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APPETITE FOR DISCUSSION
Welcome to Appetite for Discussion -- a Guns N' Roses fan forum!

Please feel free to look around the forum as a guest, I hope you will find something of interest. If you want to join the discussions or contribute in other ways then you need to become a member. We especially welcome anyone who wants to share documents for our archive or would be interested in translating or transcribing articles and interviews.

Registering is free and easy.

Cheers!
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14. NOVEMBER 1991-APRIL 1992: THE BIGGEST BAND IN THE WORLD

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14. NOVEMBER 1991-APRIL 1992: THE BIGGEST BAND IN THE WORLD Empty 14. NOVEMBER 1991-APRIL 1992: THE BIGGEST BAND IN THE WORLD

Post by Soulmonster Sat Jun 13, 2020 6:28 pm

CHAPTER INDEX

- REPLACING IZZY: DAVE NAVARRO, MIKE STAGGS, RICHARD DUGUAY, MICK COCKS, OR TRACII?
- REPLACING IZZY: GILBY CLARKE?
- NOVEMBER-DECEMBER, 1991: GILBY AUDITIONS AND GETS THE JOB
- 1962-1991: GILBY BEFORE GUNS N' ROSES
- GILBY SETTLES IN...BUT FOR HOW LONG?
- SLASH AND MICHAEL JACKSON
- CHANGING PERSPECTIVES
- DECEMBER 3, 1991: THE SINGLE 'LIVE AND LET DIE' IS RELEASED
- DECEMBER 1991-FEBRUARY 1993: SCALING UP THE TOURING LINEUP; ROBERTA, TRACEY AND TEDDY, AND THE 976-HORNS
- DECEMBER 1991: SLASH'S NEW HOUSE AND HOBBIES
- SOUNDGARDEN BECOMES THE NEW SUPPORTING ACT
- DECEMBER 5-6, 1991: WORCHESTER CENTRUM CENTRE; GILBY'S DEBUT
- SONG: BREAKDOWN
- SONG: SO FINE
- SONG: ATTITUDE
- DECEMBER 9, 1991-JANUARY 10, 1992: MADISON SQUARE GARDEN AND ACCUSATIONS OF RACISM
- GILBY, THE ADULT BAND MEMBER
- 1992: THE ENDLESS PARTY BORES SLASH
- JANUARY 13-14, 1992: TROUBLE IN DAYTON
- JANUARY 21-28, 1992: MINNEAPOLIS, LAS VEGAS, AND SAN DIEGO
- JANUARY 31-FEBRUARY 1, 1992: FAREWELL TO SOUNDGARDEN IN CHANDLER
- MERCHANDISE AND SPONSORING
- FEBRUARY 1992: DIZZY BECOMES A DAD AND MOVES TO ORANGE COUNTY
- FEBRUARY 18, 1992: THE SINGLE AND MUSIC VIDEO FOR 'NOVEMBER RAIN'
- FEBRUARY 19-22, 1992: THREE SHOWS AT THE TOKYO DOME
- MARCH 17, 1992: SPINAL TAP RELEASES 'BREAK LIKE THE WIND' FEATURING SLASH
- MARCH 1992: SLASH AND BLACK DEATH VODKA
- 1991-1992: GUNS N' ROSES WANTS NIRVANA
- APRIL 1-9, 1992: MEXICO AND "MAKE-UP" DATES
- APRIL 10-14, 1992: CANCELLING SHOWS TO AVOID THE LAW
- APRIL 1992: SLASH AND SAVANNAH; RENEE BREAKS OFF THE ENGAGEMENT
- MATERIAL WEALTH
- APRIL 20, 1992: THE FREDDIE MERCURY BENEFIT CONCERT
- BECOMING GOOD FRIENDS WITH BRIAN MAY
- AXL AND ELTON JOHN
- APRIL 29-MAY 4, 1992: THE LOS ANGELES RIOTS
- OTHER MUSICIANS TALKING ABOUT GUNS N' ROSES AND ITS MEMBERS
- THE AFTERSHOW THEME PARTIES


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14. NOVEMBER 1991-APRIL 1992: THE BIGGEST BAND IN THE WORLD Empty Re: 14. NOVEMBER 1991-APRIL 1992: THE BIGGEST BAND IN THE WORLD

Post by Soulmonster Sat Jun 13, 2020 6:31 pm

REPLACING IZZY
DAVE NAVARRO, MIKE STAGGS, RICHARD DUGUAY, MICK COCKS, OR TRACII?

With Izzy leaving the band, the band again found themselves in a position of having to replace a member that they had thought was irreplaceable. The last time they had needed a new drummer on short notice to continue recording the Use Your Illusion albums, this time they needed a new guitarist because they were supposed to go back out on tour in not long.

When Izzy left […] we realized that we either had to find a new guitarist in three weeks or cancel a bunch of gigs. We didn't want to cancel any shows, so we started searching. […] I had a piece of paper with about 30-odd candidates listed. Duff was looking around and Axl had his ideas, but nobody seemed right.



AXL WANTS DAVE NAVARRO OR MIKE STAGGS

One of the guitarists that the band considered was Jane's Addiction's Dave Navarro.

Yeah, there was a lot of talk about [Navarro joining], and we were very open to it. But it just wasn't the right time in Dave's life for it to happen. He was kind of needing the time to just see where he was at, and he's been very successful at that.
Hit Parader, June 1993; interview from December 1992


Jane's Addiction and Guns N' Roses had been breaking through in Los Angeles around the same time and Axl had been a huge fan of the band [Hard N' Heavy Music Magazine, April 28, 1989]. Later, Navarro would comment on the alleged rivalry of the two bands back in the day:

There was a perception that there was a Guns/Jane's rivalry. There really wasn't. We just came from different worlds. They were from the Sunset Strip rocker world. We were from the alternative world. We were both coming up at the same time and I think there were times when they wanted to do shows with us but we wanted to keep it on a more alternative level. Since then, Jane's has learned that there is a musical community and it's unnecessary to have rivals in something as sacred as creativity.
The Toronto Eye (via Blabbermouth), September 29, 2003


That Navarro was auditioning to replace Izzy had also rumored in the press before Izzy's departure was official [Los Angeles Times, September 1991].

But Navarro didn't cut it and Slash would imply he had drug problems at the time:

[Navarro] didn't work out. He's got a little too much going on right now with his own personal situation.

For a while it looked like Dave Navarro from Jane's Addiction was going to join, but he couldn't get it together, so that never happened.

Axl wanted Dave Navarro in the band. He was determined, he had that idea, and I didn’t want to confront him again, so I said okay. But Navarro never showed up for any auditions and Axl was quite pissed off. Then Navarro joined the Chili Peppers. I remember seeing Jane’s on TV once and Navarro wore a woman's dress. (laughs).
Popular 1, February 1995; translated from Spanish


Dizzy would later indicate that it had been more serious with Navarro than previously disclosed, including having planned for him to tour with them, but - as Slash had indicated - in the end Navarro didn't show up for rehearsals:

Umm... he was supposed to play with us [concerts]... and for rehearsals... he never showed up for rehearsals. he agreed to... I don't know if he agreed to or not... but we set up rehearsals.. we had Madison Square Garden coming up and a bunch of other shows. 2 nights went by and he never showed up so... we had to get somebody else so we got Gilby.


Gilby would later say that it was Axl who wanted Navarro [Hartford Courant, March 4, 1993], which would very much be confirmed by Axl in the quote from above and this:

[…] the idea of working with [Navarro] excites me to no end because I still put on Jane's Addiction and it always seems brand new, no matter how many times I hear it. I'd like to try to achieve a fusion of what they were trying and what GNR is doing. I think that blend, if taken seriously and patiently, could be amazing. It could be a fuller thing than anyone's done before. Dave and Slash together could be incredible-two guys very "out there" on their own, working together.
Hit Parader, June 1993; interview from December 1992


In 2010, Navarro would confirm Axl had called him, but blame drugs for it not happening:

When Izzy left the band, Axl called me to be a member of Guns. There are a number of reasons that it didn't work out. If I could pick one, it would be my own heroin addiction. We have always had a great respect for one another.
Talking Metal Podcast (via Blabbermouth), October 19, 2010


According to Mike Staggs, childhood friend of Axl from Indiana and later co-guitarist in 'Ain't It Fun', Axl had wanted Staggs to replace Izzy:

axl and i discussed me auditioning after izzy left - but the process was fast tracked by slash, bringing gilby in. at the time i assumed i was a lock, and was disappointed, but i always respected slash. and at that time i was a bit sel-conscious about axl's role - kinda throwing his weight around a bit much IMHO. when i recorded aint it fun on spaghetti, it was a little tense. and i was def a friend of slashes.
Personal communication, February 17, 2020


RICHARD DUGUAY?

In 2019, Richard Duguay, a friend of the band, would be asked if he was interested:

I got asked to audition after Izzy quit. Duff called me and said, "Hey man, Izzy quit today." And I was like, "Oh, that's not good." Steven had already been gone. So, and I said, you know, "Slash brought your name up to maybe play guitar." And I said, "Yeah," you know, "whatever." [...] I mean, I knew Slash a little bit. I mean, I knew Izzy a little bit, Steven a little bit, Axl not so much. But yeah, that's what Duff told me anyway. He said, "Hey, Slash brought your name up and if you're interested." And I said, "Sure." I said, "Well, but you're going to have to send me copies of all the records because I don't own any." So he couriered it over a bunch of cassettes, I think it was at that time. And I spent like a couple of weeks learning everything. And I guess when Gilby showed up. I guess they just grabbed him or something. And I'm not sure whatever happened. So yeah, it was cool, you know?



MICK COCKS OR TRACII GUNS?

Another rumour was that ex-Rose Tattoo slide guitarist Mick Cocks would replace Izzy [RAW, December 1991]. The did not, however, contact Tracii:

I thought I would be [asked to replace Izzy], actually. […] I would have said no. […] It would have been nice to be asked, yeah. I expected it because not only was it my band at one time but other bands when they lose their guitar player have asked me...


Slash would later be asked what he thought about Tracii being offended at not being considered to replace Izzy:

Did he really say that? [...] Tracii and I always hated each other. He was in Guns N’ Roses before I joined and I replaced him after Axl sacked him. I've known Tracii since before he played the guitar. I remember that he had a guitar when I didn't have one yet (laughs). We've never been friends, and I'd never in a million years have thought of him for GN'R. I didn't know he had made that comment. Oh God, Tracii would be better than Paul Huge (laughs). I saw Tracii with his band, Killing Machine, at the Troubadour a long time ago. It was a good show.
Popular 1, February 1995; translated from Spanish


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Post by Soulmonster Sat Jun 13, 2020 6:32 pm

REPLACING IZZY
GILBY CLARKE?

After putting the word out that they were looking for a replacement for Izzy, the name of Gilby Clarke was then quickly mentioned:

When we decided to look for a new guitarist, I put the word out as discreetly as possible. A couple of my friends recommended Gilby—he's a guy that Axl and I sort of knew from Guns N' Roses' early days. He was in another band at the time, but we had lost track of him. Axl and I auditioned 17 guitarists or so, and he's the one who fit in the best. He had to learn about 30 songs in two weeks in order to be ready for the tour on time, and he's done a great job. We're really happy.

We knew Gilby when me and Axl were in Hollywood Rose, which was ages ago. He was in another band, and I met him then. He was a cool guy then and I hadn't talked to him in all these years that Guns N' Roses had been together. I discreetly went through, like, 15 guitar players trying to find somebody to do the spot because we only had three weeks before the first show. Someone mentioned Gilby and I thought, "Yeah, I know him." I talked to him on the phone. He was the only guy that I actually rehearsed.

Slash and I, we went kind of nuts. I just happened to have Gilby’s number written on the back of a book. I had gotten his number from a friend of a friend of a friend. So I called him to come down and audition. He was the first guy we auditioned. We heard him and said, ‘Cool’.

Izzy decided he wanted to leave and go do his own thing. And we had, like, two weeks to find somebody. So Slash, and Duff and myself just started throwing around names, you know. And Gilby was an old friend from the club days in L.A., and we thought it was a perfect choice.
MTV Special, July 17, 1992; from April 20, 1992

I was tearing my hair out, trying to figure who to get. We obviously couldn't put an ad in the paper. Someone randomly suggested one of Izzy's friends, Gilby Clarke. I had thought about him, but I hadn't seen him since our earliest club days. So I called him up, and he came down. He was the only guy we auditioned. One guy!

The news was definitely on the street. Though I asked a friend who was working with the band to mention my name to Slash, I was a little surprised when he actually called me on the phone to ask if I'd like to audition.

I hadn’t heard from [Guns N' Roses] in about five years. Then I found out that Izzy was leaving, and I called up a friend of mine who worked for them and said, ‘If you’re throwing in names, throw in my name.’ And Slash just called me one day. […] They had a lot of people in mind. But I was the only person who came in and physically auditioned for the band, came down and played with them. The rest of the people, he pretty much met in a hotel and kind of like ‘vibed’ them. If they didn’t pass the vibe test, that was it. Me, I had known them, so I just went down there. […] With this band, the people that work for the band, it’s like a family. These people have been with the band since the beginning. So if someone new is going to come into their family, it has to be more than just ‘You’re a good guitar player, you can cover it.’ It has to be more like, 'Do you fit in?’

Everyone in Los Angeles had heard the rumors that Izzy had left Guns N' Roses and that David Navarro had replaced him. The next rumor was that David wasn't in. When all this happened I called a guy that worked for them called Josh Richman, whom I knew very well, and said "Josh, if Guns is looking for a new guitarist couldn't you mention my name to them."

Well, I got a phone call; it wasn't even like an approach thing. Slash had just called me and said, Do you want to come down and play with us tomorrow and I said (in skeptical voice), Yeah, alright.' And I came down and I just played with them and two weeks later I played my first show with them; I was the only person that they physically auditioned. Everybody else Slash kind of talked to them over the phone or met them in person but I was the only one that they actually asked to come down in person.

When they needed a guitar player, they called me and I was the only guy who went and physically auditioned with them. I didn't have time to really learn anything - I had to do it by ear. We played two or three songs, and (Slash) says, Come back tomorrow.' I did that for like five days in a row, and they said, You got it. We're going on tour.'

I did go down and play with ‘em a couple times right before but it just kinda really worked out. Slash first called me literally at midnight and said, “Hey can you come down tomorrow and jam with us?” The Illusion records weren’t out yet. They had already done a couple live gigs but the records weren’t out yet. So he goes, “Why don’t you just learn three songs? You just pick three songs.” So that phone call came at midnight and one o’clock the next day I was playing with ‘em. I really didn’t get a chance to sit down and learn ‘em. I basically listened to a cassette in my car on the way. One of the songs I remember was “Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door.” [...] That worked out and they asked me to come back the next day and then that was it. The next time was really a live show a week later. I only had a week to learn their whole 50-song set.


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Post by Soulmonster Sat Jun 13, 2020 6:33 pm

NOVEMBER-DECEMBER, 1991
GILBY AUDITIONS AND GETS THE JOB

And we, you know, luckily we found Gilby in that short little period of time. A guy who was willing to learn all this stuff, kind of played same similar style, and could go on the road. Not everybody can do that. Just fit into that position and be cool with it. Gilby just kind of did the work that was in front of him and learned all the songs and didn't, you know... he held his place down on the stage. He was great.

When I was asked, I joined that band for a lot of different reasons. There wasn’t any negative checks in the box but one of ‘em was because I thought it was a great band. For me, what I was trying to achieve at that time is I really just wanted a loud version of The Rolling Stones and to me that’s what Guns was. They were a loud version of The Rolling Stones.

---------------------------------------
Gilby was only happy to get the opportunity to join Guns N' Roses:

[…] when Izzy left, I was the only guitarist they called to audition.

I got a call from management and I went down the next day. They had a lot of guitar players in mind, but I was the only person that they actually asked to come down.

The only thing I remember clearly about the audition is that they had this taped-off area where Izzy used to stand, which said to me, 'Do you have what it takes to fill this spot?' That was pretty amusing.

[…]I was a little surprised when [Slash] actually called me on the phone to ask if I'd like to audition. I said, "Yeah, I think I can make that." [laughs] Then he said, "Learn three songs and come down tomorrow. […] The funny thing is, I really didn't even learn the three songs, I just listened to a few things, got the keys in my head, and winged in the next day. I didn't really have any time to prepare beyond that. […] To be honest, I don't really remember [which songs they were]. I think it was "Civil War," "Knocking On Heaven's Door" and one other. […] So, after my audition, they asked me to learn some more songs and told me to come back the next day. This continued for a week. They never said I had the job, they just kept asking me to return.

Slash called me. And he just called me one day - you know, everybody had heard rumors around town that they were looking for a guitar player. So he gave me a call and asked me to come down. So I came down the next day, played some songs with him and then he asked me to come back the next day. And just like that, like, every day was, “Can you come back tomorrow?”

[Talking about starting in GN'R]: My first thing was like – almost like relief, after pounding, you know, L.A. clubs and touring America and stuff. And then, you know, everybody in town knew that they were looking for a guitar player, and when [Slash] called, I was like, 'Yes!' […] And it’s like, I was going to see Izzy’s new band. That’s why I went to see the band, 'Let’s go see Izzy’s new band,' you know? And then I met and talked to Axl a few times. Honestly, I really didn’t know Slash and Duff at all. I had known Matt because him and I had played so many clubs together for years and years on end. And so, when this call came, it was kinda cool, cuz at least when I got to go down, you know, I had known Matt fairly well; so, no matter what was going out with everybody else, I can always, like, go to Matt: (whispers) 'What’s going on?' (laughs)



GILBY GETS THE JOB

After a week of auditioning Gilby got the job and he heard it first through MTV News:

On MTV News, that's the first thing that I found out...


To join the tour Gilby had to learn 50 songs:

And then, like, after a week, they said, "We're gonna do the tour, so you have another week to learn everything" (laughs). That’s basically what we did. […] I mean, I don't think that I could have been the guitar player to help them get where they got today. I think Izzy, you know, he had a lot of contribution to that and he was the one who brought them to where they are. Hopefully I’m gonna be the one after it, to the next step.

I played with them for a week, and then they told me that I got it. I took the next week and learned like 50 songs, and just went out with them. We played our first date within two weeks of me walking into rehearsal. I'll tell ya' — it was one of those things where it just worked out — I walked in, we all got along, so that wasn't a problem. Only it was a matter of musicianship, but when they saw that I was learning everything, that certainly was a relief for them. […] I have a lot of respect for these guys — it's like they could have any guitar player in the world, and they went back to their roots and took somebody from where they came from. You know, that's great. […] They could have anybody. There was all the rumours about David [Navarro], you know but, uh, this is what they wanted — that takes a lot of guts.

After a week of auditions, Slash called me up and told me I had the job, and that the band wanted to start touring the following week. I had to learn 50 songs in one week, and play them in front of thousands of people. My second gig was Madison Square Garden! I would come to rehearsal, play what I had learned, then go home and learn five more songs. I didn't sleep for two solid weeks - all I did was play guitar.

I had two weeks to learn, like, 40-plus songs. Two weeks. So it’s like, I didn’t have any time to think about anything, you know. Izzy and I are from the same school. They all kind of like the same kind of music, so I think that’s one of the things that - the reason why I’m doing it is because there was a certain style that they wanted and that was what I play.
MTV Special, July 17, 1992; from April 20, 1992

I don’t know how I did it [=learn 50 songs]. I didn’t have song books to do it with and nobody even knew what Izzy played. They gave me the records. I'd be learning five songs a day and then remembering the five songs I learned from the day before. I'd rehearse with them during the day. At night, I would learn five new songs. […] When I played the first date, there were only two songs that I had cheat-sheets for. I actually memorized all of them. And to this day, I still have those same two cheat-sheets. Coma and Estranged I cheat on. I still don’t know them.

People were going. 'Hey, what'd Izzy play?' And then someone else would answer, 'I don't know. I never listened!' [laughter] It was crazy, wild. But we all got along, and it was a real nice feeling. Of course, I had two weeks to learn 50 songs! It was a miracle we ever managed that first concert together — two weeks later — but we did.

I had so much work to do. I mean, I really had to learn almost 50 songs in two weeks - that I didn't have time to fathom thoughts of 'What's Axl going to say...,' you know, 'What if they don't like this lick?', 'What if we don't get along?', What if I'm not wearing the right clothes?' […] The reason I got it was because we do all fit together, we do all get along and we do have the same lifestyle.

They could have taken a more established guitarist then me. Even though I had been in different signed groups I was totally unknown to the public. Guns N' Roses have an incredible apprehension of who they are and what they want to do. They wanted someone they could trust and could associate with on the side of the stage. Their court photographer Robert John laid in a good word for me, which most certainly helped.

It was like, ‘If you can learn all the songs, you’re in the band.’ So that’s what I had to do — learn every song.... They had just released the ‘Illusion’ records and I hadn’t heard any of that. I had heard just the first two albums, and I didn’t know how to play one of their songs.

Every day, somebody different was coming up to my amp and just standing beside my amp. I’m sitting, like, learning the songs and playing, and there’s somebody different every day standing by my amp. So it’s like I always have this feeling that somebody is listening to everything I’m doing (laughs). All the time with the band I’m just waiting for when they’ll say, “You missed a note. We’re gonna have to send you home.

Then I managed to find Gilby, and we rehearsed 38 to 40 songs with him so we could keep our regular tour dates. That was so much work. Nobody really cares, but for us that was a lotta f**king work!

If I wanted it that bad, I had to do it, 16 songs a day.

They gave me a week to learn the whole set. Slash was great. He'd just say, 'Just learn the songs and play the way you play.' I was lucky that I could be myself.

It was fifty songs in a week. From the day that Slash called me, it was only two weeks later I was on stage with them. I had my night gig — I was doing sound at [Club] Lingerie at that time – and I had just done sound for Mick Taylor from The Rolling Stones. Slash called me and said [to] come down and jam with him. I came and played with him the first day, and he [said to] come down the next day, and I did that three days in a row. And then he goes, 'All right, you've got the gig. Learn the whole catalog. We'll see you next week.' I didn't get to rehearse all those songs, because the band knew all the songs, and the last thing they want to do is sit around and go to rehearsal with me. They were over it, so I had to do my own homework and I sat there for a full week learning all those songs, and I'll never forget, the last day I called Dizzy, because I was having a hard time trying to figure out what to play on 'Estranged', and I couldn't figure it out. Dizzy goes, 'Oh, here's a music book.' I went, 'There's a music book? I just spent a week with my ear grinded to the records.' I didn't even think about it, that I could have just picked up the chord charts.

I'm not a nervous person, but there were so many things I was thinking of. I mean, the reality of what I was thinking of was, 'I got to learn 50 songs in a week and play an arena show with these guys. Next Monday is my first show with them, I got to learn 50 songs'. And by the way, I didn't rehearse with them, they just said, 'Learn the catalog' and left with me with that. It wasn't, like, 'Learn the setlist,' which would be 25 songs. No, 'Learn 50 songs.' That's what I was thinking of, and I wasn't nervous, I was just thinking, like, 'If I want this gig, this is what I have to do to get it.'




Gilby Clarke



Later, Slash would emphasize, and confirm Gilby quotes from above, that he only rehearsed with one other guitarist, indicating that the 16 others they considered for the job either didn't play at all, or played alone (possibly with recorded backtrack):

Despite what everyone said, Gilby was the only one that I physically rehearsed with and it worked out great. It was real casual and he just makes the effort on stage that Izzy didn’t.


During the rehearsals Izzy called and asked who would replace him:

When they tried guitarists Izzy called and asked who was gonna replace him. When they answered it was going to be me he said that he was happy. We respect each other very much and I'm not gonna take anything from him. Izzy made sure this group got on the map and what he's done is totally incredible. I'm after Izzy.


Looking back at having taken the job:

I knew what I was getting into. I knew that Izzy was such a big part of the band. I wasn't trying to replace Izzy — I was trying to find my place in the band, have my own voice, play guitar the way I play guitar. I just said, 'I'm going to be myself — they either like me or they don't.' It's not something you can fake. That's kind of the way I am — I never panic, I just go, 'Look, if they were unhappy, I would hope that they would said something.' But they were happy — they never ever said anything to me, like, 'Wear this on stage,' or 'Do this,' or 'Don't do that.' Duff made a suggestion in the beginning because I was playing a little ahead of the beat, and he goes, 'You gotta relax, man. Just lay back.' It really helped me lock into their music of just kind of relaxing and staying behind the beat.

When I joined the band, they had just moved up to arenas. The next leg was moving up to stadiums. This was all new to them, too, so there was a lot happening at that time. There was a lot of discovery. I think everybody, without admitting it, was a little scared of where it was going. The band was never a really solid base anyway — Axl didn't ever really hang out with the band; he was kind of in his own world — so I think everybody was discovering what they were. When I came in, it was kind of scary that it was easy. I think Slash had always said he was a little concerned that they were changing a major piece of the band and people didn't say much about it. People say more about it now than they do back then when it happens. I think it was one of those things where it just worked.

I heard the same thing everybody else heard. I didn't have any in, really. I had heard that Izzy was unhappy. Josh Richman was working with the band at the time. Josh was an old friend of mine, and I called Josh because I didn't have Slash's phone number... I called Josh and go, 'What's going on out there?' He goes, 'We don't really know what's happening. We don't know if Izzy's gone for good or what's happening, but they are looking for a guitar player. You know what? I'm going to give Slash your number.' He did, and I got a call from Slash that night. He said, 'Hey, man. We're looking for a guitar player. Will you come down and play?' At that time, the 'Illusion' records weren't out yet. They were just about to come out. They had already started to do a little bit of pre-touring on it, but the records weren't out. He said, 'Just learn three songs and come down tomorrow'... I actually played with them for three days and probably played six songs total. He said, 'All right, we'll let you know.' The next week, he called me. Sitting in my living room, MTV's on in the background with no music on. I was on the phone with [former Candy and future Alice Cooper guitarist] Ryan Roxie, and I look up and I go, 'Ryan, my picture's on the TV right now.' The next thing you know, I got a [call waiting] click, and it was Slash. He goes, 'Hey, man. You got the gig. We're leaving next week. Learn the whole catalog.'


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14. NOVEMBER 1991-APRIL 1992: THE BIGGEST BAND IN THE WORLD Empty Re: 14. NOVEMBER 1991-APRIL 1992: THE BIGGEST BAND IN THE WORLD

Post by Soulmonster Sat Jun 13, 2020 6:33 pm

1962-1991
GILBY BEFORE GUNS N' ROSES

"He ain't Izzy, but who is he?" [Guitar Player, November 1992].
________________________________________________________________

EARLY YEARS

I was born in 1962 in Cleveland, Ohio, and moved to California when I was 16 years. At this moment did music come into my life. I couldn't play guitar, but together with two friends who played bass and drums I formed a band anyway. We were really bad!

[Seeing a poster of Jimi Hendrix when he was a teenager]: Before I even heard his music, that poster made me want to play. It looked so cool, I said 'That's what I want to do, right there.'

I moved from Cleveland to Los Angeles in my early teens. I was supposed to go to high school, but that never really happened - I discovered the guitar instead.

[…] I’d been in bands in Cleveland. I was like the little rock star around school (more laughter).

We went in high school and our gigs were at schools. All the other bands that played on these high schools consisted of guys that had left the school a couple of years earlier. Since we still were in high school we became somewhat of local rock-stars.

What was really strange is that when I first moved here [=Los Angeles] people were so nice — you walk down the street and people say ‘Hello.’ And I’d go ‘What the hell? Well, F-k you.’ Where I came from you’d get in a fight once or twice a week, it was no big deal and you’d be friends again the next day. But when I moved out here my first week I got in a fight and next thing I’m in the principal's office and I’m suspended. It was like, ‘Oh, California...'

A lot of people say that they chose this lane because of the chicks. That wasn't the case for me. I've always been interested in music and when I lived in Cleveland I bought records with Alice Cooper and Aerosmith. I had to have a guitar, so I changed a pair of stereo loudspeakers, that my parents had given me, for a guitar.

From the age of 16 I've aimed to becoming a rock star and daydreamed about standing on a stage. I don't know why, but the thoughts about music was in my head and grew stronger all the time.

I moved from Ohio to California when I just started high school. I found that music was a great way to make new friends in California. I had just started playing guitar at that time.

Well, when I was a teenager, music was always around. I saw a poster of Jimi Hendrix and that is what really got me going. I wanted to become a guitar player. I just started discovering music through that. I was listening to some early Jimi Hendrix and then I got into some current stuff which at the time was Led Zeppelin, KISS, Aerosmith and stuff like that from the mid-seventies that was popular at the time.

When I was in high school, I was playing in bands that were playing high school dances and things like that. I just always knew that I wanted to play guitar in a band, so when everybody else went on from high school to go to college or whatever, I just kept playing music. I went to Hollywood and got a gig with a band and it just kinda kept going. It was more determination than anything.

Actually I think I was 15 when I moved to LA, but 17 when I first got in a band. When I moved to California it was high school basically and it was my way of adapting and I started a band and started playing at school dances and then I moved to Hollywood. (laughs)


Being asked if he remembers the first album he bought:

Absolutely and this is a crazy one: Elton John’s Greatest Hits. I don’t know how or why. Unfortunately in my younger days, I was a little bit of a thief but the first record I actually paid for was Elton John’s Greatest Hits.



FIRST BANDS

Gilby's first proper band was Candy [Guitar Player, November 1992] which was formed in 1981 when Gilby was becoming a "fairly competent guitarist" [Heavy Mental, 1992]. In Candy he had Kim Fowley as the producer/manager [UG Rock Chronicles, June 13, 1994].

I had two bands before Guns N’ Roses and, like, we had our first record deal in... Jeez, I think it was, like, ’83-’84. So I did, like, a couple years of touring the States. That band was doing pretty good - we were on MTV and all that - and that went on for, like, five years.

We got signed with Polygram and released the album "Whatever Happened To Fun" (1985). The music was a mix of Bay City Rollers, Beatles and Johnny Thunders and the Heartbreakers. It was a weird band, because we looked like punkers but played pop! That was way before Guns N' Roses and Motley Crue became the biggest thing that happened Los Angeles in years. We went as opening act to the, at the time, mega-huge Rick Springfield and performed in big arenas.

Candy was when I was just a kid (laughs); I just played guitar. It’s kind of like, even with GN’R I’m really just a rhythm guitar player in the band. The band is Axl and Slash. With Candy I was just a guitar player – you know, the band was the singer and the bass player.

[Describing Candy]: We were, like, a cross between The Raspberries and Johnny Thunders and The Heartbreakers.

I joined Candy as a guitarist. Candy was a local Hollywood band that was just starting to draw around town. We were headlining clubs like the Whiskey, Troubadour and the Roxy without a deal. We eventually got a deal, made a record, toured and lived the life. Candy did all these things without a manager, agent, etc., we got all those things once we got signed, but that's when everything fell apart.

My first real band was Candy. I mean, I had like a high school band that I played in, but my first Hollywood band was Candy, so the first band I was in, we got a record deal. It wasn't successful, but we at least got to make records and things like that. [...] this is very early 80's. When Candy was going through some changes, or mainly the scene was changing you know. It was becoming much darker and harder which for me was what I liked anyway. Candy was a good band, but it wasn't exactly what I was looking for. I wanted something harder and I formed my band Kill For Thrills and it was out of the affect that I wanted things darker and harder.




Candy; Gilby to the far right



Talking about Hollywood in his Candy period, and Kim Fowley:

Hollywood was a wild place; there were a lot of great underground clubs we used to all hang at and everybody knew everybody. There weren't that many bands back then and there was maybe only three or four that could, like, headline say, the Troubadour on a weekend, and we just happened to be one of those bands. People like Kim, and I think Kim is fantastic, he'd always find the good bands before anybody else saw them. He was always on the street and we didn't have any money, we were all poor back then, and he used to have me go in at midnight and cover up other people's guitar tracks and stuff. I'd sneak in after midnight and re-do their guitars and using their guitars and their amps and the next day they'd go, God, I played that good.' They didn't remember but it was me and we just wouldn't tell anybody.

Actually, believe it or not, I learned a lot from Kim. Kim was one of the main guys in Hollywood during the early '80s you know. He was one of the guys who discovered bands like Guns N' Roses and most of the local bands. He was the one who saw them first and saw something in them, way before record label people did. He was working with my first band Candy. Candy was already a band that was out and playing shows and doing fairly well. But the guitar wasn't working out. So I answered an ad in the paper, and the ad said: guitarist wanted, Bowie and T.Rex influences. Yeah, it was funny. So I called it and got the gig and Kim was already involved in the band so I went over and met him. But I was a little bit younger than everybody else in the band. And at that time I had had more studio experience believe it or not, even being younger than everybody in the band. So when I came in, the first demos we did with myself and the band, I actually produced those demos too. So it was kinda fun. Kim and I just sort of really clicked. Kim also was really helpful with a lot of us guys. None of us really had jobs back then, you know. We were just young guys in bands. And he always had jobs for us. I used to do a lot of session work for Kim. Our singer used to drive him around, so it was kinda cool. He actually used to really help us out.


Candy didn't go anywhere and Gilby decided to start a new band together with Todd Muscat, Kill For Thrills, where he would take a more prominent role [Heavy Mental, 1992; Rock Revival, July 9, 2001].

And then I started my other band, Kill For Thrills. That was just basically from the ground up playing clubs and, you know, the whole thing. And it's just years, you know, doing all that stuff.

Candy was really big in Los Angeles. When I started Kill For Thrills everyone in town knew who we were, so we had a stabile ground to stand on. We didn't have to go through a lot of shit that a lot of other new bands have to.

My band wasn't that big of a band — it was a weird L.A. band which released two records for MCA and did a small tour. We were on down time when I got the call for this, which pretty much put the band at an end.

Kill for Thrills was my band. That was all my songs I sang and played guitar.

Candy wasn't really going anywhere, and I just really wanted to be more rock, and that's why I started Kill For Thrills. Kill For Thrills was just a more honest band for me. It's just a more honest version of what I really wanted to do. It's funny — if you hear the Kill For Thrills record today and you listen to my first or my fourth solo record, they really don't sound that different. The music really hasn't changed. I'm a rock n' roll guy at heart.




Kill for Thrills
Gilby second furthest to the left



Kill For Thrills released two records: "Commercial Suicide" (1988-89) and "Dynamite From Nightmareland" (1989-90) [Heavy Mental, 1992]. Looking back Gilby would admit he released three records that "flopped" [The Indianapolis Star, July 21, 1992].

After Kill for Thrills he played in a band called The Blackouts [MTV Headbanger's Ball, October 8, 1994], but this was likely a short affaire before joining Guns N' Roses.

Being asked what he would have done if he hadn't become a musician:

If I weren't a musician, I’d probably be one of those guys who rides a motorcycle all over the place. Just going from town to town looking for adventure. [...] If I weren't a musician, I’d be an outlaw biker.



PERSONAL LIFE

Gilby met his wife-to-be, Daniella on Hollywood Boulevard in July 1985 while his band Candy was shooting its first video for MTV [Los Angeles Daily News, November 18, 2006]. Daniella was an Israeli native who had come to Los Angeles to visit her American father from South African [Los Angeles Daily News, November 18, 2006].


MEETING HIS FUTURE BAND MATES

Gilby met Izzy while playing in bands in Los Angeles, likely during his Candy period, and they shared a love for the Rolling Stones:

I knew Izzy before he met most of the guys in the band, and Steven, and I met the other guys around town and stuff. I had actually known Matt forever. Forever and ever. Too long (laughs). So yeah, we go way back.

I had known the band before when they were local, and knew Axl in a casual manner as we were in bands and stuff, but over the years I'd lost touch with everybody. But I'd read all the stuff, and then when I got into the band I had an idea of what he was going to be like, but being around him I got my mind changed after getting to know what he's really like.

We both wanted to be Keith Richards.

I met Izzy around 1984, shortly after he moved to Hollywood, and we really hit it off. We were part of a small group of Keith Richards fanatics who were somewhat alienated from L.A.'s heavy metal scene. During that period, I was also the lead singer and guitarist in a moderately successful power-pop band called Candy, which had a record deal with Mercury and even did a major arena tour warming up for Rick Springfield [the Australian heartthrob best known for his hit single, "Jesse's Girl"].

Izzy and I eventually lost contact, because I was busy with the band. But the next thing I knew, he was in the hottest band in Los Angeles - Guns N' Roses. When I was in town, I went to see GN'R every chance I could because I wanted to support Izzy.

I'd known Izzy and Axl both in the early years. We used to jam together in Los Angeles in the lean years.




Izzy jamming with Gilby in Candy
1986



Since I knew Izzy and he had a new band I had to check it out. This was before Guns when they were called Hollywood Rose. When I first saw them and heard Axl singing I said "that's one damned talented singer." It was so obvious that he had something special. […] I had been out on tour for a while and when I got back in LA I was shocked over Izzy's band. Suddenly they were the biggest in Los Angeles. I saw a show with them and even though the sound was so bad that you couldn't discern much, I understood something was going on. […] The first that struck me when the album ("Appetite") came out was Slash. He was the best guitarist I've heard in a l-o-n-g time.

Seriously, I was one of Izzy's first friends in Los Angeles. We both got to L.A. around the same time. Izzy and I both liked the same kind of music, and we hung around in the same small circle of friends.

I was actually friends with Izzy when Izzy first came to town. Then when Izzy got in Guns N’ Roses, I used to go see them because it was Izzy’s band. […] I kind of lost touch when they went on and became big and my bands were still playing clubs all those years.

I was one of Izzy’s first friends when he came to L.A. […]  I never played with Izzy. He wasn’t a very good drummer (laughs). So him probably playing guitar was a better idea (laughs). […] I mean, I like it. I really like it. I always liked their music from day one. And to be playing it now, it’s like, I almost feel as if – you know, when I’m playing, it’s not faking it. I enjoyed it and I liked it.

I met Izzy when he first came to California. I don't think any of the Guns N' Roses guys were playing at the time. Then I met Axl, then Slash... I even met Matt years before he joined Guns N' Roses. He was in a band that was often on the same bill as Candy. In fact, I met them all before they started a band together! I was kind of around the band and that's how I got to be in Guns N' Roses. We were always stuck together...

I knew [Izzy] before I was in Candy. Back then, there were only five guys in town who wanted to be Johnny Thunders; it just happened to be me, Izzy, and a couple other guys. Pretty small world.

Back in the (late '80s), even though there were a lot of bands, it was still a small scene. Everybody pretty much knew each other. I knew (Guns N' Roses lead guitarist) Slash.

I knew all of them! The Hollywood scene was very closed knit and we all went to each other’s gigs and when I was in Candy, is when I knew the Guns guys. I knew Axl when he first came to town and Izzy was one of my first friends in LA and it was just because there was a small group of guys that liked both sides, liked the rock stuff and liked the punk stuff and we would go to both shows and that's the way Izzy was. I'd run into him at a Germs concert and I'd also run into him at The Plastmatics. It was just a way of us having a lot of things in common. Slash was more like a metal guy. We always saw him backstage and he'd be back there drinking and trying to grab your guitar and it was like “Go get your own guitar!”. (laughs) We were all part of the local scene, so yeah, I did know all of them. Even Matt! I knew Matt really well too.


Gilby also met Matt during his Candy period:

I've known Matt since the beginning of the eighties when I was in Candy. I had met Axl, Duff and Slash a couple of times, but I didn't really know them.


And while Gilby played in Kill for Thrills, in 1990, Matt replaced Steven:

When I was in Kill For Thrills and Matt got his GNR gig, I was one of the first guys to go, Matt, that's so awesome' because Matt and I had been fucking pounding it out in clubs for years and everybody knew Matt was the best drummer around. Sure, he was in The Cult and stuff but he never got that big break.


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14. NOVEMBER 1991-APRIL 1992: THE BIGGEST BAND IN THE WORLD Empty Re: 14. NOVEMBER 1991-APRIL 1992: THE BIGGEST BAND IN THE WORLD

Post by Soulmonster Sat Jun 13, 2020 6:34 pm

GILBY SETTLES IN...BUT FOR HOW LONG?

FIGURING OUT IZZY'S PARTS

One problem Gilby faced when replacing Izzy was the fact that no one in the band really knew what Izzy had been playing:

My task was to play Izzy's parts and play exactly like him. No one helped me in the beginning. Slash told me to pick out Izzy's parts and play them. So I listened to the albums, came down to the rehearsal place and played. "That's not Izzy's riff," meant Slash, and I said "but that's what I heard." "It's my riff" he continued whereupon I said "oh!" So I had to learn to play exactly like Izzy did.

To make matters worse, nobody really seemed to know what Izzy played. I would perform something, and Slash would say, "I thought you knew this tune." And I'd argue that I did. And then he'd say, "No you don't - you're playing my part!" And then we'd realize that you couldn't really hear Izzy's part on some of the songs. So then we had to try to reconstruct his parts the best we could. Duff knew what Izzy had played more than anyone, so I leaned on Duff a lot.

But it also might have been a blessing in disguise. It gave everyone in the band the opportunity to suggest a fresh approach. I think they were giving me stuff to play that they always wanted to hear, but Izzy would never do. So my rhythm parts are a combination of Izzy's original ideas, some of my ideas and a few additional ideas provided by the band.

They give me the records and they give me the list, so every day I had to learn different songs. But the funny thing is, as you go in, you’re like, I’ll go in to learn the songs; and I’d go, “Is this right?” and Slash would go, “I don’t know.”

Izzy’s parts were an important part of the band. I meant I wasn’t trying to be him and imitate him. I took his parts and made ‘em my own. Even Slash said the same thing at the time and goes, “Look, just listen to it and make it your own.” He thought it was important as a musician for me not to just be up there covering it but for me to find my place within the band. He thought it was important and it was. I took the important stuff you wanna hear but I just played it the way I would play it. [...] The playing part [was not tricky] no but what was tricky and challenging was if you really listen to Guns’ music, what’s unique about it is every time the solo section comes the rhythm part and the music underneath it is a complete different part of the song. In most songs, people solo over a chorus or a verse but not in Guns, man. It’s kinda like that Aerosmith thing where it was a complete new part and there were times in my head [chuckles]—and you gotta understand I learned 50 songs in a week—there were a couple of jumbles in my computer in my head. “Is this rhythm part the one that goes to that song?”



INITIAL REACTIONS FROM BAND MEMBERS ON GILBY JOINING

Slash was thrilled about having Gilby in the band and would claim that "for the first time in years, he is getting harmonic support on his guitars solos" [The Philadelphia Inquirer, December 16, 1991]. He would also say that Gilby's "enthusiasm" countered Izzy's "lethargic stage presence and rudimentary guitar work" [St. Petersburg Times, December 27, 1991].

We hired Gilby because he is his own man. The last thing we needed was someone whose mind would've been blown at the prospect of playing with GN'R. We didn't need that kind of pressure, because we were trying to cope with the loss of Izzy. We needed to know that the person joining the band could hold his end of it together.


As mentioned above, Axl preferred Navarro over Gilby and wasn't as enthusiastic in the beginning, but this subsided as soon as they started to play together:

Axl was one of the people who really wasn’t in favor of me being the new guitar player. He wanted David Navarro. Once I got in, I really had a lot to prove to him. And after the first show, he came up to me and said, ‘I’m so happy you’re here.’ It made me feel a lot better.

When Gilby joined the band and it was brought up, I wasn’t into it at all, because Gilby had kind of been, in the early days, considered – at least in my mind and in girls’ minds – as, like, Izzy’s rival (laughs). […] I didn’t know what Gilby was into or what Gilby was doing. I didn’t know Gilby personally, but it was just a name you always heard; and there was this other guy that I admit that I always thought was Gilby. […] He was cool, but I didn’t want to work with him. And that wasn’t who Gilby was; I never knew that (chuckles).

When I went down to the studio, before we went on tour, to see this person play, knowing that we pretty much had to go with this person or we were fucked. […] I walked in, and he was playing Coma and rocking out. It was just like done deal; and all I can say, it’s perfect.


The similarities between Gilby and Izzy would also be mentioned by Gilby himself:

I'm really happy with these guys — I never really thought of it before. Izzy and I knew each other from a long, long time ago. We were all in local bands together, and him and I were so similar in so many ways — a lot of my friends were like, ‘God, what an obvious choice,' 'cause back then it was like the two of us were so similar. It was kind of interesting.


Gilby would also comment on fitting in immediately:

I had two weeks to learn about 40 songs – that was hard! Fitting in was the easy part, we hit it off right away.
The Evening Chronicle, June 16, 1992



RECORDING OR JUST TOURING MEMBER?

Despite having found Gilby, the band wasn't sure whether he would be a recording member or just a touring members:

Right now we have a guitar player named Gilby Clarke. And he’s been in Hollywood about as long as us. And, you know, he’s doing a really good job. But I don’t know about farther than the touring. […] He was in the band Candy when we were playing the clubs, there was all kinds of different bands.

Chemistry between musicians is something that takes a while to develop. So right now we're just touring. We don't have any plans for recording or writing together.

We have a person that we are working with, named Gilby Clarke, who has played around Hollywood about as long as us. But I don’t know about the next album, you know. We’re still talking with other people and stuff as far as that goes.

I don’t know if we’re going to write with [Gilby] when the tour’s over but I actually call him up and say ‘You wanna do this?’ and we hang out. With Izzy, the only time we used to do that was when we were getting stoned. That was like over three years ago.

I play a little bit of lead, but my role is generally rhythm. Slash is the lead guitar player. What's going to be in the future I don’t know, but I just had to fill a spot when I came in. So at this point I'm the rhythm guitar player - one of the reasons for bringing me in is that I always was a rhythm guitar player. Just because I am that doesn't mean I can’t solo, it's just that Slash is the guy that should be soloing now with Guns N' Roses. One of the reasons I got the job is that when Slash goes into a lead, he feels comfortable with me playing the rhythm part.


One of the reasons for this reluctance might have been a hope that Izzy would actually return:

[Discussing if Izzy is out for good]: That's something I have no idea about—how this is going to affect Izzy and his attitude. He may be happy not doing this anymore. Or he might really want to come back and make the effort that he wasn't making before. […] I just can't understand how [Izzy] could let something like this just fall apart. I mean the guy didn't want to tour or do videos; he hardly wanted to record. I just never thought he was one of those guys that this would happen with. It's a lot different than the Steve Adler situation. So I don't know what's going to happen a year from now: whether we'll be working with Gilby, Izzy or somebody else altogether. A lot of things are up in the air right now. But we've got a heavy duty tour going on, and we've got a killer band to do it


Later Gilby would talk about being afraid that his tenure in Guns N' Roses would just be a short, temporary thing:

I never even thought I was going to make it to the first gig [laughs]. I thought they were just covering themselves until Izzy came back. Then I thought they were going to dump me after our '91 Christmas break. But then Slash gave me this beautiful red Les Paul with an ebony neck. After that, I felt a lot more comfortable. You don't give somebody a present like that if things aren't going well.

It was strange at first, because when it all happened, I don’t think anybody really knew that it was a permanent situation, because Izzy left so abruptly that we really didn’t know if I was just filling in temporarily or if it was gonna go on for a long time. What happened is, as time went on, it just became a permanent situation.

It was just, you know, “Here. Learn the songs, to play the songs, here’s your paycheck.” I knew from day one that it could end tomorrow.

I don't know if I ever really felt equal, but to feel as a part of the band, it did take a little while... I think even everybody at that point didn't know what Izzy was really doing. They were extremely respectful — Axl was incredibly respectful to me — but it's not like they didn't treat me like a band member or did. I think they were just cautious, because there probably was a chance that Izzy was going to come back. The difference between me [joining] and when the guys started the band [was], I knew what I was getting into. I knew the band's reputation. I knew that things could end tomorrow. I even said to myself, 'I'm not going to try to be Izzy. I'm going to just be myself. If they accept me for who I am, then great — it's all icing on the cake.'



LATER REACTIONS ON GILBY JOINING

As the touring went on, the band members would praise Gilby:

Well, he’s done a really good job considering that he had only about two weeks to learn the entire set, you know, of tunes. And basically we don’t learn a set; we learn, like, a lot of songs. So he learned about 30 songs for the tour and we pick from those. So, you know, in that respect he learned a lot of stuff in a short period of time, which is really brave.

Gilby was the guy that fit in, like, right off. Same way that Matt worked out. And Gilby was the only guy that we actually had come down to the studio and rehearse on stage with us. So it was that kind of chemistry.

Gilby fit in so naturally that I figured it was a godsend; I didn't feel like we had to look any further. He just came in and did the work required. He's a great guy. He's a little older than I am, he's been on the road for a long time, and he's tough as nails. Gilby and I have become friends - that's how we relate to each other. We didn't want a session guy or some weird, star-fucker type who was into the gig for the glory, or to further a solo career. We wanted a dedicated band member, and he has grown into that.


In the band's official fan club newsletter, they would mention Gilby joining the band this way:

Sitting in on rhythm guitar for the now is a guy by the name of Gilby Clark. Gilby is a cool guy and has been playin’ Hollywood for about as long as we have. He was in a band “Kill For Thrills” and an old Hollywood “Candy.” It sometimes takes a while for the chemistry of band members to develop and meld. So we’ll see how Gilby will fit in... but right now, he’s doing a killer job!



TALKING ABOUT THE TRANSITION

Gilby would be joking about going from "nothing" to GN'R over one night:

Basically, they bribed me (chuckles). They made me do it. […] It was a tough decision, you know, to go from the clubs and stuff to doing this. It was hard. […] 10 years of struggling, 6 months of cheating (laughs). And it was right there, right at the top.  […] Oh, man, this is great. This is, like, everything you’ve ever heard of, like The Rolling Stones used to do back when we were growing up. This is it, this is the top.

I’ve been doing this for so long and finally it’s handed to you. At first I felt a little strange, like ‘You don’t deserve this.’ I didn’t feel comfortable — I was comfortable with the guys but not with the other stuff. Axl actually said one time, ‘You deserve this just like the rest of us. You worked just as hard, played all those clubs just like we did.' And I said. ‘Yeah, maybe I can accept this’ (laughs).

Actually, in a strange way, it wasn’t [much of a change joining GN'R]. Living in L.A. and being in the rock scene, you basically have this style of life and I pretty much already fit in. What was really great was I always liked the band from the earliest days when they first started in clubs and I thought it was a really cool band. Now they’re probably the biggest band in the world. I was just so happy.

It's a big change. It's kind of strange in the way, that, as a musician, I've been in a lot of bands, made a lot of records, done a lot touring, but it's like this is what I've been working for, for so long. I always wanted to be in a band. My idols were always the Beatles and The Rolling Stones — it's like a big thing, a big goal. It's like I've spent my whole life preparing for this so like now that it's happened it's like I don't question it — I accept it. It's like I don't want to jinx it. I'm really happy with these guys — I never really thought of it before.

Here's how I feel about it: It's like, to me, Izzy was a big part of this band, and the band wouldn't have got to where it got without Izzy. You know, if I had been the guitar player from the beginning, they wouldn't be where they are today. But I think it was one of those changes that needs to be done, and I'm like the right guy from now on for the future. You know, it's like my comparison is (chuckles)... I don't know if this is arrogant or what, but the Stones changed — everybody loved Brian Jones — but they switched to Mick Taylor, and they made some great albums with Mick Taylor. To me, my goal is to bring something like that to the greatest band in the world and add something. That's what I want to do — I want to just definitely make my presence known, and that's what they want too.

I think that, yeah, [Izzy's] were really, really big shoes to fill. I think that Izzy was a very important person in and with the band, you know. When I first came into it, to tell you the truth, I didn’t really have much to think about. It happened so fast (laughs). I mean, it was like two weeks from the day I walked in to the day I started playing with them on stage. I think that what Izzy did with the band was a very, very special time, a very special band and everything, and I was never gonna try to change that or do whatever, you know, with what I was doing. I was just like, I’m a new person, I wanna try to help the band the best I could; you know, try to add a little something to it, not change it, just do what I do. But the thing is, I always said from the beginning, I had to be myself and play guitar the way I play guitar, because if I tried to be Izzy, I couldn’t do it the way Izzy could do it. You know, he did his thing, I gotta do my thing. And I think that it was one of the cool things that when they got me they didn’t get somebody to just say, “Let me do whatever it takes.” I didn’t’ do that. I said, “Look, this is what I do. It either fits or it doesn’t fit.” And as of right now, it still fits, you know? But no - I think it was big shoes to fill, but I don’t think that I could ever do anything that would compete with it or anything like that.

I never noticed this until I was in GN'R and learning their songs, but their solo sections are always a new part of the song. Too many people get locked into soloing over a verse or a chorus, but Slash never does--and I love that.

Also, you know, we go through our lives - you are recognized more, and you get used to it. You get used to when you go to the gas station and somebody is looking. You don't always assume, 'Oh, everybody knows who I am,' but even in the early Hollywood days, I've been around for a while, I knew guys at the gas station, the guys at the grocery store, so I was kind of used to. Granted, this was a whole different level, that band was huge.


To sonically stand out against Slash, Gilby would change his gear setup:

So when I joined G&R, I was a Marshall and Les Paul guy, just like Slash. He had a little bit more gain than me. Sometimes on stage if we both hit the same chord, I couldn’t tell who was hitting what.
 
So I switched over to VOX AC-30s during the G&R years. It really helped me separate my sound from his on stage and in the mix out front. So that is what really started the whole other side of my using AC-30s. When I was working with Slash in the studio, I couldn’t plug a Les Paul into a Marshall, I would just sound a lot like him. So I always used an AC-30 or, on The Spaghetti Incident?, it’s a ‘62 Fender Deluxe on pretty much the whole record.


Being asked if there was a conscious effort to separate their tones:

On my side, yes. On Slash’s side, I don’t think he really cared. But on my side, absolutely. Even though he had more gain, there is still that sonic frequency. But if you run it into an AC-30, it will cut through a bit better.


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14. NOVEMBER 1991-APRIL 1992: THE BIGGEST BAND IN THE WORLD Empty Re: 14. NOVEMBER 1991-APRIL 1992: THE BIGGEST BAND IN THE WORLD

Post by Soulmonster Sat Jun 13, 2020 6:35 pm

SLASH AND MICHAEL JACKSON

At some point in 1990, Michael Jackson's people contacted Slash.

I was in shock! I didn't know how to react. Like, "Why me?" But what was then communicated to me was that Michael liked my playing and feel, and that's what he wanted. So I said, "Cool." I called his studio to see what was going on and they sent me a really rough demo. Apparently, they work really slowly, 'cause I waited around for another couple of months before I heard anything else. I still haven't actually played anything yet.

I was staying at the Hyatt Hotel on Sunset Boulevard when I got a call from the Guns N’ Roses office. "Hey Slasher, Michael Jackson is trying to get in touch with you,” said our manager. “He wants you to play on his record.” “‘Oh wow!’ I said. ‘Okay.’ The next call was from Michael himself. ‘Hello Slash,’ he said in his typically nervous, timid voice, and off we went from there.


A few months later Slash had recorded for Jackson, but not actually met him:

It's at once the most sterile and creative process I've been involved in. Everything is pieced together from samples; you use the same drum beat and chords then later add things to make it different in some places. Which is so different from what we do. Michael hires out the studio for like 10 years and shows up once a month. I'll probably never meet him... It's sort of weird.

Michael Jackson was somebody I admire and have a lot of respect for. But when it came down to it, the sessions were so unorganized. I like to keep a schedule and be punctual, but those dates just sat there for months and months until I kept thinking they didn’t want to use me anymore. I got a call three months later to do it at such and such a date, but when that date came, it wouldn’t happen. I finally went down and recorded some rhythm stuff for a couple of songs. Then the producer said he was going to another country for a while, and I told him to give me a call when he got back. But all I did was end up talking to his wife or his kid trying to find out what the fuck was going on, and to this day I still don’t know what’s happening.


In the first half of 1991 Slash had still not met Jackson:

I didn't meet him. I regret having done that too, only because that's way too automated for my taste. The guy books the studio for like two or three years and comes in once every sixth months. I was very still. I'd do a riff and it was really cool and they'd sample it for the rest of the song. You know, where I come from is like what they call the Old School - you get in there and you play. I think Michael Jackson is great, but not the process.


In August 1991, while being interviewed for the December issue of Guitar Player, he had again been contacted by Michael Jackson, and this time he got to talk to him:

When someone asked me to work with [Michael Jackson], I thought it would be cool, sort of an Eddie Van Haien spot where I could really shine. I asked, "Can I have a tape?" That was a major situation. Finally, I managed to get one, but it didn't have any vocals—just synthesizer and drum-box. Three to four months passed before they finally asked me down. I was completely out of my element, but I did one song my way. But no solo—the song was only two minutes long. I used a talk box on another one. I played my lick once, and they sampled it for the rest of the song [grimaces]. I really wanted to put solo on that one. They wanted me to do one more song. Six months went by and they called: "Can you come down and finish?" I said, "Yeah, when?" "Well, we're trying to figure it out." A few months later, I finally call them: "Do you want me to finish this? Maybe Michael isn't hip to the stuff I put down." And they said, "No, you've gotta do it." Ages went by and they called again. At this point I said, "No, I'm doing our record and we're on the road. Too late." I never met Michael through this whole thing. […] For a while, I was bummed. But a couple of days ago, Michael called. This little voice says, "Slash?" We talked; it turns out he has a song he won't record unless I play on it. He's going to delay the project until I can get into the studio. Michael sent me a tape—the song is perfect for me. I'm practicing it right now I'm going to wail.


In December 1991, Slash would again shed light on the collaboration:

I only played on the intro thing where that Macaulay Culkin kid, or whatever his name is, plays air guitar in the beginning of the video. So I'm on that, but when it goes into the actual song, that's not me. That doesn't sound anything like me. So I was a little pissed off, after all the work we'd done in getting together, when I realized [Michael Jackson] was promoting it as such. […] [Michael Jackson] works really hard, which is something I can appreciate because I don't like to fool around and waste time. He's real personable -- and we got the stuff done. It was actually probably easier than anything we do in Guns.


Detroit Free Press was present at the show on January 9, 1992, and would describe Slash finishing a phone conversation with his "good buddy" Michael Jackson [Detroit Free Press, April 12, 1992]. According to the newspaper, Slash had recently received a "the gift of a big-screen TV from Jackson" [Detroit Free Press, April 12, 1992]. Slash would comment on their friendship:

[Michael Jackson] turned out to be very down to earth, very sincere. And he worked really hard, which is something I always respect. […] Working with him was humbling in a way, too. You think about the amount of attention that’s been thrown at us all the time. Working with Michael, whoa — that was definitely a heavy-duty glamour situation. It went way beyond what we do.

Working with Michael Jackson was really interesting in that way. He’s as big as they get and he does live in some sort of mental Disneyland, but he’s a lot more real than he’s made out to be. He works his fuckin’ ass off. We musta done like 50 takes of this one song (‘Black & White’) before we actually went on TV. I didn’t actually play on that song although everyone else thinks I did. I only played on the beginning bit where the dad’s yelling at the kid. Then I played on another song, ‘All Together,’ which I might do a video for with him.

[Michael Jackson] was great, you know? I mean, I know a lot of people have... You, know, because he’s such a celebrity, a lot of people have... they think different things about what he is as a person. But, as far as I was concerned, he was just real sweet, and he works real hard and he was real down-to-earth, so we had a great time, you know. That’s why we’re gonna go in and do something else, and, like, finish the whole project out that we started on. I had a great time.

It was a year later, when [Michael Jackson] called and asked me to play on something, that it turned into a more personable kind of thing. He was at the studio when I did it. So that was cool. It's called "Give in to Me" There's a totally spontaneous solo on that. It wasn't necessarily perfect, but it had the right energy to it, so I left it on there. Michael gave me no direction at all. He wanted me for the gig, and he knew what it would sound like. He never questioned anything I was doing the whole time. By the way, contrary to popular belief, I'm not playing on "Black or White." I did play it live with him on television.

See, working with Michael (Jackson), I've gotten to be good friends with him in the last coupla years, and I don't know how he handles it. His whole situation just seems so way out of proportion. Then he'll turn round and say something like he's got a sore throat today. And I'm like — wow, that does happen, huh? Back to reality.


In 2009, he would retell his experience with Michael Jackson as if he had been present for the very first recording sessions Slash did for him:

I was flattered and I was intimidated but the sessions came off great. We did two songs – the cooler one was Give In To Me, which was like a new take on his song Dirty Diana. Michael was there with Brooke Shields, who he was dating at the time. It was trippy and the studio was dimly lit. I shook hands with them both and played. ‘I really want to thank you so much for being on my album,’ Michael said. ‘I really can’t wait to hear what you come up with!’ Then they split, and went off to dinner.


In May 1992, Slash would say he would soon be doing a music video with Michael Jackson [MTV Headbanger's Ball, May 1992]. And and:

Oh Michael’s a sweetheart. He’s a really cool guy. […] We’ve been workin’ together for a couple of years now on different stuff. […] I like him — he’s such a sweet and gentle man and actually pretty ordinary. […] People thought it was weird, us working together. I just think that in the end it’s all music — whatever kind you’re into.


In July 1992, Slash would again talk about his collaboration with Jackson:

It’s got to be almost two years ago that there was a phone from his office to my office. It was one of those things like, ‘Michael would like to have you play on his record,’ and of course I was very flattered. So they said they were going to be at such-and-such a place to do this and when I got there I found out that they’d block-booked time at all these different studios for two years, and Michael would only come in on occasion. So I said to the producer, whose name I can’t remember, ‘Well, what do you want me to play? Can I get a tape?’ and that’s when the guns went up! I said, ‘I just need something for reference.’ There were no vocals or anything, no real arrangements; a lot of it was drum machine stuff, completely the other side of the fence for me. It was like, ‘Okay, I'll adapt.’ They said ‘When are you available?’ and I was just starting the ‘Illusion’ record, so I said, ‘On Sundays, I can play any Sunday.’ They said, ‘We’ll call you right back.’

So I did one session and there was no music whatsoever. I just made up guitar to these drums with some guitar chords that the producer had put there; that’s all I had to work with. So six months goes by and they call me: ‘Can you come down?’ I said, ‘When?’ 'We’ll call you back.’

So another couple of months goes by and I never went back to finish the project so I just wrote it off. And then suddenly Michael’s office called me and said, ‘Can you do this one song? Michael’s not going to put it on the record unless you play on it.’ This was right when ‘Use Your Illusion’ came out and I was on my way to Africa - I wanted to get out of town because the hype was getting too much - so I said, ‘Well, I’m leaving for two weeks and I’ll be back on such-and-such a day,’ and they said, ‘We can’t do it.’ And then Michael calls me - ‘Hi, it’s Michael’ - and he asked me personally, finally, to do it. I said 'Well, listen, I’ve put back this trip for weeks, I’ve cut so much time out of the only vacation I’ve ever had.’ So he held back the release of his record so I could do it!

I went from Tanzania to Kenya to Amsterdam, with a six-hour layover to LA, from the airport to the record plant, and started this tune. And he was there, him and Brooke Shields, and he was great, and that’s when I finally met him. Then his record came out and I did a tenth anniversary MTV thing with him and played the song Black Or White, but gave it that sort of rock feel. And he says I played it on the record, but I didn’t really; I played on the beginning where the little kid is playing air guitar. That’s me.

But there’s another song, called Give In To Me where it’s all my guitar; all my leads and everything. And I’m doing a video with him when I get back from England. But that’s how we met, and now we talk on the phone all the time. He sent me a couple of TV sets. He’s a funny guy, you know, very distant, but very personable. Sometimes I don’t know exactly what his motives are, but when I talk to him he always seems really sincere and I take him at face value.


Talking about how working with Michael Jackson differed from his other collaborations:

The Michael Jackson thing was a little different, probably more business-like than with Lenny Kravitz or Iggy Pop, where we just went into the studio, Duff and me, and ripped out four songs in one day and had a great time doing it. And I just did something with Carole King; she’s doing a new record and that was just a case of going to her home studio and putting a solo on a particular song. It’s usually just, have a couple of drinks, hang out, no real deadline or schedule...


In August 1992, Slash would again talk about the collaboration with Jackson:

[…] Michael Jackson just called me up. He wants me to go to Europe and play a gig with him somewhere, and I'm going to do it because I can't stand doing nothing. I also just finished helping him with his next video, "Give In To Me." He gave me a lot of space. […] It's funny. Everybody thought I played the main riff in "Black or White," but that isn't me. To be honest with you, I don't know who the hell is playing that riff. Most people think that I played the whole thing because Michael really publicized that I played on the track. The only part I played is in the beginning, when the little kid is playing air guitar in the video. I played much more on "Give In To Me." I played the whole rhythm part and solo. It was very loose. I was just jamming to the track, and Michael came down with Brooke Shields. I asked, "Is this cool?" and he'd say, "Anything you want, Slash."


Slash would also get to organize the video for 'Give in to Me':

When it came time to do the video, Mike put the whole thing in my hands! I picked the director and organized the band. Gilby is in it, Tony Thompson is on drums, Muzz Skillings is on bass, Dizzy's on keyboards and Michael sings. We're in this tiny space and it is very rock and roll. It's a completely different thing for Michael. I hope he digs it.


In March 1993 Slash would be asked about his collaboration with someone like Michael Jackson:

The reason that it's cool to play with a lot of different musicians, um, from a technical point of view. Is just that it gives you a chance to experience working in someone else's environment. And makes you, it helps you grow. It, aah, it forces you to play as best as you can in a different style of music, you know. If I was to play with another band like Guns, it wouldn't make much sense, right? So when you play with other people, if you find something in their style that you dig, something that you like, you try to adapt to it. So you're learning, you're having a good time, you're not conscious of it at the time, Looking back on it, realizing that you're learning and all that. When Michael called me, I was just flattered. Because Michael, no matter what anybody says about the guy, is undeniably like awesome talent, you know. And I wasn't gonna turn it down, it's not uncool, you know, to go and play on a Michael Jackson record. And so I went and did it, and I can't say that it was an easy thing to do, because of how disorganized it was. But, I'm proud of it after the fact. Now all the commercial stuff that goes along with it, and all the sort of hoopla and fucking paparazzi that, that's associated with it. I could really give a shit. That wasn't my point. It was just to go and, and pull it off and, and make it sound good, Which I think it did came out sounding cool, and that's all that really matters.




Slash and Michael Jackson



When asked about his relationship with Jackson in May 1993, he would admit that he was an eccentric person:

Well, that was sort of a shock, I mean cos I’m (?) me and Michael Jackson, like, on two completely opposite ends of the spectrum. But I was still really flattered. And I can understand, yeah, that he might be a little eccentric, but he’s an awesome talent. […] You know, I don’t wanna be just, like, the Guns N’ Roses guy. I’d like to expand a little bit more than that. And there’s a lot of people that I really admire what they play, or their songwriting or something, and it’s great to be invited to go along and play. It’s an honor.


By January 1994 allegations of Michael Jackson having sexually molested kids, including the actor Macauley Culkin, started to spread.

But when I first got involved, no, I never met him. His management called me. […] But after that, yeah. And I’ve done shows with him. I did a couple of shows in Tokyo, I did a video with him which was in front of an audience... So we got to know each other, sort of well, and I’d have to call him recently. […] Well, I mean, I feel sorry for him now, but only because – I mean, no one knows what the real story is, but the way that the media works... Especially nowadays, everything is so intense. You can’t walk down the street without somebody accusing you of something. So it’s hard to tell what the real story is, everything is blown out of proportion. So I know he’s going through it hardcore.

I was surprised to get the phone call. That was probably the most business-like session I’ve ever done. But I’ve gotten to know Michael since we first met in the studio and the guy’s just a bonafide amazing talent. Very rarely do you find yourself working with someone who’s that together. All the shit that’s going on with him now ... I just hope when it’s all said and done, that it turns out not to be true. […] You can never bury negative press whether it’s right or wrong. And that’s a drag. Especially considering that negative press is a lot more difficult when you’re a popular role model like he is.


When Howard Stern asked Slash about Michael Jackson and Macauley Culkin, Slash would simply respond "I don't know" [The Howard Stern Show, May 1992].

In early 1995, Slash would mention he had again been doing work with Jackson but also alluded to this causing problems:

I recently played with Michael Jackson again. Doing any kind of Michael Jackson thing is like doing a photo shoot without approval – you have no idea what's going on. Because there are no arrangements, you just go in there and play to a click track of drum samples. And I make up my part and what he uses he uses and what he doesn't want to use he doesn't. It's a whole different scene altogether, but Michael's cool. When Mike called and asked me to do this I was sort of like, "Weeee!!". There's all this controversy going on with him but that has nothing to do with us playing together and so I went to New York and did it. He's got a record coming out of 21 Number 1 singles he's had and there are seven new songs of which I played on three... but we'll see what happens. […] I got that feeling that I was sort of "flavour of the fuckin' month". That's how l felt at first. But I've done some shows with him in Spain and Japan, a video, and I got to know him. The guy's not as naive or as innocent as anybody might think; he's a very smart, quick-witted guy, fun to hang out with but obviously he's a little different – but so am I.

[...] [Jackson] called me, I played three choruses on three songs and don't ask me more, I don't know what will come out of that.

I did Michael Jackson again, but with Michael you never know what's going to be on the record.




Slash and Michael Jackson



Around the same time, Slash would defend Jackson against the accusations but refer to him as "different":

[Being asked if he would collaborate with Michael Jackson again]: Yes, he asked me to. It was just when the controversy about Michael and those kids broke out. I know Michael, and I know he's different, but he isn’t capable of doing that kind of thing. So he asked me to do it, and when I told people that I was going to record with Michael, they looked at me in shock and were like, ‘But haven't you heard about the kids? Are you gonna put yourself in the middle of this?’ I told them that I’d heard the stories, but Michael was my friend and I wanted to play with him. So I did three songs for him, but I don’t know which ones will end up on his album, because he does things differently than I do.
Popular 1, February 1995; translated from Spanish


In 1999, Slash would say he got a lot of criticism for playing with Jackson:

I got a lot of backlash, actually, for doing that, and I was like, “Fuck you.” [...] just from anybody who wants me to stay in one sort of sterile environment where you don’t branch out or anything. As far as I’m concerned, from a personality point of view, I’ve been unchanging ever since I started. I’ve never succumbed the business, you know. [...] You know, after having worked with him, he’s one or the most awesome people I’ve ever been on the same stage with - I mean, bar none. And I just did two gigs with him; the one in Germany, where he fell off… the hanger thing fell. I was standing right there when it happened, but I had my hair in my face and my head down, so I didn’t – I just felt it. I just felt the fucking wind come wind come by, and all of a sudden, boom. He got and he climbed up on stage. I mean, this is a big stadium, and he climbed up after he went about 30 miles an hour down, about 60 feet, so it was a controlled fall, because there was brakes on the cables. But he was 60 feet up and he just dropped. And so he got up – luckily it was the second to last song, and he got up, climbed on stage, and I thought everything was fine. I had no idea what he’d just gone through. And he did the whole (?). That to me is, like – that’s rock ‘n’ roll. It doesn’t’ matter what type of music – rock ‘n’ roll is an attitude. Anyway. So, that being the case, he’s always been like that. I don’t know him on a personal level to the point where - I’ve seen his chimps a couple of times, but that’s about it.


Later in the year he would talk more about his relationship with Jackson, and when asked if Jackson is a funny man:

I mean, Michael is Michael. I don’t know. I don’t know him well enough to talk about him publicly on a personal basis or a personal level. But for my experiences with him, he’s had always a very, sort of like, a keen sense of sarcasm - you know, the subtle kind – and great sense of humor. He’s different, you know. And I’m gonna work with him again. He’s been good to me as far as – you know, I’ve had a good time working with him.


Also that they would play again:

I just talked to him the other day and we’re gonna do a show coming up. […] I go and put guitar on stuff that I have no idea what the end result is gonna be. But that’s just Michael, you know, so it’s a different world as far as my approach to guitar playing and working with the band is concerned. But that’s Michael.


In 2000 Slash would tour with Michael Jackson for two of Jackson's shows in Korea [Kerrang! June 10, 2000]. He would also play with Michael Jackson at the Grammy's on February 23, 2000:

Michael's bad I played with Michael for the simple fact that he's something that I listened to as a kid. But he's like the genuine article, and he's one of the most talented motherfuckers I've ever played with. So when I got the offer, I was flattered.


In 2001 Slash would play again with Jackson at his "30th Anniversary Celebration":

I am so excited about working with my dear friend Slash again. He is a brilliant guitarist whom I really admire, and I look forward to having Slash perform with me again on these two special nights.
CDNow/Allstar, July 31, 2001

It's going to be a blast being onstage again with Michael. I am really looking forward to two great nights of music, and I'm honored to be a part of any event honoring him. He truly is one of the greatest talents known. Michael is timeless, classic and resilient. Here's to another 30 years.
CDNow/Allstar, July 31, 2001

He’s a world unto himself. Backstage, he has an otherwordliness about him.
National Post, September 7, 2001

The thing about Michael - all the media blitz aside and inquiring minds wanting to know about his personal life and this and that and the other - is when it comes to working, he is a consummate professional. He is one of the natural big-time talents I've ever worked with.

When we go in to do rehearsals, we go in and we snap through things, and he's got such a natural feel about his moves, his singing, it all just comes spontaneously. It's amazing to see.
Sonic Net, September 7, 2001


Talking about Michael Jackson in 2007:

We had a working relationship. We did some gigs, an awards show and two records together. I never witnessed anything bizarre. I mean he's bizarre, but I never witnessed anything totally out of the ordinary. I was invited to Neverland many times and never felt the inclination to go. Ha!

[Michael Jackson was] [v]ery astute and professional – he knew exactly what he wanted me to do in the songs. [...] He was great. All that stuff about his extra-curricular sexual preferences – I hope isn’t true. I never encountered anything like that. He was just a pleasure to work with.


In 2008 Slash would be asked if he would let Michael Jackson meet his kids:

I already did! Michael met my eldest, London, when London was one or two years old, at the home of [film producer] Robert Evans, of all places. And no, I didn’t let Michael hold him. No offence to Michael but, at the time, with all that unnerving shit going down, I held on to him tight. You know, I give the benefit of the doubt to Michael on everything – innocent until proven guilty and whatnot – but I was thinking, okay Michael, you figure out your shit and I’ll hold on to my son! But I like Michael a lot, and I enjoyed recording those two albums with him. He’s different.


After Jackson's death on June 25, 2009, Slash would comment:

Really sad news about Michael, he was a talent from on high.

I didn't know him that well personally but professionally he was just fantastic. I could tell he was lost outside work, though. The bigger the star, the bigger the bubble you lose yourself in. Guns N' Roses were huge, but nowhere near as huge as him. So I can understand how screwed up his perception of life was, because ours was screwed up and he was on a different level. I spent a few hours in his trailer once at an MTV show, and it was the size of a studio lot. I'd never seen anything like it, all decorated in gold and stuff. His chimpanzee was there, and it was all a bit weird. I was apprehensive getting that close to him because I knew I'd feel sad for him because he had no real grasp on anything outside his talent. [...] I had an incident once where I did a gig with him in Italy, and his guitarist Jennifer Batten disagreed with me over something we were doing in rehearsal, so we went to have it out with Michael. And he just told her straight: "Let Slash do whatever he wants to do." And I was shocked how firm he was, and businesslike. He wasn't the tortured innocent artist people thought he was. But he was lost, at the same time.

Michael Jackson was f--king amazing to watch. The one thing that Michael really wanted was for somebody to like him and those [child molestation] accusations just sorta just killed him.

[...]

The fact that he was doing downers really makes sense for his lifestyle.

It’s sad that he’s not here ... When all that stuff happened in 2001 or whenever it was, he got all of those (accusations) and stuff, the one thing that Michael really wanted, and the one thing that made him happy, was he wanted everybody to like him.

And so all of the sudden he was completely ostracized, pretty much by North America, for all these accusations (even) though he was acquitted, and it sort of just killed him.

There was this whole eight or nine-year period in the States where he was cast out. I like to believe he was innocent of the stuff he was accused of. He was acquitted and yet he was totally ostracised. Then he died and you had people crying in the streets. Bullsh*t. It really hasn’t hit home that he’s gone yet. All those guys in the pop world – Justin Timberlake, Usher – owe everything to him. No-one will ever fill his shoes. He was a one-off.

Working with Michael Jackson was great. He wasn't a dictator or one of those idiosyncratic assholes that feel like they can get away with being an asshole because they're so great. Michael was the embodiment of music.

[...] we had a good working relationship. [...] Where we started really working together was when we shot a video together. We did the MTV Awards together. We did a bunch of shows in Japan, some shows in Germany, some shows in Italy, and, you know, a bunch of stuff like that. And that was where we got to really get to know each other and work with each other. He's just a phenomenal, I mean, obviously, phenomenal performer. And I just sort of went out and did my thing. So it was sort of like an unsaid thing that we were just, you know -- you play whatever you want to play, and you're going to do whatever you want to do, and that's how we got on.


Looking back at working together:

I have indeed been fortunate to work with many great artists and my work with Michael Jackson is one that stands out.



SLASH REFERS TO RIFF IN 'BLACK OR WHITE' AS "GAY"

While doing press in March 2010, Slash would comment on the misconception that he had played the main guitar on the Michael Jackson song 'Black Or White' as "gay":

I never played on [Black or White]. If you listen to [the hook], that's gay. I'd never play that. [...] I played on 'Give in to Me' [also off 'Dangerous'] and in the 'Black and White' video, when Macaulay Culkin was trashing around, that's me playing.


A few days later Slash would explain his choice of words:

I thought about that afterward 'cause really that just came right out... now I think it sounded a bit too derogatory. What I really meant was that the sound of the guitar is very happy. It just doesn't sound like me, anyone would know that. It's not the guitar sound you would expect from me, but somehow I got pigeonholed as the guy who played on that song.



2015: GOLDSTEIN CLAIMS AXL WAS DEVASTATED OVER SLASH WORKING WITH MICHAEL JACKSON

In 2015, Doug Goldstein would claim he knew the real reason Axl was angry with Slash and which prevented a reunion between the two of them and that it was Slash's decision to work with Michael Jackson, for barely any compensation, just at the time when Axl was opening up about having been sexually abused as a child:

In 1991, we were on the road, Slash came into my office and said, 'I'm leaving tomorrow to play with Michael Jackson at a tribute show.' I told him not to because Axl was molested by his father when he was two and he believed in the allegations against Michael Jackson. Everyone knew Eddie Van Halen got $1 million for his part in 'Beat It'. So I asked Slash, 'How much are you getting paid, can I negotiate that for you?' and he said, 'I'm just going to get a big screen television.'

He was devastated. He thought Slash would stand by him and stand against all the abuse. From Axl's point of view, that was the only problem. He could ignore drugs and alcohol (which the guitarist had serious problems with). ), but could never ignore child abuse.
Rolling Stone Brazil, March 25, 2015; translated from Portuguese


Slash would quickly respond to Goldstein's claims and not deny that a conflict had arisen but dismiss it was the root cause of the demise of the "original Guns N' Roses":

I've been hearing a lot about this particular interview from a lot of people that he really pissed off. And I've heard that. And I don't think there's any truth to that. I mean, obviously, the band stayed together for years after that whole thing. And it wasn't a big deal at the time. And if it did piss anybody off, it was something that went away. So I don't think it had anything to do with the original Guns N' Roses demise. [...] I don't wanna read or hear that guy's B.S., so I just avoid it. That way I stay sane.


Later in the year, Goldstein would discuss his previous statement:

You know Mitch, I'm glad you're asking that question because in fairness I should have said 'when Axl fell out of love with Slash' is this instance. This isn't what caused.... It's not Slash's side, clearly. But I was there, I was living it. Axl, he was in tears when Slash went to play with Michael. We had absolute knowledge of the allegations, Axl had courageously spoken about his childhood in Rolling Stone, you know, the being molested by his birth father at age two and it was absolutely uncomprehensible to him that Slash, who he loved and felt like was his partner all the way down the line in Guns N' Roses, would actually go against how he felt towards child molestation, particularly over a big screen TV. That was like, that was the straw that broke the camel's back. But in fairness, you know, I didn't say, "That's not why Slash and Duff left." No way, not even close. But that is when Axl disengaged as the thinking that Slash was his partner in Guns N' Roses.


And in 2016, Zutaut would be quoted as supporting Goldstein's claims that Axl had been devastated by Slash's collaboration with Michael Jackson:

If Axl would take his greatest press visibility of his career, and he would use that to try and save one child's life from sexual abuse, how do you think he would feel about his guitar player playing with a guy who admitted in court documents that he drove to some ten-year-old boy's house and slept with him in the ten-year-old's bed in the room next door to the mom for 168 days in a row?


In 2018, Goldstein would again retell the story when Slash informed him he was going to play with Michael Jackson for a big screen TV:

So [Axl] does that huge interview, and he bears his deepest darkest secret, and Slash comes to my room two months later and says: ‘Hey, I’m going to play with Michael Jackson.’ What! No! So everybody in the industry knows that Eddie Van Halen got 1 million dollars for ‘Beat It,’ for the single. I said, ‘At least let me negotiate the deal.’ ‘No, it’s already negotiated.’ ‘What do you mean? You’re not going to let me do my job?’ I said, ‘Look, I need to go to Axl with some ammunition to explain why you’re going and hanging out with a pedophile.’ He had just shared what happened. Slash said, ‘It’s already negotiated.’

So I said, ‘At least give me some ammunition to go to Axl and tell him but yeah, he’s getting X amount of dollars.’ He said, ‘He’s giving me a big screen TV.’ ‘Hang on, what?’ ‘Yeah, he’s going to give me one of those big 72 inch big screen TV’s.’ ‘So that’s what I get to go with Axl with? You’re going to go play with a pedophile after he just bore his soul, for a big screen TV?’ ‘Yeah.’

That was the end of the end right there, that was the beginning of the end, but that sealed the fate of the band. Axl never again thought Slash was his brother. Like I said earlier, the greatest thing I ever did was let Axl know what they thought of him, because he loved those guys. He thought they understood how damaged his own life was.


After the release of Leaving Neverland, a 2019 documentary that levelled accusations of sexual abuse against Michael Jackson, Slash would be asked to comment:

I can’t weigh in on that. I haven’t seen it. I mean, I was on the road in Europe and there was some talk of what the movie revealed and so on, but I can’t really make any kind of statement about it, because I haven’t seen it yet. And it’s been really quiet since that initial release, so I’m not really sure.


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14. NOVEMBER 1991-APRIL 1992: THE BIGGEST BAND IN THE WORLD Empty Re: 14. NOVEMBER 1991-APRIL 1992: THE BIGGEST BAND IN THE WORLD

Post by Soulmonster Sat Jun 13, 2020 6:36 pm

CHANGING PERSPECTIVES

Appetite was released when the band members were in their early 20s. As the band members matured they would quickly have to deal with defending lyrics they might not feel fully represented them as grown-ups. They would also explore different lyrical themes in their music, as shown on more "mature" lyrics on the 'Use Your Illusion' albums.

You know, we're not trying to promote, you know, drug abuse or anything like this. It's very scary, I mean, it almost killed us, almost broke this band. It's almost, you know, killed a few of us a couple times, you know. It's something that we stay away from. And it's like being here in New York, you know, we've had some bad experiences before and, you know, and you just have to be really careful because, like, a lot of people take all kinds of meanings out of your songs which has nothing to do with the fact that, basically, it's about something that happened in your life two years ago.

I feel I have responsibilities to myself and to music, and things I want to do with it, like, you know, trying to relate to as many people and help open their minds up and least make them think. I'm not telling them that we can save the world but I can kind of describe the world, and, you know, just at least let them think about it, you know.

Our first major tour was with Motley Crue and the audience was younger than most audiences that we played, like on Aerosmith tour or on other tours or on our own tours and the tours with The Cult. And it was real hard to do the song It’s So Easy because there's a line in there, "I drink and drive/and everything's in sight". We were talking about, kind of, how we got away with things and we're lucky to be here. It was real hard knowing that some of these kids would just go out and go, ”Yeah, I drink and drive and everything's in sight.” I mean, Izzy put it best when he said that a lot of people think our record means you know, party and do cocaine and rock ‘n’ roll. And it's like, that just ain’t what it is. So Izzy was gonna quit at one time because he was... didn't like the way people reacted to it. I heard something on the radio last night; when Frank Zappa broke up The Mothers [Of Invention] it was ‘cause people were clapping for all the wrong reasons.

My girlfriend recently asked me if I could still write a song as nasty and gritty as the things on Appetite, and I told her that it would probably depend on the song and if I was moved to write that way. But I'm not gonna write that way just to sell records. I'm not gonna write anymore bar room sex songs just to sell a few more albums. If something inspires me to do it, I will. I won't regress. I'll do it if I can take it to a new place, a new level.
Hit Parader, June 1993; interview done in December 1992


Their past lifestyles would also be scrutinized by the media and band members would frequently defend or discuss it:

You learn from experience. We were very arrogant and in many ways an ignorant band, that just thought we could do everything our way. And we try to hold on What. I mean, there's still no formula For us. But then you see how people love to drag out dirty laundry, they expect you to come onstage and throw up or something. Which has nothing to do with music and every-thing to do with attitude. But of course, attitude has a lot to do with music. Personally, I don't want to piss off anyone. But we'll probably always be controversial. Life goes on.

I just turned 25, and something went off in my head. When I started this I was 19, and at that age there's nothing to stop you, so far as you can see. And then as you get older—not to say I'm old now—but you do change a little and see things differently. It's pretty natural. Some people are a little luckier than others as far as living through it. 'Cause there are extremes. When you're 22 and on the road with access to excess—well, you can get in trouble.

I think we're a pretty decent mirror for what kids and young adults go through, if you're not brought up in a totally stiff atmosphere. For people who have spent time on the street or have family problems, alcohol problems, we've voiced some opinions about what we were going through. And some of the reason we did so well is that a lot of kids related to that. Of course their parents might have freaked—It's that 'our generation' kind of thing—but it's what we went through. And now, what we have to say is a little different.

We’re older and we’re more experienced. This is sort of a G Ν’ R cliché now — we’re not saints, and things still happen, but we try and keep them confined to the band, cos everything goes public now. People expect me to be drunk or people expect me to throw something out the window or expect Axl to break something and walk off the stage. That’s not what we’re all about. After a while, you keep everything to yourself. If you do smash the TV set, just quietly get rid of it y'know?


In 1991 Axl went through therapy that helped him to understand why he was the way he was and to grow [see separate chapter]:

I really think that the next official Guns n' Roses record, or the next thing I do, at least, will take some dramatic turns that people didn't expect and show the growth. I don't want to be the twenty-three-year-old misfit that I was. I don't want to be that person. […]I guess I like who I am now. I'd like to have a little more internal peace. I'm sure everybody would.


Axl would also comment on the way they had behaved before:

We, Guns N ' Roses, did [act like pigs] for a while. Or did, because it was the only way to deal with it -- it was O.K. to be obnoxious and rude like that for a while. it's not O.K. for me personally to be that way anymore. It was accepted of us.


In 2006, he would talk more about having been poseurs:

We thought we were so badass. Then N.W.A. came out rapping about this world where you walk out of your house and you get shot. It was just so clear what stupid little white-boy poseurs we were. It was like, ‘All right, we can give up the act.’ If you’re talking about which lifestyle is more hard-core, the one where you get shot always wins.


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14. NOVEMBER 1991-APRIL 1992: THE BIGGEST BAND IN THE WORLD Empty Re: 14. NOVEMBER 1991-APRIL 1992: THE BIGGEST BAND IN THE WORLD

Post by Soulmonster Sat Jun 13, 2020 6:36 pm

DECEMBER 3, 1991
THE SINGLE 'LIVE AND LET DIE' IS RELEASED

The third single off 'Use Your Illusion' was 'Live and Let Die', a cover of a song by the Wings and written by Paul McCartney.



Live and Let Die
December 3, 1991



The music video was finished on November 25, 1991 [Rockline, November 27, 1991]:

Just got it done 2 days ago and we’re really happy with it. We used a lot of shots from our childhood and stuff that we’ve had to live through. I think it will be fun for people.

The press has liked to show pictures of us as children, kind of where we started, but they also did it with an attitude to hurt us or something. That's why in the video for "Live And Let Die," we show pictures of us all as children in the background, coming in now and then - some of our favorite shots of us as children - to confront that.[…] My step-father had shot a video of our entire family and of his entire family, all the way back to great-great-grandfathers, and he compiled this video. Through doing certain work with my family, with understanding what was going on there now, it was very strange, very surreal, and very disturbing. I use a shot in the beginning of the video from when I was about three or four years old. I come in the door with a toy gun and my dad happened to film it. That went on the video. He sent it to me with some sound effects over it and a comment, kind of putting me down, letting me know he's still on top of things or whatever. But that's not the fact and I don't accept it, so it's like, "No, I'm using it my way, and that's me, and don't forget it."

Okay, this next video I’m gonna show you was shot – it was one of our live performances when Izzy was still in the band. We did it all over Europe and the United States, and we just took this live footage and then we had little old pictures of each member of the band as kids, you know? And this next one is called Live and Let Die.


Sir Paul McCartney would later react to the single:

My kids would go to school and their friends would say, 'Oh, have you heard the new Guns N' Roses song?' My kids would say, 'Oh, my dad wrote that!' And they'd say, 'Get out of here!' Nobody believed it.
The Boston Globe/The Spokeman's Review, May 9, 2000

I thought it was pretty good actually. I was more amazed that they would actually do it, this young American group. The interesting thing was my kids would go to school and they would go, ‘My dad wrote that.’ They’d go, ‘No he didn’t, it was Guns N’ Roses,’ so nobody would ever believe them. For a while it was just Guns N’ Roses. I was very happy that they had done it. I always like people doing my songs.
Paul McCartney's "A Life in Lyrics" podcast (via Bang Showbiz, Nov. 12, 2023)


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14. NOVEMBER 1991-APRIL 1992: THE BIGGEST BAND IN THE WORLD Empty Re: 14. NOVEMBER 1991-APRIL 1992: THE BIGGEST BAND IN THE WORLD

Post by Soulmonster Sat Jun 13, 2020 6:37 pm

DECEMBER 1991-FEBRUARY 1993
SCALING UP THE TOURING LINEUP
ROBERTA, TRACEY AND TEDDY, AND THE 976-HORNS

After a break in touring since their Wembley gig on August 31, 1991, the band picked up again the touring in support of the Use Your Illusion albums in December 1991. This leg of the tour would feature some changes. Most significantly, Izzy had been replaced with Gilby [see previous chapters]. In addition the band had added extra touring musicians.


TEDDY "ZIGZAG" ANDREADIS

The first to be added was a second keyboard player [Rolling Stone, April 2, 1992], Teddy Andreadis [Guitar for the Practising Musician, April 1992].

According to Andreadis, it was Slash, Duff and Matt's who wanted him in the band:

I think I was hired because I was a a good... What do you call it? Utility guy, originally. It was actually Slash, Duff and Matt that kind of, you know, blew the charge for me to be in the band. And that's when the band went from no keyboard players to two keyboard players. You know, Axl had hired Dizzy and then those three guys said, "Well, we want Ted because he can play the harmonica part on Bad Obsession, you know, he does keys, he can sing." You know, so they went from having no keyboard players to two.


And he was found through Mike Mayhue who knew him from before:

McBob worked for Carol King when I was playing keyboards with Carol King and then he said, you know, "There's this new band that kind of been around for a little bit but they got some, they're putting some keyboards on this new record and would you be interested in kind of helping out?" I said, "Yeah, sure." And the first thing I heard ever was, we used to go over to Mike's house and kind of party a little bit, and I heard Live And Let Die for the first time and I went, "Whoa! Holy smokes, who is this?" And I didn't really know anything about Guns N' Roses except Music Connection Magazine, they would be on that magazine. I'm going, "Ah, another glammy type band," but boy was I wrong. [...] We were playing at the Roxy for Rich Bartles and Mayhue brought in Slash and Duff and I remember because they were standing behind the amps [...]. And they came to see me play, to see if i would work. And Slash was always into the blues and stuff, so he says, "Yeah, this guy's cool man, let's try it." You know, and because there was never auditions, nobody really auditioned for Guns and that was it. [...] So that's how the Guns thing came about, because of the crew guys, really, of Mike Mayhue. And I always say that in any interview that Mike Mayhue was really the guy that, you know, started it all for me. And that's how most people get their big breaks, you know, it's a word of mouth, you try this guy out.


Teddy had a few nicknames, including "Zigzag" and "Big Bag". Explaining his nicknames:

Nobody could pronounce my last name. [...] [Axl] actually just said anything Tom Mayhue told him to say [when announcing the band on stage]. He would say, "That's Teddy Angry Anus," that's what Tom called me and Axl heard that. [...] And I had a suitcase that was really, really... a real big suitcase, it was a giant [?] and the crew guys hated it because I stuffed everything in it, you know, we were on a road for two years, so this was a giant, and that's where the "Big Bag" came from, because of the big suitcase, this massive- [...] "Zigzag" came from the rehearsal when I first joined the band. I kind of looked like that guy on the pack and Axl I think asked Tom again, "Who's the new guy? He looks like the guy in the Zig-Zag pack."


Andreadis was in the band before September 1991 [The Boston Globe, July 31, 1992].

We got a guy named Teddy, Teddy Andreas [sic] and he does harmonica, which is on songs like Bad Obsession, and he plays organ, he’s a great organ player and he’s just a great background vocalist.

How it started off is [Teddy] helped us find the horn players we have and the backup singers. Then we said, “Well, let’s get Teddy on board, too,” because he plays everything and he’s a great singer. So that’s just how it works out, basically.


Talking about his responsibilities and negotiating his salary:

When I joined Guns I didn't know much about the music and at the time they didn't really have a lot of keyboards in the songs. I didn't really play on all the songs and that was a real, I gotta say, it was a real personal... not a sore spot but it was a real eye-opener for those guys because when they asked what I charged I said, "Well, this is what Carol [King] paid me and the first thing out of Slash's mouth is, "Well, you're not going to be playing on all the songs," I said, "Dude, you're not paying me for that, you're paying me for the time I leave my front door and I come back home." They were young, they weren't aware- [...] I think I only played on, oh, I would say maybe eight of the songs, you know, in the set eight or nine of the songs, I mean, I did some sound effects and stuff like on November Rain and stuff like that, and play piano. But yeah, Dizzy was the main piano player and I played all the other secondary keyboard parts.



THE 976-HORN SECTION: LISA, ANNE AND CECE

The band also decided to add a horn section, which would refer to themselves as 976-HORNS:

We've used horns in clubs before, but that's it. And they're just for certain songs… We're just trying to do whatever we can to make the band sound as cool as possible.

[The extra musicians] were hired at the same time as I came in the picture. As far as I know the choirgirls and the horn section is there because they're on the albums. Sometimes you see a concert and wonder "where did that sound come from?" And there's some guy who puts on a tape recorder. We play everything live so they have to be there. […] Besides the new stage is gigantic, so Duff, Slash and I have to run around all the time to cover all the spaces. Then it's hard to sing all the parts, so the girls unload us.

We just had them out with us for no other reason than to prove to ourselves that we could do it. When we recorded November Rain we used strings and I think that, live, most bands would have used tapes. But we didn’t want to cheat the kids so we put it together and it worked and I guess we just got it out of our systems; we can do this with real legitimate players: we are worthy!


As Axl would later quip, "five guys on stage was too much of a homosexual thing" [Onstage at the Worchester Centrum Centre, December 5, 1991].

The idea to add horns and backup singers was Axl's idea, but making the horn section all-female was Slash's [Raw Magazine, March 4, 1992]:

Well, when this first started coming up, it was around the time that Izzy split and Gilby came in. At the same time I was trying to audition musicians to make November Rain, and Heaven’s Door and stuff to sound a little bit more like it did on the record. And Axl really wanted to get into that, so I got the job of going out and finding something to simulate it. And I didn’t want anything corny like three guys in tuxedos coming up with their horns, right? So I got some chicks to do it. That’s how, basically, the whole thing came about.


Andreadis helped to find Lisa Maxwell for the horn section [The Boston Globe, July 31, 1992].

Maxwell would discuss how it happened:

Ted mentioned my name, and I went and jammed with Slash. Then he said, ‘Get together two other girls and write the arrangements.


Maxwell then began transcribing the group’s albums and called up her old friend and trumpeter, Anne King. King recommended saxophonist and flutist CeCe Worroll, making the horn section complete [The Boston Globe, July 31, 1992].

Roberta Freeman would later discuss how she didn't approve of the "976-HORNS" name:

You know what, I don't exactly know how it came about, but I'm pretty sure it had to do with the fact that there were a lot of male fans, and they would hold banners up alluding to us as, you know, background bitches and, you know, stuff like that. Really kind of sexist stuff. And so I think Lisa, Lisa Maxwell, came up with "the 976 horn section" [laughs], and she's like, "Well, if that's how they're going to treat us, that's what we're going to be," you know, the [?] our attitute. [...] And I did not agree with that. I was super offended by it, you know, because I was like, "Look, I'm doing my job, I'm trying to do a job here and I have to deal with sexism every day from the fans, from management, from, you know, it's coming from all sides and I don't appreciate having to fight for that, you know, and so if you guys wanna be called the '976 horn section', go at it, but, you know, Tracey Roberta would be 'Tracy and Roberta'."



THE BACKUP SINGERS: ROBERTA AND TRACEY

The back-up singers that were recruited were according to The Boston Globe in July 1992, Diane Jones and Roberta Freeman [The Boston Globe, July 30, 1992]. Later it seems Jones were replaced with Tracey Amos [Detroit Free Press, July 19, 1992], or possibly The Boston Globe was wrong.

Freeman would recall how she got involved and that she then recruited Amos to the project:

It was a long time ago so, you know, my memory is a little fuzzy, but I was on tour with Cinderella. I don't know if everyone is familiar with Cinderella, it's like a hand metal band, you know, and I was on a Heartbreak Station Tour and Fred Curry was friends with Slash and when the tour was winding down he tells me that Guns N' Roses was thinking about having a background, or two background singers, for their upcoming tour. And he said he would talk to Slash for me and get me on the gig. And he asked if I wanted to do the gig and I said, "Well, sure," you know. So I was told to expect a call from Slash about it, which I didn't for a little while and I didn't think it was gonna happen. That's fine because I always think stuff is not gonna happen, you know [laughs]. [...] So I was waiting for this Slash to call, and I was living in New York, and Slash called, and he invited me to do the gig, he said, "Are you available to do the big gig, you know?" That's my Slash impression. [...] So, I said, "Yeah," and then I think I spoke to him a couple more times and he said, "Well, can you get to LA?" And I said, "Oh yeah, yeah, I can get to LA." And so I actually moved to LA. I just picked up and moved to LA, because I knew that I was done with the the cold and I had a lot of friends moving to LA for music and I knew it was the place to be. And I took a chance and I was just like, "I'm moving to LA." So I did that and so the next time I talk to him I was already in LA. And he, you know, told me that this is, you know, basically, "Did you listen to the album? Just do the arrangements, all the vocal arrangements." Because I was asking him what he wanted done. Did Axl want to send me stuff? You know, the way it is now, like, you get the material and you learn it, and I learned the songs but there were no arrangements and there were not a lot of female vocals. You know, there weren't a lot of background. He said, "Just do what you think would sound good. And, oh yeah, we need another singer, too, can you get another singer?" So I was like kind of freaking out because all of that was on me, you know? But I'm like, "Okay, I'll do it." And so I got Tracey because I had worked with her in this band called Rise Robots Rise in New York. Great band, you should check them out.

I was on the road with Cinderella and Fred [Coury] was friends with Slash and that's how it all began.


And whether she was a fan prior to joining them:

My impression of Guns was... I had been seeing them a lot on TV and hearing them over, you know, the radio and Welcome To The Jungle was playing on everything. And it's funny because as I was watching the Pink Floyd videos on MTV [?] videos would come on, you know, and I thought that they were pretty cool. I kind of compared them a little bit with Led Zeppelin because of Axl's falsetto, you know. But I wasn't like a huge fan like I was with Pink Floyd I was like, "Oh my god! This is a dream come true!" you know, I knew that they were really big and I knew that it would be a really good opportunity, you know, because they were really hot at the time. So I wasn't a huge fan. I mean, I liked their music, but I wasn't like, you know.


Amos would recall auditioning for the band, and remember that Freeman invited her to join Guns N' Roses:

I was called to audition during a time when I was really into my music and was in local bands and the studio all the time. I, of course knew a lot of their (GnR) songs, and loved their music, but had yet to really delve into them.[...] I was in a local band, as a backup singer, for my friends' group, Rise Robots Rise, and I was finishing my demo and working on a solo deal. Roberta came to town after a tour with Cinderella, and was recommended by our sound man as a 4th voice for the intricate harmonies. She was hired for one gig and planned to move from NY to LA afterwards. She did. I was, in the mean time, lighting a candle every night for the tour. One day she called, while I was lighting the candle, and asked if I wanted to come to LA to audition with her for GnR ... She had been recommended to Slash by Cinderella ... and that was it. I flew into LA, auditioned with her, rehearsed for 2 weeks, and began the tour.


Talking about preparing for the touring but that Axl never came to rehearsals:

Then, you know, Tracey came to LA once, you know, we started and I did all the vocal arrangements and we just did it, you know, we just showed up - I think it was SIR studio, you know, in LA. And Axl was always supposed to come to the rehearsals, there was always a rumor that he was gonna call, he was gonna show up. He never showed up. And I was, you know, that worried me, the Jew in me, right [=a reference to a joke the interviewer did earlier about Jews having a worrisome nature]. "Where's Axl? We need to work on this," you know. And, you know, I wanted to get a thumbs up on my arrangements. I knew that they sounded okay, but I wanted to make sure that he approved them because the longer he waited to approve them, the less time I had to prepare other arrangements. So I was nervous about him not showing up. I can't remember how long we were in the studio, maybe a week, maybe two weeks, I don't know. But we get through the first show and I still haven't even seen Axl, okay? Haven't met him. [...] for the lead singer not to get together with the background singers, not to have a vocal rehearsal, that's, you know, that's scary [laughs]. That's just plain, you know, rolling the dice, man, you know. [...] I mean, Axl is Axl. He just doesn't come to rehearsals. I learned that, you know, and I just, I was confident with my parts. I mean, I know that I came up with good parts and I know that my harmonies were tight and everything, but it's always really good to work out any bugs or any unforeseen problems, you know. And the fact that he wasn't showing up to rehearsal, I just wanted to make sure that Tracey and I was really tight. It all worked out, you know.


Roberta then insisted on talking to Axl to make sure the vocals arrangements were approved by him:

And I didn't know what to do. I talked to Doug Goldstein - who was the the tour manager and talked with the manager - [?] tour manager, and I said I need to talk to Axl. And I didn't know how guarded that whole camp was, you know, they didn't like people to go in and talk to him. It was not like, you know, any other gig, like with Cinderella, if I needed to talk to Tom [Keifer], I would just knock on his dressing room door and say, "Hey Tom, can you talk," you know, and it was cool. But it wasn't like that. It was another level, and I wasn't used to that, you know. And I was told that I could not talk to him and I was very persistent. And I said, "Look, you know we're going to go on stage here in a few minutes and I need Axl to share what I've done and Tracey needs to come in with me, we need to sing him the parts," you know, that's that. And so Doug finally gave me the okay and we went in and Axl was so cool and so sweet and not only did he give me an approval for everything I did but he was very kind and he was very complimentary, he's he said that what I had done was was really good and it sort of added so much to the sound. And that's exactly what they wanted. And he was just really, really sweet. And, you know, he gets a bum rap because, you know, he's doing his on stage persona, you know, people think he could be a jerk and everything - and I've seen him do some jerky things - but honestly, personally he has never said an unkind word to me. And you know, he's always been really, really nice. So that was my first impression of Axl, you know. And that was the first, you know, bunch of moments spent with GN'R and my impressions of them. So it was an interesting ride. It was never a dull moment with those guys ever.


The ladies had themselves opted for wearing lingerie [Star Tribune, January 21, 1992]. But according to Maxwell it was a little bit more complex than that:

The look was real important. I mean, the playing was the least of it, it’s not hard. […] ][The band] couldn’t decide if they wanted us to look elegant or have a street-slut vibe. They decided on street, and got a designer who did a great job but really didn’t have time to fit us properly.


Eventually, after some fans and critics commented on the costumes, the women asked to use their own clothes because they felt it would lend more credibility to their playing [The Boston Globe, July 31, 1992]. Maxwell would recall:

We sort of joke around and say we’re a dessert topping and a floor wax - sometimes we travel with the band, sometimes we travel with the crew, and nobody seems to know what to do with us. […] The crew was very resistant at first. They figured that the band put us with the crew because they didn’t respect us and so we weren’t worth very much. But now that we know each other they treat us like sisters.


Freeman would imply that they had some problems with Doug Goldstein who was the manager at the time, including that he secluded Axl aaway from them:

I don't really want to talk that about them, you know, but they weren't real nice to the girls a lot of the time, you know-.[...] they were definitely the buffer between Axl and the rest of the world. And Axl was so cool with so many things, but they made it seem like he wasn't, you know. Like one thing in particular was that solo that I do on Heaven's Door, right, by the time the the tour was well underway, you know, I started with a little little tiny thing, you know, because I was afraid of stepping up too much because I didn't know if Axl was gonna approve of it, you know, and when I started doing that little solo it was really small and then I kind of indulged a bit more and more and more on it. So Doug took me aside one night and told me to cool it. He said, "Axl's not digging it and you need to cool it," and I was like, "Really? He said that?" and Doug said, "Yeah," and then - it couldn't be more perfect timing - Axl came out of his bedroom[?] and he said, "Oh, I just want to tell you that that bit that you do on Heaven's Door every night, man, I just stand on the side of the page while you're doing that and I just enjoy it so much, I'm really digging it, that's really cool, just keep it up." And I just looked like, "Mhm-mm" [laughs]



ENJOYING THE BIGGER BAND

Slash and Axl would enjoy the bigger band:

And it’s fun having this - like, this whole, you know, entourage out on the road. You know, like, five girls, and Ted, and the rest of us. It’s a circus, you know?

There's Teddy, there's Dizzy, there's Roberta, Tracy, Lisa, CeCe, Anne, Gilby, Matt, Duff, Slash and me. Slash put this new band together, did all of the groundwork. He did such an amazing job that I just can't believe it really happened. I'm glad to be a part of it. It's a pretty huge thing, and we might even add some dancers, like we used to have back in the old Troubadour days. It's something we've considered.


When asked his thoughts on people who preferred the band when it was more stripped down, Axl would say:

But I don't think it's losing any of its energy. There's a lot more energy now. I think that before, people were seeing the potential. […] Yeah, well, there are people who like a girl that had the same haircut she had ten years ago, too. I understand that. I understand that a lot. But it's like, we're evolving, and it's us. I read a quote where David Bowie was saying that Pink Floyd was Syd Barrett to him. I'm like "Yeah, but to deny anything that Pink Floyd's done after that?" Certain elements of our music and our performance and our attitude are still there, but we're not the same people we were then. Maybe it would've been best for the purists if we'd died or broken up. Then they'd get to keep it the way they liked it.


Duff would also defend the bigger band and speak disapprovingly of bands who use tapes:

As opposed to using emulators, which are synthesizers or tapes - I hate to say it, but about 98% of rock ‘n’ roll bands out there use tapes. Which everybody knows. You know, as opposed to using tapes - we were like, “We’re not gonna use tapes. We’re a rock ‘n’ roll band, man.” So, you know... You know what I’m saying, right? So we got the real thing. We got real horns, real backup singers. You know, it’s such a cop-out to use tapes. It’s like, if you can’t make the music that you love – it takes love and it takes every emotion, love, hate, joy and everything to create a song. Now you can’t emulate love, joy, hate, heartbreak through tape. You have to do it live. So, to all those bands... (laughs).


In the March 1992 issue of their official fan club newsletter, the band would explain the addition of musicians this way:

Also, for this tour, we are bringing along an extra keyboard player, three lady horn players and two backup singers. So when you see us in concert, it will sound as close as possible to how the albums sound... Maybe even better!




The new touring musicians



IN HINDSIGHT

In mid-1994, when asked about the bigger band, Slash would respond this way:

Since the beginnings of the band we’ve always been evolving, step by step. It’s not a preconceived career plan. The only need is to move forward and we have come to the point where we say, "Since we can do whatever we want, let’s try this or that, can we get away with it?". Or, maybe, “Would it be better to not keep quiet about this or that or should we just forget about the critics?". And we ended up playing in stadiums, because that was the level we had reached, it was the next step. But I can tell you that I want to go back to indoor venues on the next tour. I feel like a dwarf in these big open air arenas.


But in early 1995, when his conflict with Axl was escalating, Slash would say he had been against the bigger band and that it had made him "uncomfortable" [Kerrang! January 14, 1995] and:

With Guns, it got to be such a huge production—it was almost a cabaret act. Axl and I we try to work together, and things started leaning over toward these fantastical Axl concepts, and I cruised along. We had horn players, then we did the acoustic set, big budget videos.


He would continue on this tune in 2004:

We had a horn section, and pianos, and all this other kind of crap, which we didn’t necessarily want as a band, but it’s something that Axl still wanted.

I remember feeling a bit like, “I didn’t really sign up for this.” I was kind of hoping to join a badass rock ‘n’ roll band, you know? “What’s with the piano?” (laughs).


In 2015, Goldstein would argue that Axl had wanted a bigger band because he had stage fright and didn't want all the focus on himself:

But you know, Mitch, I have my own opinion as to why that happened and it kind of goes towards Axl is a human being and nobody really knows this about Axl, everybody knows that he's late blah blah, they don't know why. Axl has this incredible inherent fear of not being able to pull it off live. So if you can, you know, if you can be the wizard behind the curtain by throwing horn players and keyboardists and, you know, midgets and whatever up to deviate the attention away from you possibly squeaking in your voice.


Tracy Amos and Roberta Freeman would also confirm that Slash wasn't particularly into the bigger band and that it had been Axl's decision:

Axl saw the vision of the bigger band with bvs and horns and Teddy Zig Zag. I am not sure that Slash ever really got used to us. He was more into the raw sound.

They didn't want us on that gig. I think Axl was the only one that wanted the girls, you know, and everybody else was just like... We were kind of cramping their style and I kind of, I get it- [...] it was totally a boys club. They were, you know, these hardcore, total, the real deal, "Rock'n'roll!", you know, and these chicks on the road were going to mess them up. They didn't want chicks on the road. We were gonna fuck everything up for them, right [laughs]. So, you know, I understand that. You know, I think they didn't want to be perceived as soft, you know? Like, Mötley Crüe were taking girls out at the time and I think that Mötley Crüe was perceived more as a glam band because of the girls or something. I don't know. I don't know. Maybe with the makeup, I don't know. [...]  I didn't feel like there was a big, huge welcome mat for us, you know, because we were cramping their style, you know. And at the time I was a little upset about it. But I get it. I understand why they were not happy to see us, you know, but I think in the end, you know, we all got along and, you know, I think they were happy with us, at least performance wise, you know. [...] It was a boys club and, you know, "No girls allowed," you know what I mean? So, you know, I just felt like, how to kind of prove myself all the time, you know, that I was a legit singer and, you know, I wasn't there to be a groupie. I think maybe that's what they were afraid of, that we were going to be like groupies, you know? [...] the only one who really wanted the girls and the sound was Axl, you know, it was an experiment for him


Freeman would also discuss how it was to enter a man dominated environment and how she had to handle herself, and the sexism in thus business that they had to deal it, also from the management:

I was like, "Look, I'm doing my job, I'm trying to do a job here and I have to deal with sexism every day from the fans, from management, from, you know, it's coming from all sides and I don't appreciate having to fight for that" [...]. [...] a lot of those banners [=held by fans at shows] were talking about us, you know, me and Tracey when... I remember a couple of shows that banners were put up in front of Axl saying, you know, "Axl, can we fuck your background bitches?" you know, and I remember Axl saying something like, "Well, you gonna have to ask their boyfriends." [laughs] Something like that. [...]  I don't think that would fly now, you know, with the whole #metoo movement. But I think I handled myself pretty well for, you know, being in a man's world because back then... rock'n'roll is still a man's world, I mean, it was really a man's world back then.


Looking back at the good times:

And I can remember many nights in the hotel lobby with Teddy playing the grand piano and we were jamming. We just had a lot of fun. And I loved Duff. Duff was so sweet. It's funny, I'm gonna put it on the record here, I think a lot of people thought I was doing Duff and I would not [laughs]. So yeah, I wanted to just make that known because people have accused me of that and I didn't appreciate it because I was trying to, you know, keep it utterly, completely professional. And I had no desire to go there with any other bands. You know, like I said, I did not want to be seen as a groupie. And, you know, I was kind of offended that anybody would think that I would make a groupie move like that, because I was just trying to do my job and be really good at doing my job and keeping focused on that and not messing around with any of that other nonsense. [...] Yeah, there were times where I was kind of fighting to prove myself, you know. But, you know, I think I made some nice friendships on that tour as well and the guys are really nice. I saw Slash a few years back and he was really sweet to me, you know, so I have nothing really bad to say about anybody, you know. Everybody was really sweet, Dizzy was really sweet, Matt and I got along okay [laughs]. [...] It was fun and I wouldn't say that for anything in the world. It was an amazing experience. I mean, I got to experience a real rock'n'roll band [...].

I remember one time I wore a red jacket, I'll never forget this, and Robert John, the photographer, was saying, "You're gonna wear that tonight?" I'm going, "Yeah, what's wrong, what's the problem with the red jacket?" He goes, "Oh, okaaay." Well, we're getting ready to go on stage and Axl, you know, walks by me in a red jacket and red hot pants, that outfit that he used to wear, you know, with the little running shorts. During... was it Bad Obsession? When I played the harmonica he comes up and he dances next to me while i'm playing harmonica and he whispers into my ear, and he goes, "Nice jacket."


Discussing who was responsible for the additional musicians occasionally being forgotten and not brought to venues [see later chapters]:

I guarantee you [Axl] didn't know about that. If he would have known about that people would have been fired for that. No, he always looked after the girls, he always enjoyed having the girls around and I know that he would even have done anything for them. Yeah, he was really good with the girls. He always liked coming up there and dancing with them.

[Axl] was always very respectful of us. I don't even remember him ever cussing in front of me. Like, in front of the audience  was one thing but like when he spoke with me he was always so utterly respectful and sweet.


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14. NOVEMBER 1991-APRIL 1992: THE BIGGEST BAND IN THE WORLD Empty Re: 14. NOVEMBER 1991-APRIL 1992: THE BIGGEST BAND IN THE WORLD

Post by Soulmonster Sat Jun 13, 2020 6:37 pm

DECEMBER 1991
SLASH'S NEW HOUSE AND HOBBIES

In December 1991 Slash bought a home off Mulholland Drive in the Hollywood Hills for "close to its asking price of $1.495,000" [Los Angeles Times, December 29, 1991]. He would still keep his other house in Laurel Hills for his "16 snakes, eight cats and two Rottweilers" [Los Angeles Times, December 29, 1991].

In October 1991, it would be reported that Slash's favorite hobby was "collecting dinosaur models" [Conspiracy Incorporated Newsletter, October 1991]. Another hobby of Slash's was the collection of t-shirts:

I’ve got over 4,000 T-shirts. They're all stashed in boxes back home. I wear them once, then store them away.


During the hiatus in touring between August and December 1991, Slash would live in an apartment complex in Burbank rather than in his Hollywood Hills house [Guitar World, February 1992] or in hotels:

I'm in LA, but I'm in a hotel. I don't go home when we're on the road even if we're in town, I just stay in hotels. I'm a road rat so I can't stand the thought of actually settling down for a couple of weeks at my house and then going back on the road — it fucks with my whole momentum.


Slash would also take time off to travel to Africa to photograph wild animals [Guitar World, February 1992].

After the break in touring in February 1992, before travelling to Japan, Slash again opted to stay away from his houses. This time he stayed in a hotel:

I’m not at home at the moment basically, because the pace on the road is so different, I find it really hard to adjust when it comes to coming home for a couple of weeks. I have all these animals, like snakes and lizards and shit, and since I’m not a round there’s people who are there working at my house and taking care of shit living there. I can’t just concentrate in m y house when there’s people around. I’d rather just stay in a hotel room where I can get my shit together, throw shit around the room, spit on the walls and relax a bit! I can’t spit on the walls at home, but in the hotel room... you can do anything like seeing the maid’s faces when I haven’t let them in the room for three days! (laughs) No, seriously, I’m not that bad.


Slash would also get fed up by life in Los Angeles:

I don't hang out in LA really, I'll go to the Rainbow or whatever but I'm not what you call an LA character. I don't like being noticed - I appreciate it but at the same me I like to be left alone. I get very fucking nervous and uptight when there's people staring at me so I don't really like being out. So I spend all my fucking time sitting in the hotel room and then at night I'll go out and accept the fact that I'm in a club and try and have my privacy - yeah, I'll have a security guard with me because I have to, much as I hate to admit it. I've gotten myself in some really awkward situations and I really do like to be left alone. I don't mind signing autographs but the majority of people who come up to you just demand it like you're a puppet or something. Its like you go to a record store and you've got to sign 600 records just to buy a fuckin' Stones record and it takes three hours. That's kind of weird. It sounds like I'm complaining but like I said earlier, it's a small price to pay for doing what it is that I want to do. […] I'm sort of introverted. On a social level I pretty much just like to be around close friends and have everything pretty much down to earth. When the band was younger and we weren't like big shit used to go out and get fucking drunk out of my mind and break stuff but that only lasts for so long and then after a while you get sick of all the attention.

[…][Los Angeles is] just such a f***!n' phoney poser town. It's ridiculous. And y'know, people talk about me an' stuff when I'm gone, then when I come home everybody goes real quiet. I'd always considered myself, like, the guitar player, I can cruise in and out of places, have a drink or whatever, nobody's watching me. But now it's not like that. I find that 'friends' or mine have been trying to pick up on my girlfriend just cos I wasn't in town. Y'know? Really weird high school shit, kindergarten shit. And people making some sorta noise about what I do on the road, having a real ball. And I didn't realise we were that significant. […]I mean I expected it more to happen to Axl, just because he's the lead singer. But it happened to me and...f***! I can't walk around and it's a drag. My basic privacy is gone. I don't know, it's all so f***in' complicated.


He also had his share of obnoxious people:

One woman came up to me with all her sons and said: 'I hate your music but I’ll have your autograph anyway.' That kind of stuff gets me pretty mad, so I told her and her sons just where to get off.


By late 1991 it was also reported that Slash owned "about 50 guitars" [Guitar Player, December 1991], but he would later claim the number was 45 and that a lot of it came from him buying all the guitars he used for recording 'Illusions' [Guitar World, February 1992].


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14. NOVEMBER 1991-APRIL 1992: THE BIGGEST BAND IN THE WORLD Empty Re: 14. NOVEMBER 1991-APRIL 1992: THE BIGGEST BAND IN THE WORLD

Post by Soulmonster Sat Jun 13, 2020 6:37 pm

SOUNDGARDEN BECOMES THE NEW SUPPORTING ACT

After a break since their Webley gig in August 31, 1991, the band continued with their touring in support of the 'Use Your Illusion' albums in December 1991. This leg was supposed to start in October, then in November, but the band kept postponing [Melody Maker, March 28, 1992], likely due to having to replace Izzy and adding additional musicians as described in the previous section.

In addition, the band had gotten Soundgarden as the opener.

Axl had as early as 1989 expressed admiration for Soundgarden and especially the singer, Chris Cornell:

I enjoy Sound Garden. The singer just buries me. The guy sings so great.


And Aaron Coves (A&M Records West Coast director of A&R) would state that Axl talking about the band to the press helped make the band popular:

I’ll tell you what kicked Soundgarden into gear. It was when Axl, at the height of Guns N’ Roses’ career, started speaking about the group in interviews.
Mark Yarm, Everybody Loves Our Town: A History of Grunge; September 2011


The members of Soundgarden looked forward to the tour:

This is a problem we’ve always had in that there’s not that many bands really that we can be matched up with in a tour situation — it’s got to be obviously appropriate. […] Really, musically, Guns N’ Roses is more appropriate than any other tour we’ve really been offered. Most of their audience isn’t going to be familiar with our music, but I think most of their audience is going to understand what we do, and that’s the important thing.
The Newark Advocate, January 19, 1992

It's the coveted opening slot for any band out there right now. We were lucky to have been chosen by the band members themselves, instead of some management-manipulation-payola trip. […] If they come on late, we've been told we can stretch our set a little bit, which should be fun. […] We were going to go out with Queensryche. […] So we had to say 'Later' to those guys, and go on the Guns N' Roses ship. We really believe in our record, and we want it to be heard.
Circus Magazine, January 31, 1992


Despite this, in 2011, Susan Silver, Soundgarden's manager, would describe a lukewarm attitude when she announced they had been invited to tour with Guns N' Roses:

After I got the call about the Guns N’ Roses tour, I went to where they were, at Stuart Hallerman’s studio, Avast! I remember walking in, I had a box of T-shirts, some new designs. And I was so excited. Oh, my God, I was so excited: “Hey, guys! I have something to tell you! We got an offer today … to go … on tour … WITH GUNS N’ ROSES!” They didn’t say a word. After about 30 seconds—it felt like an eternity—one of them said, “What’s in the box?”
Mark Yarm, Everybody Loves Our Town: A History of Grunge; September 2011


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14. NOVEMBER 1991-APRIL 1992: THE BIGGEST BAND IN THE WORLD Empty Re: 14. NOVEMBER 1991-APRIL 1992: THE BIGGEST BAND IN THE WORLD

Post by Soulmonster Sat Jun 13, 2020 6:38 pm

DECEMBER 5-6, 1991
WORCHESTER CENTRUM CENTRE; GILBY'S DEBUT

After a break since their Webley gig in August 31, 1991, the band continued with their touring in support of the 'Use Your Illusion' albums in December 1991. This leg was supposed to start in October, then in November, but the band kept postponing [Melody Maker, March 28, 1992], likely due to having to replace Izzy and adding additional musicians as described in the previous section.

The first two gigs were at Worcester Centrum Centre, in Worcester, Massachusetts, USA, on December 5 and 6. The December 5 show was sold out in a "record 22 minutes" [RAW, December 1991]. The band would start these shows well over two hours late [Hartfort Courant, December 7, 1991]. The late starts, which had plagued the tour so far, would continue for this leg with 90 minutes or more wait after the opener becoming the norm more than the exception.

These shows would also be Gilby's first shows with the band. Since the band was well into the tour by then, they didn't rehearse much:

well there wasn't much rehearsal... the band knew the songs. so i had to learn them on my own & hope they would run through them with me. & yes, they all made me feel welcome & a part of the band. [...] i did rehearse some, but not all the songs. the band wanted someone that could do the gig. they had already done a couple months of touring with Izzy & they weren't into rehearsing at that time.


Looking back at the show:

I guess Izzy and I have got a similar look. So there were kids up front, especially in Boston, going ‘Yeah, Izzy! All right, Izzy!’ And I was like, ‘Wrong guy, man’.

I’m calling it a hangover, it could be first-day jitters, I don’t know for sure. But it really helped calm me down. Like, before the show started, seriously, I was the most calm person on the stage. Everybody else was way more worried than I was.

[Talking about what he remembers from his first gig with the band]: yes, a lil... i was hungover. i met up with some friends the night before & had a yager party. it took the edge off.

I’m a pretty calm person — I think the first show the other guys were more nervous for me than I was. I knew it was going to be cool, and I’d played arenas before so it wasn’t a big surprise. What was a big surprise was I’d always been in the opening band and you have to win the audience. Here you walk out and the audience is already won. One thing that worried me was that Izzy had been in the band since Day One, and I wondered how receptive they’d be to me. I mean, I always liked Izzy and I liked Izzy in the band — it would be strange to see a new guitar player take his place. The night before I met some friends and got pretty trashed so the night of the first show I had probably the worst hangover of the last few years. That probably helped take the edge off.

And after the first show, [Axl] came up to me and said, ‘I’m so happy you’re here.’ It made me feel a lot better.

There’s a funny story with the very first gig I did with them. The guys were really nervous for me. They were like, “Oh, my god. He’s playing these arena shows. Is he gonna freak out?” While Matt was doing a drum solo, I was sitting in my little booth behind my amp and each one of ‘em came up to me and said, “Are you OK? Is everything good? Is it cool?” [...] I was actually sitting down eating a pizza. [Laughs] It was halfway through the set and I go, “Yeah, I was just a little hungry. I didn’t realize it was really a three-hour show.” I hadn’t eaten an hour before the show and so I said, “I’m just a little hungry. That’s all.”

What I didn't realize was, what I've never done before, all the bands I've ever been in we barely played even a headline set, 45 minutes, maybe an hour... we played for three hours. What I didn't realize about that as a musician or a singer, you rarely eat before the show because you don't want to feel heavy and stuff like that so, like, I hadn't eaten for a couple of hours before the show. And the show is going on, and I got hungry. You know, we were drinking, I go, 'This is a different buzz,' and finally, I said to my guitar tech, I said, 'Hey, man, I'm starving, can you get me some pizza or something?'. Of course, he went and got me a pizza. Matt is doing a drum solo, and one by one all the guys, whether it was Duff, Slash or Axl, was coming up, like, 'Dude, are you okay? Is everything going well?' And when Axl came to check on me, I literally had a piece of pizza in my mouth. I'm going, 'Don't worry about me, I'm fine. I'm just starving, that's all.' That's what I remember about the first show. I had a terrible hangover, I was hungry, and it was really fun.


For the first show Gilby was asked to do a solo spot:

I didn't even know that I was getting a solo spot until the day before the first gig! They just came up to me and said, "So what are you going to play in your solo segment?" I mean, why would I get a solo segment? So then Axl said, "Well, Izzy always used to do a little solo before 'Patience.' Do you think you can come up with something?" I just didn't want to get out there and do a lead guitar thing. Slash is the lead guitarist. So I decided to play "Wild Horses," which is one of my favorite songs.

(Laughs) Actually it's a funny story, I've told it before. Right when we were about to do the first show, Slash came up to me and said "you know before Patience, Izzy always did a little something, it's a solo, what are you gonna do?" and I gotta tell you, I didn't even think of anything but I had done Wild Horses acoustic a couple of times, so it was just my idea to do that and it just kinda clicked with the guys, they liked it. You know, and everybody knew it so they sang and played along. There was a point actually where I switched, I did "Happiness is a Warm Gun" a couple of times, but it didn't work very good, so I just stopped with that. And you know what's fun about it, when we do my solo shows every now and then we go to some places and everybody knows it so...




Review in the Hartford Courant
December 7, 1991



Gilby would later look back at starting in Guns N' Roses and remark that it was a simple transition:

What's really weird is, I mean, a lot of people think about, you know, I mean, the band was hard to deal with and stuff. To tell you the truth, it was very, very easy. I mean, I walked into a successful band -- I didn't have to do anything. I didn't have to tune my guitar; you know, I didn't have to send my luggage; you know, I didn't have to book the shows and things. All I had to do was play guitar. And I got to play guitar exactly the way that I got to play guitar, so it was pretty easy..


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14. NOVEMBER 1991-APRIL 1992: THE BIGGEST BAND IN THE WORLD Empty Re: 14. NOVEMBER 1991-APRIL 1992: THE BIGGEST BAND IN THE WORLD

Post by Soulmonster Sat Jun 13, 2020 6:39 pm

14. NOVEMBER 1991-APRIL 1992: THE BIGGEST BAND IN THE WORLD Newbor11
SONG: BREAKDOWN
Album:
Use Your Illusion II, 1991, track no. 7.


Written by:
Axl Rose.

Musicians:
Drums: Matt
Bass: Duff
Lead and Rhythm Guitars / Banjo: Slash
Acoustic Guitar: Izzy
Vocals, Piano: Axl

Live performances:
'Breakdown' was debuted on December 6, 1991 and also played on December 13, 1991. In total it has, as of {UPDATEDATE}, at least been played {BREAKDOWNSONGS} times.
Lyrics:

We all come in from the cold
We come down from the wire
An everybody warms themselves
to a different fire
When sometimes we get burned
You'd think sometime we'd learn
The one you love is the one
That should take you higher
You ain't got no one
You better go back out and find her

Just like children hidin' in a closet
Can't tell what's goin' on outside
Sometimes we're so far off the beaten track
We'll get taken for a ride
By a parlor trick or some words of wit
A hidden hand up a sleeve
To think the one you love
could hurt you now
Is a little hard to believe
But everybody darlin' sometimes
Bites the hand that feeds

When I look around
Everybody always brings me down
Well is it them or me
Well I just can't see
But there ain't no peace to found
But if someone really cared
Well they'd take the time to spare
A moment to try and understand
Another one's despair
Remember in this game we call life
That no one said it's fair

Breakdown
Let me hear it now
Breakdown
Let me hear it now
Yeah
Breakdown
Let me hear it now
Get down with yo' bad self
Alright

I've come to know the cold
I think of it as home
When there ain't enough of me to go around
I'd rather be left alone
But if I call you out of habit I'm out of love and
I gotta have it
Would you give it to me if I fit you needs
Like when we both knew we had it
But now the damage's done
And we're back out on the run
Funny how everything was roses
When we held on to the guns
Just because you're winnin'
Don't mean you're the lucky ones

Breakdown
Let me hear it now
Breakdown
Let me hear it now
Yeah
Breakdown
Let me hear it now

"There goes the challenger being chased
By the blue blue meanies on wheels
The vicious traffic squad cars are after
our lone driver
The last American hero
The-the electric sintar
The demi-god,
The super driver of the golden west!
Two nasty Nazi cars are close behind
The beautiful lone driver
The police cars are getting closer-closer...
Closer to our soul hero in his soul mobile
Yeah baby!
They about to strike, They gonna get him,
Smash! Rape!
The last beautiful free soul on this planet
But...it is written if the Evil Spirit arms the Tiger with claws
Brahman provided wings for the Dove
Thus spake the Super Guru"

"Did you hear that"


Quotes regarding the song and its making:

'Breakdown' definitely has a bit of southern rock feel.
Interview with Axl Rose, 1990-1991?

It is really satisfying to hear that the solo has some emotion. It was done pretty quick.
Guitar Player, December 1991

[...]There is nothing on the record that didn't come out the way we wanted, except maybe the vocal speech at the end of "Breakdown." The mix on the speakers that we did the mastering on was loud enough, but on other sets of speakers it's not. It depends on what stereo you're hearing it on, and we didn't know that.
Metallix 1992

[Talking about the banjo:] I just had this idea that it should sound like that, so I tuned it like a guitar [laughs]. I don't know how to play banjo, are you kidding? I was in bed, sitting there trying to figure it out.
Interview CD, 1992

There were a few songs that were very involved guitar-wise on those albums. 'Estranged' was a big, long song. I used a Les Paul Gold Top on it; I recorded all of the melodies on the rhythm pickup with the tone turned all the way down. 'November Rain' was tough, too, as was another Axl song called 'Breakdown.' Those were all piano driven and they needed accompaniment; the guitar and bass parts had to be thought out and done precisely. Those songs were all pretty fucking cool, I have to say, but they took some work. (...) 'Breakdown' was very complicated as far as getting all of the drum and guitar parts just right back at A & M, as well as the intricate piano changes. It's a complex song, and as much as it sounds like we partied our way through recording, we were very focused when it came to work. That song was hard on Matt especially - he lost it a few times trying to get the drums perfect.
Bozza, Anthony, & Slash (2007). Slash. Harper Entertainment: New York, pp 316-317



14. NOVEMBER 1991-APRIL 1992: THE BIGGEST BAND IN THE WORLD Newbor11


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14. NOVEMBER 1991-APRIL 1992: THE BIGGEST BAND IN THE WORLD Empty Re: 14. NOVEMBER 1991-APRIL 1992: THE BIGGEST BAND IN THE WORLD

Post by Soulmonster Sat Jun 13, 2020 6:39 pm

14. NOVEMBER 1991-APRIL 1992: THE BIGGEST BAND IN THE WORLD Newbor11
SONG: SO FINE
Album:
Use Your Illusion II, 1991, track no. 10.


Written by:
Duff McKagan.

Musicians:
Drums / Percussion: Matt
Bass: Duff
Lead and Rhythm Guitars: Slash
Rhythm Guitar: Izzy
Piano: Howard Teman
Vocals: Duff, Axl
Background Vocals: Matt

Live performances:
'So Fine' was played live for the first time at Worchester Centrum Centre (?), USA, on December 5, 1991. In total it has, as of {UPDATEDATE}, at least been played {SOFINESONGS} times.
Lyrics:

How could she look so fine
How could it be she might be mine
How could she be so cool
I've been taken for a fool so many times

It's a story of a man
Who works as hard as he can
Just to be a man who stands on his own
But the book always burns
As the story takes it turn
An leaves a broken man

How could she be so cool
How could she be so fine
I owe a favor to a friend
My friends they always come through for me
Yeah

It's a story of a man
Who works as hard as he can
Just to be a man who stands on his own
But the book always burns
As the story takes it turn
An leaves a broken man
If you could only live my life
You could see the difference you make to me
To me

I'd look right up at night
And all I'd see was darkness
Now I see the stars alright
I wanna reach right up and grab one for you
When the lights went down in your house
Yeah that made me happy
The sweat I make for you
Yeah...I think you know where that comes from
     
Well I'd look right up at night
And all I'd see was darkness
Now I see the stars alright
I wanna reach right up and grab one for you
When the lights went down in your house
Yeah that made me happy
The sweat I make for you
I think you know where that comes from

How could she look so good (So good)
How could she be so fine
How could she be so cool
How could it be she might be mine


Quotes regarding the song and its making:

But yeah, then Duff asked me to come in and help him write the song... not write it, just help him put together the, you know, the pre-recording for, what's the song? So Fine on Use Your Illusion II. And I went down the studio with him and I played drums while he, you, know he played all the other instruments, guitar and bass and guitar, I did the guitar solo. We did the pre-production, we did So Fine before it was put together, before the band even heard it. And I played piano and drums on it. And then they asked me to come down to the studio and I went down the studio and the whole band was there and they had just gotten back from their hiatus. And that was the hiatus where they hadn't even seen each other for like two or three months. That's the one where Axl got in a fight in Paris and all that stuff. So I walk in and they're all telling stories about what they've been doing for the last three months and everything, and everybody's laughing. Then they played the song and Axl said,  you know, "Great work on that, Howard. When we do the album I want you to play piano on it." I said, "Fuck yeah!" So then Steve gets kicked out of the band and so they go... you know, it takes a whole year to get a new drummer and start recording again and out of the blue I get this call and it's Axl, "Are you ready to do your part?" That's why you got to give it to Axl. Axl is... you could say this about him, or that about him, or he's bipolar, he's an asshole - he's a man of his word, he's got integrity and he, you know, he called me before Duff called me to say, "Are you ready to do your parts? We're ready for you." That was a year later. Yeah, it's really cool.

Well, when we had the song down, we realized that it sounded a lot like a song that Johnny Thunders would have done. And, you know, he was in the New York Dolls and then had his own band, Johnny Thunders and the Heartbreakers. And he’s one of Duff’s biggest influences, you know, in getting involved in rock ‘n’ roll to begin with. Everybody in the band are big New York Dolls fans and Johnny Thunders’ death wasn’t something anybody was very thrilled with. I mean, I actually had problems with the guy, but I really liked his music. And when we realized that the song sounded a lot like something he would have done, we just thought [dedicating the song to Thunders] was the best thing to do, you know. And so the people would ask the question like you are.
Rockline, November 27, 1991

[Being asked about the inspiration for the song]: An incident, but it's kind of personal.
Popular 1, September 1993; translated from Spanish

Umm... Uuh, Johnny Thunders is... kind of... He was in a band called New York Dolls back in the early seventies. And then he did his solo thing... And his style and his coolness and... Just his whole thing was a big influence of mine and I know a lot of people... umm, you know, Joe Perry from Aerosmith emulated Johnny Thunders, you know. And we became friends and he just died recently. So, that's what [the dedication is] about.

Duff brought in 'So Fine,' complete with music and lyrics


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Post by Soulmonster Sat Jun 13, 2020 6:40 pm

14. NOVEMBER 1991-APRIL 1992: THE BIGGEST BAND IN THE WORLD Newbor11
SONG: ATTITUDE
Album:
The Spaghetti Incident?, 1993, track no. 9.



Written by:
Glenn Danzig (The Misfits).

Musicians:
Vocals: Duff McKagan
Lead & Rhythm Guitars: Slash
Rhythm Guitar: Gilby Clarke
Bass: Duff McKagan
Drums: Matt Sorum
Background Vocals: Slash & Matt Sorum

Live performances:
'Attitude' was played for the first time on December 5, 1991. In total it has, as of {UPDATEDATE}, at least been played {ATTITUDESONGS} times.
Lyrics:

Yeah!
Attitude
Some fuckin' attitude
I can't believe what you say to me
You've got some attitude

Inside that bitter brain
There's gotta be a whore
If you don't shut your mouth
You're gonna feel the floor, yeah!

Attitude, what you've got
Some fuckin' attitude
Attitude's what you've got
Some fuckin' attitude
Yeah, all right

Inside that bitter brain
There's gotta be a whore
If you don't shut your mouth
You're gonna feel the mutha fuckin' guitar!

Oh, attitude
Some fuckin' attitude
I can't believe what you say to me
You've got some attitude

Oh, attitude
Some fuckin' attitude
I can't believe what you say to me
You've got some attitude

Yeah!
Yeah!
Yeah!


Quotes regarding the song

We recorded "Attitude" because we'd been playng it live for so long and thought we could do it better than our original version. [...] I can't remember whose idea it was to do the Misfits' "Attitude.
Guitar Player, January 1994

And The Misfits was another band where there was some good songs and some other stuff I'd rather forget about. I'm very particular about what kind of music I like, so I couldn't say The Misfits were one of my all-around favorite bands, but they did have a couple of great songs. Like Attitude.
Q Magazine, March 1994

[...] another band that when I was about....14 or 15 the Misfits kind of broke and they were a songwriting punk rock band and this song Attitude again we covered the song. I sort of sang it. I screamed it [...]


14. NOVEMBER 1991-APRIL 1992: THE BIGGEST BAND IN THE WORLD Newbor11


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14. NOVEMBER 1991-APRIL 1992: THE BIGGEST BAND IN THE WORLD Empty Re: 14. NOVEMBER 1991-APRIL 1992: THE BIGGEST BAND IN THE WORLD

Post by Soulmonster Sat Jun 13, 2020 6:40 pm

DECEMBER 9, 1991-JANUARY 10, 1992
MADISON SQUARE GARDEN AND ACCUSATIONS OF RACISM

DECEMBER 9, 10 AND 13, 1991: PLAYING AT THE MADISON SQUARE GARDEN

Then followed three shows at the Madison Square Garden in New York City on December 9, 10 and 13. During the first of these, which started almost 2 hours later than announced because Axl had the flu which left him throwing up backstage between the songs [Rolling Stone, December 1991]), Axl would say they expected to pay $24,000 in curfew fees [New York Times, December 11, 1991]:

You people are worth more than the $24,000 we’re paying in overtime.


In 2018, Doug Goldstein would tell an anecdote about having to remove Geffen executives from a show at Madison Square Garden [GN'R Central, December 24, 2018]. The three shows at Madison Square Garden in 1991 were the only ones when Goldstein was connected to the band, so it likely happened at one of these:

I remember at a Madison Square Garden show, and again, I don’t want to name names but there were some very higher ups at Geffen and Axl said look, “Unless they’re removed from Madison Square Garden, I’m not going on.” It was pretty embarrassing, you know what I mean. Professionally and for me personally.


Also for one of the shows at Madison Square Garden, Andreadis and some other of the additional musicians were not picked up at the hotel and had to get to the venue themselves:

[...] do you remember what happened at Madison Square Garden? It was one of the first gigs that we did, it was Madison Square Garden and I'll never forget it cuz I tell the story all the time. They forgot to pick us up and we had to take cabs to the gig and we walked right into the front door with the audience. And then I went right to Opie [Skjerset, production manager] and went, "Man, this is bullshit! We're in the band, goddammit!" Opie was not having it at that moment because, "Listen, I'll tell you, okay, we forgot you but don't you ever..." Like, "Oh." [...] That kind of stuff you don't forget, you know, and it's because they weren't used to having extra members. It was those five guys at the time, well, six with Dizzy.


Being asked if the band had been responsible for forgetting to pick them up:

No, the band would have just gone, "Where's Ted? Where's Roberta?" No, I think it was more tour managing, you know, with that kind of stuff.


After the band first show at Madison Square Garden, Jon Pareles, writing for New York Times, wrote a lackluster review of the show. This prompted Axl to invite him to attend the second show at MSG and "tell the crowd why they weren't having a good time." This wouldn't be the first time Pareles had been critical of the band. After the band released GN'R Lies with 'One in a Million', Pareles had written a scathing article in New York Times about bigotry in pop music [New York Times, September 10, 1989].

In an interview with Rolling Stone by Kim Neely, which was published in April 1992, Axl was asked why he invited Pareles to their next show, and if he didn't realize Pareles would be walking into "a minefield":

[Pareles] didn't have the balls to stand behind what he wrote, and he got exposed.


When Neely asked why Axl couldn't call Pareles or meet him at "neutral ground":

I'm not gonna make the New York Times any more money. It was an obnoxious piece. It was shit journalism. He could've written: "I didn't like the show, personally. I think they suck." Okay, fine. Cool. You can think we suck, and I can think you're an asshole. But don't just try to make it look like nobody enjoyed it.


And when Neely pointed out that he might just have been "calling it like he saw it":

Then that's a person with some severe fucking personal problems, and he has no business being there writing about our show. It's a different crowd at a G n' R show now than it used to be. He didn't understand it. Most people that have been into G n' R for years don't understand it, but they can feel it. Having a nice time is weird for people that don't have nice times in their lives. When you don't really know what a nice time is, a nice time is for pussies.




Review in New York Daily News
December 11, 1991



Looking back at playing at Madison Square Garden:

We had a lot of American shows. My second set of shows was at Madison Square Gardens (laughs). I was like dreaming all my life, you know — it's just one of those musician dreams! To make it real in two weeks, was like...

[Talking about his best gig]: The first time Guns played Madison Square Garden. There's nothing like the energy you feel when you're the king of New York for a day. Everyone from the people in the hotel to the cab driver knows what you're there to do and seems to rally behind you. It's a tremendous experience.

I couldn't pick out the best gig. Rock in Rio and Madison Square Garden (for the first time) were among the best gigs we did. The audiences were amazing! And the band feeds off the audience reactions.

One of the more surreal New York moments that happened to me is when Guns played our two or three night stand at the Garden back in '92. It's important to remember that, underneath it all and no matter how much you dressed us up, that band was made of dudes not too far removed from the street. I was always much happier at the Scrap Bar on MacDougal or in the back hallways of the Limelight than dining at Nobu or hanging out at some chic "beautiful people" hotspot. Well on one of the MSG nights, Donald Trump sauntered into our main backstage room, instantly making himself at home and regaling me with his Donald-esque-ness. Next, Billy Joel came in looking for some Jack Daniel's that he must have smelled all the way from uptown. A few minutes later, the parents of the recently passed Johnny Thunders came backstage with their grandson, a carbon copy of his dad and a sobering, perspective-sharpening moment that I will always remember.

Those shows were famous for not starting until one am or so. I remember people telling me that they would watch the opening band, leave, go to some bar in the Village, get hammered, come back to the Garden, and we still would not be onstage. We paid an untold amount in quadruple overtime to the police officers those nights. That is most likely the reason that to this day, NYPD cops stop me in the street and ask me how I'm doing as they rigorously shake my hand!

It’s almost like when Guns N’ Roses sold out Madison Square Garden and I remember Duff McKagan, the bass player, and myself used to share a limousine, and we were driving up the back ramp, and I said, “Duff, this is the same ramp as in The Song Remains The Same” when Zeppelin started the tour and John Paul Jones picks up his phone and he goes, “Tour dates, tomorrow, tomorrow, tomorrow.” And Duff’s like, “Oh my god, that’s right. We’re at Madison Square Garden.” You know, that was one moment, right? And then there was many, many, many more moments like that.



DECEMBER 16, 1991,-JANUARY 7, 1992: MORE SHOWS

The band then played 7 more shows: Philadelphia Spectrum, Philadelphia, USA (December 16 and 17); Suncoast Dome, St. Petersburg, USA (December 28); Joe Robbie Stadium, Miami, USA (December 31); LSU Assembly Center, Baton Rouge, USA (January 3, 1992); Mississippi Coast Coliseum, Biloxi, USA (January 4); and The Pyramid, Memphis, USA (January 7).

While in Philadelphia, Duff went to dodgy lengths to score drugs:

You know, you can always pick up whatever you need in the country you're going to. Through various ways. [...] it gets pretty dark out there. There was some, you know, I went to some pretty dodgy places to get drugs. [...] We would go to the dodgy, you know... In Philly, I went to a place and back some guy's fuckin' beat up shitty car and he got out of the car with the keys. And it was like the kids on the street with the baseball bats and all that shit, people hanging on the stoops and just looking at a white boy. I was in the back of a car. I was like, "Oh, maybe I won't make the Spectrum tonight." [...] So we landed in Philly. I needed to get what I needed to get. And there was... You can scope out the dodgy. The places you need to go to. So there was like a pizza place down the street from the... pizza place bar. "There it is." Down the street from the hotel. I just got out of my car and went in there. Coming in from the airport. There was sure enough, there's a guy. "Yeah, we can go. We can make it happen." [...] Maybe [he recognized me], but that wasn't important to me at the moment. We got in his car. We went down to the hood.




Review in Courier-Post
December 18, 1991



When visited St. Petersburg to play at Suncoast Dome the band members used Bay to Bay Limo Services and the owner, Mickey Gillum would later reminisce of the experience:

They were a great bunch of guys. [...] Maybe Axl is like a Jekyll and Hyde — I don’t know. He was very personable. There was no friction with them. They even had a little paper fight in the car, like little boys. The individual named Slash sat up front with me, practicing on his guitar.



"PANSIES AGAINST ROSES" IN HOUSTON

Then the band came to play two shows at The Summit in Houston on January 9 and 10, 1992. For the first of these shows the Houston chapter of the organization Queer Nation organized a protest titled "Pansies against Roses," calling out and showing displays, "Racist, sexist, anti-gay -- Guns N' Roses, go away!," and "Gay bashers are closet cases." The demonstrators were met by hecklers chanting "Guns N' Roses!" and "Faggots go home!" [Houston Chronicle, January 10, 1992].



Members of Queer Nation demonstrating
January 9, 1992


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14. NOVEMBER 1991-APRIL 1992: THE BIGGEST BAND IN THE WORLD Empty Re: 14. NOVEMBER 1991-APRIL 1992: THE BIGGEST BAND IN THE WORLD

Post by Soulmonster Sat Jun 13, 2020 6:41 pm

GILBY, THE ADULT BAND MEMBER

Gilby had struggled with addiction in his youth, but he had cleaned up well before joining Guns N' Roses:

I had a problem when I was a teenager, but I got over all that.


When he joined the band he did not take part in the craziest partying and seemed to have stayed sober to his wife/fiancee [add quote from Matt's biography].

Still, Gilby would confirm that the drug issues in the band were under control but that they still partied:

The band is really cleaning up quite a bit. I mean there's no drugs or anything any more. We're still drinking a little bit, but that’s about it.

When I got involved in the band everyone cleaned up.

Well, we all came from pretty much the same, you know – we all hung around the same part of town. So any problems that, like, people in GN’R were having, it was pretty much everybody in town was having. It wasn’t necessarily Guns N’ Roses; it was kind of a scene that we were all involved in, you know. Even though everybody was in separate bands, they went through the same thing. But what happens is, you gotta understand, that’s when you first start out, you’re really young and stuff, you don’t have any money - there’s a lot of problems going around. But, as things happen and, you know, you get a little more successful, you can start to enjoy different things in your life, like traveling, and you don’t need the drugs and all that stuff as much. You start replacing it with things that are a little more grown up. So, I mean, we drink pretty good and we party pretty great and stuff, but, you know, all those problems are long gone.


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14. NOVEMBER 1991-APRIL 1992: THE BIGGEST BAND IN THE WORLD Empty Re: 14. NOVEMBER 1991-APRIL 1992: THE BIGGEST BAND IN THE WORLD

Post by Soulmonster Sat Jun 13, 2020 6:42 pm

1992
THE ENDLESS PARTY BORES SLASH?

In early 1992, Slash describe his relationship with drugs and say he was less physically abusive now, and also muse on the benefits of ending his junkie times when relatively young:

Then, of course, there's the drug situation. It's something I don't regret; I had to go through it. I still have a great time, I'm just not as physically abusive. It's been two and a half years since I cleaned up and I can still have a drink, but nothing like before. And, to an extent, I can be around people who are doing it and not be triggered by it ....

I think that going through my drug situation at such an early age and getting in and out of it can be attributed to seeing different kinds of excesses when I was younger. I managed to clean up my act at a relatively young age, as opposed to getting into my 30s and then realizing I couldn't handle it.

I think I'm lucky because I went through the drug trip early in life, as opposed to having it build up and hit me when I was 30. But I have to admit, I never really thought about drugs until I got to a point when I just realized that things were getting a little too hectic. I'm 26 now; it's been two years and I haven't had a problem with it. I'm no angel, but I'm not slamming and all that stuff.


In May 1992 Slash would admit to occasional cocaine use [Kerrang! May 16, 1992].

In July 1992 he would claim to have cut down on his drinking:

There was a point where I used to drink a bottle of [Jack Daniel's] a day. But that's not too conducive to being productive as far as I'm concerned. I've grown up a little bit in that sense. I may be out late at night and get toasted off my {expletive}, but for the most part I try and watch myself...[…] After a while, it gets boring, to be honest.

We don’t have as much going on outside of performing right now, in light of the fact that some of the guys got married and there’s not this huge drug thing going on — we’ve seen this movie so many times. It’s just gotten to the point where we really are just concentrating on the shows. We might go out and have a drink and do whatever [after the show] but the focus is not going out to get laid and [messed] up all the time. There were theater tours where we cared about the gigs, but we were on a [expletive] tightwire. […] [Staying in shape] is not even a professional responsibility. It’s more a responsibility to yourself: that you want to feel like you’ve given the optimum performance you can give. I take my playing seriously and I know everybody else in the band is the same way. I wouldn’t mind being up there with guitar players like Jimmy Page, so it’s not gonna help if I’m irresponsible to that goal.

I still drink, but the whole thing used to be like this big adventure. I used to get wasted on stage. There were nights when I'd have to start "Sweet Child o' Mine" four or five times because I was so loaded I couldn't play it. But I got burned out on the whole drug thing and the groupie scene.


Interestingly, in an interview from 2005, Slash would say he was still a junkie after Use Your Illusion:

There was a whole period after Use Your Illusion that was pretty ridiculous. I ended up in Arizona dealing with some real low-life people on a regular basis in order to facilitate my habit. I remember buying a fucking Porsche and parking it underneath a freeway in Hollywood and leaving it unlocked overnight while I went to some ramshackle apartment so I could go get my fucking buzz on. A brand new Porsche! I’d bought it the night before. Was it still there when I got back? It was actually.


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14. NOVEMBER 1991-APRIL 1992: THE BIGGEST BAND IN THE WORLD Empty Re: 14. NOVEMBER 1991-APRIL 1992: THE BIGGEST BAND IN THE WORLD

Post by Soulmonster Sat Jun 13, 2020 6:42 pm

JANUARY 13-14, 1992
TROUBLE IN DAYTON

After the two shows in Houston the band came to Fairborn near Dayton in Ohio, on January 13 and 14, 1992.


HANGING OUT BEFORE THE SHOWS

The band would come to Dayton on January 10 and hang out at McGufly's House of Draft on three nights before their first show [Dayton Daily News, June 2, 1995]. At the night before the show (January 12), the band (minus Axl) even did a show at the pub playing GN'R tunes and covers [Dayton Daily News, June 2, 1995].


THE FIRST SHOW - AXL STRUGGLES WITH PAST MEMORIES

For the first show the band was even more late than usual, long after the "around 8 PM" time printed on the tickets [Dayton Daily News, January 15, 1992]. At 11:52 PM Slash came on stage to announce the show would be delayed due to a technical problem with one of the stage monitors: "I didn’t build the... equipment — I just play through it" [Dayton Daily News, January 15, 1992]. The band entered the stage first at 12:25 AM [Sandusky Register, January 15, 1992; Dayton Daily News, January 15, 1992]. Several members of the Nutter Center’s support staff allegedly said that Axl did not arrive at the venue until after midnight [Dayton Daily News, January 15, 1992]. The show ended at 3:05 AM [Dayton Daily News, January 15, 1992]. From the stage Axl would imply psychological issues, saying "You’ve got to realize that this is not a pleasant place for me to play" while explaining that his step-father was from Dayton and that he had needed time to prepare himself mentally for the performance [Dayton Daily News, January 15, 1992].

And you all know how that’s just one of my “favorite” places. No offense, but if you believe that – I mean, my stepdad is from here in Dayton and I used to come here when I was a kid. This is not a pleasant place for me to be. But I got to realize that it doesn’t have anything to do with you who came to see the show.


In early 1993, Matt would talk about having to wait for Axl for this show:

That’s what we do, man. We sit around and wait, just like everybody else. […] [The scene backstage was] a... nightmare. […] What happens with Axl is, if he doesn’t feel good about playing the gig, he just doesn’t... want to play. […] It’s a weird thing to make people wait, but it’s almost as if he wants to put on the best show for the people. He’d rather not go out — that’s the only way I can explain it. That’s what used to go on with him.


During the show Axl would also try to get the crowd into the show by engaging with them about the accusations that the band had supremacist sympathies:

[Talking about trying to get a crowd reaction]: I approached it a bit differently when we did the first show in Dayton, Ohio. We'd been told we're the perfect house band for David Duke's America. And it's like, fuck David Duke, I don't like being associated with that. I asked the crowd: "Is that what you get out of this, that we're racists and you're supporting it? 'Cause if that's the case, I'm gonna go home. That's not why we're here." I asked the crowd about those things. I got some real interesting responses. The way they reacted was a little bit different than normal. There was silence in different places and cheering in others. You could tell that they were thinking for a minute.


Also on the day of this show, something, a "miscommunication" in the words of Axl, happened between Doug Goldstein and Axl, resulting in rumors that Axl had fired Goldstein:

Last night there was a miscommunication between me and my manager, and suddenly that turned into I fired my manager. And before we even got back to our hotel, I may even say this is where it started – you know, this is the only time I get to be around the fucking crew and shit, I’m talking to our crew and stuff, and suddenly the fucking story was back to L.A. and New York, before we even got back to the goddamn hotel, that I fired my manager. Which, basically, kind of ruined the last day for our manager. His name is Mr. Doug Goldstein, and I love Mr. Doug Goldstein, and if anybody gets in the fuckin’ way of that with their little fuckin’ stories, they can take a walk now. There were even some people that were really happy and they threw their little fucking parties because they thought Dougie would be gone.
Dayton, OH, USA, January 14, 1992



Review in Dayton Daily News
January 15, 1992



THE SECOND SHOW - AXL INJURES HIMSELF AND ALMOST FIGHTS SLASH

During the second performance in Dayton [January 14], Axl slashed his hand open on a broken microphone stand:

It happened at the beginning of the set and he made it through the whole show. It was making everybody nervous. I didn't want anything to happen to the hand. I just wanted him to get it checked out to make sure it was OK. He was a trooper.


The incident would also be mentioned in the band's official fan club newsletter:

During a concert in Dayton, OH on Jan. 14, 1992, the weld on Axl’s mike stand broke. It caused a deep laceration running from his thumb across the palm of his hand. Axl wrapped his hand in towels to contain the bleeding, and fighting off shock, insisted on finishing the show. Axl was rushed to a doctor who stitched up the deep gash. Fearing permanent nerve damage that might prevent him from playing keyboards, Axl was flown to New York to see a hand specialist who performed surgery. The band was forced to postpone two concerts in Detroit. Luckily, Axl’s hand is healing perfectly!!!




Review in Dayton Daily News
January 16, 1992



While Axl was backstage having his hand looked at, he thought Slash said something critical about him and when entering the stage he would call Slash a "punk motherfucker" and that he would "kick your fucking ass". Before things escalated the band started playing 'Welcome to the Jungle'.

We had a run-in in Dayton [Ohio], because both myself and Dougie thought [Slash] said something shitty to me onstage. That was the night I cut my hand to the bone. Backstage we have monitors much like the ones onstage, and while I was back there dealing with my hand, I thought I heard him take a potshot at me. I wrapped my hand up in a towel and was like, "Let's get it taken care of, so I can finish the show." I came back onstage and was a dick to him and told him I'd kick his f?!king ass in front of 20,000 people. That was f?!ked up. I was wrong, and I apologized the second I realized I was mistaken. Someone who is supporting me as strongly as he does is a hand I never want to bite.


When listening to the recording of the show it is clear that Slash first tells the audience that they have to take a break while Axl has a "clothing change" and then later explains that Axl needed medical help. It was the referral to a "clothing change" that Axl took offence to and led to the argument.

To get stiches the band would end the show about 30 minutes early.

I apologize. We’re going to play a few more songs and go so I can get some stitches.


As mentioned in the fan club newsletter, the band cancelled two shows in Detroit due to Axl's hand injury.

Slash would look back at the incident:

We had a fight on stage one time, where he cut his hand or something and went backstage, and I served to cover for it; I said to the crowd, you know, “Stop throwing this” or whatever and he misunderstood me, saying that – he thought that I said that he went back to do a wardrobe change, he came out and just cursed my ass off the mike. All of a sudden I was like, “What the...” […] And that was, like, for the rest of the night. I was like, “What the hell are you talking –“ (laughs). […] So we went back and watched the tape, and he went, “Oops, sorry” (laughs).


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14. NOVEMBER 1991-APRIL 1992: THE BIGGEST BAND IN THE WORLD Empty Re: 14. NOVEMBER 1991-APRIL 1992: THE BIGGEST BAND IN THE WORLD

Post by Soulmonster Sat Jun 13, 2020 6:43 pm

JANUARY 21-28, 1992
MINNEAPOLIS, LAS VEGAS, AND SAN DIEGO

The band then played two shows at Target Center in Minneapolis on January 21 and 22. Again, Axl was late. Before the show, Soundgarden's singer, Chris Cornell, had talked about the headliner's late starts:

The bottom line is if you’re trying to incorporate regimen in rock ’n’ roll, you’ll end up with a paradox. It’s like putting a three-dimensional picture in a two-dimensional frame. Rock is supposed to be spontaneous.


And Cornell would quip about this before they left the stage:

You’d better appreciate us. We may be the last band you’ll get to see for a while.




Review in Star Tribune
January 23, 1992



The band then came to Las Vegas for a show at the Thomas and Mack Center on January 25, 1992. The day before the show, January 24, Axl would be interviewed by Kim Neely for Rolling Stone magazine, and Neely would describe Axl's good mood including how he had welcomed two girls who had managed to sneak past security and knocked on his hotel room door [Rolling Stone, April 2, 1992].

After the show, Perla Ferrar, who had a friend who knew the promoter of the show, got back stage and met Slash for the first time [Rolling Stone, July 31, 2007].

Later, Axl would look back at this gig:

I think it's pretty much on my shoulders and I don't mind that at all. The band works the stage and gets off on the crowd, but I'm kind of a shield. If I'm gone they don't really know how to get on top of it. If I'm out there and not handling it, no one can really rescue me. It's just very hard sometimes. We've done shows where I could feel that it was a very taking thing and I turn around and Slash is doing handstands because he's still getting off on the chaos of it. And I'm having the shit beat out of me. This happened in Vegas. My jaw was hurting, my back was hurting, my leg was hurting. I call it shadow boxing because it comes down to between me and the audience. And for Guns N' Roses to be successful, I have to win. And if I win, everyone wins. If the crowd wins then a lot of people lose, including the crowd. They didn't get to be satiated, they get to go home pissed off because we crumbled under it.


The band then travelled to the San Diego Sports Arena for shows on January 27 and 28.


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14. NOVEMBER 1991-APRIL 1992: THE BIGGEST BAND IN THE WORLD Empty Re: 14. NOVEMBER 1991-APRIL 1992: THE BIGGEST BAND IN THE WORLD

Post by Soulmonster Sat Jun 13, 2020 6:43 pm

JANUARY 31-FEBRUARY 1, 1992
FAREWELL TO SOUNDGARDEN IN CHANDLER

The last shows of this leg was on January 31 and February 1 at Compton Terrace in Chandler.



Review and report in the Arizona Republic
February 2, 1992



As common in the music industry, for the very last show, GN'R decided to play a prank on the opener, Soundgarden.

February 1, 1992, was our last show with Soundgarden, at Compton Terrace, Arizona, and we decided to commemorate it with a little prank. We got ourselves a few inflatable dolls and Matt and Duff and I took our clothes off and went onstage with them. Come to think of it, I was the only one of us completely naked. In any case, Soundgarden was touring the Badmotorfinger album, and they came from a place where there was no fun to be had while rocking, so they were mortified. They looked around and there we were screwing blowup dolls all around them; I was drunk and I fell. I got separated from my doll, and at that point I was totally naked - it was a scene.
Slash's autobiography, "Slash", 2007, p. 347

Phoenix? Naked? Oh, now I remember! That was the last time Soundgarden was opening for us, and we were losing them. So we wanted to play some kind of prank, but we didn't want it to be one of those old cliche pranks. Next thing you know, we were taking our clothes off and running out during their set. [...] Axl didn't do it, but not because he was chicken. He'd just arrived at the place just in time to see us do out thing. [...] But I'll tell you who chickened out. Matt did. Print that. Matt chickened out. Hah!


Gilby would be asked if he had been told to act in any particular way on stage on their touring:

No, not at all. Nobody has ever said what I can or can't do, or what I can or can't wear. That's not the way the band is - you just kind of feel your way around situations. Many things are left unsaid. The same thing applies to the music. The most difficult thing for me when I was learning their material was copping the feel of the band. They would always say, "Lay back, man, lay back." It's not something you can articulate - it's something you feel. It probably took me a couple of months before I fell completely into their groove.



SOUNDGARDEN TALKING ABOUT TOURING WITH GUNS N' ROSES

During the touring Soundgarden would comment on how it was to open for Guns N' Roses:

We've been treated really great. The crew's wonderful; the guys in the band are really nice and helpful. It's been really organised.
Rock Power, March 1992

Most of it is tedious. We just thought most of the stories surrounding Guns N' Roses were media generated -- people looking for a story. Nothing spectacular ever happened.
Melody Maker, March 28, 1992

A lot of it is blown out of all proportion. With Guns, a lot of the reports about how they handle their success and what they do aren't true. They're down to earth, but people don't wanna think of them that way.
Kerrang! April 4, 1992

The experience is great; it's a coveted opening slot which was given to us, and we're not gonna throw that in anybody's faces.
Kerrang! April 4, 1992

Spending time with Axl on the Guns tour, I realized how much stuff written about them is really bullshit. They treated us better than any band ever has.
RIP Magazine, July 1992

[Talking about the crew encouraging girls to flash before the cameras]: They did that pretty much every night. It was just backstage entertainment, because all that stuff was coming through on the monitors. It was just kind of a "rock" thing to do. I watched it one night, and I thought it was pretty funny, but it was definitely a strange scene. The women who do stuff like that are pretty stupid in the first place. A big rock circus is what it was.
High Times, July 1992


And the band would talk about the experience afterwards:

There were two main things: First, they had this enormous aluminum stage with catwalks, and at the end of each catwalk was a teleprompter so Axl could read the lyrics to his own songs. Which I thought was a little weird, since they only had two albums. The other thing was that you were not allowed to be in a hallway or anywhere where Axl might see you when he was walking between the dressing room and the stage... unless you were Chris Cornell. So, one day, I see a security guard walking him down this long corridor where there's no one except for me, and it's like they want me to see him. He's wearing his Axl Rose tennis shoes that say AXL ROSE on them and these teeny-tiny, painted-on red shorts, a backwards baseball cap and a fur coat that goes to the floor. And he just walks by and goes, "Hey, bro!" And that was it. At that point, it's one of those moments where you think about your life as a comic book - and this isn't really happening.
Blender Magazine, July 2005

[Axl] treated me very well. Very well. [...] to me he was really kind. You know, he’s a little bit eccentric, but…[...] I think for him, at the time, he thought of my band as being kind of something that inspired him and he was very supportive of music and musicians that inspired him. He treated us great. I mean, I can’t really complain about it.
Q101, April 2009

Our tour with Guns N’ Roses? Yeah, not my fault. I don’t like that kind of music—and don’t fuckin’ make something out of nothing by me saying that. They’re all really nice guys, don’t get me wrong. But still, let me finish. I’m a punk rocker, man. I like Black Flag and way more hardcore stuff. That kind of butt rock, I don’t like. I want nothing to do with that kind of world. I’m not a rock star, I don’t like rock stars, and I don’t want to be around them. That word rock star is really derogatory to me. There seems to be a malicious factor in calling someone that. It’s a put-down. The Guns N’ Roses tour was a full-on metal-circus extravaganza. It was insane. I never wanted to play stadiums. It’s so far removed from your fans and the feeling, and the sound is like crap. So there we are, getting exposed to all these butt rockers, the same kind of people who would try to beat me up when I was a punk rocker. So I had a massive animosity towards those fans.
Mark Yarm, Everybody Loves Our Town: A History of Grunge; September 2011

We were metal. We definitely had a metal edge. I’m proud of that fact. I always thought it was funny that all the P.C. punkers were completely dismissing us because we did one tour with Guns N’ Roses. The Guns N’ Roses tour was kind of a nightmare backstage, but it was sort of fun to be a part of it. It was an eye-opening lesson as far as how not to tour if you become successful. Like each guy had a bodyguard, and they were just completely wasted all the time. Axl would make the band wait an hour or two before they went on, so they always had to pay out these exorbitant late fees at the venues. One gig I remember, Axl was threatening to go out and actually break up the band onstage. There were a couple of occasions like that where we had to clear the fuck out because people were predicting a riot was going to happen.
Mark Yarm, Everybody Loves Our Town: A History of Grunge; September 2011

[Axl] was always hidden somewhere having a personal crisis—always. One time I was in the room when he was talking to his manager, Doug Goldstein, about wanting the Goodyear blimp for the show. I said this as a joke—even though it was true—that the Fuji blimp was the largest blimp in the world. Axl was like, “That’s it! It’s gonna be the Fuji blimp!”
Rolling Stone, “Q&A: Chris Cornell,” July 28, 2005

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.
Vulture, November 2012


Susan Silver, Soundgarden's manager, would talk about Soundgarden's lukewarm enthusiasm for the tour:

It was Soundgarden’s nature to never be enthusiastic about anything, to the point where the Guns N’ Roses crew referred to them as Frowngarden.
Mark Yarm, Everybody Loves Our Town: A History of Grunge; September 2011

Why’d we get called Frowngarden? Because we weren’t party monsters. We weren’t motherfucking rock stars. We were not like that. We were there to play music. We weren’t there for the models and the cocaine. We were there to blow your doors off.
Mark Yarm, Everybody Loves Our Town: A History of Grunge; September 2011


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Post by Soulmonster Sat Jun 13, 2020 6:44 pm

MERCHANDISE AND SPONSORING

Duff, with his punk sensibilities, was not in favor of merchandise:

[…] there is this whole corporation now, this Guns N’ Roses industry with merchandising and concerts and tickets. […] I hated that when [Kiss] started selling folders and stuff like that.


In Januar 1991 Slash was also asked about the topic and expressed similar sentiments:

I guess we’re doing [a sponsor for the 'Use Your Illusion' tour], but I don’t want to sell out. I don’t want to be the next Janet Jackson, M.C. Hammer, fucking Eric Clapton or whoever else. We’re doing a tour, and if they want to help pay for it, we’ll use their name — we’ll put banners up all over the gig, I don’t give a shit. If there’s free cigarettes and free beer and they help pay for the tour, I don’t care. But I’m not wearing a Budweiser T-shirt. I don’t care if we do our own photos and it says “Budweiser” or “Marlboro” on the bottom of the page, but I don’t want to do anything where I’m holding up something with a big smile on my face. […] I don’t think the fans will care. They all drink Budweiser and smoke Marlboros. I was worried about the parents and what they’d say about the cigarettes, but it’s like some of the most influential personalities in baseball, football, basketball and race-car driving do ads. I mean, I advertise smoking constantly anyway; I can’t help it. I don’t see why cigarettes are any worse than beer.


But when asked if there was something he would be willing to sponsor individually, he made an exception for a vodka brand:

I’m willing to do it if there are no dumb ads and no dumb commercials. I want to do Black Death Vodka. Axl turned me on to it. I want Black Death Vodka to call me, because I’ll sponsor them. Just me personally.


Slash and Black Death Vodka will be the topic of later chapter.

Axl would express his thoughts on merchandise and sponsoring from the stage:

I wanna talk to you for a minute because I wanna get your opinion on something. And I’m real serious. You know, being a band in our position, you wander about cuz you’re interested in making some more money. And the offers get made and you go, well, you know, I drink the beer. So there’s all this talk of sponsorship. And I was pretty much undecided either way, since I drink Budweiser and I smoke Marlboro, then I couldn’t care less if they want to slap the sticker on you. Until today. I don’t have anything against the companies that sponsor and manage us here, except I’ve got a tattoo on this shoulder. It’s a tattoo of a Thin Lizzy album cover, you know? And since both my father and my stepfather were assholes, Phil Lynott kinda like took the place of dad for me when I was a kid. And I’m watching TV today and I see this Molson commercial with The Boys Are Back In Town on it. I mean, I heard the bassline and shit and I was like, what the fuck is this? And I’ve never been more pissed off and hurt in my life, you know, at least not in a long fucking time that I can think of. Because, I mean, whoever sold that to them, I hope they’re a big motherfucker, cuz if I find them anywhere, I’ll crack their skull. I mean, Phil’s gone. What do you think about our sponsorship? If you’re into it and hey yes, you know, yell “yes”, really loud. If you think it’s, like, selling out, let me hear you yelling “no”. [The crowd is rather yelling “yes”] Let’s put it down right in a ballot box (laughs).


But merchandise presented a welcome source of revenues from the band in the beginning:

The last tour we did cost us two million dollars and we didn’t make a penny off the tour except for maybe the ‘T’-shirts that we sold.


The most popular item was t-shirts:

Jeff Condon (Merchandise manager): "This is one of our best selling t-shirts. It’s got the album cover, so it kind of identifies with the tour, Use Your Illusion, and the dates on the back – this tour – kind of give the kids an idea of where the show was and gives them something to identify the show with. So yeah, these are real popular" [The O-Zone BBC, May 31, 1993].


THE 2000S

But as the band matured and the industry changes, band members would change their opinion on merchandise. Duff, responding to Velvet Revolver licensing music to Victoria’s Secret commercial and movie soundtracks and appearing in ads for the clothing designer John Varvatos

The barriers are changing and we as artists are making less and less money, and we have to get creative. [...] Fifteen years ago, it would have been totally not cool. You would have been selling out.


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14. NOVEMBER 1991-APRIL 1992: THE BIGGEST BAND IN THE WORLD Empty Re: 14. NOVEMBER 1991-APRIL 1992: THE BIGGEST BAND IN THE WORLD

Post by Soulmonster Sat Jun 13, 2020 6:44 pm

FEBRUARY 1992
DIZZY BECOMES A DAD AND MOVES TO ORANGE COUNTY

Dizzy, who had married his girlfriend Lisa in June 1990, received a paternity suit in February 1992 from Angela Parker who claimed her daughter, Morgan Alexandra, was Dizzy's daughter and demanded $5,000 in child support and sole custody [MTV, February 11, 1992]. Two days later, Bryn Bridenthal, as spokesperson for Guns N' Roses, said Dizzy had not seen the lawsuit and had no comment [The Newark Advocate, February 13, 1992].

In October 1992 Dizzy would talk about being a father:

Well, I’m just now getting used to it, cuz we’ve been gone, but it’s great.


He would also talk about moving from Hollywood to Laguna in Orange Country (CA):

It’s kind of weird, you know. It’s like going from Hollywood to, like, “Leave It to Beaver” overnight. I went out to get the paper in my bath towel, you know? Not even thinking, like, the neighbors, like “Welcome to the neighborhood, Dizzy!” I’m like, “Hey, come over for a beer.” It’s like, “Alright!” A guy has (?) across the street and one waves, you know. I mean, it’s like in Hollywood, you walk out and everyone locks their windows. So, you know...


In October 1991, it would be reported that Dizzy's favorite hobby was "checking out bands in the local L.A. scene" [Conspiracy Incorporated Newsletter, October 1991].

In 1993, Lisa and Dizzy would become parents to their first daughter, Skye [Guns N' Roses Use Your Illusion tour diary, unknown author and date].


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14. NOVEMBER 1991-APRIL 1992: THE BIGGEST BAND IN THE WORLD Empty Re: 14. NOVEMBER 1991-APRIL 1992: THE BIGGEST BAND IN THE WORLD

Post by Soulmonster Sat Jun 13, 2020 6:44 pm

FEBRUARY 18, 1992
THE SINGLE AND MUSIC VIDEO FOR NOVEMBER RAIN

The next single from 'Use Your Illusion' would be November Rain, released on on February 18, 1992.



November Rain
February 18, 1992



As for 'Don't Cry', the band created an ambitious video to accompany the single, still following loosely the 'Without You' story by Del James.

November Rain is a part of this story and shows different elements of this story. And I don’t really want to say where in line it falls, but it does show me going to bed and waking up on the nightmare at different points in the video.

You know what? They did something that was really interesting and I’d never thought about. It was playing live. We actually played live while we were doing the video. That was very cool, because you get into it a little bit more - cuz I’ve done lots of videos and I always, you know, pretended and posed. And that was cool. That gave you a little extra energy every time.

So the video, it just all went very smoothly. Meanwhile I was telling Gilby that “we have a great shot of your arm.” And then the night we were recording the performance shot, there’s places where he would, like, come over to the piano and jam with me, “Here we are, we are together for the video.” And about five times that we did takes, I’m looking over at Gilby and I’m like, “Gilby, none of it is gonna be in this video, because this is where the solo is, where Slash is gonna be out in the middle of the desert or something. So it’s just not gonna work” (laughs). And he was like, “Yeah, yeah, alright".

One of the reasons for having an orchestra in the video [was that] it was one of the only ways to actually get to be around an orchestra and see what that was like; to see what was like to hear an orchestra actually play something I had written on keyboards, and see how well it worked and talk with the orchestra a bit about that. It’s not something I wanted to hide from the public and act like I used real strings. I wanted to say, “No, we did this on synthesizers." […] For me, putting the orchestra in the video, I don’t think it was faking anything, because they were really playing when they were there. The sound you’re hearing when you see the video is what I play, but when we did the video they were actually playing; and it was a way for me to be around an orchestra and see that, because it’s not like I have time or cash to just go and set up an orchestra somewhere. It has to be for something productive and this definitely was.


It was a costly production:

This is, like, the first video of the miniseries that we are trying to create. So who knows, because, I mean, we paid for November Rain ourselves, because Geffen didn’t really know what to think of that kind of budget. So... […] [The budget] was like, 1.6. Two. It was two, okay. Two (chuckles). But it’s something we believe in and I think it ends up speaking for itself in this quality. And there’s – hopefully there will be four more that will explain the story with other songs on the album.


The video took "two months" to produce and was, in the words of Duff, "kind of expensive" but "it's only money, right?" [MTV, May 1993].

While on the set Gilby would be asked what role he would have in the video:

I have no fuckin’ idea (laughs). I don’t know what time we’re starting, I don’t know what time we’re leaving, I don’t know what time we get here tomorrow. I don’t know. I like it that way, though: “I don’t know! I have no idea!”


Talking about the wedding scene:

My role? I think I’m just, like, probably one of the ushers. Yeah, to the wedding. I don’t know, man. You have to ask Ax. This whole video is in his mind.

Yeah, [the priest]'s a friend of mine, Jean Antonio. Yeah, he’s great. He’s great and I just knew when I met him, the day I met him, that he should play this part if he wanted to. That was a really heavy story in itself. That was when we ended up shooting – the church we ended up shooting that, I had no idea that was one of the last places he ever – you know, eight years ago – done services. […] He just added such a sense of warmth and the right sense of spirit that we wanted to have present there. So it was very special for me and him.


Talking about the church:

Slash wanted to do a solo, and it was originally, like, in a field somewhere. But that time of year there were no cool fields in America to shoot in. We looked all over for churches and we couldn’t find a little church with a good view or a field. If we found the church, everything was dead around it because it was winter/early spring. We eventually found a church on wheels that they used in the movie Silverado, and we saw pictures and said, “Okay, that’s just good there;” and we went, and it ended up being perfect and really fitting well. It wasn’t planned, it just started that way. Andy [Morahan] saw it in a desert, we saw it in a field with long grass or flowers, and we ended up filming it in Mexico.

[...] the most memorable moments during the shooting of "The Church" scene were the helicopter "dive bombing" toward me at full speed almost knocking me off my feet. But the hard part was doing it take after take after take from all different angles. The propeller blades were so close I figured one more pass and "November Rain" would have been my last video. Thankfully, "no harm, no foul"


And hearing oneself playing with a helicopter just over his head:

They had the monitors cranked. That scene involved quite the crazy production. They had speakers hanging from the helicopter. Since it was dive-bombing me just above my head it was not too hard to hear.




Scene from November Rain video



Talking about acting with Stephanie Seymour:

It freaks me out to be acting these parts out with Stephanie, when some of the situations are based off things that happened in another relationship.

I wish I could speak, you know. I like the idea of that thing. I’m really into the – I’ve been studying acting for a while. It feels good to be able to do something. It’s not quick enough for me. There’s too much waiting.


In 2010, Slash would talk about hating the video:

I haven't seen that in years. November Rain is still one of the most expensive videos ever made. I hate videos. So that's right up at the top - the epitome of the kind of thing I cannot stand.


And Slash and Dizzy didn't get it:

I’ve never really tried to figure [the music video] all out to be honest. I know that it was quite the production. I guess it was kind of my first taste of the Hollywood sort of thing, and how things are made in Hollywood. I know that there was a scene where we are all at a wedding and, you know, in that scene it rains and people scatter because of the rain and what not. It had to be postponed because it was actually raining. Everything has to be controlled and you can’t really control the weather. I always thought that it was ironic and funny, but that’s how they do it here.
Lubbock Online, May 2013

You know what?! To tell you the truth, I have no idea [about the meaning]. Well, it was a concept. The song itself is pretty self-explanatory, but the video is so complex. And I remember when Axl was writing it, it just became … It was so epic, it was like a movie. And I, not being a huge videos and making videos especially, I just showed up for my scenes. I [would] write my own scene and do in my section. I never paid attention to the rest of the whole production. So at the end of the day, I never really knew … I knew there was a wedding in there somewhere and I was not into the concept of the wedding.
HuffPost Live, September 2014


In 2018, Roberta Freeman would talk about making the video and mention how tedious it was leading to her eventually skipping the third day of filming:

I had done a lot of videos up to then and video shoots are usually long. It's a long day. You start early, you know, there's a big fuss about the hair and the makeup and the wardrobe and blah blah blah, you know. And then you sit around looking beautiful in your hair and your makeup and your wardrobe for hours and hours and hours and hours and hours. Waiting for your scene, you know, to shoot. And you do it a million times and then like 4:00 or 3:00 in the morning it's done, you know. But with that video, oh my god, there was so many people involved, there was a full orchestra. And so there was all of that to be shot. And that took forever. So forget about.... I mean, the hurry up and wait part was ridiculous. We were just hanging out. I think it was over a two or three days. It was a long shoot. The first day was with the orchestra, we're on stage and we get through that and that was a really long day. And then the second day was the baby shot, the wedding scene. And that was a really long day. [...] For the wedding thing, that was my little suit that I was wearing, trying to look conservative. Yeah, I like doing that. And there were so many people getting their hair and makeup done, I just figured, "Let me do it, let me just do it," you know. And I had done so many videos that I knew how to do that by then. So yeah, I had fun with that. And yeah, but it was a really long, long, long day. And I think the third day was the shot, the wedding reception and the big party. And I opted out. I was like, "Guys," I think I had something else planned or something, I don't know, I don't remember because it was such a long time ago, but it was a three day shoot, which is really, really rare for a video, you know. So I think I had like scheduled something else to do that day as far as I remember, you know [laughs]. But, yeah, it was a three-day shoot, "I guess I won't show up in that scene," you know? [...] Whatever the case was, it was too long and I wasn't a major player, so I didn't think I would be missed. You know, I don't think it would be such a big deal for me not to be in that last shot, you know, and it wasn't, you know, it was just a bunch of people running around in the rain, right. I'm okay with it. [laughs].


And Slash, after having rejoined the band, would talk in more positive terms about the video and refer to it as "pretty fuckin' awesome":

That was an epic production. That was all more Axl's vision than anything I had to do with it. My contribution was [that] I would write my own part, where the leaving the wedding and doing the church thing was concerned. The way that [director] Andy Morahan shot it, I thought, 'This is going to be the last thing I ever do,' because these helicopters were flying [right] at me. I thought, 'It'll look cool doing it, and that will be my last day.' Because it was such an elaborate production, being a very sort of stripped-down rock guy, I was like, 'Oh, God. All this stuff!' But it did come out pretty fuckin' awesome. Now, all this time later, it's more of a hats-off to Axl than anything that it's reached that threshold.


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Post by Soulmonster Sat Jun 13, 2020 6:45 pm

FEBRUARY 19-22, 1992
THREE SHOWS AT THE TOKYO DOME

After a short break the touring commenced again with three shows at the Tokyo Dome in Tokyo, Japan on February 19, 20 and 22.



Duff and Gilby at the Tokyo Dome
February 1992



The film of the February 22 show was released on two home videos (VHS/DVD), called "Use Your Illusion World Tour - 1992 in Tokyo I" and "Use Your Illusion World Tour - 1992 in Tokyo II", on December 8, 1992 [see separate chapter for more on this].

Duff would later be asked about his most "Spinal Tap" moment and give this story:

That would be playing in Japan, just after Gilby Clarke had replaced Izzy. We were playing three nights at the Tokyo dome. I kinda figured out how much I was making from those shows - and it was a lot. Anyway, I'd bought a Corvette a couple of years before, which had always been my dream car. It was great. A convertible black Corvette. Beautiful. So after this show in Tokyo, Gilby was wandering around in this shirt that I really liked. I said, ’Tell your wife to go to my house in LA and get the keys to my Corvette. I'll trade it for your shirt.’ He said, ’You’re fucking kidding me!' This car was worth over $30,000! But I didn't care. I just bought another one straight away. Do I still have the shirt? I do. It's a nice shirt.


And Gilby would talk about Wild Horses performed at these shows as an example of him and Slash playing together:

Slash and I seemed to play well together. The only thing I found odd was that we were both Les Paul, Marshall guys. Sometimes when we would hit a big money chord onstage, I couldn't tell who did it. When I switched to Vox AC30 amps, I think it helped me define my sound within the band. We carried that on to Slash's Snakepit and my solo record following the GNR tour. Years later, in the YouTube era, I found our 'Wild Horses' solo bit from the Live in Tokyo videos. I think that says it all of how we played together. I don't remember ever rehearsing that. I'm pretty sure we went out one night and just jammed it.


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14. NOVEMBER 1991-APRIL 1992: THE BIGGEST BAND IN THE WORLD Empty Re: 14. NOVEMBER 1991-APRIL 1992: THE BIGGEST BAND IN THE WORLD

Post by Soulmonster Sat Jun 13, 2020 6:45 pm

MARCH 17, 1992
SPINAL TAP RELEASES 'BREAK LIKE THE WIND' FEATURING SLASH

In 1992 Slash would be featured on the song 'Break Like The Wind' on the same-titled album by Spinal Tap:



Break Like the Wind
March 13, 1992



It was great. Let’s see, it was after a really bad rehearsal that we had one day. I was really pissed off and I was in a bad mood. So I knew I had a session that night, so I got in the car and just, like, cruised over the studio. And for the mood I was in and the state of mind I was in, it was very Spinal Tap, so... (laughs) And I walked in...[…] Spinal Tap, we watched it before a show one day, one night right before a gig, and I was just like watching it going - cuz as our career is going on, it’s, like, all of a sudden becoming more and more significant, that movie, cuz it’s just really classic stuff that does happen. So I watched it before a show and it just screwed up my whole life (laughs). […] They were great guys, though. And I just went in, plugged in, and did it in, like, one take. And then it was just, you know, nice to meeting you and split. But they were really cool.

You know what was funny about it? I showed up with a bottle of Jack Daniels, and I was like Spinal Tap in real life. […] The longer you’re in this business, the more sense it really makes. The worst gig we ever had on the last tour was right after we watched Spinal Tap. Even the subtle nuances are so accurate. It hits so close to home it's disturbing.


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14. NOVEMBER 1991-APRIL 1992: THE BIGGEST BAND IN THE WORLD Empty Re: 14. NOVEMBER 1991-APRIL 1992: THE BIGGEST BAND IN THE WORLD

Post by Soulmonster Sat Jun 13, 2020 6:46 pm

MARCH 1992
SLASH AND BLACK DEATH VODKA

In March 1992 it was reported that Slash had signed a deal with Black Death Vodka to be their pitch man [New York Daily News, March 13, 1992]. Black Death spokesman Robert Plotkin said that Slash was "perfect for the market” and that he "was really the only one Black Death wanted" [New York Daily News, March 13, 1992].

Slash would admit it came about as a result of his comments to Rolling Stone in 1991:

Well, it stemmed from the interview, because - I don’t remember exactly when the first time I encountered it was, but they read the thing that I said in Rolling Stone about the only company that I would endorse. So I think they called the office or something they made, sort of like, an offer. And we got together and talked about it. And I was like, “Cool,” you know, “free cases of vodka? Yeah.” (laughs) So contrary to what anybody else is saying about me trying to influence teenage America with it, you know, it was just - the whole point was that the vodka is great and...[…] You know, I knew it was gonna come up and I haven’t given it much thought, because, from where I come from, it’s, sort of like, you make your own decisions. You know, that’s how I was brought up. So I didn’t really feel like I was constricted by how I was gonna influence the youth of America or international or whatever. So I just did it, you know, and whatever happens after that, basically I’m not gonna take it that personally. It’s something I did, it’s not for anybody else to judge me on it, you know?

Well, I ran into this vodka in Europe called Black Death, and on the bottle was a top hat and a skull, which is sort of my moniker anyway. It tasted great, so I drank it for a couple of days and that was it. I did an interview where I said, "We don't do endorsements for cigarettes or beer or what have you. The only thing I would endorse would be Black Death vodka." A couple of weeks later I get a call saying, "Black Death was interested in you doing that," and I said, "Okay! Cool!"


The vodka was prohibited in the US markets due to the name [Associated Press, April 6, 1992; Entertainment Weekly, April 17, 1992], and as a result it was changed to Black Hat [The Baltimore Sun, May 13, 1992].



Slash wearing a 'Black Death Vodka' shirt



It was just in Europe at the time [when Slash publicly said he's like to endorse it]. Now that it's stateside, I'm getting all kinds of flak from people saying I'm influencing the youth of America. Fuck 'em, the vodka's great. Everybody's supposed to be smart enough to make their own decisions, you know? […] I can understand where people can be pissed off because I'm endorsing something that is not necessarily healthy, and maybe I have some influence on younger kids, but at the same time, the way I grew up, and where I come from, I've done it for myself. As far as influencing kids goes, I didn't know that was my fuckin' job, ya know?


When asked about why he did ads for Black Death, Slash would say "just to get the vodka. […] It’s good vodka" and AP would say that Slash was compensated in form of "a little money, T-shirts and several cases of the product" [Associated Press, June 3, 1992].

[The Black Death Vodka conflict]’s not a thorn in my side, because that just gets me to the point – you know, when I got hassled for Black Death vodka, it just made me go, “Oh, cool, it must’ve screwed them around,” you know? So it’s like, people are gonna look at me as a public figure that’s influencing the youth of America; and I was like, no, that’s not it at all. It was just cool vodka and a great label, and I said I would endorse it. And I got hassled by the Surgeon General and all that kind of stuff, and I was in, like, the Wall Street Journal. And it’s like, how does some rock guitar player becomes so significant? You know, had it been Joe Blow on the street it wouldn’t matter, and people just, I think, go after us because of the fact that we’re as public as we are, or as visible as we are. So I was just like, yeah, well, the attitude that I’m gonna take is “screw you.” […]  But they were in Europe then, before. And Europe’s a lot less uptight about things like that than the States are. You know, everybody’s trying to make some, sort of like, moral rule as a standard, and try and have everybody abide by it. […] I’m not a role model at all. The other thing is, you know, Black Death, they’re trying to change the name or trying to make them change the name. And they’re still fighting it, and I’m like, “Cool.” So, you know, I’ll hang in there with them.


The collaboration would end:

Black Death paid me a bunch of money to endorse them and then disappeared.


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Post by Soulmonster Sat Jun 13, 2020 6:46 pm

1991-1992
GUNS N' ROSES WANTS NIRVANA

THE EMERGENCE OF NIRVANA AND GRUNGE

At the same time as the two 'Use Your Illusion' albums were released and the band started to tour in support of them, an underground musical movement was happening that in many ways, at least superficially, was contrary to Guns N' Roses who had by now become established and mainstream. Fronting this movement was the band Nirvana. As a reviewer of the 1989 Nirvana album 'Bleach' would state:

If you find yourself nodding off to Guns N' Roses' occasional acoustic noodlings then wake up to Nirvana. Scrap all that Soft Metal crap and get behind these brats!
New Musical Express, July 8, 1989



GUNS N' ROSES DIGS NIRVANA...

Guns N' Roses, though, were big fans of Nirvana. In November 1991 (the interview was published in 1992), when asked who he would like to see cover a GN'R song, Axl replied:

I haven't even thought of that. But off the top of my head... I don't know. That's a hard one. I'd like to hear Nirvana do "Welcome To The Jungle." That's what I'd like to hear. I'd like to hear Nirvana do "Jungle" their way, however that is.


Duff would later mention listening to them:

Because Nirvana were also on Geffen, I'd gotten an advance copy of Nevermind four months before it came out. I wore out the tape, you know.


And later Gilby would describe Axl's views on Nirvana:

I mean, I can't speak for Axl, but I could definitely say that I know he thought they were great. Because, I mean, he was wearing their shirt every day. So when Nirvana's record came out, you know, and I heard it, I go-- I mean, to tell you the truth, it sounded like a great pop record to me. I thought the songs were hooky, it sounded good. It didn't really throw my world into any kinda change or anything. […] I mean, I know Axl loved a lot of the new bands -- like he loved Pearl Jam ... he liked Nirvana -- and the only way you could really tell is, he was always playing their songs, or was wearing a T-shirt or something. I know he was very much into a lot of the current-- And he loved Soundgarden. I mean, Soundgarden opened for us forever -- you know, way before they ever had, really had a hit or anything. He was always kinda like trying a lot of the new bands.


In 2018, Doug Goldstein would claim that it was Axl who had made Slash and Duff listen to Nirvana:

[Axl] loved Alice In Chains, he liked them a lot. I told you before but Axl had to get the guys in GNR, in particular Slash and Duff, to listen to Nirvana. He was like, ‘Guys, this is where music is going.’


Axl also tried meeting Kurt Cobain, Nirvana's singer and frontman, after a show in Los Angeles, as remembered by Danny Goldberg who was Nirvana's manager at the time:

I remember when Nirvana played a headlining show in L.A. right after Nevermind came out. Eddie Rosenblatt, the president of Geffen Records, was there with Axl Rose. Guns N’ Roses was the biggest act on Geffen, and Nirvana were the second-biggest act. And he came up to me and said that Axl wanted to come by Nirvana’s dressing room. I knew Eddie was on the spot—he had to look empowered to his star—but I had a pretty good idea of what Kurt was gonna think. I told Kurt about it, and he just made a face. Kurt just didn’t like the idea of Axl. I said, “Look, man, why don’t you and I just duck out of the dressing room? You won’t have to talk to him because you won’t be there.” Kurt and I went and sat on the stairs, and I gave Eddie all the passes so at least he could walk Axl into the dressing room and maybe say hello to the other guys.
Mark Yarm, Everybody Loves Our Town: A History of Grunge; September 2011



...AND WANTS THEM ON TOUR

Allegedly, for Axl's 30th birthday on February 6, 1992, he wanted Nirvana to play, but they declined the offer [Nirvana The True Story, 2006].

Guns N' Roses also wanted to tour with them. Slash talking about the rumored tour with Metallica and the possibility of Skid Row being part of it but that they rather wanted Nirvana:

Well, I don’t think the Skids are gonna be on it. We’re talking about doing it with Nirvana but we need to see where those guys are at. Metallica, Nirvana and us sounds pretty good to me. I went and saw Nirvana last night and they’re pretty good friends of mine so hopefully that’ll help even though we’re very different bands.


Mark Kates, who was working for Geffen, would remember Nirvana being offered to tour with Guns N' Roses:

I went to the [Nirvana] show at First Avenue in Minneapolis in October of ’91, which was amazing. One of the topics that night was them going on tour with Guns N’ Roses and Metallica, which I had been asked to bring up to them. They had a hard time taking it seriously. Nor should they have, really. It was a very preposterous idea.
Mark Yarm, Everybody Loves Our Town: A History of Grunge; September 2011


In March 1992 (published in June 1992], Axl was asked about Nirvana joining for the Metallica tour:

It's back and forth. I just think that they're having a lot of problems with who they are and who they want to be and trying to hold onto it at the same time. At least Kurt is. I'd like to be as supportive as I can, but I don't know how much he will allow support. To write a song like "Smells Like Teen Spirit" making fun of your songwriting and then have it used as an anthem has got to be a complete mindfuck. The man definitely has a mountain to rise above. I think there is a part of him that has the strength and desire to do it. I just don't know if he's able to get in touch with it. I had an advance copy of that record and it became my favorite. I would put it on repeatedly. Nirvana has helped me do my job. I think that the world has gotten really bored, really fed up and really pent up with frustration, and that comes through in Nirvana. I think a lot of people were aware of that feeling and he happened to find the song that touched it and was able to let that feeling out in people. And I'd like to do anything I can to support it. That's why we want them to play with us.



NIRVANA SCOFFS THE OFFER

Kurt Cobain, though, would claim he never seriously considered it:

[…] I've never thought of the Guns N' Roses, Metallica and U2 offers as any kind of legitimate offer. They were just never a reality for me.
The Observer, August 15, 1993


Bryn Bridenthal, from Geffen, would explain Nirvana's views on Guns N' Roses:

Axl wanted Nirvana to open for Guns because he, too, heard in the music something really, really special, and he wanted to do whatever he could to help, figuring they were this new young band and not realizing that they were at the front of a movement. He just didn’t understand why they didn’t want to, and Amy—his sister, who worked for him—called me one day and said, “Why won’t they take our help?” I said, “Because you represent everything that they’re against. You’re a big, successful, corporate million-dollar rock band. That’s the antithesis of Nirvana.” But Axl didn’t think of Guns in that way.
Mark Yarm, Everybody Loves Our Town: A History of Grunge; September 2011


In 2018, Doug Goldstein would talk about how the rock that Guns N' Roses and Axl represented had paved the way for the alternative rock movement which was a counter-reaction to the ethos of the 80s and 90s rock star and rock star life:

None of us knew [the grunge explosion] was coming. In Axl’s defense, he asked me on time, ‘What do you think the biggest mistake I ever made is?’ I said, ‘Showing the fans your mansion. Now you’ve got Nirvana and Pearl Jam wearing their lumberjack shirts and jeans and it’s just changed, right?’

He called me back, ‘You know what, I can’t accept that.’ I said, ‘Why?’ He goes, ‘Because nobody told me that was happening.’ And he was right, and that’s something I should have been able to call out, and I didn’t. Nobody saw it coming.


In fact, Nirvana had previously spoken harshly about Guns N' Roses:

[…] they were assholes in the first place. I don't think there's anything special about that band other then they had tattoos, and that seemed rebellious, and they were alcoholics, and in order to make their alcoholism a substantial part of their band, they exploited it and said "We're Being Rebellious" ya know… and really just nothing but obnoxious idiots and so that was taken as like an image… like this teenage rebellious image… and it's a bunch of crap, it's not real at all.
Rockview, August 22, 1991

[...] I was recently trying to remember what was the last honest rock 'n' roll band that made a mark on me, and I couldn’t find one. With NIRVANA entering the top ten, this will open doors for groups that will follow us. Maybe people will realize how shit GUNS N 'ROSES is. Just a pretext found by a sexist and neurotic little pervert to make money fast. And music is not that. If people want to listen to good music, they won’t by continuing to buy POISON albums, right?
Hard Force (France), recorded August 30, 1991

I mean, what does Axl Rose have to say to anyone? What is his platform, what's his core, where does he come from? There's nothing! He just talks shit, he just... he throws bottles!
NME, April 8, 1995
; interview from September 1991


Despite this, Nirvana had considered opening for Guns N' Roses in New Zealand:

IT'S kind of amusing that all these bands want us to open up for them but there's absolutely no f**king way we'd ever do it. People tell us, Oh, you guys are number nine on the Billboard charts in America. And wow, we don't jump around and laugh and jump for joy. We just sort of say, Oh. But when some oneways,yeah,Rush want you to tour with them we burst out laughing and roll on the floor.

BUT actually you know what? Someone asked us if we would open for Guns n' Roses in New Zealand and I think we're going to play one show with Guns n' Roses in New Zealand at some festival or something. We just wanted to make sure like OK that we never play with some massive cock rock band all over America. That would just ruin it. So when someone said you have a chance to play one show with Guns n' Roses in New Zealand in front of 40,000 people we thought oh that might be kind of fun.
The Drum Media, November 19, 1991


Interestingly, in a Kerrang! interview published in May 1992 (but done the month before), Slash claims to not know who Kurt Cobain is [Kerrang! May 16, 1992] despite having talked about attending a Nirvana concert previously [Raw Magazine, March 4, 1992].

Slash would be asked about Nirvana again a little while later:

[…] I don't think Nirvana's attitude about, "Now that we've got here, it's fucked, and we're not gonna do anything" makes sense. That's copping out to some sort of - I'm sorry to say it - but pathetic, "It was easy to do what we started out with; now we have to deal with something.


And whether he was saying this just because Nirvana wouldn't tour with Guns N' Roses because of some of their lyrics:

No, it has nothing to do with that, they just don't want to work. Axl and I are supposed to go over to the singer's house and talk with him. I don't know him personally. They don't want to go out, and the vibe, from my point of view, is just because they don't wanna fuckin' deal with "mainstream," which… there's no such thing as mainstream if you don't want it to be that way. I love their record, but I can't stand the fuckin' attitude. Because we spent our entire career as a band doing what we wanted to do in the way that we wanted to do it, going totally against the mainstream and getting to where we are now, which is great. If you have something important to say, you don't give up and flake out. [laughs] Because once you get there, it paves the way for other bands. We're in the mainstream only because the mainstream has become part of us. They've adapted to what we do.


Axl would continue to talk about Nirvana from the stage:

You know, we’ve had our share of problems with so-called alternative bands. What is this word? I mean, I didn’t find myself using it. “Alternative.” Like someone who lives an alternative lifestyle. All I know is that when Guns N’ Roses started, ain’t no fucking radio stations wanted to play our shit either. And no radio stations wanted to play Metallica. So I think we have the world’s biggest alternative crowd here tonight.

I think that the problem starts when you start thinking that you’re different from everybody else on the fucking planet. You may be a little different in what you’re doing and how you’re going about doing it, but I’ve got a good feeling that you’re probably a human. Right? You’re probably a human being?

And so, right now, “alternative”, the only thing that means to me is someone like Kurt Cobain in Nirvana, who basically is a fuckin’ junkie with a junkie wife. And if the baby is born deformed, I think they both ought to go to prison, that’s my feeling. And he’s too good and too cool to bring his rock ‘n’ roll to you, because the majority of you he doesn’t like or want to play to – or even have you like his music.

It seems to be a general feeling among a lot of alternative bands, that they don’t want the majority of people even liking them. They like it on the outside.


Later, in 1995, Slash would say it was mostly Axl who had wanted to tour with Nirvana and that Slash found the fight between Axl and Cobain hilarious:

That was ridiculous. I’ve always tried to keep the band together and I’ve wanted all of us to be friends: the band, the roadies, Axl ... And he wanted to tour with Nirvana, which was cool. But if Nirvana didn’t want to go with us, the best thing would’ve been to forget about it and leave it at that. But Axl insisted to the point where they had a fight.
Popular 1, February 1995; translated from Spanish


In 2004, Lars Ulrich would look back:

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.
NME, April 1, 2004


In 2007, Dave Grohl would mention Axl's desire to tour with Nirvana:

I remember that when Nevermind first came out, Axl Rose was a really big fan of us. Guns N' Roses was about to do this massive stadium tour with Metallica, and they wanted us to open. So Axl had been calling Kurt nonstop. One day we're walking through an airport and Kurt says, "Fuck. Axl Rose won't stop calling me." I think it represented something bigger. Nirvana didn't want to turn into Guns N' Roses.
Esquire Magazine, March 31, 2006


The same year, Slash would talk about the "weird vibe" that existed between up-and-coming bands from the alternative scene and Guns N' Roses:

The only big difference with bands like Nirvana and Alice in Chains at that point was that we were like this sort of huge, established, stadium, commercially viable band at that point. We were no longer the scrappy curbside band at that point. All these bands were pretty scrappy and sort of anti-industry, so yeah, there was a little bit of a weird vibe that was around at that point.


In 2016, Matt would comment on Nirvana not wanting to tour with GN'R was the "perfect answer":

Nirvana brought it back to earth. The hair metal thing was so glitzy and glammy and over the top. We invited Nirvana to come out on the road with us and they basically flipped us off. And that was the perfect answer, that was the punk-rock thing to do - to say, 'Guns N' Roses is corporate, fuck you guys! We're not coming down to bow down and kiss your ass! We're Nirvana!' That was the right statement for them to make, and they took the world over.


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Post by Soulmonster Sat Jun 13, 2020 6:51 pm

APRIL 1-9, 1992
MEXICO AND "MAKE-UP" DATES

After the three shows at Tokyo Dome in late February 1992, the band took a break in March. Then the band travelled to Mexico for two shows there in April, at the Palacio De Los Deportes in Mexico City, Mexico on April 1 and 2, 1992.

Slash being asked who will be the opener for the next leg of the tour:

I don’t know who we are going out with. It’s just a small leg that we’re doing. We’re doing, sort of, what I would call “make-up dates” to, like, Detroit we had to postpone, so we’re gonna do that, and Chicago because of the Illinois incident we’re gonna go back and make that up. Then we’re doing some shows in Mexico and, I think, one in Oklahoma. But I don’t know who’s opening for us or not, to tell you the truth. […] I’m sure that we know, but it just hasn’t been my main concern at this point, because we’ve been doing so much stuff, there’s so many other things going on, and that hasn’t been my main focus.


The two Mexican shows would be followed by one show at Myriad Arena in Oklahoma (April 6).

Now that we're headlining, we actually have control about where we play. So there was a lot of speculating about where we were gonna go that we hadn't been before, and we just played Oklahoma. The option was Oklahoma or Texas. I was like: "Why would we go back to Texas?" We've never been to Oklahoma. Which turned out to be a really good gig. I guess you have to pay attention to that stuff, 'cause you can fall into a pattern and just go around in a circle.


Then the band did one show at the Rosemont Horizon in Rosemont (April 9).


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