"Slash played me 'Beggars & Hangers-On' and I wrote and sang the lyrics on the spot" - ERIC DOVER talks Slash and more on June 2018 interview for AL.com

[ludurigan]

 

"I remember auditioning for (Slash) it was just me and Adam and Slash's old house, off Laurel Canyon, up Wonderland (Avenue) there. He played me some music. Played me what became the song "Beggars & Hangers-On," and I kind of wrote the lyrics on the spot and sang it, basically. And that was a lot of the great thing, the challenging part about working with Slash was the music was pretty much already done, the rest of it was - the intensity of writing lyrics pretty fast" - ERIC DOVER SPEAKS FOR AL.COM, JUNE 5, 2018

 

I don't remember ever reading any kind of Eric Dover interview before, let alone such a long and detailed interview as this one he just gave for the AL.com. Nothing earth-shattering but some cool info/stories on the Snakepit days and a whole lot about his other projects.

 

FULL INTERVIEW HERE = https://www.al.com/entertainment/index.ssf/2018/06/guns_n_roses_slash_snakepit_er.html

 

Edited June 6, 2018 by ludurigan

[soon]

What a monster of a band Snakepit was! Wish theyd done so much more!

That story about taking detour to Roswell and then getting stuck there for 2 weeks is one of the single greatest rock n roll side-stories Ive ever read, lol!

[appetite4illusions]

I was always under the impression that Slash at least co-wrote the lyrics to that song. 

He's been very transparent that at least half the record was a veiled message to Axl. The thrust of this one being that his inner circle (Doug, various assistants, the Maynards) had insulated him from connecting with his band and were actively facilitating the demise of Guns N' Roses.

 

Another good question for Eric Dover is how his relationship with Slash and Snakepit ended. Was it under good terms? I kind of got the feeling in Slash's book that he had regrets about choosing Dover as the voice of the band. Slash's words were that Eric, "fit the band well enough, at the time..." Sounds like something either went down or he just felt he could do better.

[smiley]

Good read - thanks for posting!

neither can i and beggars and hangers on are my favorite from that era. i like eric's voice for those songs. I was just not a fan of the other songs on that album.

my favorite album was ALG and I really liked Rod's voice. I saw this version of the band live twice and really liked the shows. Made me a fan of Rod and Kerri Kelli.

 

[Bitchisback]

I could never get into Eric Dover.  Really brings my enjoyment of that album down. 

 

I'm sure musically it is great but every time I try to listen I end up giving up on it.

 

Rod Jackson was much better, but some of those songs on Ain't Life Grand are so corny lol

[Free Bird]

Best album by Slash post Guns. Eric did one hell of a job. His singing on this record is very powerful and very soulful.

Biggest complain are the weak lyrics on some of these songs like Be The Ball (though, instrumentally extremely well) and Doin' fine.

Other than that it's a very strong record with good arrangements and a phenomenal guitar playing.

[tkarmy]

best singer slash has worked with besides Axl iMO. Some great tunes on that album. I was disappointed when I read Slash's book and he never really commented on why things didn't continue with Eric to the next album. I hated the second snakepit record, absolutely hate it about as much as libertad

[Tom-Ass]

On 6/6/2018 at 7:01 AM, soon said:

What a monster of a band Snakepit was! Wish theyd done so much more!

It would actually be pretty cool if they did a little reunion and did a few shows.. Slash, Mike Inez, Sorum and Gilby.. That was a hell of a band..

[soon]

21 minutes ago, Tom-Ass said:

It would actually be pretty cool if they did a little reunion and did a few shows.. Slash, Mike Inez, Sorum and Gilby.. That was a hell of a band..

That would be great! I thought that Inez and Sorum really brought something special outta one another. Amazing lineup. 

No Dover though?

[moreblack]

The live touring guys were great too, it was basically Pride & Glory's rhythm section, James LoMenzo and Brian Tichy. Fantastic players.

[Tom-Ass]

5 minutes ago, soon said:

That would be great! I thought that Inez and Sorum really brought something special outta one another. Amazing lineup. 

No Dover though?

Of course Dover if it ever happened but I was more impressed with the band than him.. He was ok but never blew me away or anything.

[ludurigan]

5 hours ago, Free Bird said:

Best album by Slash post Guns. Eric did one hell of a job. His singing on this record is very powerful and very soulful.

Biggest complain are the weak lyrics on some of these songs like Be The Ball (though, instrumentally extremely well) and Doin' fine.

Other than that it's a very strong record with good arrangements and a phenomenal guitar playing.

agree 100%, its a better album than all the others that slash has done since

 

 

[ludurigan]

3 hours ago, tkarmy said:

best singer slash has worked with besides Axl iMO. Some great tunes on that album. I was disappointed when I read Slash's book and he never really commented on why things didn't continue with Eric to the next album. I hated the second snakepit record, absolutely hate it about as much as libertad

i find the second slash album unlistenable for a lot of reasons but the main one is the singer

i didnt think slash could find a worst singer than rod jackson but of course he proved me wrong with myles

[Tom-Ass]

3 hours ago, ludurigan said:

i find the second slash album unlistenable for a lot of reasons but the main one is the singer

i didnt think slash could find a worst singer than rod jackson but of course he proved me wrong with myles

I am with you on Rod Jackson.  Was never a fan but I still thought there were a few good songs on there. 

[ludurigan]

2 hours ago, Tom-Ass said:

I am with you on Rod Jackson.  Was never a fan but I still thought there were a few good songs on there. 

yeah man i think i see what you mean. i cant really see good songs on it but i see a lot of good ideas, parts, riffs, solos, licks etc completely wasted on bad songs and even worse arrangements!

[Sydney Fan]

Hoping sidman and gambit could have eric dover on to be interviewed.

[Tom-Ass]

8 hours ago, ludurigan said:

yeah man i think i see what you mean. i cant really see good songs on it but i see a lot of good ideas, parts, riffs, solos, licks etc completely wasted on bad songs and even worse arrangements!

Yup, plenty of good riffs and solos! Some of it came off too Butt Rockish

[ludurigan]

2 minutes ago, Tom-Ass said:

Yup, plenty of good riffs and solos! Some of it came off too Butt Rockish

true!

[Ralphelmo]

It may be a bit controversial but I think that "Beggars" has the best riff Slash ever wrote. I mean, I don't know a single guitarist (and I met many personally) that wouldn't love to sign themselves under that.

 

Edited June 8, 2018 by Ralphelmo

[MrMojo]

3 minutes ago, Ralphelmo said:

It may be a bit controversial but I think that "Beggars" has the best riff Slash ever wrote. I mean, I don't know a single guitarist (and I met many personally) that wouldn't love to sign themselves under that.

 

It's otherworldly good. Simple too.

[Todubblebe]

On 2018-06-08 at 6:56 AM, Sydney Fan said:

Hoping sidman and gambit could have eric dover on to be interviewed.

That would be greate. Eric is a greate singer and there are more conections to the gnr family if you dig throug the history. 

He has playd with Teddy zigzag in glamnation and did some south amerca gigs with gilby Clark and they made a coverrecord under the name halloween jack. 

I remember reading something similar about the writingproces in the jellyfish biography that came out last year. That book allso shed some light on the story when somebody pretendent to be the leadsinger of jellyfish auditionen for slash and how he was revealed to be a fraud. 

The record he released with imperial drag after leaving snakepit is one of my all time favorites. 

 

Edited June 10, 2018 by Todubblebe
Wrong video was added for some reason.

[Tom-Ass]

1 hour ago, Ralphelmo said:

It may be a bit controversial but I think that "Beggars" has the best riff Slash ever wrote. I mean, I don't know a single guitarist (and I met many personally) that wouldn't love to sign themselves under that.

 

That Guitar Center Sessions show was phenomenal...

[baje]

17 hours ago, ludurigan said:

i find the second slash album unlistenable for a lot of reasons but the main one is the singer

i didnt think slash could find a worst singer than rod jackson but of course he proved me wrong with myles

I hate Rod's voice too. I just can't listen to that album but I actually like Myles

[rendestroi95]

Best singer Slash has ever worked with (besides Axl) imo... His voice fit's Slash's work so well. Myles is good, but 4 tracks in and i'm already sick of his voice