From MyGnr....apparently lots of Chinese talk after the 1 hour mark
http://idhitthatpodcast.podomatic.com/e … 1_28-07_00

He says he was excited about having co-written 3 or 4 songs that were on the potential master list (they had a master list of 20 songs and a 'b' list of 20 other songs). He said he was happy for them to do whatever with his drum takes he was just excited to have taken part in the writing of the songs. He said he was a bit surprised that Brain supposedly re-did his drum parts note for note but says that's a typical thing to do for someone who wants to feel like they're working on a record but is really procrastinating.

I set Guns N' Roses up with Buckethead. We could do a whole separate podcast on Buckethead, man. [...] The other day, I was working with a band in the studio, talking about Buckethead, and I go, "You know dude, I've known Buckethead for 20 years". They were online and they were showing me pictures, "Is this him?". All these different pictures of guys. And, "No, no, no, no." They finally found an ad that he had posted, like when he was 16, [...] with a picture of him, but you can hardly see his face, and he was 16, so it hardly looks like him. But every photo it was like, "No, that's not him, that's a tall guy with long hair, and that's a tall guy with long hair, but not Buckethead". When I finally re-tracked him down -- I hadn't talked to him for five years -- the joke I had with Axl is that no matter who you mentioned that I knew, it became an ongoing joke, he'd go, "Yes, so my first girlfriend, Linda, that I met back in Indiana when I was 14", and I'd go, "Oh yeah, I know Linda!". It got that weird almost, so he, "Yeah, sure kid, you know everybody". When Robin Finck left to rejoin Nine Inch Nails, we were looking for a guitar player, had auditioned a few people, and weren't really sure what we would do, and one day I walked into the studio and Axl goes, "Buckethead! Do you know him?" And I go, "I've known him since 1991, man!" And he's like, "I knew you'd know him! How do we get hold of him?" "Last I talked to him he was hanging up in San Francisco with the Primus crew. Let me call my buddy Dave, the manager of Primus, Dave Leftwood (?)." So I called Dave and the first thing I asked was, "Do you think Buckethead would be into this, he's such a quirky, weird, artiste?" And Dave goes, "Yeah, I think he is tired of the starving artist routine, I think he is ready to make a living". It's funny, but when I talked to Buckethead on the phone the first time [...something about Buckethead asking Josh about not referring to him as 'Brian'] All his friends call him Buckethead. [...] The first time I met him [...] in 1990 or 1991, my friend Warren calls me, "Dude you have to come own and meet this guy, he's a freak, he's incredible, lightning fast, this weird funk-slap style, he's like completely outshining Flea" [...] "He really wants to meet you, he is really impressed that you used to play drums at Disneyland!". Because he is a Disneyland freak. [...] My dad conducted the Disneyland band when I was a kid, [...] and he still does this [...]. And Buckethead was like, "Oh my god!" When I was a kid I played my first gig for three years in a cover band every weekend, at Disneyland, when I was 12 till I was 15, so Buckethead knew that, Warren had told him that, and he was like "Oh my god, my dream is to work at Disneyland" [...] So I didn't see Buckethead for years until I connected with him for the Guns N' Roses thing. [...] He is such a trip, man. He kinda jammed with Guns N' Rsoes 2 or 3 times before he got the job. He played and got a call back and came again. [...] To the audition he came without the stuff [mask and bucket] on. A longs story's short, he was really nervous one night, and I told my dad, "Dad, you should really come up and meet some of the guys tonight [...]". My dad had got in a car accident a few months prior to that, and Axl sent this really nice...kinda as a nice gesture and as a joke -- 'cause he is a funny dude -- he sent this nice, like giant, expensive skateboard and signed it, and made some joke about maybe you should try riding this for a while [...]. So I was like, "Dad, you should come up and meet Axl and meet Buckethead, he is such huge Disney freak." And Buckethead knew my dad was Mr. Disney. So that night, Buckethead was up there, and he was, we were going to do some more playing, "Man, I am really nervous, I'm really nervous about playing tonight," and I go, "Dude, you are all good, you practically got the gig already. You wouldn't be asked to come down the fourth time." "No, no, not so much that! You're dad's there!" [PodOmatic, April 2013].

First meeting with Axl after being asked to audition with GN'R in 1997: At this point he'd been our of the limelight for a while, he'd been out of the spotlight, and there were all these weird rumours about him, "Oh, I hear he is 300 pounds", and, "He is bald". You know what, I should go meet him. I like to form my own opinion about the guy rather than hearing all these rumours about him, right? Is he driving himself there? Is he taking a helicopter? Or a limo? What's he rolling up in these days? So I went down there to do it and he was cool. Actually, the first time I went down there he wasn't there. I auditioned, and, oddly enough, the two guys auditioning me were guys I would later be in two separate bands with. The guy playing bass, because they didn't have a bass player at the time, was Guns N' Roses' pro-tools engineer at the time, Billy Howardale (?) who would later do A Perfect Circle, but he was just the pro-tools guy and he strapped on a bass and I had no idea. Who's this weird bass roadie? Who's this bald bass roadie that's going to jam with us? later, he and I, would have A Perfect Circle with. And on guitar was Robin Finck, the guitar player who had just left Nine Inch Nails to do Guns N' Roses, and who would later leave Guns N' Roses to rejoin Nine Inch Nails, and I played with Nine Inch Nails for a bit. Anyways, so we're down at the complex [...] and I auditioned and it went well and they said "We want you to come back" and "Axl wants to meet you,", "Cool!". So I came back and I met Axl, and I liked him. He seemed like a cool guy. And I had so many people telling me not to do it, and actually, not to bring him up again, but I remember talking to Paul Westerberg, and Westerberg was the only one who said, "You should do it. Go do it! If everyone's telling you not to do it, you should go do it". [...] You know, tt wasn't [a pain in the ass working with Axl], it wasn't for me. You might talk to other people who will say it was. Everybody's always looking for a good Axl story from me, but I don't really have any, man, I know they are out there, but my personal experience, and experiences with him...he was always cool to me. I don't have anything bad to say about the guy. His reality is different than yours and mine, and most everybody's. he's had a weird run, from what I know about him, you know, as a kid [....] becoming famous and having all that power and money and shit, it's gotta be weird. [...] It's just the way it worked out, you can't even blame him for it. Even when I do hear stories about him, I don't go, "Oh, man," I just feel bad for him, you know, sometimes. I like the dude, never had any issues with him. No, [I didn't leave because of him], I left because we were in year two of sitting in the studio and the records till wasn't looking as it was going to be done anytime soon. [PodAMatic, April 2013].

I love Buckethead, but one of the funniest things about him is his love for Disneyland. When I first met him, I go, "So Warren says you like Disneyland, you go there often", "Yeah", "When was the last time you went there?", "I went there on Monday." It was, like, two days ago. "You know what I do there sometimes, man, I have recorded my own versions of the soundtracks to certain rides with me playing guitar and I go in there with my own walkman or whatever and I listen to me playing "Pirates of the Caribbean [etc ...]" [PodOmatic, April 2013].

HC: I’ve read that at some point during the Guns N” Roses lengthy “Chinese Democracy” recordings, Axl Rose called you to evaluate what he had already done. What really happened?

Bob Ezrin: Hm.. Well.. (ed:pause) I’m not sure!! (laughs)

HC: I’ve read that you told him he had about 2 ½ songs or 3 ½ songs. Something like that.

Bob Ezrin: Yeah, I probably did. It started off when Jimmy Iovine (ed: producer, chairman of Interscope/ Geffen) asked me for a big favour. They were stuck, they were stuck in a studio in North Hollywood for years with Roy Thomas Baker (ed: Queen’s producer), and nothing was happening. They were paying enormous rental bills and they were paying people to sit around the studio waiting for Axl to show up and it was just a disaster.

I agreed to go there immediately and listen to a bunch of stuff. What I heard was – I don’t know how to say this without be insulting, I don’t want to be insulting because he worked very hard on it – but what I heard was something that he had painted over too many times. So, by the time I heard it, the original content was lost and it was just a highly produced piece of something… Anyway, I agreed to help out if Axl would agree to work with me, which he did. He had the idea that the only person who could finish the album with him was me, based on what I don’t know.

I came, I listened, I said to him I will listen and will give you notes we will see together. I spent a lot of time listening. I went to see Jimmy Iovine and I gave him my perception of the situation, including the fact that they had to get out of Rumbo Studios immediately – not because Rumbo is a bad studio, it’s a wonderful studio –  but because they needed to be closer to the scrutiny of the record company and Jimmy’s team, so there could be at least some measure of control. And I recommended we move them to the Village Recorder in West Hollywood. So, they did that, and moved everybody there. 

I had to wait to talk to Axl because he avoided me. He was nervous about hearing what I had to say. We finally met, on a night when my wife – who was then my girlfriend – came down from Toronto to visit me and we were having a dinner with friends at my house. She was cooking when I got a phone call from Jimmy Iovine saying that I needed to come meet Axl and I said “I can’t tonight. I’m booked”. And Jimmy replied saying “ok” (laughs).

No he didn’t. When he wants something, he really knows how to get it. Anyway, he basically guilt-tripped me and I told him “Ok, I will be there at 8pm and I will leave there at 8.30, whether Axl shows up or not”, because that was Axl. Because last time we had an appointment at 10pm and Axl showed up at 2 in the morning. “So tell Axl that’s it”.  I went to the restaurant at 8 and a team of Axl supporters and hangers-on showed up and joined me at the table – and no Axl. Axl finally came about 8:25 (laughs).

Anyway, I told him basically what you’ve heard. I didn’t tell him “you have 2 ½ songs” and when he sat down, he started saying me that he has finished the record. And I said “Axl, we are not ready to mix this record. This record isn’t ready to be mixed”. I said “there are two great songs on it and I know that you’re capable of more, that’s the reason why I’m here.  You’re such a great talent and I would do you a disservice if I didn’t tell you the truth, which is that most of the songs aren’t great.  But I‘m very happy to help you get there and I believe that it’s possible, if you would like to continue to work on the record, to make it better”.   

He said “I don’t agree with that. We are ready to mix”. And I told him “you have my number, if you change your mind let me know, but I have a dinner party at home now and I had to go”.  I left and I haven’t heard from him since. It was years later when it came out.

Hit Channel Interview: Bob Ezrin