Slash Wanted to get Jack White on His Solo Album

The star tells all to MusicRadar

With the speculation about special guests continuing in earnest, Slash revealed to MusicRadar that the one artist he couldn't pin down to play on his forthcoming solo album was The White Stripes/Raconteurs/Dead Weather star Jack White.

Slash's eponymous solo album will be released early in 2010 on Roadrunner, with Classic Rock magazine set to bundle the CD with a special collectible issue a full four weeks before it is available online or in record stores.

"Pretty much everyone else that I went after I managed to get."

MusicRadar spoke to Slash yesterday following the Classic Rock Awards and heard the album, but for now their lips are sealed.

They can tell us that the supporting cast of guest musicians is very impressive indeed, and includes rock legends, pop starlets and some genuine surprises. But not Jack White.

Slash told them, "I wanted to get Jack White to sing on something, but he didn't want to sing. He said 'I'll play drums, I'll play guitar, but I don't wanna sing.' He was one guy that I wanted to work with. Pretty much everyone else that I went after I managed to get."

Keep an eye on MusicRadar in the very near future for a track-by-track guide to the Slash solo album from the man himself, plus his thoughts on what makes a killer guitar riff and his favourite riffs of all time as part of their forthcoming guitar-tastic Riff Week.

MusicRadar

“Scott Weiland is like George Bush to me – I like him now that he’s gone…”

Classic Rock
Slash was unhappy throughout his entire career in Velvet Revolver – and working on his forthcoming solo album has given him a new creative lease of life. The former GN’R/VR guitarist has been talking to Classic Rock about the dissolution of VR and how the band’s split with Scott Weiland pushed him work by himself on a solo album.

“Now at this point I can talk about it,” says Slash. “I always support whatever group I’m playing with – I’ll never say anything bad about them while I’m in it. But fuckin Velvet Revolver – that was the toughest five years, dealing with that band, just because of the obvious [Weiland] and really, really bad management. Joke management for the entire time.

“For some reason in that entire five years I could never be happy. I could never get comfortable and happy with it because it was such a fucking mess. That last tour in the UK was the first time I ever had any fun in that band – because I knew that Scott was leaving and it was a huge relief.

“But, all things considered, Scott to me is now like George Bush – y’know, I like him now that he’s not here. I have nothing bad to say about Scott, but he doesn’t work well with others in a group situation. So towards the end I had written a bunch of music and there were a lot of restrictions because of him writing in Velvet and a lot of stuff that I wanted to do was just sort of squelched. Y’know Slither happened and Fall To Pieces and a couple of other songs I wrote, but it didn’t have the direction that the group – especially before Scott came into it – really set off in. Especially on that last record – which I still think is a good record, but was a lot mellower than [I would have liked].

“Anyway, so I was writing a lot of material and on that last UK tour I started taping a lot of stuff and when I got home I was like, ‘I need to get away from this group situation – I just need to be in control of something and do things my own way’. So it was a relief. And we’ll see – it’s not really about trying to make the biggest record in the world, but I will support it. I’ll go out there and do what I have to do to make sure that people go out there and listen to it cos I think it’s a cool record.”

How will that affect Velvet Revolver?

“Well Duff’s on tour, I’m doing my record, so it’s sort of at a standstill. I haven’t heard any amazing submissions from singers as of late, so I might… Y’know, Velvet when it finds the right guy will be amazing, but I’m in no rush. I’m not freaking out – because that’s how we got Scott in the first place. He was the first decent guy that came up.”

After the Norway gig everyone is going to think Franky Perez is the guy.

“I thought about that. Yeah, Franky’s fucking bad ass. You know, he did some time with Velvet but I think because I was so preoccupied with my record nothing really came of it. Anyway, we’ll see what happens. When my record comes out there’s going to be a lot of different things that I can do so what happens as far as Velvet is concerned – we’re going to be on a hiatus until we lock together and say, ‘Hey, these are our options, let’s see what we’re going to do’. I don’t know if Franky is going to be the guy or what – he’s just a really, really good singer. Even Ozzy came up and said, ‘Who the fuck is that guy? He’s fucking great!’ He actually said: ‘What the fuck am I doing up here? He’s the one that should be singing…’”

In Norway, Franky Perez confirmed that he had worked with VR in the last six months: “I’ve probably known Slash a little under a year. We have this mutual friend and we’ve run into each other a few times but we met – actually met, met – about six months ago. And then I was working with Velvet Revolver for a little bit and then Slash started doing his solo record…”

So you worked with VR after Weiland left?

“Yes. So I got to hang out with all the guys and started working with them and then about the same time Slash had to work on his solo project and Duff was doing Loaded so that dissipated, but the great thing is that I got to have a great relationship with Slash.”

Did he realise that the internet was going to be filled with ‘Franky-is-the-new-Velvet-Revolver-frontman’ stories?

The singer just smiles and shrugs: “Well, you know, if the opportunity comes around, I’m ready.”

For a full interview with Slash & Friends, see Classic Rock 136, on sale 19 August.

Slash And Friends Rock Norway

By Scott Rowley for Classic Rock.

Backed by an all-star band including Jason Bonham, Chris Cheney (formerly of Jane’s Addiction), guitarist extraordinaire John 5 (Marilyn Manson, Rob Zombie), and star-in-the-waiting Frankie Perez on vocals, Slash & Friends played a 19-song set of rock classics that, in a strong summer of classic rock events, stands as one of the highlights of the summer.



It started with Slash, Bonham, 5, Cheney and Perez ripping the arse out of "Immigrant Song." Perez, a Las Vegas rocker who’s done his own solo album and worked with System Of A Down side-project Scars On Broadway, is the perfect fit – amiable but bad-assed and blessed with a voice that can handle a Led Zeppelin classic as easily as AC/DC’s "Highway To Hell" or Nazareth’s "Hair Of The Dog." His take on "Slither and "Fall To Pieces," meanwhile, surely marks him out as the frontrunner for the vacant Velvet Revolver spot. (Backstage Perez and Slash revealed to Classic Rock that Frankie had been working with VR post-Weiland, before Slash’s solo album and Duff’s Loaded commitments put it all on hold.)



For "Nightrain," McQueen’s Leah Duors takes over on vocals. Slash has long championed the all-girl band and Duors shows why, with a vicious Axl-with-PMT vocal, and a stage presence that belies her current little-league status.



After Leah, it’s time for the big guns. Rumours were that Ronnie Wood had fallen off the wagon again. It’s possible, but you can’t tell. The tracks Woodsy joins them for – "Honky Tonk Women," "Stay With Me," "Knocking On Heaven’s Door" (cheekily – or sincerely? – dedicated by Slash to Michael Jackson) and "It’s Only Rock’n’Roll" – were custom-built for sloppy, boozed-up playing. Teddy Andreadis plays piano and sings in a great Dr John meets Joe Cocker voice. It’s a riot.








Black Eyed Pea Fergie is next up. Cynical? Don’t be. She looks like a rock goddess, and she sounds like a rock god, taking "Black Dog" by the scrotum and hitting high notes that Mr. Plant just can’t anymore. By the end of it the audience is a huge braying horny mass of Viking puppy dogs, with its tongues out and eyes on stalks.



Fergie: “How do you feel?”
Crowd: “RAAAAAARGH!”
Fergie: “I said how do you feel?”
Crowd: “ROOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!”


The last time I saw Ozzy Osbourne perform was with Black Sabbath at Download 2005. Sabbath were sluggish, dreary and at the end of their tether. Tonight, by contrast, Ozzy is a ball of energy. “Lemme see your hands!” he shouts, and the whole field sways. The guy next to me starts walking around, randomly humping the legs of strangers. “Let’s go fucking crazy!” You’ve heard it a million times, but seeing it work like it does today is a sight to behold. John 5 brings Randy Rhoads back to life as they plough through "Crazy Train," "War Pigs," "I Don’t Know" and "Paranoid." The sound is so big I swear it created a new fjord behind us.







Then he’s off and Frankie and Fergie are back on for "Whole Lotta Love" and "Paradise City." The show ends, Fergie writhing on the floor, Frankie leading the charge, Slash soloing into the night. “This is one of the best gigs I’ve had in a very long time,” says the man himself.





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