Jump to content

why West Arkeen didn t form official part of gnr?


Recommended Posts

9 hours ago, darkside259 said:

Axl said that West  was the 6 member of gnr,  but why he didn t form part of the band?

if he hadn't died he could been in the band later? 

maybe because they didn't need a third guitar player (heh) but West really helped Gn'R with important contributions so he made his mark on the band and it made it better imo which is cool.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I always wondered since he was a contributor to songwriting and thought of as the unofficial GN’R member (as well as being a decent guitarist), why he wasn’t considered as a replacement for Izzy back in 1991. Who knows, maybe he was…?

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, metallex78 said:

I always wondered since he was a contributor to songwriting and thought of as the unofficial GN’R member (as well as being a decent guitarist), why he wasn’t considered as a replacement for Izzy back in 1991. Who knows, maybe he was…?

There could be many reasons of course, but I think it likely he was so fucked up at the time that they didn't want to. 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

According to Gregg Buchwalter, who played in West's band The Outpatience, West wanted to join GN'R (didn't clarify when), but they didn't let him because he didn't have the right looks:

“Unfortunately in LA at that time, MTV was happening, and everyone wanted band members that had a look, and poor West. Brilliant guitar player, was really thrilled that his friends in Guns N’ Roses were playing some of his tunes, and writing with him and shit. They wouldn’t let him in the band because he was too short and fat. He didn’t look right.”

“His girlfriend told me. She said, ‘He’s asked them a bunch of times to join the band, but they told him, ‘No, you’re too short and fat man, you don’t look right.’ Isn’t that sick?”

“He was a great guitar player man, really good.”

It's the second interview in this video  (great interviews by @Gambit83):

 

Edited by Blackstar
  • Like 1
  • Haha 1
  • Sad 2
  • Wow 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Blackstar said:

“His girlfriend told me. She said, ‘He’s asked them a bunch of times to join the band, but they told him, ‘No, you’re too short and fat man, you don’t look right.’ Isn’t that sick?

omg what a bunch of asholes if they said that... 

  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, Blackstar said:

According to Gregg Buchwalter, who played in West's band The Outpatience, West wanted to join GN'R (didn't clarify when), but they didn't let him because he didn't have the right looks:

“Unfortunately in LA at that time, MTV was happening, and everyone wanted band members that had a look, and poor West. Brilliant guitar player, was really thrilled that his friends in Guns N’ Roses were playing some of his tunes, and writing with him and shit. They wouldn’t let him in the band because he was too short and fat. He didn’t look right.”

“His girlfriend told me. She said, ‘He’s asked them a bunch of times to join the band, but they told him, ‘No, you’re too short and fat man, you don’t look right.’ Isn’t that sick?”

“He was a great guitar player man, really good.”

It's the second interview in this video  (great interviews by @Gambit83):

 

Back when I was a delusional teenager I thought I could “make it” in music. Then one day my self-awareness kicked in and I realized I was too “short and fat” for the part (even though I’m skinnier than the average American and around the same height as Axl).

Its a bummer, but self-awareness is also a beautiful thing. I’m comfortable in my own skin, at this point.

This kinda shit is just a part of life for some people. I would like to think Arkeen eventually understood that. Or maybe he died too early. I don’t know.

Edited by rocknroll41
  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

19 minutes ago, Sausagebrain said:

Maybe. But it would hardly be the only time that someone had been kicked out (or kept out) of a rock band because their face didn't fit. 

Before the Stones hit it big, Ian Stewart was ousted from the official lineup because he looked too burly next to the others (although he was an unofficial sixth member for the next twenty years).

Pete Best insisted that he was kicked out of The Beatles because he was too handsome and was getting a disproportionate amount of attention from the ladies. (Others say that he was kicked out because his drumming was no good. Or because he wasn't really part of a 'gang' with the rest of the band). 

As much as we like to think otherwise, rock 'n' roll isn't 'all about the music, man'.

yes but arken was more than a guitar player he wrote and inspired the style of the band! and even was a close friend of the band and in slash words "the only one they can trust" so no being part of the band for the height?????? damn... 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

7 minutes ago, darkside259 said:

yes but arken was more than a guitar player he wrote and inspired the style of the band! and even was a close friend of the band and in slash words "the only one they can trust" so no being part of the band for the height?????? damn... 

That's rough but, again, hardly the only time that something like that has happened.

 

To go back to the case of Ian Stewart - he is the guy who pretty much bought the Stones together, and that didn't prevent him from being kicked to the curb.

 

The music business can be a shit business.

  • Like 1
  • Sad 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Sausagebrain said:

That's rough but, again, hardly the only time that something like that has happened.

 

To go back to the case of Ian Stewart - he is the guy who pretty much bought the Stones together, and that didn't prevent him from being kicked to the curb.

 

The music business can be a shit business.

yes you right! 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

7 hours ago, darkside259 said:

yes but arken was more than a guitar player he wrote and inspired the style of the band! and even was a close friend of the band and in slash words "the only one they can trust" so no being part of the band for the height?????? damn... 

Weird reason since the band are already full of short asses. Even most of newgnr that joined later on were short in stature 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I guess that was before Matt and his perm joined the band :lol: Or maybe it didn't matter since he was the drummer.

Marc Canter said that Slash had told him one of the reasons he didn't like Paul Tobias was that he thought he didn't look cool and didn't have the right image that would fit the band. And Axl said that Matt didn't fit either, but that wasn't a problem.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

18 hours ago, Blackstar said:

According to Gregg Buchwalter, who played in West's band The Outpatience, West wanted to join GN'R (didn't clarify when), but they didn't let him because he didn't have the right looks:

“Unfortunately in LA at that time, MTV was happening, and everyone wanted band members that had a look, and poor West. Brilliant guitar player, was really thrilled that his friends in Guns N’ Roses were playing some of his tunes, and writing with him and shit. They wouldn’t let him in the band because he was too short and fat. He didn’t look right.”

“His girlfriend told me. She said, ‘He’s asked them a bunch of times to join the band, but they told him, ‘No, you’re too short and fat man, you don’t look right.’ Isn’t that sick?”

“He was a great guitar player man, really good.”

It's the second interview in this video  (great interviews by @Gambit83):

 

Thanks, oddly enough I planned to start making highlight clips of the West stuff. I’ll post for easier consumption.

  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I guess the key thing is the money. I presume he made a lot from his royalties because gnr got so big. Imagine he joined the band and they were less successful because he was in it- meaning that he earned less money.  I'd take the money.

There's always multiple factors that go into decisions like this. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Also if you look at his discography he contributed to several second level gnr songs and one top level one (it's so easy). He had very few other songs after that, and none of those were successful. So to be honest I don't see why you'd add someone like that to your band. There's no real 'added value' there.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...