In a new interview with Scott Itter of Dr. Music, L.A. GUNS guitarist Tracii Guns, who spent some of his early years as a member of GUNS N’ ROSES, was asked if he would ever consider writing an autobiography. He responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): “No. And I was with Rich Bienstock last night. He’s the guy that writes all the books. And I was at his book signing — him and Tom Beaujour, they have a new Lollapalooza book out [‘Lollapalooza: The Uncensored Story Of Alternative Rock’s Wildest Festival’]. And Rich is a really dear friend of mine. And he drops the hint once a year, ‘Hey, are we doing this?'”I did the math,” he continued. “To make it worth it, I would want a lot of money. To make a lot of money, I’ve gotta tell all the true stories. I don’t wanna do that.”I love everybody I played with, regardless of how the relationships ended up. A couple guys I hate, but mostly everybody… I love [MÖTLEY CRÜE’s] Nikki [Sixx], I love [GUNS N’ ROSES singer] Axl [Rose] — I love everybody. I would hate to tell stories that are 40 years old, 30 years old, 20 years old of crazy shit I saw or was involved in, and then have it somehow make somebody sad or angry or something like that.”The people that lived those stories were there,” Tracii added. “And those are private moments and those are things that happened amongst friends during times of animosity, maybe, whatever you wanna call it. And I’m just not the guy. I’m not the guy. I don’t need the money. And I told Rich last night I’m not gonna do it. And he is, like, ‘Well, as long as there’s a couple dead bodies in the book.’ I’m, like, ‘No.’ And we laughed about it. But he gets it better than anybody ’cause he publishes a new book every three years. And it’s all about the dirt. [Like in the] MÖTLEY CRÜE book ‘The Dirt’. And even within ‘The Dirt’, there’s a lot of dirt that’s not in ‘The Dirt’.”But I’m not a famous enough person to get away with writing a story that’s kind of a little dirty,” Guns concluded. “I would really have to spill the fucking beans, and I’m not gonna do it.”Since being founded by guitarist Guns and drummer Rob Gardner in 1983, more than 50 musicians have performed under the L.A. GUNS moniker, including Axl Rose (who fronted the group prior to forming HOLLYWOOD ROSE, and then again for a brief period after that band’s breakup),Ralph Saenz (better known as Michael Starr of STEEL PANTHER),Jizzy Pearl (LOVE/HATE, QUIET RIOT),Chuck Garric (ALICE COOPER),Chris Holmes (W.A.S.P.) and Keri Kelli (NIGHT RANGER, RATT).For a number of years after Guns left L.A. GUNS in 2002 to focus on BRIDES OF DESTRUCTION — a group that also featured Sixx — there were two competing versions of L.A. GUNS: one featuring singer Phil Lewis and drummer Steve Riley, and another featuring Guns. After the latter incarnation disbanded in 2012, Guns and Lewis gradually began making amends, performing a full set of L.A. GUNS material together at a Las Vegas concert in 2015 before officially joining forces (while initially being billed as L.A. GUNS’ PHIL LEWIS & TRACII GUNS) for a handful of concerts the following year. For the past nine years, the group has toured and recorded simply as L.A. GUNS.Photo credit: Joe Schaeffer[embedded content]
