Here Today... Gone To Hell!

I noticed the temperature yesterday while driving in my truck and I had to get a picture

(http://www.misterspunky.com/117.jpg)

prolly not too many other places where you can get a pic like that  :peace:

but anyways, its my favorite Izzy album of all time.  Was wondering what are your favorite songs on it?

Wow picking favorites from that one is pretty tough. I love all of Izzy's stuff so much but you're right that might be his best. I say that now until I listen to ride on or like a dog and then either one of those will be lol I really love "Bleedin", "Methanol" is fucking amazing, then "Memphis". Also much respect goin to "Ain't it a Bitch" and "Old Hat".

yea like the first 4 or 5 songs on the album are all great songs  :peace:

I've only heard bleedin n here before you but i love em both :peace:

i always wondered the meaning behind that song (here before you).   i always thought it was about whoever was playing rhythm guitar in GnR.  :hihi:  at the time Gilby?  :rofl: 

Cool pic 8)

117 degrees is my favorite Izzy album aswell, all the songs are great but my favorite song of it is Methanol... one of my favorite Izzy songs in general..

Here's some cool 117 degrees info (same like info is also available of JJH album and EP):

"Ain't It a Bitch": That's one of the last songs I wrote for the album. It's a frustration song, dealing with some of the hassles involved in putting a record together. It's a very Stonsy thing. The open-G tuning - if you do that, you'll get that Stonesy sound.

"Gotta Say": We recorded that in London. It's about people who bullshit you, and seeing right through them. Someone I knew was doing that, being a real pain in the ass. That was kind of a moody time. But, you know, it passes. Eddie [Ashworth] plays mandolin on there.

"Memphis": This was written by Chuck Berry. He was a true innovator, and he's got such an incredible history. I love his stuff. It's never too heavy. You never put on a Chuck Berry record and go, "God, this is depressing." It's all fun.

"Old Hat": That's a piss-take, kind of riffing on some stupid, clich?d stuff. The cocaine line is a reference to the old rock star bullshit, and how you just get over it. While we were tracking the song, the North Hollywood bank robbery was happening. And I was thinking how even stuff like that, you see it so much on TV that it becomes old news. You just kind of bet on the car chases. You become cold.

"Bleedin'": That's about someone I knew who was still bellyachin' about this chick who'd split a long time before. It's kind of a "get over it" song. I haven't even told the guy it's about that it's about him. Maybe if I tell him, he'll finally get on with his life.

"Parasite": Angry - that says it all.

"Good Enough": This was recorded in Trinidad. I felt like everything in my life was fine, but I was getting a lot of flak, a lot of judgement calls on my life from other people. And I thought, "Wait a minute, man. This shit's GOOD ENOUGH for me! I'm happy with it. Fuck you!"

"117?": That's a full-on roead-trip ong. My dad, brothers, uncle and I all rode Harleys from Lafayette [Ind.] to New Orleans, then down to Texas. Then just my brother Joe and I rode to L.A. We were out for eight or nine days total, ridin' eight to ten hours a day, cruising along with nothing to think about. Riding all day is like therapy. By the time we got to Yuma [California], though, it was 117?.

"Here Before You": I have no idea what this song's about. I just woke up one morning with the chorus in my head. I think I'd heard that song "I Saw You First," by John Cougar Mellencamp, and it stuck with me. That line seemed to describe a real innocent, childlike mentality. But then the song turned into a car-oriented song. I was gonna call it "The Parking Lot Song." You know how people get in parking lots - "I saw that space first!"

"Up Jumped the Devil": That's a Ronnie Dawson song. He's got a great record called Ronnie Dawson: Monkey Beat that I got turned onto in Indiana. There are about ten real rockabilly tunes on there - simple, basic stuff - that really stick. On this version, the guitar's tuned down to a low D, which gives it a thick, swampy sound.

"Grunt": This is my favorite song on the record. I worked on it for quite a while. I started it in Indiana, and we tracked it in Santa Monica. I wanted something like "Frankenstein," by Edgar Winter.

"Freight Train": I have a thing about trains because I grew up by the railroad tracks. I've always loved 'em, the sound of the whistle, the way you can feel it go by the house. In fact, I still live by the railroad tracks.

"Methanol": We had a speedway motorcycle that ran on methanol. It's really high-octane stuff - highly explosive. Those bikes will go from zero to 60 in three seconds, just wicked fast. I had jugs of methanol in my garage, which is how I got the idea for the song. It started out with the fast riff, and then Rick came up with the drop-down riff we sing over. Then it turned into a song about cars.

"Surf Roach": I wrote this with my brother Joe. He lives in Lafayette and he's a real good musician. We've always jammed, but it's the little-brother syndrome, where you smack him in the head and say, "You can't play!" We hang together all the time when I'm back home. He was helping us out as a guitar tech when we were recording in Santa Monica. We were jamming on acoustics, and hi came up with this really cool, fast part that ended up in the song. It really made it work. Before that, this was a little three-chord thing I was gonna toss. I've always liked surf guitar, and over the past couple of years I've really gotten into the Ventures, all that stuff. Then I saw "Pulp Fiction" and it got me really fired up - I headed straight for the guitar.

Jimmy Ashurst (JJH bassplayer) mentioned in a 2005 Q&A that he co-wrote "Gotta Say" with Izzy but saw he wasn't credited. He said he didn't think Izzy did that on purpose but he simply forgot it. "Good Enough" and "Memphis" where recorded in Trinidad in '93 with the Ju Ju Hounds and were originally planned to be on the second Ju Ju Hounds album, which ofcourse never came. Other tracks Izzy mentioned that where gonna be on that second JJH album where "Guns And Guitars", "Never Used To Be" and "Toolin' Away".

Gotta agree with most of the sentiment here.  This is an amazing album from start to finish.  My favourite solo album...right up there with Like a Dog and Miami and River and...

i'm listening to it right now and hittin my peace pipe  :smoking:   

I like them all but Good Enough is great  8)

117 degrees, the song, is a kickass rock song. Gotta Say is my second fave.  :peace:

I got to agree with everyone - 117 degrees is my favorite Izzy record. That was the first Izzy record I bought and I was blown away!

 -= iZzBo =-

PS: IzzyDutch, thanks for posting the comments on the songs, very insightful. What interview is that from?

It's from the 117 degrees release press kit, there's also a JJH version one on chopaway.com  :)

Gotta Say and Bleedin are my two faves.....does anyone know the guitar chords to these songs?  the link on the izzy stradlin site didnt work for me.

Gotta Say: http://www.chopaway.com/articles/tabletures/117/gottasay.txt

I'm not 100% sure about it but don't think Original Badapple has tabbed Bleedin'

If you wanna learn Izzy songs I strongly suggest to just play along with the cd.. the songs ain't hard to learn at all :)

Thanks alot man!!  :beer:   Is Original Badapple a web site? 

No, he's posting in this thread, look above ;D He's the one who tabbed them, he's got Miami tabs aswell  :peace:

I still need to get Miami.  How does it compare to 117 degrees?

I don't think it's quite as good as most of his other solo work. His 2 albums prior to Miami (On Down The Road, Like A Dog) I thought were really pretty incredible. I don't think Miami quite measures up to those two. Don't get me wrong it's worth getting and has a couple stand outs just not quite as great as most of his stuff.

oh cool, i still gotta get miami and a couple other izzy albums. Would you mind tabbing Bleedin, Original Badapple? If you could post the chords i'd really appreciate it man. thanks alot. 

and remember that in the japanese version are two bonus tracks: Pressure Drop (live) and the cover Crackin?up (live)

Sorry mate, thought i'd already done it


Miami is a great album as far as i'm concerned, as good as anything he's done

where do you post your tabs? there aren't many izzy tabs on the net.

They're on Chopaway.com

The tab for Bleedin' has been done but for some reason that and Parasite won't come up, must be a fault on the site. I don't actually have all the tabs any more but heres the chords for Bleedin'

Intro

D - A
D - A
D - A - E

Verse

D - A
D - A
D - A - E

D - A
D - A
D - A - E

Chorus

D - E - A
D - E - A
D - E - A - F#m
G - E

Verse

D - A
D - A
D - A - E

Chorus

D - E - A
D - E - A
D - E - A - F#m
G - E

Solo

C - G - D - A
C - G - D
C - G - D - A - E

Chorus

D - E - A
D - E - A
D - E - A - F#m
G - E

D - E - A
D - E - A
D - E - A - F#m
G - E
G - E

Hey thanks alot man!! I really apprecitate you taking the time to do that.  :beer:   Can't wait to go play it now!  :peace:

No problem, for all the other tabs visit www.Chopaway.com  8)

You are amazing BA... : ok:

Yeh i know mate, sometimes its tough  8)