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izzyontour.com interview with Jimmy Ashhurst
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The first part of interview with the bassplayer and co-founder of the Ju Ju Hounds - Jimmy 'Two Fingers' Ashhurst.
Q: The first Ju Ju Hounds show took place at The Avalon club in Chicago (09.23.1992). What do You remember about this show. Did you and the other guys feel a little bit nervous? Jimmy Ashhurst: Well, sure we were a bit nervous considering the fact that there were lots of eyes and ears on us at the time - all curious to see what Izzy was going to come up with after quitting GnR. We were already in Chicago by then, I think. We had finished recording the album there after leaving Los Angeles because of the riots that were going on at the time. Izzy was thinking about using Chicago as home base for the band since he had a house nearby in Indiana. Charlie lightened the mood by showing up in the van wearing some funny- lookin Moroccan slippers...y'know, the kind that have the toes that curl up in the front? Nice. As far as the show is concerned, I remember it being pretty sloppy. I think we played all the songs super-fast partly because of the adrenaline I'm sure...but we at least got the "first show jitters" outta the way. Q: How did you come up with the idea to get Rick and Chalo into the band, why them? J.A.: In Rick's case my former band The Broken Homes had toured and become great friends with his band The Georgia Satellites over the years prior to putting the JuJu Hounds together. I knew Izzy was a big fan of the Satellites and more specifically Rick's guitar playing, so when Izzy decided he wanted a great guitar player we started looking for someone who played like Rick. Of course, there is no one who plays like Rick so we ended up just calling Rick. Charlie I'd met a lot over time spent in and around Los Angeles and he was and is the best drummer I'd ever played with. Somehow he found out about the auditions and had my number from the time we used him for some Broken Homes shows, so he called one day. I'd known he was playing with Bob Dylan at the time so I never called him thinking there was no way he would have quit that gig. Turns out he called me - and he did quit Dylan's band...poor fucker. Q: Shuffle It All was the biggest hit from the Ju Ju Hounds album. Could you tell us something about the writing process of this song? Where was it written? J.A.: Wasn't it the ONLY hit? haha! As far as I can remember, it was written pretty much in a house Izzy had rented near the studio in Redondo Beach outside of Los Angeles. Izzy had some little ghetto recording rig set up and was in the next room when I started fucking around with the bass riff. He came in told me to push the record button before I forgot it, then walked off somewhere. When we moved the whole thing to Chicago I'd still not forgotten it and Izzy had the tape so that's when it all came together - especially Rick's guitar parts which are nothing short of amazing on that track. It was one of those songs that when it finally came together we knew we had something pretty cool right away. Q: What do You remember from the Ronnie Wood's party at A&M Studios and the recording sessions of the song Take a Look at the Guy, which took place at 4 a.m. after the party? J.A.: Funny I was just thinkin about that night the other day. All this Phil Spector courtroom drama going on here in California reminded me of when he showed up at that party at A&M Studios in Hollywood. I watched him get out of an old, kinda fucked up looking grey Rolls Royce. That car that looked like it never really went anywhere anymore, but had at some point in the past been to all kinds of fabulous parties. Then it looked like it had just been sitting in a garage somewhere and gathering dust; kinda sad really - but not as sad as the two teenage blonde runaway looking girls who stepped out of it with Phil between them. It wasn't long after his arrival - an hour or so - that the shit hit the fan. I was sitting at a table with Ronnie and one of his people came up behind him and whispered something in his ear. Ronnie quickly got up and said "ah Christ, Phil's at it again" and walked off. Turns out Phil had pulled a revolver out of his shabby suit and started drunkenly waving it around and yelling. I never got close enough to hear what he was yelling about since two of Ronnie's guys hustled him out the door immediately. From what I understand, it wasn't the first time he'd pulled out a gun, and sadly it wasn't the last time either. I think the recording session was actually the following night. Izzy had convinced Ronnie to come down at the party and had arranged to pick him up at his manager Nick Cowan's house the following evening. I think we showed up at a reasonable hour like 8 or 9, only to find that Ronnie was nowhere near ready to go. In fact, he said he was in the middle of watching a film upstairs and asked if we would join him. Izzy and I were so anxious to finally get to record with Ronnie the last thing we wanted to do was sit through a movie, let alone the fact that the movie Ronnie was watching was "Spartacus" which is like 3 hours long! haha! Anyway it ended finally - after having to sit through all Ronnie's jokes during the movie - "I don't know which one's Spartacus, but he looks a lot like Kirk Douglasss - bahahahahaha!!!" et cetera.... Q: The lyrics of Cuttin' The Rug says "watch Jimmy dance, he's cuttin' the rug". So, were you the king of Chicago's clubs' dance floor? J.A.: Uhh...no, I wasn't. I think it came from staying at the beautiful old Knickerbocker Hotel in Chicago. I think it was Izzy and me and Rick who were waiting on the elevator as there was some sort of wedding or dance going on in the lobby. I asked the guys if anyone was interested in "cutting a rug" with me. I was kidding, of course. The next day it showed up in a song we had been workin on but had no lyrics for yet. Now people think I'm some kind of Fred Astaire...thanks Izzy. Q: Marc Ford plays guitar and slide guitar on Somebody Knockin' but he isn't credited in the album... why? J.A.: Marc isn't credited because at the time he had just joined the Black Crowes. I think at that point he had just gotten back to town from Georgia where they had recorded "The Southern Harmony..." album. His relationship with those guys was still pretty new and neither he nor I were sure about how they would have reacted to Marc working on outside projects. I don't know if he had a contract or what, but it turns out we were all great friends and it probaly wouldn't have mattered if we had credited him. I'm just glad that now there are a few people who know it was him...great playing. One of my other great buddies and amazing players Craig Ross (Lenny Kravitz Band), who was in my first band The Broken Homes with me also played on a few tracks. Whenever I listen to that album I love trying to pick out the different guitar playing styles. I think just about all my favorite guitar players ended up on that album...doesn't happen every day. The second part of interview with Jimmy 'Two Fingers' Ashhurst. [February 13, 2008] Q: In February 1994, together with Marc Ford, Chris Robinson, Craig Ross, Roger Manning and Any Sturmer, you participated in a jam session of a project called Sweet Pickle Salad. The question is, why wasn't it ever released and who came up with the idea of the project? J.A. There were actually two similar shows right around the same time. The second one, Foamfoot (Crows From the Closet) was maybe a year after Sweet Pickle Salad and featured a couple of different guys but the core group remained basically the same: Chris, Marc, me, Andy Sturmer. They were both Chris' idea since he was living on the west coast at the time and for the first time he was apart from his brother Rich. I think he was mostly bored and felt like doing something with the friends he was spending most of his time with. He had rented a beautiful home in Laurel Canyon and there was a lot of jamming going on up there day and night, so we just learned a bunch of our favorite songs and he decided that we should play a couple of shows. The first one, Sweet Pickle Salad, was recorded kinda half- assed so Chris wanted to make sure the second one was recorded properly. We ended up using Graham Nash's mobile recording rig. The coolest part was at soundcheck when a short, rather rotund man walked in the door of the Troubadour with a guitar case and said "I hear there's a jam goin on tonight - mind if I sit in??" It was David Crosby. We ended up doing "Long Time Gone" with him that night. It was one of those nights I was so happy to know was being caught on tape and it's a pity both shows weren't recorded. Those were two of the most memorable evenings ever for me...we were all playing our best at the time. Jimmy realized he was talking about Big Toe show and he sent a correction J.A. Around that time there were several jams with Chris, Marc, and Andy - Chris was for the first time in his career living far from his brother and I think he was interested in seeing what he was capable of doing without Rich. The live shows we did, Foamfoot and Big Toe, were more for fun and we did covers of other people's songs. With Sweet Pickle Salad he had some songs he'd written on his own that he wanted to record, and we happened to be the people he was spending most of his time with anyway, so he booked some studio time and we recorded four or five songs of his songs and it was a blast! We all had a great time playing that stuff and the performances by everyone were pretty amazing - especially considering how fucked up we all were at the time. I
don't think any of us ever even considered the possibility of it ever
being released...The Black Crowes were (and are) one of our
generation's best and most significant bands, and nobody involved would
have wanted to be a part of anything that would have upset the
sometimes delicate relationship between those two brothers. It's a
pretty cool thing to have been a part of it though.
Q: Together with the Ju Ju Hounds you were guests on two radio shows - L.A. Rockline and Chicago's Loop FM. Do You have any memories about these shows? J.A. Yeah! I do remember one of those. Rockline, I think, with Bob Coburn. I remember we did "Spoonful" by Howlin' Wolf acoustic and it was awesome. At one point they opened up the phone lines to accept calls from fans and we got a call from "Ian in Pasadena". The second I heard the voice I recognized it as being Ian "Mac" McLagan (Faces, Rolling Stones) who had played keys on the album along with Nicky Hopkins. Mac had also helped us convince Ronnie Wood to come down as the two are still the best of friends. In fact, funny side note was that when we recorded "Take a Look at the Guy" it was those two who were on the original recording of the song done first on Ronnie's solo album "I've Got My Own Album to Do" in 1974. After the release I recall reading one review by some idiot critic who actually wrote something like " the keyboard playing on that song isnt as good as the original and is out of time" or something equally ridiculous. It was the same fucking guys, stupid!! Just goes to show you... Anyway, back to the topic. Mac calls in with the question "Is that your real hair or do the guys in the band wear wigs?" - bastard. After the call the producer Jim Villanueva asked me to ask Mac if he would call again the following week when Ronnie and Rod Stewart were scheduled to appear on the show. Mac of course said yes and the following week as I was listening I heard the call from "Ian in Pasadena" again. Ronnie immediately shouted "That's Mac" and proceeded to exchange jokes and laugh - then he says "OI! Rod's here and wants you to tour with him" (!!). Now at this time Mac and Rod Stewart hadn't spoken in almost 20 years due to bad blood since the disbanding of the Faces. Ronnie had totally taken him by surprise and put him on the spot in front of a national audience and Rod had no choice other than to say "errr..I did? ...yeah! yeah! come on tour Mac!" haha! So Ian got the job and ended up spending the next couple of years touring with Rod and I'm sure the two were able to mend any broken fences along the way. Q: Is that true that at the end of Ju Ju Hounds US Tour 1993, Izzy had a bad throat and the band had to cancel bunch of shows? J.A. A bad throat? Is that what is was? haha... Q: What's the main difference in touring with Ju Ju Hounds and Buckcherry? J.A. It took me over ten years to even consider joining another band. I think the main difference is that if something were to happen with the band I'm in now - if someone were to not want to continue - that person have enough respect for the other band members to sit us all down and to explain to all of us the reasons WHY they didn't want to continue. They would do it at an appropriate time, if they could, and they would try their best to make sure they gave enough notice so that the other guys would have time to make other arrangements to take care of their families . They wouldn't do it right IN THE MIDDLE of recording an album in a foreign country, with a top name producer and band members waiting... and they absolutely wouldn't simply walk out the door one day to never come back with no explanation whatsoever. It just a human thing, respect. It doesn't matter who you are or how famous and/or rich you become. There's a proper way to go about working with others, especially people you've spent so much time with and with whom you've had so many wonderful experiences. The guys I'm working with now would give me or anyone else in the band that respect, no matter what. It took almost ten years for me to get over that experience, and it almost killed me in the process. I can finally look at things a little more objectively than I could for sooo long. I knew going into the relationship that he was a little unpredictable, I guess I was just a little naive in thinking that he would never have done that to me. I would have taken a bullet for that guy and for anyone in that band. ANYTHING that was bothering him could have been easily resolved with a conversation, and even if it couldn't have - at least we deserved to be told what was going to happen. Theres a human way of doing things...and then apparently there's Izzy's way of doing things...and that's just, unfortunate. Q: Looking back in the past... how would you call Ju Ju Hounds - IZZY STRADLIN and the Ju Ju Hounds or Izzy Stradlin and THE JU JU HOUNDS - was it really a band or just Izzy's solo project... J.A. Well, at the time we were led to believe that it was a band. I mean,
Izzy didn't even want his name in the title at first, but we all agreed
that it would be helpful in letting people know who it was all about.
We were just there to help him make a great album and to have a great
time and I don't think anyone really cared what we were gonna call it.
I think the albums that have been released by Izzy more recently are
more representative of a "solo" effort by him, and I'm happy to see
that he no longer refers to what he's doing as "Izzy and the Ju Ju
Hounds". I'd like to think that it's out of respect for what we did
together, but maybe it's just because he never really liked the name
haha!
Q: Together with Buckcherry you recorded an incredible album and did a big tour. Do You feel happy being where you are today? J.A. Why, yes I do! Thank you very much!
Jimmy '2 Fingers' Ashhurst Myspace profile - www.myspace.com/j2fa
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