2021.04.09 - Hangin' & Bangin' - Interview with Gilby

Excerpts from Ultimate Guitar:
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During an appearance on Hangin' & Bangin', Gilby Clarke looked back on his 1991-1994 tenure as the guitarist of Guns N' Roses.

You can check out Gilby Clarke's "The Gospel Truth" here via Amazon.

A part of the conversation is available below (transcribed by UG).

The GN'R things, I'm hearing all these stories. Obviously, we know about Axl Rose, it seemed like you were literally like a ping-pong ball. That whole experience is freaking weird. In a nutshell, what was that about?

"Well, the good thing for myself was, by the time I got in the band, I actually just turned 30, so from being around Hollywood all those years, you have some pretty crazy experiences, so by the time I got into the band, been around a little bit, and I knew the guys as friends. And actually I knew Izzy the best, which was odd because I ended up replacing him, but what I kind of caught on with the band was, it just kind of seemed like it was a disaster every day, but for some reason, it always worked out.

"It's like, it used to blow my mind from being in bands and making records, like whenever something bad happened, it was so dramatic and it could take your band down, but with that band, it's like the worse things happened, it's like the better it was, it was almost like a promo or something.

"Slash kind of told me early on, he goes, 'One of the great things about being in the band, it's like the license to be a fuck-up.' You really could practically get away with murder."

When you did The Stones song with Slash, was that your idea?

"I literally had a week to learn 50 songs, and this is before Youtube, so I just sat there with a cassette player and learned everything. And then when I got to the very first show, we're at soundcheck, and Slash came up to me and he goes, 'What are you gonna do for your solo?'"

https://www.ultimate-guitar.com/news/general_music_news/gilby_clarke_talks_odd_thing_about_relationship_with_izzy_stradlin_recalls_disaster_every_day_during_his_time_in_gnr.html

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During an appearance on Hangin' & Bangin', guitarist Gilby Clarke looked back on performing with Guns N' Roses at the band's Rock Hall induction ceremony back in 2012.

Gilby was a member of the fold between 1991 and 1994 - but didn't get inducted into the Hall. At the event, Gilby joined Slash, Duff McKagan, Steven Adler, Matt Sorum, and Myles Kennedy.

The musician commented:

"Well, to be honest, I don't really follow that stuff, so I didn't even know that GN'R had been nominated, let alone accepted or all that. I really wasn't paying attention.

"And then I got a call from Matt, and Matt told me what was happening. And I go, 'Woah. That's kind of weird.' 'Cause, actually, I didn't get inducted as part of the band; Matt and Dizzy did, along with the original five guys. And I thought it was a little odd. But by the time I found out, it was past what was going down.

"I didn't think anybody was gonna play or anything. Two days before the show, Duff calls me and says, 'Hey, we're gonna play.' And I go, 'Oh, well, have a good time.' [Laughs] And I go, 'Who's gonna play?' I go, 'I thought Axl is not going and Izzy's not going.'

"And he goes, 'Well, they're not, but we wanna do something.' He goes, 'Will you come out?' So, my wife and I flew out and we did the show. We literally rehearsed for it at three o'clock in the morning the night before.

"And that may sound weird, but Duff had a show in Cleveland the night before - he was doing something with his own band - and so we literally rehearsed after his show at three o'clock in the morning. I played with Steven, Slash, and Duff, and then Myles Kennedy sang.

"I didn't think it was so strange, because the Red Hot Chili Peppers were getting inducted at the same time, and they did the same thing; they picked and chose [the musicians that were being inducted]. Dave Navarro, who had been on two multi-million-selling records, wasn't inducted with the Chili Peppers, but a guitar player that played on the first album was.

"So, when I started hearing about all this stuff, I go, 'Are we getting paid for it? No. Who cares?' Whether you care or don't care, I don't really know if it affects anything. I always say it's one more line in your bio that no one's paying attention to anyway...

"To be honest, the only reason why I did it was 'cause Duff asked me. And Duff's my friend; Slash is my friend. And I did it plainly for that. I honestly didn't even think about all that other stuff. We had no roadies, no techs - nothing. I'm not kidding - 'cause it wasn't planned. We decided to do it, like I said, a day or so before. I literally walked on and plugged into an amp I'd never seen before."

https://www.ultimate-guitar.com/news/general_music_news/gilby_clarke_talks_why_he_accepted_to_perform_with_gnr_at_rock_hall_ceremony_even_though_he_didnt_get_inducted_with_the_band.html