. Nobody expected us to get as big as we got. Nobody thought that we would become a big band. That happens all the time in the music industry. Jon was like, 'We'll take you on tour, but if you guys make it big,' then he gets a cut of it. So I was bitter about that for awhile, but then I realized that we probably wouldn't have made it as big, or maybe at all, if he didn't take us."

He continued, "I actually had dinner with Jon a couple of years ago. We were staying at the Mandarin Oriental in London — me and Axl — and we were sitting there. And the waitress says, 'Hey, guess who's over in the corner.' And me and Axl go, 'Who?' She said, 'Jon Bon Jovi.' And I go, 'Get the fuck out of here.' He was in the corner. And I didn't know what to do. 'Cause we had had words… Most of them were mine. [laughs] So I go, 'You know what?! Fuck this. I'm gonna go over there and say 'Hi' to him.' 'Cause we used to be great, great friends; I had Christmas dinner at his house and stuff. So I stood up and walked over towards Jon, and Jon was looking at me, going, 'Are you gonna be a dick or are you gonna be nice?' He's looking at me, like, 'What are you gonna do? What are you gonna say?' And I was like, 'Hey, man, how is it going?' And he was, like, 'Hey, man?' And we stood up and we hugged and then he came over to me and Axl's table and we drank about 15 bottles of red wine, had a great time. He gave me his phone number and I've texted him a couple of times. He's a good guy. We're friends again."

Guns N' Roses Guitarist Bumblefoot Guests On Cilver Song

Guns N' Roses guitarist Ron "Bumblefoot" Thal makes a guest appearance in the track "In My Head" from New York-based, female-fronted rockers Cilver.

Cilver features in its ranks former Me Talk Pretty members Uliana Preotu (lead vocals), Leon Lyazidi (guitar, keyboards) and Guerin Blask (drums). They were recently joined by guitarist Gerry Soman (Diffuser, The Pennyroyals) and bass player Josh Pillbox (The Reckless Sons, Mike Del Rio Nature Of City).

In 2011 and 2012, Cilver, then known as Me Talk Pretty, embarked on a journey across 44 cities in the USA with a message; the American Dream needs health insurance. Inspired by the passing of Preotu's mother due to pneumonia, the band stripped down a song, painted a standup Piano White, and recruited people to put their hand print from the stage. In the end, 88 hands represented 88 voices for stopping such a treatable disease to be the cause of any death. The Hand Print Piano was put up for auction soon and proceeds were donated to fight pneumonia on World Pneumonia Day on November 12, 2012.

Slash Performs At Opening Party For Charlie Sheen's Mexican Bar

Legendary guitarist Slash performed at the opening party for actor Charlie Sheen's new bar, El Ganzo (The Goose), on December 28 in the Mexican resort area of Los Cabos. Also appearing at the event were Los Angeles mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and "The Biggest Loser"'s Dr. Robert Huizenga.

Video footage of Slash's performance can be seen below.

During his introduction of Slash, Charlie yelled out, "How we doing? ... Lying bunch of f**got a**holes, HOW WE DOING?"

Charlie later expressed regret saying, "I meant no ill will and intended to hurt no one. I apologize if I offended anyone." He then added, "I meant to say maggot but I have a lisp."

Sheen, a neighbor and personal friend of Slash's who called himself a "Rock Star From Mars" when he underwent a public meltdown amid his firing from the CBS show "Two And A Half Men", spoke at Slash's Hollywood Walk Of Fame induction ceremony in July. He said, "It's quite fitting that Slash is getting a star on the very street Axl Rose will one day be sleeping on."

He added, "This star is going to be stepped on more than the coke we did in the '80s."

PureGrainAudio.com: August 8th 1992 — Guns N' Roses and Metallica play the Olympic Stadium in Montreal. We all know what happened. What most fans don't know is the "rest" of the story. Metallica returned to Montreal in February 1993 and played two free shows (or it cost 5$ or something like that) to make up for the Olympic Stadium show. Why was it important for you and the band to come back? Why not just take the money and run?

Jason: Integrity and a man's word.

PureGrainAudio.com: Because that's the part of the story that got lost. We've all seen on MTV the cars being turned over, the fires being lit and the clashes with the police, but nobody knows that you came back and did two shows for free...

Jason: They cost us money.

PureGrainAudio.com: I can imagine.

Jason: As long as you brought in your stub from the other show, you got in for free. Whoever didn't, had to give a donation to a food bank or something. We didn't take the money. It's an integrity thing and it's not the first time that we'd made up shows. When "force majeure" kept us from playing in Sweden because all the fluids had froze up on the buses... We'd always go back and make those shows up. There's only three (that I know of) that we canceled in the fifteen years that I was in Metallica.

The Newsted frontman was previously a member of Rock Star Supernova, a hard rock supergroup which additionally included drummer Tommy Lee (Mötley Crüe), guitarist Gilby Clarke (ex-Guns N’ Roses), and vocalist Lukas Rossi. Occupying bass for the quartet, November 2006’s Rock Star Supernova was their sole full-length. “When I was talking about a bad experience or a not so great experience in that particular instance, that was the one I was referring to, yes,” the Newsted frontman verifies. “If you think about that one, you’ve got the two biggest Hollywood rock star bands involved with a guy from the purest metal band. You’ve got Guns ’N Roses, which is so much fakey, Hollywood stuff. You’ve then got Mötley Crüe which is even more fakey, Hollywood stuff, and then you’ve got real metal. It was not easy to get them to come to rehearsals, or even play songs. We only got to have like five rehearsals in the entire existence of the band. That’s not the way I do things. I work hard and I practise hard, and I always have. I don’t do that kind of Hollywood shit, man (laughs).”

DiS: What are you up to at this present moment in time?

Peter Murphy: I'm getting ready for an American tour at the moment. It's a double headliner with a band called She Wants Revenge. I've also recently sent a letter to Axl Rose asking him if he wants to work with me. In the 1980s he wore one of my t-shirts during an interview, plus I'd like to reach that audience.

Beavan worked with Reznor until '96, even relocating with him to New Orleans, where he met his future wife and band mate. He left for Los Angeles to work on Marilyn Manson's "Antichrist Superstar" album.

"I fell in love with L.A.," said Beavan, via telephone from his home in the Hollywood Hills. "Everywhere you go, it feels alive. Here, even when people fail, they fail going for it."

When he worked with Guns N' Roses, "going for it" resulted in staring at a clock for two years.

"Between '98 and 2000, I worked on 'Chinese Democracy,' " says Beavan, referring to the GNR disc that took 10 years and $13 million to complete. "It was fun, but also crazy, with totally insane hours."

"Axl [Rose] is a very nice guy, but he has a nebulous awareness of time," he adds. "I'd be there super late at night, just waiting to see if he's going to come in at 2 a.m. or maybe 4 a.m."

Madam fined $4,000 for role in MGM party

Bill Gang
Monday, June 9, 1997 | 6:17 a.m.

A Los Angeles woman, labeled by Metro Police vice officers as a Heidi Fleiss-level madam, has received a $4,000 fine for her role in organizing a high-roller party at the MGM Grand.

Some of the 10 women brought to Las Vegas were, in fact, leftovers from the infamous Hollywood madam's toppled empire of high-priced call girls.

A few pleaded guilty to misdemeanor counts while charges were dismissed for others, and a couple simply vanished into the seamy world of prostitution.

Actually, according to Deputy District Attorney Bill Hehn, they all had vanished when it was time for them to come to court and name 24-year-old Perla Ferrer as the madam du jour, as they had in police statements.

Hehn said he did what he could -- kept his mouth shut about the vanishing vixens and plea bargained the case for what he could get.

Ferrer, represented by attorney John Momot, pleaded guilty last week to two gross misdemeanor counts of conspiring to live off the earnings of a prostitute, with a guarantee of no jail time and no probation.

Ferrer's $4,000 fine, less than some of the hookers were charging the purported MGM Grand high-rollers for a one-night "date," admittedly was a light penalty, but Hehn said it was better than nothing.

"I needed the women to prove she was living off the earnings of a prostitute," the prosecutor said. "I didn't have strong evidence without them. I couldn't prove the case."

"Those women were around," Momot said of the missing witnesses. "If they weren't, I would have known.

"I had a great client and we were able to work out a successful negotiation, taking four felonies down to two gross misdemeanors. Now she can get on with her life."

The saga began in 1995 when Los Angeles vice officers took down Fleiss' exclusive call girl operation that catered to Hollywood stars as well as other monied moguls.

With Fleiss out of action, the Fleiss-ettes -- including one 1995 Playboy magazine playmate -- took their show on the road for a stopover in Las Vegas.

But their high-roller party at the MGM Grand in October 1995 was a bust -- literally.

The big-money gamblers turned out to be Metro vice officers who were carrying out the final stage of an operation begun by their counterparts in the Los Angeles Police Department and Los Angeles sheriff's office.

Then-Metro vice Lt. Bill Young said at the time that of the 10 "Heidi Fleiss leftovers" arrested, several had been witnesses in Fleiss' pandering trial, which had resulted in a felony conviction and prison term for the madam.

One of those who came to Las Vegas on the sex junket was a Charlie Sheen favorite, police said. The actor has admitted spending more than $50,000 in one year in Fleiss' operation.

In Las Vegas, the women in their early 20s were demanding up to $5,000 a "date" from the men they believed to be high-rollers but actually were undercover detectives.

After the arrests, all but Ferrer bailed out of jail. The Los Angeles woman that Young said is a "Heidi Fleiss-level ... ringleader" was held on four felony counts and a fugitive warrant from California in a pandering case.

Momot disputed the claim that Ferrer was near that level and he said he believes the California charges eventually were dismissed.

But Young suggested that Ferrer's Las Vegas foray into madam-dom was not her first.

"You can tell she was well connected," he said after the arrests.

Young recalled that one of the first things Ferrer did at the Metro party was to call a host at another Strip casino "to do some entertaining business."

"Ferrar is a pretty free-wheeling person in Los Angeles whose business is entertaining high-rolling clients," said the longtime vice lieutenant who has since been moved to another assignment. "Her business is supplying those type people with women."

Young had alleged that Ferrar also was "involved with drug dealers" because some drugs were recovered in the MGM Grand operation.

While the Playboy playmate traveled to Las Vegas with the troupe, she never was arrested.

Young explained that she and her 2-year-old child became sick on the flight to Las Vegas and the woman, whose name was not released, didn't attend the party.

Young never gave specifics about how California authorities set up the Las Vegas party, indicating only that Metro vice officers primarily were pressed into service to play the roles of high-rollers.

"They came to a party thinking they were partying with seven or eight high-rollers," he explained. "We flashed money. We looked like we met their expectations."

Rumor has it that Guns N' Roses frontman Axl Rose recently underwent a hair-transplant surgery operation that left him with "big scarred patches on the back of his head" that are "incredibly painful" and "highly damaging to his scalp." No word from Rose on this "hairy" situation yet….

Drugs, beatings and tender sex: Ex-girlfriend of GNR boss Axl Rose openly talks about her time with wild Axl for the first time. The story of a love without happy end...

[...] Gina (27, university graduate, married) met Axl in Lafayette and was attracted to him because he was a "bad boy" (there's some talk about Axl's run in with the law in Lafayette).

"He smashed everything in my apartment to pieces. And I wasn't safe from him either on several occasions."

But there was also a different side to him: "Axl was very sweet and tender in bed, although he was pretty inexperienced/awkward."

He asked her to marry him nine times, but she refused: It would have been the downfall of them both. She left him when Axl moved in with Slash.

What remained of their love? Gina: "The last time I saw him was in 1987. He offered me an autograph."

(There's more after that, but the text is cut off there).

The truth about the wild macho: Axl the "houseman"

Stephanie: "Axl is the most sensitive, honest and open man I know. He is affectionate and empathetic. He loves my son and embraces his father role. It's a pity the world doesn't know him like I do, but thinks of him as some kind of monster."

Axl, says Stephanie, is definitely no macho guy, quite the opposite:

"We often go grocery shopping together and we cook together. And it's not uncommon for him to bring me breakfast in bed."

MY NIRVANA

LARS ULRICH (METALLICA)

"In 1991 there was a kind of shift in rock music in America - it was shifting away from all the hair bands in LA. And with Kurt Cobain you felt you were connecting to the real person, not to a perception of who he was - you were not connecting to an image or a manufactured cut-out. You felt that between you and him there was nothing; it was heart-to-heart. There are very few people who have that ability.

"I never met him but our guitarist Kirk Hammett had a relationship with him. We were doing this tour with Guns N' Roses in the US in 1992 and we wanted Nirvana to come out and join us. Kirk asked Kurt, but while Cobain said he would play with Metallica anywhere in the world, at any time, on any stage, he would not step up on the same stage as Guns N' Roses - obviously he felt that Axl was the antithesis to what he was.

"As I said, I never met Kurt, and he's probably the only guy in rock'n'roll that I have never met that I really wanted to - other than Bon Scott maybe. What a sad thing we can't hear the fourth Nirvana album. It would have been so great to be able to see how that would have evolved."

Falcon wrote:Listening to Camp Freddy Radio, Dave Navarro mentioned he filmed a segment for [VH1 - Behind The Music: Guns N' Roses] 2 days ago...
Matt said he was not asked to participate..

[...]

They actually played "Oh My God", which Dave mentioned he played guitars on.

Dave said Axl would call the studio and from the speakerphone he'd tell Dave to "play with more feeling"..

That said, Dave at one point he almost accepted Axl's offer to play in the band back in 92-93. ...Matt confirmed Axl's fascination with Navarro and Janes Addiction, during the UYI days, Axl had Janes posters plastered all over his dressing room..

Matt said he hated "Oh My God" at first because he wasn't in the band, but since then it had grown on him, especially likes the guitars.

Live-Metal.net: It has been eight years since your last solo release. How does it make you feel that this record is about to see the light of day?

Sebastian Bach: Well, it feels amazing! I gotta mention that I did put a record out in the year 2005 called Frameshift 2: The Absence of Empathy, which is a progressive metal album. So if you like Angel Down and Slave to the Grind, I think you would definitely dig a lot of the music on that record. The singer on Frameshift 1 was James LaBrie of Dream Theater. I sang on the whole record and co-wrote a lot of the music on it, so check that out. Angel Down is more of what you would expect from me and what I expect of myself, which is ass kickin' rock n' roll! I am really happy with the songs, the playing, the production, the artwork and, oh yeah, I have a guest star on the album, too! [laughs]

Yeah, I think I might have heard a little something about that!

Yeah, I have Mr. Axl Rose of Guns N' Roses singing three songs on the record with me, so it is a very historic album. All of us have been waiting for some new Axl and new Baz, and we have them both on the same record!

[...]

One of the biggest stories about this album is the re-emergence of W. Axl Rose. How did the collaboration come about?

I spent the better part of a year opening for Guns N' Roses all over the world. I know it sounds crazy and I keep trying to find new ways to tell this, but what happened is that I just asked him and he did it! [laughs]

That is all you really need!

Yeah! I texted him and he said, "Yeah." So he drove to the studio and sang all night. Then he came back two nights later to listen and get a CD of it. He is a human being and it is hard to realize that, even for me who is around him all the time, what a mythological icon of our times he has become to many people. I feel like my life has been blessed. To do a solo record and have him come and sing on it is any musician's dream. I can't even believe it and I can't thank him enough.

In many ways, especially in the "rock media," you have become a sort of "unofficial mouthpiece" for Guns N' Roses in the past few years.

Yeah.

Does this ever put you in a bad spot or become a bit of a burden?

Uh, yeah, actually it does. Actually, just yesterday. I do talk about him a lot and I don't know what to do. What, am I not supposed to talk about the best singer in the world who just happens to be my buddy? [laughs] It is kinda hard NOT to talk about it! I did an interview with a magazine last week where I went into detail about our collaboration and they condensed it into about three sentences, which wasn't cool. So, he [Axl] was asking me about it and I said, "I never said this." So maybe sometimes I should talk a little less about him, but it is hard. Number one, I am a fan and mumber two, he is a friend, and number three, he is on my record. So I just have to trust the writers not to twist my words and I don't have a bad word to say about him. It is not in my being. So I do have to be careful.

Did you know it would be this big a deal when you got Axl Rose on your record?

Yes [laughs]. I'm a fan, too. I know that I'm friends with [maybe] the greatest rock singer ever. You can honestly maybe say that along with Robert Plant, Rob Halford. But Guns N' Roses is way bigger than Judas Priest will ever be. It's just bigger than that. Axl is bigger than metal, bigger than rock. So of course I knew that and of course I know that everybody, me included, has been waiting over 15 years for the return of him. He's just a different realm of success. So it's mind-blowing that he is on my record, so I understand what you're saying, and yes, I am aware of people's anticipation. People just want to put his voice into their iPod and I'm happy to bring that to you [laughs]. You're welcome is all I can think of saying. You're welcome.

Did you think you'd be able to get him to do this when this first came up?

No. I texted him from LAX [airport] at baggage claim. We text each other all the time -- silly crap, just stupid stuff. He'll be watching TV or talk about a movie or a song or just whatever. And I sang on 'Chinese Democracy,' and so I was just killing time at the baggage claim, goofing off, and I texted him, "When are you going to sing on my record?" And he just texted me back one word: "When?" That was it. I was literally joking around. Because you can be a friend, but to stand up business-wise and create such a stir in the music industry, that's a whole other story. He's done that for me time and time again. We had to play music that we recorded together for Jimmy Iovine, who is the head of Interscope, who has Axl signed, and he loved it when he could've said, "No." So Jimmy knew how important it was to Axl and said yes.

It took seven years for you to get 'Angel Down' out, but here it is. Any chance that might give Axl a push with 'Chinese Democracy'?

That's what the reviews are saying, and I can only hope that is the case. But he's got his own schedule, dude. He's got four albums' worth of material already done. I've heard it, a lot of people have heard it, it's really amazing. I cannot speak for him as to when it's going to come out, and I know he wants it out as bad as everybody else. I've talked to him about it at length and he just wants it to be presented in the proper way to the public.

You've had a chance to join him onstage many times. Will he be returning the favor?

I have no idea. All I know is when he goes back out there there's a good chance we'll be opening for him again. We spent the better part of the last year on he road opening for Guns N' Roses all over the world; America, Europe, just got back from Australia, New Zealand, and I did a bunch of headline dates, too. But we have a good relationship on the road, and I know that when he goes back out we'll probably be doing some more dates together. I'd also like to do some dates with Sixx: A.M., Nikki Sixx's band, because I just read Nikki's book and he talks really nice about me, which he doesn't talk very nice about many people [laughs].

Rock My Monkey: Do you have any idea when fans will get to hear you sing on the Chinese Democracy song, “Sorry”?

Sebastian Bach: I think it will be sooner rather than later. I really do, because I’ve heard it. I know Axel was very serious about putting something out before Christmas. He was talking to me about it. He was talking about finishing liner notes. I don’t know what happened. I don’t know why the fuck it didn’t happen. I know it wasn’t him. People like to say ‘Why doesn’t Axel put out his record?’ I think there’s a lot of business shit that goes on with him. It’s just not as easy. It’s a little more complicated than people think.

Soulmonster wrote:Do we know when Frank recorded his parts for Chinese Democracy?

Izzy Stradlin, meanwhile, didn’t show up [in Chicago] at all. Izzy had flown to New York to join up with Axl. […] Izzy was now hitting the cocaine and heroin so hard he didn’t trust anybody any more.

‘The windows to his apartment were covered in aluminum foil,’ recalls Alan Niven. Not just to keep out the daylight, he adds, but because ‘It bounced back the government radio spy waves. The door was triple-locked. He never answered the door unless the knock was prearranged and he screened all his calls with a Geiger counter. He was alone with his cocaine and the home porno tapes he had “borrowed” from an unwary and unknowing band member. Messengers and delivery boys brought statements from the accountants, blow from dealers and pizzas from Domino’s. The floor was strewn with the wreckage of rock’n’roll paranoia: half-read financials, half-eaten pies and half-gram lines, offered with half-hearted generosity. Izzy had been sucked into a vacuum of paranoia by cocaine. He’d become cold and distant, a chill in his voice . . .’

Just a few weeks before, Izzy had called Alan on the phone late one night and told him in that icy voice: ‘I found a million bucks that everyone’s forgotten about.’ It took Niven a while to realise what Izzy was talking about – and then it hit him. Earlier in the year the deal with the New York-based firm Brockum for them to manufacture and sell official Guns N’ Roses merchandise had lapsed.

[Niven tells the story of the merchandise deal for which he had asked Izzy’s opinion]

There was just one ‘wrinkle’ to the deal. ‘The advance was to be $2.5 million, but only $1.5 would be paid on the signing of the agreement. The remaining million would be placed into an escrow account and released when certain touring criteria were met.’ (An escrow account is one controlled by a neutral third party, who if an arrangement is realised will pass the money one way, and if the arrangement is not fulfilled pass it back the other.) ‘In this case, a certain number of shows had to be booked, or a certain amount of earnings would be made at retail outlets, before the escrow funds would be released. Either way, there were a million dollars sitting in an escrow account, which could not be disbursed to the band until a tour of some size was booked. Not an unreasonable accommodation. Until, of course, this sum and its disposition became the “missing million” of Izzy’s coke-fuelled paranoia later in the year.’

Nevertheless, when Izzy called Niven on ‘the missing million’ the manager admits he felt ‘hurt. I was also scared. I had never seen Izzy so dissolute and uncentered. So unhealthy.’ Niven tried explaining, talking Izzy out of his paranoia. But it was not working.

The next he heard Izzy had flown to New York to work with Axl on new material. Perhaps this was a good sign? ‘Perhaps he merely substituted one paranoia for another. Perhaps he decided that it was more important to prevent himself from being substituted by Arkeen. Perhaps he was sick of me knocking on his door. Either way, he was on a flight for Kennedy airport.’

But then there was another wrinkle, another damn thing to freak out about – a phone call to Alan Niven from Rich Feldstein, the band’s accountant. ‘Do you know that Izzy has gone to New York?’ Of course, said Niven. ‘He’s promised to start writing with Ax.’ Perhaps a change of environment would help bring about a change of attitude, he said. Then Feldstein dropped the bomb. ‘Did you know he took all his money out of the bank?’ What the fuck? Feldstein sounded nervous. Told Alan all he knew was that Izzy kept going on about a million dollars being lost. Then he took all his money out of his City National Bank account.
‘Oh my God!’ said Niven. ‘In cash? How much did he have available?’

‘It’s well over three-quarters of a million,’ said Feldstein, ‘and it’s in a cashier’s cheque.’ (A banker’s draft.)

‘Oh shit! You mean, if he loses that cheque he loses three-quarters of a million dollars?’

‘That’s pretty much the case. We could try to get the bank to cancel it and replace it but there’s absolutely no guarantee they will do that. These things are like cash. If he were to lose it, if someone were to take it from him. . ..’ Rich’s voice trailed off into a despairing silence.

Says Niven now: ‘My heart sank. Was he leaving us? Was he putting himself at risk in New York? Was he about to disappear to a Caribbean island? What the hell was he doing?’

A couple of days later Izzy called. Alan took a deep breath before taking the call. ‘I did my best to sound unconcerned, uninformed. ‘Iz, how’s it going? Are you getting any writing done?’ “Nah, Niv. I can’t deal with writing right now. I can’t get into it.”’

‘Okay,’ Niven told him, ‘so what are you going to do? Stay in New York for a day or two?’ Izzy: ‘I dunno. Wanna come and hang out?’

Thinking quickly, Niven suggested ‘an alternative plan’, that the two of them both take time out and journey instead to New Orleans. Great White were due to headline a show there later that week. ‘It was equidistant between New York and Los Angeles, a genuine meeting point for us both. I suggested Izzy join me in the Crescent City. Maybe I could get him to join the White Ones on stage. Maybe a dose of rock’n’roll would make his heart feel good.’

Izzy agreed to meet Niven there the next day at the Omni Royal Hotel. ‘As relieved as I was that we could meet and talk, I was very concerned about him travelling with such a huge sum of money. I felt, however, that if I asked him about the cheque he might feel claustrophobic, feel that I was being intrusive and that might be enough to cause him to avoid a meeting.

‘I was always pleased to see Iz and no more so than when we sat down to dinner in the hotel restaurant, a huge grill on the ground floor, from where one could see the parade of people partying up and down Royal Street in the French Quarter. The conversation over dinner was stilted. Izzy was still of a suspicious state of mind. I, myself, felt hurt and insulted that he would even think to question my integrity. I tried to explain the function of an escrow account and that all we had to do was book some shows and the money would materialise in a band account. I reminded Izzy I had not taken any commission during the first year that I worked with Guns N’ Roses, that I had left every penny I could in the band accounts to enable the development of the band.

‘I did, however, feel I could now ask about the $750,000, or more, that Izzy had with him. “I hope you put it in a bank in New York, Iz.” “Nah, Niv. I’ve got it with me.” My heart turned to lead. The idea of having over three-quarters of a million, basically in cash, in a New Orleans hotel room, quite frankly freaked the living daylights out of me. I wasn’t so sure we could even trust the hotel to put it in their safe. Now I was tinged with paranoia and suspicion.’

Niven said he hoped Izzy had at least hidden the cheque well in his room. Izzy just looked at him. ‘Actually, Niv, I’ve got it here.’ His head disappeared under the table. He’d hidden it in his sock. He yanked it out and dropped it on the table. ‘Wanna take care of it for me and put it back in the bank?’ Izzy asked him.

‘Part of me was relieved,’ he explains now. ‘I had his trust again and his money could be put safely back in the bank in Los Angeles – when I got there. Another part of me was frozen with the fearful idea of having the responsibility for so much of his money. God forbid I lose it. When I travel I check my passport, or my wallet, every few minutes. I don’t have the insouciance to be casual about such things.’

The night had only just begun, however. Back in his own room, Niven panicked trying to find a spot to hide Izzy’s cheque in. ‘It felt ridiculous to put three-quarters of a million dollars under the nightstand. It seemed entirely predictable that anyone travelling with nearly a million dollars would tuck it into the back of a picture frame. In the bathroom it could get wet and disintegrate even more.’

He was ‘beginning to see the logic of keeping three-quarters of a million dollars in your sock’ when the phone rang. It was Izzy: ‘Hey, Niv, do you know anywhere we could go at this time of night? Have a drink?’

Pleased to get the opportunity for a bit of bonding over a drink, Niven pulled on his cowboy boots – stuffing Izzy’s cheque into his own sock. ‘As we strolled into the French Quarter Izzy quietly asked about the well-being of his money. “Don’t worry, Iz. It’s safe,” I replied. “I put it where no one will find it.”’

Later that night, they would get into a tussle at a bar called The Dungeon. For which Alan Niven would wreak his own ‘GN’R kind of vengeance’ by returning the following evening with a bunch of band heavies, demanding an apology and free drinks – or else. (They got both.) And later that week Izzy got up onstage and played a couple of songs with Great White. ‘The next day he hopped a plane to Indiana and then took off for Europe. Later that summer, as I travelled through Germany and Scandinavia, I would find music magazines on departure lounge newsstands containing ‘off the cuff’ interviews Izzy had done on his travels, predicting hellfire and race wars in America. Obviously he was still feeling paranoid. Yet within a couple of years LA burned in the Rodney King riots – never underestimate the intuition of an artist.’

Back in LA, Alan Niven gave Doug Goldstein Izzy’s crumpled cashier’s cheque and had him re-deposit it at City National Bank. ‘I walked with a lighter step once I knew it was there.’

Soulmonster wrote:It's a hilarious story.