Taz
Biography Coming Soon.
IZZY STRADLIN BIOGRAPHY
Izzy was born on April 8th 1962 into a working class family.
In his early teens he fled from Indiana and went to L.A.
He had adored bands like The Rolling Stones. Upon arrival
he played drums in a band called The Atoms. It was around
this time that he picked up a guitar. Many teens hung around
the Rainbow Bar and Grill. It was here that Izzy boozed
with Tracii Gunns and Christopher Webber. Both attended
Fairfax High school on Melrose Avenue. This was the same
school as Slash. They both (Tracii Gunns and Webber) performed
in local bands. Iz was in a band called Little Women, but
soon became unhappy with direction the band was heading.
Meanwhile, Axl headed to meet Izzy who had already left
Lafayette. Izzy allowed Axl to front his band with Webber
and Gunns. The drummer was Johnny Christ, and Rhythm guitarist
was Rick Mars. The bands name was AXL. The Orphanage in
San Fernando Valley was there first ever gig. The band name
became Rose, then later Hollywood Rose. The bands bassist
was known as Andreii Trox. Axl, Izzy, and Chris Webber remained
loyal to the band as new members drifted in and out. The
three of them struggled financially. Whilst other members
hadn't been bothered, Izzy and Axl took it seriously.
Hollywood Rose' last gig was at the Music Machine. They
were opening for Striper. During the gig, Rose stormed off
and quit. Izzy and Webber carried on under the name "Hollywood
Rose". Izzy would later join 'London' after becoming fed
up with Hollywood Rose, whilst Axl had joined L.A Guns (Tracii
Guns band). Izzy drifted between groups playing with the
likes of Slash and Nikki Sixx (of Motley Crew) A reunion
gig on New Years Eve was scheduled for the Hollywood Rose.
The line-up was as follows: Axl Rose, Chris Webber, Izzy
Stradlin, Rob Gardner, Steve Darrow. The gig was at San
Pedro, and due to the success of the gig, the group carried
on playing together.
Hollywood Rose again showed signs of cracking, and began
to split. This time however Iz and Axl stuck together with
Gardner. Slash made his debut, but was too bluesy for the
group, and didn't last long. Along the way to getting the
final lineup the band name would change once again, and
this time it is the infamous "GUNS N ROSES". There was however,
no bassist so Izzy filled the position until they found
a suitable player. Here Duff "Rose" McKagan joined.
Duff setup a west coast tour, but before they set off Tracii
Guns and Rob Gardner quit the band. Izzy asked Slash and
Adler along, and they joined the group. The west coast tour
soon became known as "The Tour From Hell". There first gig
on the tour was at the Troubadour. Soon the band secured
regular Monday/Tuesday gigs at Troub. The Whiskey and Roxy
also wanted them to play.
---
Guns N' Roses was born. Until 1991 Guns N' Roses remained
successful with the Illusion albums holding strong positions
at No. # 1 and # 2. Izzy quit the group in November 1991.
No press release, no interviews, he just walked away. Izzy
later said in an interview that he got tired because of
internal problems with the band. He believed his opinions
were no longer considered valid, and one morning he woke
up and just said 'Thats the end of the line for me!'.
GNR would carry on without Izzy with Gilby Clarke filling
the rhythm guitar.
Free from the band and the touring, Izzy would set-up his
own project: Izzy Stradlin & The Ju Ju Hounds. Izzy pulled
in old friends and got recording an album. He says in an
interview that at first it was just an idea, and he hadn't
really considered making an album, and then he just said
'Wanna do a record? Let's do a record...'.
The Ju Ju Hounds consisted of Rick Richards, Jimmy Ashhurst
and Charlie 'Chalo' Quintana. Making a special appearance
on the self-titled album would be Ronnie Wood of the Rolling
Stones. The album had good media attention and a two year
tour would see Izzy travelling around Europe. At the end
of the tour the hounds went back in the studio to lay down
some new tracks. The new songs didn't surface until 1998.
Izzy Stradlin & The Ju Ju Hounds broke up late 1993.
In 1995 Izzy Stradlin played a one off gig with Slash's
Snakepit. Izzy would only play on the one song 'Bitch' which
was a cover of the Rolling Stones classic. Izzy also made
an appearance with Duff playing in Las Vegas with BB King
and Bo Diddley. Both of these performances in 1995 were
recorded and bootleg collectors should be able to get there
hands on them.
---
Years later, having spent time on his own away from the
media, Izzy came back to release the album 117°, and most
say it is his best to date. Izzy smashes through some real
rockers with the likes of Parasite and Methanol, whilst
maintaining his great song-writing ability during the likes
of Good Enough, and even showing his humorous side in Old
Hat. Tired of interviewers asking Guns N Roses-releated
questions all the time Izzy walked away and dropped all
press releases and advertising. Geffen Records would not
release another Izzy Stradlin CD, but over the next three
years Izzy still made his albums heard. Releasing a rock
album 'Ride On' in Japan away from mainstream US media his
loyal US/European fans are able to import the album. The
album was released on the label 'Universal Victor'.
To support the albums release Izzy played four concerts
in Japan, the first tour since Ju Ju Hounds world tour in
1993. The first of the four concerts was played at Shibuya
Public Hall in Tokyo. There is a rumor that Izzy's brother
has actually video-taped the first concert, if not all of
them. We can't confirm this rumor.
In 2001 a small record label in the USA (SFV Records) announce
a fourth Izzy Stradlin album is on it's way. It is released
in Japan first under the same label as 'Ride On'. The album
is entitled 'River' and Izzy puts across his approach to
reggae music on the albums latter songs. The album goes
to the UK after Japan, with Sanctuary Records releasing
the album through national stores. Finally, the majority
of US fans would have a chance to hear Izzy Stradlin once
again when SFV put the album out into the stores in the
US. The guitar-scorchin' single 'Underground' would be heard
throughout the country as fans were able to request the
song on over 50 nation-wide radio stations.
The fifth album 'On Down The Road' would see Izzy yet again
putting the album out in Japan first. The song-writing is
possibly the best yet with Izzy covering many personal topics.
The song 'Sweet Caress' puts across lots of emotion, as
does 'Got Some News', with the likes of 'Coke N' showing
Izzy's humor whilst covering the topic of drugs. This album
remains unreleased in the USA and Europe but can be imported
at www.101cd.com or www.jvcmusic.co.jp . We asked Izzy if
he intended to put the album out 'overseas' and he told
us he does have plans to have this album distributed.
---
Izzy was writing and rehearsing with former members of Guns
N Roses in late 2002. A project started by Slash, Duff and
Matt began searching for a singer. The group is named Velvet
Revolver and the band have chosen Scott Weiland as the lead
singer. The band rehearsed many singers, including the likes
of Sebastian Bach, Brad Cox, Todd Kerns, and even Courtney
Love was rumored to be in there too. As far as Izzy goes
in the project, Slash says he just turned up in L.A one
day and started playing with them. Fan opinions remain positive
of Izzy's participation, and of course the debate of 'Who
Is The Real GNR?' has now started. Izzy is now planning
to put out a sixth solo album whilst Velvet Revolver carry
on without him, VR plan to distribute a DVD and Ep.
Summer 2003, Izzy Stradlin has plans to release a sixth
solo album. Entitled 'Like A Dog' the album is creating
much more hype than past albums. sent the fans two samples
of the album before it was released. The album is now finished
and available on iTunes.
2005 Like A Dog Released
RICK RICHARDS BIOGRAPHY
Seven years before Izzy and Rick teamed up to collaborate
on 'Izzy Stradlin & The Ju Ju Hounds' Rick had already made
a name for himself in a band called 'The Georgia Satellites'
The band formed in the early eighties and originate from
Southern USA. Rick Richards and bassist Rick Price were
members of a band called 'Hellhounds' and they knew from
the start they needed Dan Bairds vocals for their band.
At the time Bairds was lead vocalist and guitarist in a
band called 'The Woodpeckers'.
After Baird agreed to join Hellhounds, Mauro Magellan was
recruited as the drummer and the line-up was complete. The
band switched from being called 'Hellhounds' to 'Georgia
Satellites' for the debut EP "Keep The Faith" in 1985.
The self-titled debut album featured such hits as 'Battleship
Chains' and the popular 'Keep Your Hands To Yourself'. 'Battleship
Chains' was later covered by Izzy Stradlin & The Ju Ju Hounds
when they toured in 1993, Richards took lead vocals on the
song. The latter of the two hits, 'Keep Your Hands To Yourself'
went to No. 2 in the charts in England (No. 1 was Bon Jovi
- Livin' On A Prayer). Despite not reaching No.1 the band
managed to open a whole new fanbase. Rick Richards enjoyed
his newly found success.
Two years after the debut album The Georgia Satellites returned
with the album 'Open All Night'. The album wasn't as commercially
successfully as 'Georgia Satellites' but the title-track
was a success, and the band covered Ringo Starr's "Don't
Pass Me By".
In 1989 Richards, Price, Magellan and Baird decided to put
out a third album. Entitled 'In The Land Of Salvation &
Sin' it was a 15-track set. The album itself is widely known
for being a fan-favourite and soon after its release the
band set-off on a short tour. Fans were surprised at how
well Richards had re-invented the guitar sound with a much
wilder look using his Gibson Les Paul Jr. Many fans took
note on how deep and emotional Bairds lyrics were and it
showed how the band had progressed through their time together.
The song "Six Years Gone" was written about an old relationship
of Richards's. "Rick was wonderful subject to write about,"
Baird says. "He'd go through all the things that I wouldn't."
Helping the Satellites on a majority of the record was Ian
'Mac' McLagan, a role model for the group, who later worked
with Richards on numerous Izzy Stradlin albums. Dan Baird
quit the group just after the album was finished to pursue
a solo career so Richards, Price and Magellan dis-banded
(but not for long).
In 1993 Rick Richards and The Georgia Satellites (minus
Baird) put together a 'Greatest Hits' album that featured
a couple of rare, unreleased tracks as-well as the soundtrack
'Hippy Hippy Shake' from the Tom Cruise film Cocktail.
Richards and Price, the original members from Hellhound,
enlisted Billy Pitts (Drums) and Joey Huffman (Keyboards)
to release an album 'Shaken Not Stirred'. Released in Denmark
under the label CMC Records, Rick Richards handled a majority
of the vocals and the band re-invented some of the Satellites
earlier hits. The album featured four new tracks but as
soon as the CD had been mastered Huffman left the band,
and once again the Satellites were no more. Richards pursued
a new beginning with former Guns N Roses rhythm guitarist
Izzy Stradlin.
Stradlin and Richards knew from the start they worked well
together and it didn't take the band long to lay down there
debut album Izzy Stradlin & The Ju Ju Hounds. Richards appears
on all 11 songs (12 songs on the Japanese print).
Izzy recalls his first meeting with Rick: "Well, Im a big
fan of the Georgia Satellites, the band Rick was in before
being with me. I loved his records. I happened to meet Rick
on a tour with Guns N' Roses in Atlanta, Georgia. He showed
up there and I recognized him because of the photos I saw
of the Georgia Satellites. I went over and said: 'Hey, are
you Rick Richards?', Thats how we met".
The Ju Ju Hounds record wasn't the first time Richards and
Stradlin had worked together, Rick had previously made an
appearance on the Guns N Roses album 'GNR Lies' released
in 1989. After the debut Hounds album, Richards embarked
on a two year tour with Izzy travelling across Europe, USA,
Australia and Japan. Richards frequently took centre stage
with a heavy cover of the Johnny Thunders song 'Pills' and
Satellites cover song 'Battleship Chains'.
Richards has worked on all of Izzy's albums in a strong
partnership that started back in 1992 and continues today.
Rick is currently touring with the reformed Georgia Satellites.
