Hollywood Rose

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Hollywood Rose was a pre-Guns N' Roses band of singer Axl Rose and guitarist Izzy Stradlin. The band also featured guitarist Chris Weber, bass player Steve Darrow and drummer Johnny Kreis, and at various times had Slash and Steven Adler playing as well.

[edit] Recording history

Hollywood Rose recorded demos that were years later released on the album The Roots Of Guns N' Roses. This album features 15 tracks, the first 5 of which are the original demos, the second five being (future Guns N' Roses rhythm guitarist) Gilby Clarke remixes, and the third five being (Cinderella and former Guns N' Roses touring drummer) Fred Coury remixes. The Gilby Clarke remix tracks of "Shadow of Your Love" and "Reckless Life" feature guitar overdubs by original GN'R guitarist Tracii Guns.

The songs "Anything Goes" and "Reckless Life" were later recorded by Guns N' Roses itself and appeared on the albums Appetite for Destruction and G N' R Lies with new lyrics respectively. Also, there are other versions of the song "Shadow of Your Love" which exist in the bootlegging community. This song was practised in the studio and played at early Guns N' Roses gigs and drummer Steven Adler has stated in several interviews that it was his favorite track played during the sessions and was rather upset it didn't make the final cut of Appetite for Destruction.

The name Guns N' Roses came from the tongue in cheek idea of combining members of the bands L.A. Guns and Hollywood Rose. With the success of both L.A. Guns and Guns N' Roses there was hope for a new line-up of Hollywood Rose without Axl Rose. After an extensive search for a new singer, a talented young singer named Jimmy Swan from Minneapolis was recruited to fill the vacancy left by Axl and Jimmy joined with Chris Weber in the second carnation of Hollywood Rose, but the band never got off the ground or established a record deal, although it did showcase to the record industry in the late 80s at Prince's Paisley Park studio.

In 2007, Jimmy Swan and Chris Weber, have reformed the second line-up of Hollywood Rose, and have recently added Kaptain, a drummer who almost made the final line-up of Guns N' Roses and who was the original drummer for New Improved God - another L.A. Band from the late 80s.

Andre Troxx also played bass guitar in Hollywood Rose and can be seen on Izzy's left in a Hollywood Rose video ("Shadow of Your Love") circulating on Youtube. Troxx later formed Bad Bones and Feast of Joy with singer Jimmy Swan; these two bands were a prominent fixture in Hollywood area nightclubs in the early 90s.

[edit] Tribute bands

Hollywood Rose is also the name of a Guns N' Roses tribute band based in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. There are other Guns N' Roses tribute bands bearing a similar name, such as Hollywood Roses based in California, and Hollywood Rose GN'R Tribute Band based in Hungary.

[edit] Known Hollywood Rose songs

  • "Reckless Life" (later covered by Guns N' Roses (G N' R Lies). The original version is featured in 'The Roots Of Guns N' Roses')
  • "Anything Goes" (later covered by Guns N' Roses (Appetite for Destruction). The original version is featured in 'The Roots Of Guns N' Roses') Originally named "My Way Your Way"
  • "Shadow of Your Love" (later covered by Guns N' Roses (EP (Live from the Jungle)). The original version is featured in 'The Roots Of Guns N' Roses')
  • "Rocker" (featured in 'The Roots Of Guns N' Roses')
  • "Killing Time" (featured in 'The Roots Of Guns N' Roses')
  • "Cold Hearted" (Demo)
  • "Indiana Ain't My Kinda Town" (Demo)
  • "That Something" (Demo)
  • "International Boys"
  • "Rock N' Rose"