Izzy Stradlin

Izzy Stradlin is an American musician best known as the rhythm guitarist of the hard rock band Guns N' Roses. Contrary to popular belief, it was Izzy who - together with singer Axl Rose - was the dominant songwriting force behind Guns N' Roses' success. Although Slash was a superb lead guitarist, who defined much of the band's overall sound, it was Izzy who provided both music and lyrics to tracks such as Patience, Think About You, Mr. Brownstone, 14 Years, Double Talkin' Jive and You Could Be Mine. Indeed, there are few classic "Guns" tracks that are not at the very least co-written by Izzy. Over the course of the four albums that Stradlin performed on, he teamed with Slash to churn out riffs rivaling some of the best rock bands in history.

Biography

Early life

Izzy Stradlin was born as Jeffrey Isbell on April 8, 1962, in Lafayette, Indiana were he grew up. Of Lafayette, Izzy said, "It was cool growing up there. There's a courthouse and a college, a river and railroad tracks. It's a small town, so there wasn't much to do. We rode bikes, smoked pot, got into trouble - it was pretty 'Beavis and Butt-head,' actually."

Izzy's first musical favorites included Alice Cooper and Led Zeppelin, but the biggest influence was his grandmother, who had a band together with her friends. Izzy talked his parents into buying him a drum kit. He would stay with the drums until 1983, when he chose to switch to guitar, since it was easier to write songs on,- and songwriters had a better chance of making money. In high school Izzy started playing in a band with some friends. One of them was William Bailey, better known as W. Axl Rose. "We were long-haired guys in high school. You were either a jock or a stoner. We weren't jocks, so we ended up hanging out together. We'd play covers in the garage. There were no clubs to play at, so we never made it out of the garage. Axl was really shy about singing back then. But I always knew he was a singer."

Guns N' Roses

After his graduation Izzy decided that Indiana wasn't enough if he wanted to pursue a musical career. He packed his drum kit into his car and headed for Los Angeles. He tried his luck as drummer with a couple of bands, then switched to bass for a short while. After a few years in Los Angeles, Izzy was joined by Axl, and they ended up playing together in a band they called Rose (later called Hollywood Rose), which was the first band Izzy played guitar in. In 1984, he briefly left to join Sunset Strip staple, London (whose revolving membership included Nikki Sixx of Mötley Crüe as well as Blackie Lawless of W.A.S.P. amongst its ranks). However, he returned to playing with Rose in time for the band to finish the year by playing a show at the 'Dancing Waters' club in Los Angeles.

Rose became Hollywood Rose, and then broke up before re-uniting and morphing into Guns N' Roses. The early history of the band is confusing, but in June of 1985 the classic lineup of Guns N' Roses embarked on their first tour. The infamous "Hell Tour" that took them up along the US west coast to Seattle, hometown of bass guitar player Duff McKagan.

When the "Appetite for Destruction" tour ended, Izzy, along with bandmates Slash, Duff and Steven, went into a period of heavy drinking and drug use. Unlike the other three, Izzy managed to overcome the temptation of continuous intoxication and cleaned up. He has said that touring with Aerosmith in 1988 was a big source of inspiration: "It was like, thank God we got to meet some people that weren't fucked up! I'd go out to watch and they'd sound fucking amazing! I thought, we're gonna have to really pull this shit together to keep up, cause they were right, you know? And with us, even then, it was like the music was already taking a back seat to all the other shit..." What finally made him take the decision to give up drugs was an infamous incident on board an airplane in which he was arrested for urinating in the galley of the plane. After that incident, Izzy was subjected to random urine tests for drugs.

Izzy was often seen as the silent one in the "most dangerous band in the world", and this became a lot more noticeable during the 1991 "Get In The Ring Motherfucker" tour. Izzy didn't travel with the band anymore. He, his Swedish wife, Aneka, and his dog (seen in the Sweet Child O' Mine video) had a private bus that took them from show to show. He commented further that this had to do with his efforts in remaining being sober while being around people still using.

Izzy left the band in November, 1991.

After Guns N' Roses and beyond

After Guns N' Roses he went back to Indiana and started recording the songs that ended up on his first solo album with his band the Ju Ju Hounds, Izzy Stradlin and the Ju Ju Hounds. The music was more laid back and simpler than the Illusions albums (Use Your Illusion I and II), which many people considered to be overproduced. They received fair reviews and went out on a world tour.

In 1993 Izzy's replacement in GN'R, Gilby Clarke, hurt his wrist in a motorcycle accident and the band's upcoming European tour was in jeopardy. A quick solution was needed, and Izzy was able to fill the gap. However, after his tour obligations were met, he promptly returned to Indiana to take time away from the music industry.

During these years off, he travelled a lot and dedicated much time to two strong interests: motors and racing. He even built a track close to his house. In 1998 Izzy returned to the music scene with his second solo album, 117°. As before, he had little interest in promoting the album — he agreed only to do a few interviews — and played few live performances. It turned out that it would be Izzy's last release on the Geffen label. In the big merge of the label into Dreamworks, Stradlin and many others were dropped (along with Duff McKagan). In 1999 his third solo album Ride On, a Japan-only album, was released on the Universal Victor label. This time Stradlin actually did a small tour in Japan as promotion. A fourth album called River came out in 2001.

Several of his former bandmates asked him to join Velvet Revolver when it was in its formative stage but he declined due to his unwillingness to work with a lead singer, and his aversion to the life on the road.

In 2003 Stradlin recorded his sixth album, Like A Dog. Several promo copies were made, but it was not published. Two years later, a petition was formed by izzy fan Will Villiers to have the promo copies sold to Izzy's fans. The petition was very successful with over a thousand signatures. The maker of the petition, who also hosts a large Izzy fansite, was contacted by Stradlin. He had decided to release Like A Dog, selling them for $20 to his fans.

In 2004, Izzy Stradlin and Duff McKagan, his former Guns N' Roses bandmate, appeared on the Mark Lanegan album Bubblegum.

Izzy announced in early 2006 that he was considering releasing some tracks excluded from his albums among other things hidden away in his basement. He also stated a new album is near completion, and should be hitting shelves sometime soon.

As with fellow former member of Guns N' Roses, Matt Sorum, it appears that Stradlin and Axl Rose have repaired their fractured friendship, as it was reported that Rose attended a birthday party held for Stradlin in New York. A brief report on this can be found at ^*

On May 17, 2006, Izzy appeared on stage with Guns N' Roses to perform the songs Nightrain, Think About You and Patience. Izzy also performed five songs with GN'R at the UK's Download Festival on June 11 2006 and in Nijmegen in the Netherlands on July 2nd 2006. The songs were Patience, "Nightrain", "Used To Love Her", "Think About You" and "Paradise City". He also appeared on stage in Oslo Spektrum, Norway during the concert on July 8th 2006.

Web Sites

Izzy Stradlin Online Home - http://www.juju.34sp.com/izzy/
Izzy Fan Message Board - http://www.beenafix.com/forum/

Albums

Izzy Stradlin & the Ju Ju Hounds (1992) US #102
117° (1998)
Ride On (1999)
River (2001)
On Down The Road (2002)
Like A Dog (Recorded 2003, Released via Internet 2005 - available to order on paypal at http://www.scootersteez.com/ or http://www.juju.34sp.com/izzy/index2.html or send an International money order or American express cheque to: