Tommy Stinson - Musical Director?

[Scabbie]

I was looking on the Sanctuary Records website and noticed under Tommy Stinson's area the following info about Tommy

Tommy Stinson is a founding member and bass player for the seminal rock group The Replacements and bass player and musical director of the new Guns N? Roses. This is Tommy's first solo record under his own name; post-Replacements he has put out records under band names Bash & Pop and Perfect.

Does anyone know how much influence Tommy has in the new GN'R? This sounds like more than I previously thought!

I also don't understand why Universal and Sanctuary have removed GNR from their list of artists - after all the band exists and they are in the process of producing an album so why not even a few lines on the band?

[jarmo]

My guess is that Tommy is the one in "charge"during rehearsals etc.




/jarmo

[DemocracyRose]

My guess is that Tommy is the one in "charge"during rehearsals etc.




/jarmo

Yaa... Axl said, at the RIR3 concert that Tommy lead them thru the rehearsels...

[Ali]

My guess is that Tommy is the one in "charge"during rehearsals etc.




/jarmo

Indeed, Jarmo.  Isn't that why Axl referred to him as "General" Tommy Stinson during RIR III?

Ali

[erose]

Tommy is so fucking cool, i'm about to faint

seriousely, that record he put out prooves he's a fucking genious! no wonder Axl have some faith in him, and i guess he(Axl) had that years before vgh was even close to beeing anything... which again prooves how brilliant Axl is...

Btw, i never read how axl and tommy got together in the first place or wait, was that maybe through mr. freese? in that case i guess it's a lucky coinsedent...

[Pandora]

Btw, i never read how axl and tommy got together in the first place or wait, was that maybe through mr. freese?

Yes it was. Josh told Tommy they were looking for a bassist, he auditioned and that's how it happened.

[alternativemonkey]

This thread reminds me of December 29, 2001 at the Joint. GNR is mid-way through "Oh My God", when Axl throws down is microphone and stomps off stage, furious that his microphone keeps fading in and out. Tommy doesn't miss a beat. He steps up and sings the rest of the song, and the band doesn't let up for a second. Afterward,  he says something to the effect of "we'll be back in 10 minutes", as a true musical director would! 

[AxlFink]

with tommy and robin fink in the band I really feel like Slash and Duff in my mind will not be missed at all.  When I saw gnr at the HOB nYE show i was just looking at Axl and Bucket (for the most part) but now it will be a lot different.  I cant wait to see Tommmy up there with Axl.  At the MSG show it really seems like Tommy and Axl have a lot of on stage chemistry.  It also seems like Tommy really likes playing the old songs. 

[norway]

This thread reminds me of December 29, 2001 at the Joint. GNR is mid-way through "Oh My God", when Axl throws down is microphone and stomps off stage, furious that his microphone keeps fading in and out. Tommy doesn't miss a beat. He steps up and sings the rest of the song, and the band doesn't let up for a second. Afterward,? he says something to the effect of "we'll be back in 10 minutes", as a true musical director would!?

wow, you were there, that's cool, didn't robin throw his guitar somewhere too?

[GypsySoul]

Btw, i never read how axl and tommy got together in the first place or wait, was that maybe through mr. freese?

Yes it was. Josh told Tommy they were looking for a bassist, he auditioned and that's how it happened.

Tommy told the Josh Freese story during a radio interview on July 23, 2004.
I transcribed that interview in this thread (Reply #31):
http://www.heretodaygonetohell.com/board/index.php?topic=13997.20

Here's the Josh Freese part:

DJ:? I have to, dude? What was it like being in Guns N? Roses?
TOMMY:? IT?S AWESOME!? ?awe, you gonna play it. No! It?s? (Note: SCOM playing)
It?s totally awesome.
DJ:? Dude, I had to ask you about it.
TOMMY:? Are you playin' it right now?
DJ:? Yeah? there it is? a little bit in the background for you.? No, it?s not in your head.
TOMMY:? Is it playin' live on the radio right now?
DJ:? Yeah? we?re playin' a little bit for you... there you go?
TOMMY:? Are you talking about it now?
DJ:? We?re talking about it right now.
TOMMY:? Right now?? Okay.? Cool.
No? it?s an awesome gig, man.? I have a lot of fun playin' in it.
DJ:? Can I ask you how you got the call for that? ?you can kill the music under now?
Did you like that?? That was my idea.
TOMMY:? Duuude
I got the call from Josh Freese.? Him and I did a session together umm? for this girl Joan Jones who?s a friend of mine? now... and uh you know he was just kinda uh goin' ?dude, we need a bass player.? Wanna come like check it out??? And I was like? 'yeah, what the hell,' you know.? I learned a few songs... went out an kinda did it and just kinda had fun with it and they were like ?cool? wanna do it?? and I was like? 'yeah'? and cause I was always wonder? you know like.. was Axl? like? jamming The Replacements and like one day like ?dude, you know I gotta look that guy up man? you know.? We had a couple of laughs about that.? I think he?s seen a couple of shows.? He?s talk about seeing a couple of shows.? But he?s never end the story with ?Yeah and I thought it was great!? (laughs) ?Dude, I saw a couple.. yeah, I saw the show here man and?? then we kinda talk about something else you know. (laughs)
No.. No.. It?s a you know cool gig, man.

[erose]

cool, thanks! 

i guess it was kind of a lucky hit then, not like Axl had tommy in his view for a long time, but thats cool, tommy rocks big time!

[leesixxrose]

My guess is that Tommy is the one in "charge"during rehearsals etc.




/jarmo

Coz there is no way the singer or founding member is going to stop playing GTA on his PS2 and get dressed and show up for a rehearsal or recording session...

[jarmo]

Coz there is no way the singer or founding member is going to stop playing GTA on his PS2 and get dressed and show up for a rehearsal or recording session...

Just a reminder: Your act is getting old. If you're here to whine, do all of us a favor and go find some other board where people think you're a funny guy.




/jarmo

[ppbebe]

Just a reminder: Your act is getting old.

Getting old? No shit! His act has been ever-old from his very first post.

On topic,
Now?Doesn?t Tommy being a musical director or a bandmaster for the rehearsals urges those who jumped on Brain without reflection to reconsider that Brains comment?

He?s talk about seeing a couple of shows.  But he?s never end the story with ?Yeah and I thought it was great!? (laughs) ?Dude, I saw a couple.. yeah, I saw the show here man and?? then we kinda talk about something else you know. (laughs)

Axl and I have talked about it, and he was no more of a Replacements fan than I was a Guns N? Roses fan.-Tommy

I think that Axl got his band mates from different backgrounds is telling.
Like in cultural exchange, the Encounter with the unknown is the mother of novel ideas. As All roads lead to Rome which is never built in a day. And the Pax Romana lasted bloody two centuries.

[Scabbie]

Like in cultural exchange, the Encounter with the unknown is the mother of novel ideas. As All roads lead to Rome which is never built in a day. And the Pax Romana lasted bloody two centuries.

You made a good point. I think the mix of band members and their backgrounds is one of the reasons I'm most excited about CD. One of my favorite bands used to be Faith No More, who were a very creative group, all with diffrent influences and backgrounds.

The way I see it, Tommy probably has the most experience in the band, thus has become the 'musical director' aka General. He has a proven track record, and I trust his judgement.

One of the fundamentals for a really great group is a strong rythm section. The fact that Richard has worked with Tommy outside of GNR I think is good as it seems they have a working relationship, although I would like to see more evidence of Brain and Tommy having worked together on the record -they don't really seem to talk about each other much in their interviews either.

As far as Dizzy is concerned, I think its great he's out there playing consistently. I always thought of Dizzy as just a keyboard player, so I'm glad to see that he's quite capable of playing guitar, singing and leading a group. I assume, with 2 keyboard players and a piano player (Axl) keyboards will feature quite heavily on CD, therefore I would hope that his influence can be heard.

My only hope is they refill the lead guitarist role with another shredder. I think it would be a little dissapointment if CD featured some really great guitaring which couldn't be replicated live, or on any follow up albums. Whilst I haven't heard much of BH's solo stuff, I always thought he would bring something special to the group - give GNR that extra dimension that seems to lack in some of the other groups around today.


 

[the dirt]

Tommy is the musical director of GNR now just as Duff was GNR's conductor when he was around

And i beleive he was called "the general" long before his involvement with GNR.

[Eva GnRAxlRosette]

cool thread Scabbie...
and thanks for posting the transcript of that interview GypsySoul
 

you make a GREAT POINT ppbebe and scabbie...
that truly is something that (sound unheard) I am very excited about the new band...
the diversity in their musical backgrounds is vast and thier combined experiences is deep...
i can't wait to know more about them all - get to know them more through GN'R that is

Tommy in particular - after hearing VGH... I am really looking forward to hearing (and seeing) his contribution to the band

and yes scabbie...? he's got a lot of years (a whole lifetime virtually) under his belt - thats awesome - he's not old by any means but he is no 'kid'... and its awesome that they hooked up

when we heard bh quit what comforted me was "thank GOD its not Tommy (leaving)!
that would really crush me

Tommy and Robin are fuckin' awesome...
and I really love Richard's stage presence and performance - he's awesome

I can't wait to see these guys on stage with GN'R again!
It's gonna be.... well...
awesome

Rock on 'General' Tommy Stinson!

*adds some Tommy love for good measure*