Rolling Stone magazine has released an excerpt from Scott Weiland’s forthcoming autobiography, Not Dead & Not For Sale. In the passage from the book, the Stone Temple Pilots singer discusses how Velvet Revolver came together.
When Weiland first heard about a group that included Slash, Duff McKagan, Matt Sorum and Dave Kushner, he said: “Sounds like a lot of egos. Sounds like a lot of trouble.” And he wasn’t too impressed when they sent him a demo CD.
“It sounded like Bad Company-styled classic rock,” he wrote. “And I never liked Bad Company. But being a nice guy, I said, ‘There’s some stuff that’s okay, but just send me another disc when you have a few new songs.”
Soon after, another CD arrived with songs that had “STP written all over them” and Weiland became more interested in joining the band. He reluctantly agreed to jam with them, but was glad that he did.
“I was blown away by the powerful chemistry between us. So was everyone else,” he wrote. “These guys attacked rock and roll like a street gang. I liked their ferocity and balls-out commitment. Besides, looking over and seeing Slash playing beside me – Slash, who’d been an idol of mine back in the eighties – was a thrill… Fact is, I had a lot in common with these guys. We’d been down the dark alleys, gotten mugged, stumbled, fell, and got back up.”
