Guns n Roses, Kill For Thrills, Candy - Guitar player, songwriter, Gilby Clarke delivers a great interview. Offering some great insight on his career, Hollywood, Grunge and more... BTW very cool cat!!
He did an awesome gig in Guns. Izzy's parts aren't easy chords, they're often riffs that sounds weird alone but completes Slash's riffs. The left/right on songs like Nighttrain are some of what makes GN'R stand out.
Thing with idiots is that their opinions usually don't last very long. Lo and behold, it's been proven along the years that Slash is one of the greatest musicians in rock n roll history. Envy to ridicule to immense widespread admiration and respect.
Slash took quite alot image wise if you look 70's Joe Perry. Cowboy boots, cowboy leather strap-on over jeans, Les Paul guitar, B.C Rich guitar, same hair, leaning back when playing. Spitting image =)
@ron stone5 No. They were popular in the 80s and it doesnt matter. The year the band was originated and startred playing defines the era they are. You must be 13
To me, being successful means being a kind, genuine, good hearted, open minded person with integrity. Caught up with Jimmy D on the plane to Amsterdam two years ago Drum on brotha.Kick ass house in Hawaii brotha showed pictures. cheers
It's mad to think people were laughing at Slash when hard rock was temporarily un cool in the 90s. It's blatantly obvious who got the last laugh there. Enjoying Gilby's stories, lookin' forward to the next part😉
Nirvana were completely irrelevant to the success and fails of GNR. As Gilby states GNR were selling out 100,000 seat stadiums during the Use Your Illusions Tour that ran from 91-93...Grunge had already been out during that time and GNR were still dominating ticket & CD sales. GNR faded themselves away because the band literally played its last show in 1993 with Slash and Slash quit in 1996, its not like they released an album with original material and it flopped and they failed to sell tickets, its simply GNR were on break after the long Use Your Illusions tour and then they broke up over internal feuds. Its an illusion that Grunge did anything to affect GNR's popularity.
Yes and no, nirvana and the grunge bands changed everything. There were bands that survived the 80s (bon jovi, aerosmith) but for the most part, music scene changed and all of a sudden a band from the 80s was not cool anymore. But its true, gnr commited suicide because they were living in a bubble, by the time the tour ended, nirvana was at the top of the world.
I wanted to hate Fortus but when I saw GNR in Soldier Field in the early stages of the reunion, I have to say that the dude was fuckin amazing. he and Slash did some extended solo trading and it was incredible.
Awesome vid. Gilby is such an excellent musician (check his solo work)- and rock solid person. Easily one of my top 2-3 Guns members (past or present).
I love Gilby but never really thought much of him as a lead guitarist so his statement came as a surprise. Even on his first solo album Pawnshop Guitars he didn't play much lead, mostly rhythm. I also recall that Axl wanted him to do a solo part during the live shows, but he chose to do a mellow rhythm performance of Wild Horses with Slash instead. I think his strengths were more about being a solid but unobtrusive foil for Slash and a good team player. He was also an underrated songwriter, overall performer and vocalist.
Saw Guns N' Roses w/Gilby on the Skin and Bones Tour 1993, 9th row, March 6, 1993 New Haven Coliseum, Ct. The renamed Skin and Bones Tour 1993 was actually the final leg of the Use Your Illusion Tour. Gilby Clarke did just fine replacing the great Izzy Stradlin. Much respect for Gilby. When Izzy turned down the reunion tour a few years ago, Gilby should have been asked to join. Again, much respect for Gilby Clarke!!
Gilby’s 100% on point here. He actually produced a band that I later joined - Acid 7... like 2004 ish. Wish i coulda worked with him. Was always down to earth. I think his wife was a famous denim designer?
What killed GNR started with the firing of Steven Adler and the hiring of Matt Sorum. His drumming completely changed the sound of the band. Second, the band became bloated with a keyboardist, back up singers, and additional musicians. The nail in the coffin was Izzy Stradlin leaving. He was a major song writer for the band and they never released any original material after he left while Izzy released album after album of classic rock n' roll.
Gnr didn't write new material not cos of Izzy's departure but due to conflicts between Axl and the rest of the band. Axl wanted to go in a different direction while the rest wanted to continue writing hard rock songs. Besides Slash's solo efforts and even Gilbys and Duff's are way better than Izzy's.
I saw him live at the Mason Jar in Phoenix in 1999. Eric Singer was drumming and sang a couple songs. I remember he played a song Tijuana Jail that I heard on the radio 10 years before and never knew who it was by until that night.
Pawn shop guitars. Great album. Maybe my favorite of the GUNS guy's solo albums, and that say's a lot. Everybody in that group could and did do their own thing on the side, except when Axl did it he decided to just keep the name Guns N Roses. Ouch! Lol. Kind of. "Chinese Democracy" would have been much better recieved and well regarded had it been called W. Axl Rose or whatever. I like it, but I'm real psyched to hear Duff and Slash and Axl put out something together.
Gilby's a little off about his dates as far as when alternative rock/grunge took over the rock scene. And G 'N' R were still pretty big in the early 90's - their untimely breakup was mainly due to personal disagreements between Axl and Slash, not because the band was losing popularity. If they would have put out a new studio album (I don't count The Spaghetti Incident because it was a hastily thrown-together covers album) in 1994, I'm sure that it would have sold very well. Also, he claims that his band Candy was played on MTV "three or four times a day" - I don't recall ever seeing one of their videos. In fact, I had never heard of them until now, and I grew up 90 min from LA.
I agree about his dates. Bands like Nine Inch Nails and Janes Addiction came out 1 year after GnR did. By `90 they had a name for this new sounding stuff. Perry Farrell starts up Lollapalooza to showcase Alternative rock bands in 1991. The Alternative sound was already putting an end to most 80's LA hair bands by then. Gilby was rescued by G'N'R, he had no future playing that junk he was playing, it was over.
@@johnbeckwith1361 Yeah, alternative bands like Jane's, the Chili Peppers, Faith No More and Soundgarden were getting popular in '89 and '90, but rock radio was still playing G 'N' R, Motley Crue, Bon Jovi, Warrant, White Lion, and other glam/pop metal bands all the time - alternative/grunge didn't totally begin to take over until '92/93.
@@francesco0185 I probably know as much about that time period since I also grew up in it and was in bands. Also, I didn't do nearly as many drugs (or any at all), so my memory is most likely better than his.
That Kill for Thrills album kicks ass! First time I heard it I was floored! Still listen to it to this day. I was kinda bummed when he joined GnR, but also excited to know Gilby was gonna be in the band now!
I really like Gilby so I don’t want to be negative against him in general, but I’ll put $100 on the fact that if someone stumbled out of a bar and laughed “hey theirs Slash!” I’m betting they were laughing because they really didn’t think it was Slash and thought it was a wanna be look-a-like. I can’t imagine any scenario in which Slash, Axl, Mick, Keith, Angus, or any of these top tier legends gets laughed at if someone really knows it’s them.
I'm not so sure. Kids based their views and opinions on the narrative MTV was giving, and the narrative was the grunge and alternative were great and 80's bands were done and a joke. So yeah, I could see that.
La was great back in the 80s the first time I seen you was on Rockstar supernova I was in state prison in Camp Hill watching that show every week was the highlight of the week
I met gilby in the cat club Hollywood in 2000 he was playing with his band, no rockstar ego jus a cool down to earth guy he was even telling me when I said I saw gnr in slane castle an how u2 had sent them a crate of whiskey he posed for pix an autographs an I still have my photo so honest an cool he was, axl rose had appeared on stage with him a month previous it was D first axl had been seen since 94 they did a rolling stones cover, axl to me blew a great band down the gutter, gilby looked an fitted with gnr so easy, it's to bad axl messed itt up but I think axl jus couldn't handle his fame it was to fast an to big in such a small time
Axl has on top of whatever other issues an extreme chemical imbalance, It's a condition that worsens with age. Apparently they prescribe at his stage rather heavy drugs that do work but often people will forgo the medication for periods of time because the side effects can be pretty nasty.
My guess is that kid who laughed at slash thought he was a look alike. Slash's brand was still very big in the early to mid 90s thanks to the work he did with Michael Jackson and Lenny. He was a very very saught after artist, still is. If it wasnt for Axl the band would be remembered much more fondly. I think the missing chapter would have been Axl coming out on stage 30 min late and everyone in the band beating the living shit out of him in front of the live audience. Then calling up fans for sing alongs...cause everyone knows all the lyrics to Appetite.. lol
I met Gilby at an Alice In Chains show at the Hollywood Palladium in 2010. Just hanging out in the crowd before the show with his girl. I couldn't figure out who he was, i just said 'dude I know you, you're in a band right?' and he's like 'no, man'. Months later I figured it out. Anyway, he was cool & I'm pretty sure i was high as fk
I gotta say, that the work of the rhythm guitarist is more valueble because rhythm guitar is 90% of the all guitar parts in every song. Even when the solo is played it's always upon the layer of rhythm guitar, bass and drums. Such a shame that people always under estimate the work and impact of the rhythm guitarist...
Every person in guns needs to be a part of guns! Alex Hill my opinion is the biggest front man and the best vocalist I’ve ever seen in my life start a gang in all you guys need to get together fhink Ashbaugh everybody. Get every person together and play together and you guys you probably already can will buy the rainbow
With all respect, Gilby just did a decent job at GNR, did not involve to much at anything like writing lyrics. The reason Axl brought him into the band because he thought and expect that Gilby can do and replace Izzy in helping and creating lyrics and music for GNR. Axl definitely unable to do everything and collaboration between Izzy and Axl in creating lyrics and music is amazing. Not to mention, probably actually Izzy was most the one did write a lot great song for GNR.
True story: One night I was walking down the street back in 1992 or 93 and saw these two girlie guys coming out of a place called Rainbow and I go "OMG look at Slash" laughing at those two idiots all the way home.
@420rgb2 2 Did you not hear what I say..."laughing at those two idiots all the way home..." And did you not hear what he say here. Both stories confirmed.
Well it is because extreme metal, death metal and black metal took over and people stopped listening to commercial rock and commercial metal. And this is coming from a guy that played 80's Sleaze Rock style music and in the early 90's switched to playing death metal. But I still love 80's rock.
He owes his entire career to the time he was in that band. One oz of fame and one hit song is a life time of income. As do the rest of them. Timing was very important in their success. They hit it big right when hard rock was starting to sour and MP# downloads, no more album sales was starting. 2 years later it would all have been different. Playing clubs and county for fairs for 5 to 10 grand night is way better than digging ditches or putting roofs on. lol
Gilby's a well-spoken individual, I must say. From my standpoint, however, Guns N' Roses were so talented that they were virtually unaffected by the Grunge invasion. In fact, Soundgarden opened for them in Paris in 1992. Nirvana was big, but their music was a notch below Guns N' Roses' material. And in some ways, GN'R adapted well to the change whereby they were part hard rock, part alternative, etc. It's just Axl Rose ran out of ideas together with bringing in a few new members who had personality conflicts with the band, namely Paul Tobias with Slash. The originals departed, things went down hill.
Many people fail to realize who and what Guns N Roses was/are. They were the last and final real "Classic Rock" band to exist. The custom Luthier hand built Gibson Les Paul clone for Slash should have proved that. That was NOT like the flashy Floyd Rose clamped guitars of the 80's. The riffs and solos were heavily Blues and Classic Rock inspired. It was a entire genre wrapped up into a ball and one last band. Those of you who think Slash sucks as a guitar player are out of your fucking minds and know nothing about playing a guitar. You could ask Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, Jimmy Page, Leslie West, Billy Gibbons, Stevie Ray Vaughan, BB King, Muddy Waters and a host of others WHAT Slash's guitar style sounds like. It sure wasn't that garbage Malmsteen, Via, Satriani, Zappa and the likes puts out. They shred fast with their fingers and don't have any soul.
Those who laugh at slash are irrelevant now. Alternative is not even at par with 80s metal. Glam as it maybe but the reality alternative is for mediocre musicians with less virtuousity. Unlike 80s metal, alternative and grunge produce negative vibe. Most alternative and grunge died commiting suicide whereas legendary 80s rockers are still kicking ass until this present time.
I think he meant creatively...he was hired to copy and paste what had already been created, not that he thought less of Izzy's talent. Pretty easy work, just be in good enough shape to play half decently.
Yea I agree, I don’t think he meant any offence. Izzy’s parts are great but they are easy to learn. Similar to like AC/DC songs, they’re easy a lot of the time but doesn’t mean they aren’t genius and hard to write.
@@bennunes967 Exactly some of the greatest riffs are simple to play but writing them is a talent for sure. Not hard rock but the guy from INXS when he came up with that catchy little riff from I NEED YOU TONIGHT said for days he kept playing it for people asking if they knew what it was from because he couldn't believe that he wrote it and figured it must have been from something else.