Slither and VelvetLoungeFly, I don't know if you guys are familiar with Marc Canter. In case you aren't he's the author of Reckless Road and he has known the guys since before they were signed to a major label.
He has his own Q&A section on a GN'R forum and he explained to us how the signing over of the name went down. It is true Axl had a lawyer or manager (can't remember who exactly it was right now) go to Duff and Slash before a show and ask for them to sign the name over. But Axl did not tell the lawyer/manager to say that he wouldn't go on stage if they didn't sign it. For some reason the lawyer/manager said Axl wouldn't go on stage if they did not sign. Being told this made Duff and Slash sign as they didn't want another riot to happen which is perfectly understandable. Duff and Slash are now pissed off because they feel blackmailed into having signed the name over because of the threat of Axl not wanting to go on stage unless they had signed it. Axl on the other hand is not aware that Duff and Slash had been told that, so after Duff and Slash have left GN'R and they start saying in the press Axl threatened them to sign over the name by refusing to go on stage that night, Axl gets angry and say they're lying because he never said. It is true Axl never said that, but Duff and Slash don't know that, they just know what this lawyer/manager person told them and Axl only knows what this lawyer/manager told him and he was not told about the threat of him refusing to go on stage. So yes, Axl had Duff and Slash asked to sign the name over, but the not going on stage threat did not come from him. So Duff, Slash nor Axl is lying in this matter, it was the lawyer/manager who lied to all three of them. It's kinda like Duff says in his book "It was lawyers and managers who broke up Guns N' Roses. They pinned us against each other in ways that would profit them finacially and we believed them instead of believing each other"
I don't have time to sort through all Marc's questions right now, but if you want me to find his exact quote on this I can try and find it for you later. Just let me know if you're interested.
Not saying Axl didn't make mistakes and never fucked up because he clearly did. He fucked up with being late, having temper tantrums etc. The other made mistakes by getting too involved in drugs and alcohol. And they all made the mistake of not comunicating with each other, but through other people such as lawyers and managers.
When I said they signed the name over because they were too high or drunk what I meant was that if they hadn't been so heavily into their addictions as the time it might have been more difficult to convince them to sign over the name. We all know you do things when you're fucked up on drugs and alcohol that you might not normally do otherwise.
Just to make it clear, I do not blame anyone in particular for what went wrong with the classic GN'R line up. After having read Duff's book and Marc Canter's account of things it's very clear to me that everyone in the band made mistakes and that there were lots of outside manipulation going on from people who stood to financially gain from it. I still to this day like and support all members of the old line up (I recently went to see Duff with his new band Walking Papers which was awesome) The reason why I seem to defend Axl more is because he is the one who usually gets most of the blame and so therefor he is the one I end up defending. Believe it or not, I have actually defended both Duff and Slash against angry Scott and STP fans back when Scott was fired from VR.
