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GUITARIST JAKE E. LEE SAYS THAT HE WAS ASKED TO JOIN MÖTLEY CRÜE TO POSSIBLY REPLACE MICK MARS

Guitarist Jake E. Lee recently spoke with Tone-Talk , excerpts from the interview appear below, as transcribed via blabbermouth.net.

Speaking about how he was asked to join Mötley Crüe:

“I quit Ratt. I had nothing going on. I was going to Mötley’s f–king gigs… Nikki and Tommy wanted me in the band. They actually wanted me to replace Mick — which you can understand that. [I was] f–king better looking and f–king better playing. They wanted me to replace Mick. Mick’s in-law or whatever was funding the band, so that didn’t happen. And there was [talk of Mötley Crüe] maybe [having] two guitar players, which even then, I was, like, ”Mötley Crüe, two guitar players? I don’t know about that.’ So, anyway, it kind of started with that. ‘Cause there was that thing going. Whether somebody denies it or not, that’s what started the rift between me and Mick.”

On Mötley Crüe opening for Ozzy in 1984:

“I’m not saying I had a big deal to do with it, but I remember Sharon [Osbourne] saying, ‘This Mötley Crüe. What do you think about [them] opening?’ I said, ‘F–king Mötley Crüe. I think they’re gonna be the next big deal.’ So Mötley Crüe is opening for us now. At at one point, I’m out partying with… I think it was Tommy… It might have been Vince [Neil]. Who knows? Whoever Mick’s roommate was. We go back to the room, and Mick’s in his pajamas and he’s very upset with us. It was with RATT too — I remember Robbin [Crosby] was there, Stephen [Pearcy] was there. Mick, being the old man, as everybody joked about [him], he made a complaint. I’m not sure what I said. I think just called him ‘the old man’ and [told him to] shut up. And he did look over at me and said, ‘At least I’m not a slant-eyed Japanese bastard.’ And I did not like that — did not like it. I hadn’t heard it, actually, since I was in grade school — the whole ‘slant-eyed Japanese’ thing. And it pissed me off. I walked over. I was gonna beat the f–k out of him. And it was Robbin Crosby, who was six-five, he came up to me, picked me and said, ‘C’mon, Jake. None of that s–t matters.’ And he carried me out of the room.”

Talking about what he thinks his career might have been like had he joined Mötley Crüe?

“It’s an interesting [thought]. What would Mötley Crüe have been if I was the guitar player? I’m not even necessarily saying it would be better. Nothing against Mick. [He had] great tone, f–king good rhythm. [He] probably was what they needed to be big. They wouldn’t have been as big with me. Musically, they might have been better.”

Lee is currently promoting Patina, the second album from his band, Red Dragon Cartel, which was released in November.

Listen to Jake’s interview, below.

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“WHO’S LAUGHING NOW?” HOLLYWOOD VAMPIRES, FEATURING A.COOPER, J.PERRY AND J.DEPP, TO RELEASE NEW ALBUM “RISE” ON JUNE 21ST, LISTEN TO FIRST SINGLE HERE

Hollywood Vampires return with new music in the form of their explosive second album, Rise. Rock and roll royalty Joe Perry, Hollywood superstar Johnny Depp, and shock rock icon Alice Cooper join forces once again for the unmissable rock album of 2019. Rise will be released June 21st through earMUSIC. The first singe, Who’s Laughing Now, can be streamed below.

Seconds into the opening track I Want My Now, it’s clear this supergroup has created something special. The chemistry between the individuals is unmistakable when they come together on stage or in the recording studio. Forget the individual reputations of the star-studded lineup, Rise features some of the purest, most unapologetic, and most enjoyable rock ‘n’ roll of the year — made by masters of the craft and true fans of the form.

Unlike Hollywood Vampires’ 2015 debut record, Rise, consists mainly of original material written by the band. However, in the spirit of the Vampires’ original mission, there are three covers of songs originally written and recorded by some fellow rockers who died far too young: an intimate and intense version of David Bowie’s Heroes, beautifully performed by Johnny Depp; the late Jim Carroll Band’s “People Who Died“; and Johnny Thunders’s You Can’t Put Your Arms Around A Memory, sung by Joe Perry.

Raucous rock anthems like The Boogieman Surprise and first single Who’s Laughing Now capture the natural, raw, and celebratory attitude that the Hollywood Vampires displayed in their rowdy shows around the world. However, the album shows off their range as well with tracks like We Gotta Rise — a tongue-in-cheek politics song in the tradition of Cooper’s Elected — to the psychedelic gothic epic of Mr. Spider.

“Rise is not only a totally different animal than the first Vampires album, it is unique to anything I’ve ever been a part of,” says Cooper. “I approached it very differently than I usually do when working on an album. Each of us; Joe, Johnny, Tommy, and myself have written songs on this album. What is different though is that I didn’t try to change any songs to be more ‘Alice-like.’ Because each of us has different influences, the sound of this album is very cool. I think that with this album, we are establishing what the Vampires’ sound really is, whereas with the first album, we were more tipping our hats to our fallen rock ‘n’ roll brothers.”

Perry says, ‘Rise came from pure creative energy, which is just like playing live with the Vampires. The record showcases everyone doing what they do best without anyone looking over our shoulders. There was no pressure or deadlines, allowing us to write and record an album that is one of the freest and most honest sounding records I’ve been part of. I can’t wait to perform some of these tunes live for our fans.”

Rise track listing:

1. I Want My Now 
2. Good People Are Hard to Find 
3. Who’s Laughing Now 
4. How the Glass Fell 
5. The Boogieman Surprise 
6. Welcome to Bushwackers (feat. Jeff Beck + John Waters) 
7. The Wrong Bandage 
8. You Can’t Put Your Arms Around a Memory 
9. Git From Round Me 
10. Heroes 
11. A Pitiful Beauty 
12. New Threat 
13. Mr. Spider 
14. We Gotta Rise 
15. People Who Died 
16. Congratulations

Hollywood Vampires will embark on a short U.S. tour in early May. Completing the live lineup will be rock star musician friends Glen Sobel (Alice Cooper) on drums, Chris Wyse (The Cult) on bass, and Buck Johnson (Aerosmith) on keyboard and vocals.

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GUITARIST JAKE E. LEE REFUTES STORY ABOUT OZZY OSBOURNE SNORTING A LINE OF ANTS

Jake E. Lee recently spoke with Tone-Talk. The former Ozzy Osbourne guitarist questions a story recounted in Motley Crue’s, The Dirt, about the Prince Of Darkness snorting a line of ants.

Lee said,” “I was there, and I never saw ants. I was right there. He snorted a little spider. There was a not a trail of f–king ants there. [Mötley Crûe drummer] Tommy [Lee] says it, Nikki says it, Ozzy says it — they were f–ked up. I was not. I was just trying to get a f–king sun tan. That’s all I was doing. They were getting f–ked up. Ozzy snorted a little tiny stupid spider that was crawling across. There was no ants — there was no f–king ants. I don’t care what the other guys say — there was no ants.”

What about the “urine” portion of the story, Lee stated,”Oh, that was true. It started with a contest. It was Nikki and it was Ozzy. I think it started in the pool. They were in the swimming pool, and they kind of raced, and, of course, Ozzy lost. And [they had] a push-up contest, and, of course, Ozzy lost. Ozzy was getting tired of losing, and he stepped it up. I do remember at one point, Ozzy was sitting there. He got this weird look on his face. He was sitting on the concrete, and piss started flowing out underneath him. And he was obviously doing a lot of vitamins, ’cause [the urine] was, like, lime green. So Nikk Sixx, I remember, pissed on the girl he was with. She was lounging. She was not happy about it. Ozzy pissed on the ground. [Nikki] saw that and he went over and pissed on the girl that he was with in the lounge chair. And that’s when Ozzybent over and started licking his own green piss up. That’s where I said, ‘Okay, I’m outta here.’ Not only is that happening, there’s families on the other side of the pool — children and mothers and fathers looking horrified, like, ‘What the f–k is going on over there?'”

He then added, “That is my recollection. And Ozzy snorted this little spider that was crawling across. There was no ants. It’s a minor detail.”

Listen to Jake’s E. Lee’s interview, below.

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L.A GUNS GUITARIST TRACII GUNS DISCUSSES HIS MUSICAL INFLUENCES, SAYS, “THE BLUES IS THE DISCIPLINE THAT GOES INTO CREATING METAL”

L.A. Guns guitarist Tracii Guns spoke with Rock Scene on his early experiences with music. Some of the excerpts from the discussion appear below.

Tracii met [Guns N’Roses guitarist] Slash when he was 12 and the two started learning guitar together. “By the time we were 13 or 14 we could really play. It was pretty amazing,” Guns says. “The first Def Leppard and Iron Maiden records came out, and beyond Van Halen and Ozzy and Sabbath we were really into Aerosmith and Zeppelin and it was all about learning all those riffs. We had enough friends that played drums and bass and we had a little band.”

Tracii talks about when he first saw Motley Crue’s Mick Mars, who had such an impact on him “At the time there was no one like him. He was f–king nasty. He was really tight, really nasty, a cool kinda distortion.” He also talks about how he got his sound and his style by listening to Ted Nugent’s Stranglehold at age 13, as well as the other tracks on the Double Live Gonzo! album, which was blues-oriented rock ‘n’ roll. “If I didn’t get exposed to that I may have never gotten exposed to that as part of my style,” Tracii says. “If I’m gonna learn Stranglehold that means I’ve gotta learn the other three sides of that double album. That’s where I started picking up on the basic rock ‘n’ roll blues sound. The blues is the discipline that goes into creating metal.”

Watch Tracii’s interview below.

Photo credit: Mark Weiss

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RIVAL SONS POST VIDEO FOR “TOO BAD”

As previously reported, Rival Sons released their new album, Feral Roots, on January 25th, 2019 through Grammy Award-winning producer Dave Cobb’s major label imprint Low Country Sound/Atlantic.

The band has posted a video for the song, Too Bad, from the release, online. Watch it below.

To view the videos for, Back In The Woods and Do Your Worst, please click here.

Rival Sons are currently on tour. See their remaining tour dates below.

April:

17 Philadelphia, PA – Union Transfer
18 Boston, MA – Royale Night Club
19 Toronto, ON – Danforth Music Hall***
21 Brooklyn, NY – Brooklyn Steel
22 Washington, DC – 9:30 Club
23 Detroit, MI – The Fillmore Detroit
25 Minneapolis, MN – First Avenue
26 Chicago, IL – House of Blues
27 Lincoln, NE – Bourbon Theatre
29 Denver, CO – Gothic Theatre
30 Salt Lake City, UT – The Commonwealth Room 

May:

2 Seattle, WA – Neptune Theatre
3 Portland, OR – Wonder Ballroom
4 Vancouver, BC – Vogue Theatre***
6 Sacramento, CA – Ace of Spades
7 San Francisco, CA – The Fillmore
9 Los Angeles, CA – The Fonda Theatre

** Festival Lineup
*** No THE SHEEPDOGS

Feral Roots track listing:

1. Do Your Worst
2. Sugar On The Bone
3. Back In The Woods
4. Look Away
5. Feral Roots
6. Too Bad
7. Stood By Me
8. Imperial Joy
9. All Directions
10. End Of Forever
11. Shooting Stars

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GUITARIST GEORGE LYNCH SAYS HE IS “EXCITED” ABOUT PLAYING WITH DOKKEN AT THE M3 FESTIVAL IN MAY

Guitarist George Lynch (Dokken, Lynch Mob, KXM, The End Machine) recently spoke with Clint Switzer of the Music Mania podcast. The full conversation can be streamed below (interview starts at the 5:50 mark). A few excerpts follow (as transcribed by Blabbermouth.net).

Discussing the recently released self-titled debut album by The End Machine, featuring Lynch, bassist Jeff Pilson, drummer Mick Brown and vocalist Robert Mason:

“We’re excited about the record. For Jeff and I, it’s really just sort of a seamless evolution of our history together, all through Dokken and beyond. We’re close friends and we’re neighbors, and we work together as much as possible because we’re kind of made for each other. [Laughs] It’s just really a wonderful thing — when we get together, the chemistry is so quick. We just read each others’ minds and finish each others’ sentences. We love writing together, so any time we get a chance or an excuse to work on some music, we do. It all came together on this record. We’ve done a couple of other records post-Dokken together, most notably LP [Lynch/Pilson] and T&N, and they were really good records and we’re proud of them, but there’s really good records and then there’s those wall-to-wall records, where it’s just… I don’t want to sound like I’m beating my own horn, but I’m just really happy with the fact that it’s one of those records where you drop the needle anywhere, and it’s all killer, no filler… We hit all our bases, and I think we really reveal our influences on this record. You hear a lot of everything — you hear [Led] Zeppelin, you hear [Jimi] Hendrix, you hear Queen, all the stuff we grew up with. Bad Company, ZZ Top — it’s all in there.”

On performing live with The End Machine:

“Very few of my projects ever see a live stage. KXM has never played out live, unfortunately. It’s kind of frustrating to do these projects and then never [be] able to flesh them out in a live context. At least we’re getting the three shows in. That’s something, and now there is some talk about possibly going to Japan later in the year. If we end up doing that, that could open the door for even more domestic touring — more dates in the States, if not this year, maybe next year. There’s no doubt that it would be a great band. We do have our work cut out for us, because it is a complex record [with] a lot of moving parts. It’s one thing to go out and do Dokken music or Lynch Mob music that I’ve been playing for decades. It’s another thing to deal with a whole new animal.”

Talking about his upcoming performance with Dokken at the M3 Rock Festival:

“I’m excited. I did one last year with them. Very, very occasionally, I’ll get up on stage with Don [Dokken] and Mick, but this is the only show I’m doing with Dokken this year, as far as I can tell. We’re doing the new studio song that we came out with last year,[It’s] Another Day. I’m excited about that — a brand new Dokken song we’ve never played live. I think it will induce some new energy into a set full of old songs.”

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