Post by Hey Man on Jul 27, 2015 11:38:30 GMT -5
I knew Kotzen got the Ozzy gig for a second, but I didn't know about Guns. Thank God he didn't join Guns N' Roses.
From an interview with Richard Fortus of Guns N' Roses & The Dead Daisies....
LRI: Bernard Fowler was on the trip to Cuba with you wasn’t’ he?
RF: Yes he was!
LRI: Is he on the album at all?
RF: No, he is not. No, he didn’t play on those tracks or sing on them but what a great singer he is!
LRI: I agree! I have some stuff he’s done with Bootsy Collins, Stevie Salas and Richie Kotzen. Incredible stuff.
RF: Yeah. Richie Kotzen, what a monster player he is!
LRI: I have to agree. I tell everyone this but Corabi and Kotzen are my two all-time favorite artists. Some people collect everything by Elvis, The Beatles, or KISS, that is how I am with those two!
RF: Right on! Richie’s a great great player! He came and auditioned for Guns N’ Roses.
LRI: Really? I never knew that! Crazy!
RF: Yeah! Maybe I shouldn’t tell people that! (Laughs)
LRI: I can leave it out!
RF: No, it’s ok, leave it in. I don’t mind, it’s the truth! He was cool!
LRI: That is interesting because he also auditioned for Ozzy, got the gig but then lost it back in 1995.
RF: Really?
LRI: Yeah, I had read about it back in the day and when I FINALLY got to interview him last year, I asked him about it. That’s a pretty crazy story in itself.
RF: What happened?
LRI: Off the top of my head and without looking at the interview, what I remember is he auditioned, rehearsed and got the gig. Contracts were drawn up, signed etc. They told him to keep it on the down-low but that he could tell his family or whatever. So, he went back to L.A., told his wife at the time and his best friend.
The friend gets on an AOL Chat Room or whatever existed in 1995 as far as the internet goes and posts “Ex-Poison guitarist is Ozzy’s new guitar player” or something like that. Shit hit the fan on AOL then Ozzy’s camp never returned his calls and hired someone else. He also tells of a hilarious story where he’s in Ozzy’s hotel room watching “Dumb & Dumber” and Ozzy was trying to play a prank on Richie & he was oblivious to it. I’ll send you the interview.
RF: Crazy! I’ve heard Richie is a very nice guy but he does come across as very aloof!
LRI: He is. Not that I’m friends with him but the few times I’ve met him or interviewed him…..plus we have mutual friends that all say the same thing. The few times I’ve hung out with him at shows, he is a very nice guy. I flew to Nashville in 2010 for my birthday because Richie was playing there. Low-and-behold, Corabi shows up a few songs into the set.
That was pretty surreal spending my birthday watching Richie play then having drinks afterwards and bs’ing with those two. They were a fun hang! I had friends that were calling to wish me a happy birthday and I told them where I was & they all thought I was full of shit! Good times!
RF: (Laughs) That’s funny! That’s awesome though! When he came in to audition for us, it was obvious that he plays really good but he is kind of a strange guy. (Laughs) That is probably why nothing developed with that. Plus, the Poison connection doesn’t really help.
From an interview with Richard Fortus of Guns N' Roses & The Dead Daisies....
LRI: Bernard Fowler was on the trip to Cuba with you wasn’t’ he?
RF: Yes he was!
LRI: Is he on the album at all?
RF: No, he is not. No, he didn’t play on those tracks or sing on them but what a great singer he is!
LRI: I agree! I have some stuff he’s done with Bootsy Collins, Stevie Salas and Richie Kotzen. Incredible stuff.
RF: Yeah. Richie Kotzen, what a monster player he is!
LRI: I have to agree. I tell everyone this but Corabi and Kotzen are my two all-time favorite artists. Some people collect everything by Elvis, The Beatles, or KISS, that is how I am with those two!
RF: Right on! Richie’s a great great player! He came and auditioned for Guns N’ Roses.
LRI: Really? I never knew that! Crazy!
RF: Yeah! Maybe I shouldn’t tell people that! (Laughs)
LRI: I can leave it out!
RF: No, it’s ok, leave it in. I don’t mind, it’s the truth! He was cool!
LRI: That is interesting because he also auditioned for Ozzy, got the gig but then lost it back in 1995.
RF: Really?
LRI: Yeah, I had read about it back in the day and when I FINALLY got to interview him last year, I asked him about it. That’s a pretty crazy story in itself.
RF: What happened?
LRI: Off the top of my head and without looking at the interview, what I remember is he auditioned, rehearsed and got the gig. Contracts were drawn up, signed etc. They told him to keep it on the down-low but that he could tell his family or whatever. So, he went back to L.A., told his wife at the time and his best friend.
The friend gets on an AOL Chat Room or whatever existed in 1995 as far as the internet goes and posts “Ex-Poison guitarist is Ozzy’s new guitar player” or something like that. Shit hit the fan on AOL then Ozzy’s camp never returned his calls and hired someone else. He also tells of a hilarious story where he’s in Ozzy’s hotel room watching “Dumb & Dumber” and Ozzy was trying to play a prank on Richie & he was oblivious to it. I’ll send you the interview.
RF: Crazy! I’ve heard Richie is a very nice guy but he does come across as very aloof!
LRI: He is. Not that I’m friends with him but the few times I’ve met him or interviewed him…..plus we have mutual friends that all say the same thing. The few times I’ve hung out with him at shows, he is a very nice guy. I flew to Nashville in 2010 for my birthday because Richie was playing there. Low-and-behold, Corabi shows up a few songs into the set.
That was pretty surreal spending my birthday watching Richie play then having drinks afterwards and bs’ing with those two. They were a fun hang! I had friends that were calling to wish me a happy birthday and I told them where I was & they all thought I was full of shit! Good times!
RF: (Laughs) That’s funny! That’s awesome though! When he came in to audition for us, it was obvious that he plays really good but he is kind of a strange guy. (Laughs) That is probably why nothing developed with that. Plus, the Poison connection doesn’t really help.
