(originally published 11/15/11)
Guns N’ Roses is coming to Hartford on Nov. 19, and that means (if they do their jobs adequately) unhealthy doses of arena-rock, rumors about Axl Rose and smashed televisions, lighters, traffic, Chinese Democracy tracks, cheap beer, pills, joints, dudes and ladies in rock tees (and little else), and for some, according to keyboard player Dizzy Reed, phone calls to the office the next morning telling boss you’re not feeling too well today. The Advocate spoke with Mr. Reed, a member of GNR since the Use Your Illusion days, about L.A., “November Rain” and late-great Christian rocker Larry Norman.
[This interview has been edited and condensed. Here’s a Spotify playlist to help you along.]
Tell me what’s to be expected at a new Guns N’ Roses show.
It’s a slammin’ show, and it’s a long one. If you have any plans in the morning, you might want to change them. The songs we’ve been playing from Chinese Democracy, we’ve been playing for a long time. It’s always a little bit frustrating to see people scratching their head when you’ve just played your ass off on something. But it’s all quality music, and right now we are giving Chinese Democracy its big American push. I hope people will enjoy it all.
You are now the longest-running member of the band besides Axl Rose. From what I’ve read, you’ve also been able to maintain relationships with the former members of the band. How’ve you been able to navigate both worlds?
To be honest, that’s a little perplexing. I did, but that was when they were still in the band. Once people have left the band, I haven’t had that much to do, other than when Duff or Izzy rejoined onstage.
I was driving home last night and “November Rain” came on the radio. It’s kind of the classic song of the arena-rock era of the band. What do you recall about the genesis of that song, recording it in the studio and so on?
I remember I was there when the song was being worked up and I know they had done some demos. I knew that Axl was going to play the piano on that song. That was the first time that I worked on a MIDI keyboard… It was really mind-boggling, and it was kind of new at the time. But basically Axl wanted to create an orchestra and he was able to do that. There was a whole orchestral arrangement. The whole time I was thinking, “I have to cover that live.” It always would have been cool to hear with a real orchestra. But we consolidated the parts over the years between me and Chris [Pitman, the band’s second keyboard player].
I know this is going back a bit, but I read about how you got to know the band before you were invited to join. Can you tell be about it?
I was in a band called the Wild, and we had moved out to L.A. from Denver, which is where we were from. Back then in the 80s, if you wanted to make it, you either moved to L.A. or New York, or you moved to London if you had a lot of money. You had no choice. We figured the weather was better in L.A. and we liked the chicks. If you were lucky you found a kind a 24-hour lockout rehearsal studio and you could live there. We found one and we’d been there for months. Now it’s a parking lot behind Guitar Center in Hollywood. No shower, a toilet that kind of worked. There were two smaller studios next to ours and Guns N’ Roses was in one of them. We’d heard about them. We knew they were becoming the first biggest draw in L.A., and they moved in next door to us. Every night there was a party going on all the time… We started hanging out and it was really late one night. I started playing the song “Bad Company” by Bad Company on the keyboard… There weren’t a lot of just keyboards players at the time. There were some, but not many, and the one’s that were around were classically-trained. Axl said, “We are going to add a keyboard player one day and it’s going to be you.” Then they got huge, and I’d run into him every once in awhile, and he’d say, “Be ready.” Eventually I got the call… I was living from couch to couch at the time, at the house of whatever girlfriend I had. They tracked me down… I went into the studio and the first track I cut was “Civil War.”
I also read that you’re a fan of Christian-rock legend Larry Norman and that you played on his Copper Wires album. How’d that come about?
I had met Larry’s brother Charles, who’s a fantastic musician. He had been in a band called Jet Boy. Charles and I became great friends. He was just a wiz in the studio. We were living in L.A. and I didn’t know anything about his brother. I started recording some things with Larry… We went to see Frank Black at the Roxy with Larry and Charles… I’m a big Frank Black fan… he asked us to come backstage. And he saw Larry, and he said, “When I was a kid there was the Beatles and Larry Norman.” I started asking Charles about his brother, and I would mention Larry’s name. They eventually moved to Portland… Everyone he was around or anyone who had a Christian upbringing — he had such an amazing effect on so many peoples lives.
Guns N’ Roses is coming to Hartford on Nov. 19, and that means (if they do their jobs adequately) unhealthy doses of arena-rock, rumors about Axl Rose and smashed televisions, lighters, traffic, Chinese Democracy tracks, cheap beer, pills, joints, dudes and ladies in rock tees (and little else), and for some, according to keyboard player Dizzy Reed, phone calls to the office the next morning telling boss you’re not feeling too well today. The Advocate spoke with Mr. Reed, a member of GNR since the Use Your Illusion days, about L.A., “November Rain” and late-great Christian rocker Larry Norman.
[This interview has been edited and condensed. Here’s a Spotify playlist to help you along.]
Tell me what’s to be expected at a new Guns N’ Roses show.
It’s a slammin’ show, and it’s a long one. If you have any plans in the morning, you might want to change them. The songs we’ve been playing from Chinese Democracy, we’ve been playing for a long time. It’s always a little bit frustrating to see people scratching their head when you’ve just played your ass off on something. But it’s all quality music, and right now we are giving Chinese Democracy its big American push. I hope people will enjoy it all.
You are now the longest-running member of the band besides Axl Rose. From what I’ve read, you’ve also been able to maintain relationships with the former members of the band. How’ve you been able to navigate both worlds?
To be honest, that’s a little perplexing. I did, but that was when they were still in the band. Once people have left the band, I haven’t had that much to do, other than when Duff or Izzy rejoined onstage.
I was driving home last night and “November Rain” came on the radio. It’s kind of the classic song of the arena-rock era of the band. What do you recall about the genesis of that song, recording it in the studio and so on?
I remember I was there when the song was being worked up and I know they had done some demos. I knew that Axl was going to play the piano on that song. That was the first time that I worked on a MIDI keyboard… It was really mind-boggling, and it was kind of new at the time. But basically Axl wanted to create an orchestra and he was able to do that. There was a whole orchestral arrangement. The whole time I was thinking, “I have to cover that live.” It always would have been cool to hear with a real orchestra. But we consolidated the parts over the years between me and Chris [Pitman, the band’s second keyboard player].
I know this is going back a bit, but I read about how you got to know the band before you were invited to join. Can you tell be about it?
I was in a band called the Wild, and we had moved out to L.A. from Denver, which is where we were from. Back then in the 80s, if you wanted to make it, you either moved to L.A. or New York, or you moved to London if you had a lot of money. You had no choice. We figured the weather was better in L.A. and we liked the chicks. If you were lucky you found a kind a 24-hour lockout rehearsal studio and you could live there. We found one and we’d been there for months. Now it’s a parking lot behind Guitar Center in Hollywood. No shower, a toilet that kind of worked. There were two smaller studios next to ours and Guns N’ Roses was in one of them. We’d heard about them. We knew they were becoming the first biggest draw in L.A., and they moved in next door to us. Every night there was a party going on all the time… We started hanging out and it was really late one night. I started playing the song “Bad Company” by Bad Company on the keyboard… There weren’t a lot of just keyboards players at the time. There were some, but not many, and the one’s that were around were classically-trained. Axl said, “We are going to add a keyboard player one day and it’s going to be you.” Then they got huge, and I’d run into him every once in awhile, and he’d say, “Be ready.” Eventually I got the call… I was living from couch to couch at the time, at the house of whatever girlfriend I had. They tracked me down… I went into the studio and the first track I cut was “Civil War.”
I also read that you’re a fan of Christian-rock legend Larry Norman and that you played on his Copper Wires album. How’d that come about?
I had met Larry’s brother Charles, who’s a fantastic musician. He had been in a band called Jet Boy. Charles and I became great friends. He was just a wiz in the studio. We were living in L.A. and I didn’t know anything about his brother. I started recording some things with Larry… We went to see Frank Black at the Roxy with Larry and Charles… I’m a big Frank Black fan… he asked us to come backstage. And he saw Larry, and he said, “When I was a kid there was the Beatles and Larry Norman.” I started asking Charles about his brother, and I would mention Larry’s name. They eventually moved to Portland… Everyone he was around or anyone who had a Christian upbringing — he had such an amazing effect on so many peoples lives.
