Here Today... Gone To Hell!

Jarmo is also quoted in the beginning of the podcast (not about Dave, but regarding Duff's appearance in London).

DAVE NAVARRO: Why I Didn't Join GUNS N' ROSES - Oct. 19, 2010

Episode 325 of the "Talking Metal" podcast (web site) features an interview with JANE'S ADDICTION/ex-RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS guitarist Dave Navarro.

Regarding the rumor that he almost joined GUNS N' ROSES, Navarro stated, "When Izzy [Stradlin] left the band, Axl [Rose] 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. At the time we were just kinda coming from different places. They got Gilby [Clarke] which was a perfect choice for them and I went on to the Chili PEPPERS and everyone came out ahead and it was cool. We have always had a great respect for one another, everybody in GUNS and everybody in JANE'S."

The podcast can be streamed using the audio player below (Note: The Navarro interview begins 17 minutes into the episode, the GNR mention at 27:25.)

http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=147968

I dunno, but I think it wouldn't work so well back then.

interesting, remember he got back again for a while, to play solo on Oh My God

I was always under the impression that he was asked to join when he did Oh My God, too. Maybe not, though.

He said he spent just a couple of hours in the studio recording the solo. He even said Axl didnt give him a direction, but rather freedom to jam (although he had asked to play with more feeling, as I recall).

So, I guess Navarro was only considered as a member back in the early 90's. He just played a solo in 99 because Robin had gone, the plan was to bring some guys to record lead in some tracks, but not all of them - hence why Brian May only recorded for a couple of songs.

Dave Navarro is asked "so you said no to Guns N' Roses" in this video interview.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_6YRhJ-k098

I have to laugh at these "journalists" that think this is breaking news.  Back in the day when MTV actually reported on music and had hourly updates, this was a hot topic for weeks in '91.

I'm not a fan of Janes Addiction so I can't give my opinion on his guitar abilities. But he always talks highly of GN'R when interviewed it seems, so I guess he's a cool guy.

I wasn't aware either of Navarro being asked to join in 91. I always thought Gilby was the first choice, since he resembled Izzy and played in the same style as Izzy.

Axl had wanted Navarro after Izzy left. Slash jammed with him and realized that he was on drugs, reported that back to Axl, and they moved on to Gilby. At least according to the Slash book.

EDIT: I think Slash had scheduled some jam sessions which Navarro failed to show up for. Not sure they ever played together.

I don't like Dave a lot...Guilby was a perfect decision

HP: Wasn?t Dave rumored to be joining Guns N? Roses after Izzy left?

AXL: Yeah, there was a lot of talk about that, 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. But the idea of working with him
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 GN?R 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. It?s like the first time I met Slash, I said, ?The world?s gotta see this guy.? That?s why when
he plays with other people or does solo things it totally gets me off and makes me happy. It secures his place in rock history as a guitarist.
I feel the same way about Dave. Obviously, I have a much closer bond with Slash, being involved with him for so many years, but I think
the world kind of missed Dave. I?d really like to help fix that.

Hit Parader, April 2005

I prefer to focus on the now versus caring about why some guitar player didn't join the band 20 years ago.

Thanks for posting this -- it's interesting to see what Axl had to say about Dave Navarro.  I had never read that before.

That interview is from 92 or 93. Hit Parader must have reprinted it in 2005.


Great! Move on to another topic then.

Jesus Christ man, what's up with you.  ::)

This discussion is just as much to do with the new era, Dave played on Oh My God. If jarmo wants to move this when he sees fit, that's up to him.

No harm in discussing this here I feel, and thanks for posting that interview Den, very interesting.

not quite. Dave never showed up for the jam sessions, that's how Slash realized he was on drugs. i think they tried to schedule a jam 2 or 3 times without him showing up.

I realize that the decision to move a thread is up to the forum administration. I was just saying that I prefer to focus on the current band and their endeavors versus concerning myself with why some guy made the decision not to join the band 20 years prior. That's all.

I just read the rest of the interview, and you're right, it's from 92.


It's an interesting piece of Guns N' Roses history, that's all.  I can take a look at this and focus on the current band's endeavors as well.

personnaly my brain allows me to do both.

and yes of course it's a 90s interview. you can read the whole thing here > http://is.gd/gQKQU

I think Dave is a lot more like Finck then anyone else in Guns. Having said that, the band is a much different one then the freak show years (The height of creativity clearly for the new GN'R (until they stop doing shows and get down to business again)). Dave would have fit like a glove. I would have liked to have seen him step in when Finck left instead of DJ. As a JA fan it would have softened the blow better for me. Bucket and Finck suddenly not being there was a real fucked up one two punch that left me bloodied and bruised. I am still not completely feeling DJ. A new album anywhere near the same Universe as Chinese Democracy would change this absolutely.

Yes same for me, the Finckster's irreplaceable.  :'(

And I too think that Dave Navarro would have suited GN'R better than DJ, simply because his style is more closer to the Nu GN'R - Finck - Industrial feel than Ashba.

You see GN'R to me is Bucket, Finck, Chinese Democracy, Oh My God and all of that kind of vibe. So with DJ coming into the band who has an old school Rock N' Roll feel. I feel like that's the only reason why I'm not completely sold on him either, because I fell in love with GN'R through the Bucket/Finck/Industrial years.

And I also want to point out that it's not a flaw on DJ, because that's who he is. He is from the same school as the Crue, but I feel more at home with Bucket, Finck, Brain and even Tobias...

Feel the same way actually, I like DJ's work in Sixx:AM but in GN'R.. I kinda feel like he is Slash 2.0 or something.

Let me be the first to say Thank GOD he didn't.

one of the most overrated celebrities/guitarists of the 20th century by far.

I agree. DJ Ashba and Bumblefoot  fits much better in GNR than Buckethead, Robin Finck or Dave Navarro would have. GNR isn't an industrial or alternative band. That's not them. It NEVER was them. I want to see some experimentation like ITW and Better (which would have risen to a #1 single had  the record company not screwed u) , but  mostly I want a hard rock bluesy band.  If I want industrial music, I'll go listen to NIN who specialize in that. It's good to expand but just remember where your bread and butter is. GNR is a hard rock band.  Btw, Axl's voice fits better with DJ than with Robin. Like I said before, Axl's voice is back to that  early 90s sound.

who needs to go back to the nineties ?

how can some people say Finck & Buckethead didn't fit in Guns, since they played an essential role on Chinese Democracy ?

that's just plain stupid.

Guns is not a simple hardrock band. it's a rock n'roll band who evolve and has a rich pannel of sounds.

And people forget, Axl handpicked these players himself.

All these players who people love to hate, like even Dave Navarro. Was all in Axls' vision, as to what Guns N' Roses should represent in the new decade of 2000.

The special thing about GN'R is that they are not a typical Rock N' Roll band like Crue or Poison. Chinese Democracy which is not just an album, it was GN'R's identity for a decade. And in my view that whole period in Guns has put them above the likes of other typical rock bands. And thinking about it what the old members still represent to this present day.

But Axl showed a vision, and started a myth and a legend that have prepelled GN'R into legend status. So it is extremely disrespectful to disregard members from GN'Rs' Industrial/Chinese years.

If you want a completely new sounding band, Finck and Bucket are the way to go

If u want a new sound but enough original sounding GNR to appease both new and old fanbase, DJ and BUmble are perfect.

From Dave Navarro in this video where he addresses some rumors:

Rumor: He turned down Guns N' Roses

Dave Navarro: "At the time, it was about 1991, I was deep in a heroin addiction ... bad drug addict ... and so it wasn't so much that I turned down the opportunity, as much as I wasn't really available to take it.  Luckily things worked out for me, and for those guys."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=THJtSRQM9SI

i don't believe you have heard what he's capable of. anyone who has, can't possibly say something like this..

Sorry Hutz/Kiedis,hillell  :hihi:

I've never dug his style and he happened to make the only Unlistenable Chili Pepper album.

so yeah.

Yes, Slash touches on this in his book.  Slash said Axl really wanted Navarro to jam with him, and they scheduled some sessions.  Navarro drove Slash nuts by no-showing every time, so GNR finally moved on.

Didn't flea record all the guitar parts on that album?

No  :no:

I remember reading in an issue of guitar or guitar one that Flea had to play most of the guitar parts for the album,

he didn't, Dave recorded all guitar parts for that album.

AXL: Yeah, there was a lot of talk about that, 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. But the idea of working with him
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.

Talk about  a classy N' politically correct answer...Better than saying he was too strung out 2 play (as Dave said)...