Early History Of The Band
Guns N' Roses was founded in Los Angeles in March 1985 by Axl Rose and guitarist Tracii Guns, as an informal merger of Hollywood Rose and L.A. Guns, both of which Axl Rose had been a member, and the second of which Tracii Guns had been a member. The original Guns N' Roses lineup included other members from both bands: From Hollywood Rose, Rose's longtime friend rhythm guitarist Izzy Stradlin, and from L.A. Guns, Guns's former bandmates bassist Ole Beich (later replaced by bassist Duff McKagan) and drummer Rob Gardner. The band's unique style integrated rock, hard rock, blues, punk and other genres of music into the popular heavy metal music of the time.
When Tracii Guns and Rob Gardner could not appear at one of the first Guns N' Roses shows in Seattle, Rose recruited guitarist Slash and drummer Steven Adler for the performance. In early 1986, the pair joined full-time, with the lineup being as follows: Axl Rose (lead vocals), Slash (lead guitar), Izzy Stradlin (rhythm guitar), Duff McKagan (bass guitar) and Steven Adler (drums). On the way back to Los Angeles, they wrote the lyrics for "Welcome to the Jungle", which became one of their signature songs.
Tom Zutaut, a Geffen Records A&R executive, witnessed a Guns N' Roses show at the Troubadour, then falsely warned other scouts that "they suck" so he could have more time and leeway to sign them. Axl Rose demanded and received a $75,000 advance from Zutaut before revealing that he promised an A&R from Chrysalis that the band would sign with her if she walked naked down Sunset Boulevard. For three days, Zutaut nervously watched from his Sunset office window for a naked A&R executive before he could close the deal.Alan Niven was subsequently hired as the band's manager, and the team then set out to record the band's full-length debut album.
In December 1986, the band released a four song self-produced EP titled Live ?!*@ Like a Suicide on GN'R's own Uzi Suicide label.Designed to gauge public opinion of the band outside of Los Angeles, the record contained covers of Rose Tattoo's "Nice Boys" and Aerosmith's "Mama Kin", along with two original compositions: the punk anthem "Reckless Life" and the classic rock inspired "Move to the City" both of which were co-written by Hollywood Rose founding member Chris Weber. Despite having the look and sound of a live album, band members have admitted that the tracks were actually studio recordings with a live audience overdubbed.[4] Only 10,000 vinyl copies of the album were produced, and even though the tracks were re-issued verbatim two years later as part of the GN'R Lies EP, the original Live ?!*@ Like a Suicide has been a valuable and sought after collector's item among fans since the late 1980s.
Gal and I went to see John Mayer at Madison Square Garden on Wednesday night - and of the nearly 22,000 fans in the sold-out NYC arena, I was a minority. I was one of 10% of guys who either came to the show because they were dragged to see him by their girlfriend or wife, or like me, truly appreciate and recognize witnessing the next "Eric Clapton" in the making. Let it be known straight up, Mayer is an incredible guitarist. He also happens to craft amazing songs.
