The Slash autobiography thread

[guns_n_motley]

he was the guys bandmember though, I think he wouldve heard what had happened. that part in slash' book seemed fishy to me anyway "oh, someone else mustve given him more heroin"

not saying whose right or wrong..this guy may have his own bias against slash because his bandmember died. slash might have his bias to cover up.

either one could be telling the truth. who knows..

[Smoking Guns]

The autobiography is letting too many skeletons out of closet.  That story sounds possible considering Slash was around 20 and Duff and Izzy 22 or so.  Their judgement was fucked and now these tiny stories can mount up.  Hmmmm...

[RnT]

any chances of his biography beeing translated to Portuguese (Brazil) ?

[Wheres Izzy]

I think one thing it does prove is that slash isnt mr. honesty/nice guy like everyone thinks. and dont get me wrong, i am a HUGE slash fan. but people seem to treat his word as gospel.

nobody in this band was a saint.

Yeah I think that's a mistake people make too often. And I am not saying everyone on this board, but some and other people too. I don't believe everything I hear Slash say or Axl or anyone. As much as it's fun to see, hear, read about all of the crazy shit they used to do, and other rock stars as well, it goes to show you the type of people most of them were and they hardly come off as someone who would be 100% trustworthy. For example, how many times have you heard people say their new album is the best work they've ever done only to say it was "rushed" or that "it didn't come out as I hoped" as soon as the next one comes out? I think sometimes people have a hard time distinguishing between who people are and what they do on stage. Slash, for instance, is my favorite musician ever. When I see him live or listen to him play I think he's amazing and can almost do no wrong. However that doesn't mean he is some sort of infallible human being. He probably lies, cheats on his wife, and would it be real far fetched to find out he is still a junkie even with all of his sobriety talk lately? I'm not saying I know he is a terrible person either, that would be as absurd as thinking he's perfect, it's just that it doesn't concern me and I don't feel like everything he says, or anyone else for that matter, to be 100% accurate. As much as art is always involved to some degree they are still basically sales men. They have a product they need you to buy, and if having you buy into a lot of other bull shit happens in the process thats where you need to check yourself.

[LunsJail]

I think one thing it does prove is that slash isnt mr. honesty/nice guy like everyone thinks. and dont get me wrong, i am a HUGE slash fan. but people seem to treat his word as gospel.

nobody in this band was a saint.

Yeah I think that's a mistake people make too often. And I am not saying everyone on this board, but some and other people too. I don't believe everything I hear Slash say or Axl or anyone. As much as it's fun to see, hear, read about all of the crazy shit they used to do, and other rock stars as well, it goes to show you the type of people most of them were and they hardly come off as someone who would be 100% trustworthy. For example, how many times have you heard people say their new album is the best work they've ever done only to say it was "rushed" or that "it didn't come out as I hoped" as soon as the next one comes out? I think sometimes people have a hard time distinguishing between who people are and what they do on stage. Slash, for instance, is my favorite musician ever. When I see him live or listen to him play I think he's amazing and can almost do no wrong. However that doesn't mean he is some sort of infallible human being. He probably lies, cheats on his wife, and would it be real far fetched to find out he is still a junkie even with all of his sobriety talk lately? I'm not saying I know he is a terrible person either, that would be as absurd as thinking he's perfect, it's just that it doesn't concern me and I don't feel like everything he says, or anyone else for that matter, to be 100% accurate. As much as art is always involved to some degree they are still basically sales men. They have a product they need you to buy, and if having you buy into a lot of other bull shit happens in the process thats where you need to check yourself.

Great post, especially the part about them being salesmen.  Of course they're going to present the book as the behind the scenes truth about what happened.  What else is he gonna say.."What I remember is true and some other shit I made up to fill in the blanks"?

[ACE_is_BACK]

yah but this guys wrong as well. I don't know what story is true, but he presented a good crock of shit as well. As far as I know, Slash was NOT in gn'r when he auditioned for Poison, yet this guy says he was. He said Todd was out of his band for 6 months before he died...so what makes him know more than Slash really? Sure there could be loopholes, but this guys probabaly still pissed that a band they used to play with took over the world...and well, his band didn't. And as far as giving props but not liking them, that's the case for alot of bands with slash..He gave Motley their props because they knew what they wanted to do and they had a good show, but he didn't like their music. So really, the guy just seems to be slamming slash because slash didn't like them. So I'd take the whole interview with a grain of salt.

[FunkyMonkey]

SLASH To Guest On Tomorrow's 'The Montel Williams Show' - Nov. 28, 2007

Former GUNS N' ROSES and current VELVET REVOLVER guitarist Slash will be a guest on tomorrow's (Thursday, November 29) episode of "The Montel Williams Show" (also known as "Montel"), a syndicated a talk show hosted by Montel Williams. Slash will share his story of battling back drug addiction to start a new successful band and become a happy family man.

For more information, visit www.montelshow.com.

[GypsySoul]

In case you were unsure about why Slash wrote the book:


RollingStone >> Issue 1041 >> December 13, 2007
CHECKING IN WITH...  Slash

RS:  How did you decide what to include in Slash?

Slash:  The attention that surrounds Guns n' Roses and mine and Axl's relationship - or lack thereof - has become an overwhelming thing for me to deal with.  I decided I was going to write to shed some light on the whole thing, why I left the band and what else has been going on and not going on.  I also had some funny anecdotes to tell.

[sexkitten]

SLASH To Guest On Tomorrow's 'The Montel Williams Show' - Nov. 28, 2007

Former GUNS N' ROSES and current VELVET REVOLVER guitarist Slash will be a guest on tomorrow's (Thursday, November 29) episode of "The Montel Williams Show" (also known as "Montel"), a syndicated a talk show hosted by Montel Williams. Slash will share his story of battling back drug addiction to start a new successful band and become a happy family man.

For more information, visit www.montelshow.com.

LMAO that he's going on Montel!  Too funny...don't think I won't be tivo-ing it though

[jarmo]

In case you were unsure about why Slash wrote the book:


RollingStone >> Issue 1041 >> December 13, 2007
CHECKING IN WITH...  Slash

RS:  How did you decide what to include in Slash?

Slash:  The attention that surrounds Guns n' Roses and mine and Axl's relationship - or lack thereof - has become an overwhelming thing for me to deal with.  I decided I was going to write to shed some light on the whole thing, why I left the band and what else has been going on and not going on.  I also had some funny anecdotes to tell.

And more:

Slash, speaking from London, says his book "was a vehicle for me to put in my own words and sort of set the record straight about what happened with Guns N' Roses and dispel a lot of the rumours that have been so prominent lately ... I got so f---in' disgusted with everybody else out there writing all this bullshit and everybody believing it as fact."

http://www.smh.com.au/news/gig-reviews/velvet-revolver/2007/11/29/1196037058801.html





/jarmo

[Ines_rocks!]

How is the book selling?

[jarmo]

Slash, speaking from London, says his book "was a vehicle for me to put in my own words and sort of set the record straight about what happened with Guns N' Roses and dispel a lot of the rumours that have been so prominent lately ... I got so f---in' disgusted with everybody else out there writing all this bullshit and everybody believing it as fact."

Talking of bullshit....


- Page 339: "When he jumped down, it was great, we kept playing that suspenseful riff that starts off "Rocket Queen," and I thought the whole moment was killer. When Axl got back onstage, everything felt triumphant for a second... then he grabbed the mike, said something like, "Because of the bullshit security, we're going home," slammed the mike down, and walked offstage.

The band kept going. We'd gotten good at improvising to fill dead space - drum solos, guitar solos jams - we had a bag of tricks to keep things moving whenever Axl made a sudden exit. We kept jamming, and I went over to the side of the stage.

"Where is he? I asked Doug.

He looked at me with a pained expression. "He's not coming back."

"What do you mean he's not coming back?" I shouted, still playing the riff.

"There is no way he is coming back," Doug said. "There is nothing I can do."

We were about ninety minutes into our set, which was our minimum contractually, but the plan was to play a two-hour ser and the crowd wasn't close to satisfied. They knew there was a lot more left. I would have done anything to get Axl back onstage at that point.

"Ask him again!" I yelled. "Find out if he's really not going to." I should have known by Doug's expression that there was no use.

Once it was final, we had no choice: the band put down our gear, and it was like pulling the plug on the stereo - the song just ended on a question mark. That entire arena sat there expecting something to happen, but instead we walked offstage without a word."

- The following is what happened and it can be seen in the pro-shot bootleg footage from the show. About 1:15 into the song, Axl asks security "Hey, take that! Take that now! Get that guy and take that........ I'll take it Goddamn it!" He jumps into the crowd while the band keeps playing the riff Slash mentioned. Axl returns to the stage at around 1:57 into the song, motions for the band to stop playing and says "Well, thanks to the lame ass security, I'm going home.". Then he throws down his microphone, walks past Slash and walks offstage. Slash proceeds to say something into the microphone. His last line is "We're out of here".



If I didn't know better, I'd say that's a nice example of somebody trying to make himself appear like some kind of good guy in a bad situation.

Slash was pretty out of it at that show, so it's not like one should expect him to remember the details. But his version of the event is pretty fucking twisted.





/jarmo

[Jim Bob]

thats really in his book?  did he even bother to check the video footage?      my god.

[jarmo]

thats really in his book?  did he even bother to check the video footage?      my god.

Yes, that's straight from the book and nobody has really cared to point out how wrong it really is. I believe it's been mentioned in passing like "he got the incident wrong".



His fans obviously think these factual errors are no big deal and they're very understanding of all the errors. Fair enough.

We all have an idea of the state Slash was in for years, but I'm just curious to how people feel about this?


It's no big deal?

I can totally understand if he doesn't remember what happened. But he put it in his book.

You don't think he could've checked that what he remembers is actually closer to the truth?

It's just not him telling his side of the story here, it's him re-writing history. No matter if you think it was intentional or not, you gotta have an opinion on whether you think is cool or not.

The guy himself says that the reason he put put the book in the first place was because he was tired of all the bullshit and people believing it.

Wonder how he feels about people believing his bullshit....





/jarmo

[Jim Bob]

yea it sucks because at the time it appeared Slash supported Axl in leaving the gig early.    he walked right off that stage with him.   the video speaks for itself.   and stuff like that really makes you question, where else is he embellishing the truth like this? or exaggerating something? or just plain lying?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fkec02UjybE

[Wheres Izzy]

thats really in his book?? did he even bother to check the video footage?? ?? ?my god.

Yes, that's straight from the book and nobody has really cared to point out how wrong it really is. I believe it's been mentioned in passing like "he got the incident wrong".



His fans obviously think these factual errors are no big deal and they're very understanding of all the errors. Fair enough.

We all have an idea of the state Slash was in for years, but I'm just curious to how people feel about this?


It's no big deal?

I can totally understand if he doesn't remember what happened. But he put it in his book.

You don't think he could've checked that what he remembers is actually closer to the truth?

It's just not him telling his side of the story here, it's him re-writing history. No matter if you think it was intentional or not, you gotta have an opinion on whether you think is cool or not.

The guy himself says that the reason he put put the book in the first place was because he was tired of all the bullshit and people believing it.

Wonder how he feels about people believing his bullshit....





/jarmo

I'm a fan of Slash and I definately noticed it while reading the book. In fact if I remember right, and I havn't watched the st louis bootleg in a couple years, but I'm pretty sure Slash gave the crowd the finger while walking off stage. But I get what your saying about people you refer to as "Slash fans", it was probably overlooked by some. However this is what I was talking about in my prevous post in this thread where you can't really trust these people, you don't know them, and you should just appreciate them for their artistic output cause that's all you really know of them.

[leatherebel]

"All things considered", this was the most depressing book I've read in a while....

[Limulus]

about the St. Louis incident:

we have video proof from that show including the ending which in fact differs a lot from Slash's book version. the truth is you cant go around video proofs easily.
as a fact that ending clip (Rocket Queen/Axl jumping) even was given to MTV by "local authorities" and then was broadcasted worldwide soon after the incident, i still have that tv-short-clip on vhs (with the MTV logo). but the last seconds with Slash speaking/plec to the crowd are NOT in that aired MTV report, but they are in the unedited clip which was given to MTV (and which leaked aswell), so MTV edited out the last slash-seconds for the tv broadcast. the whole unedited show also leaked as Proshot ?n 2004 and it has the slash stuff in the end aswell.
i dont know if Slash ever has seen the show on video or got access to the GN'R video vaults (i would guess he has/should though?!), if he didnt and if he didnt see the leaked Proshot this story would be all about his memories only. but if he HAS seen that ending clip....well, if it was in 1991 it still would be about his memories only probably, but it also could be more of a story told wrong by purpose then. finally i would think that if such a remindable show leaks as Proshot to the fans worldwide that the band including Slash would know about sooner or later......ouch, Slash, ouch!

mentioning those book errors are fine but its still too much bashing for me in this topic. drugs here and there....that man wrote the SCOM solo!! asking any "non-harder" gnr fan the general public still have Slash and Axl in mind in the first place. and its hard to believe that this will change much ever, no matter what the new band supporters try to create.

[erose]

I'm guessing slash hasn't seen the tape, if he would've, his story would be allot different.

If you see the whole show though, you'll notice how insanely fucked up slash is at that show. I don't think I?ve ever seen him so sloppy and if I?m not wrong he ends up in his fuckin' boxers at some point lol. What I?m trying to say is, no wonder he can't remember everything exactly right.

This show is very special in many ways imo, axl talks allot and at one point you can hear slash say, c'mon axl like he wants axl to stop talking and just get on with the show... Maybe he's confusing the two I don't know...

Conclusion, do some fucking research before you let a book like this go and hey, why not use a hardcore fan? At least let one read through it? This is getting embarrassing if you ask me...

I?ll still buy the book though?

[jarmo]

mentioning those book errors are fine but its still too much bashing for me in this topic. drugs here and there....that man wrote the SCOM solo!!

Both are facts.

He wrote a bunch of amazing songs and he was pretty fucked up by the drugs/alcohol for years.

It's one thing if he didn't talk about it, but he does. It's almost like the drugs are a character in his book.

At least he didn't deny it.



I don't know why he got this story wrong. I can guess....

It's just weird that he says he wants to put things straight and also mentions keeping day planners so he knew what happened. Obviously that's not enough to get the story straight.




/jarmo