Scott Weiland Dead

[uwe]

I saw him with Velvet Revolver two or three gigs before he left (he had already internally announced he would). Communication between him and the band was zero that night in Cologne, instead he relegated the other four Velvet Revolvers to his backing band by giving a stellar, charismatic solo performance.





Screechy Axl might have the technical superior voice and we all know that G'n'R reunion is inevitably going to happen (last I heard, Axl and Slash were sharing studio space), but - George's term is perfect - I liked the "offbeatness" of Weiland's vocals and vocal melodies. Like Ian Gillan (or David Bowie) he wouldn't sing what you would expect.

Of course he had asked for it for a (long) while (repeated assertions how he had become clean for his family and kids notwithstanding). Rob and I spoke about it on our way to Utrecht to see health-conscious David Coverdale and Rob really hit the nail on the head with his comment that Weiland wasn't so much a rock singer turned junkie, but a junkie turned rock singer.



Sad. Doubly sad for his family.  And that is one disturbing vid for Missing Cleveland.

[Basvarken]

Did I say that? Can't remember that at all... and I wasn't even drunk 

[uwe]

If they'll ever do a biopic of him,



I'd cast Michael Fassbender for it.

[gearHed289]

This bummed me out. Even if I never was a huge fan of his bands, I admired the guy. He worshiped Bowie, who worshiped Iggy, so there's that. In hindsight, it's a shame STP got lumped in with the Seattle grunge, when in fact they were aping Zeppelin more than anything. I'll copy and paste what I posted on facebook:

Rest in peace Weiland. I know it's easy for people to say "he was a druggie, he had it coming". And I'll admit to having been one of those people before. But addiction is a mental illness. Yes, these people choose to start on the shit at first. But it changes the brain. It robs you of your soul. I've had a number of people I cared for greatly taken away from me by it. And I now have a greater understanding and compassion for those affected by mental illness. Scott was an awesome singer and a stellar frontman. He will be missed.

[Basvarken]

Well if this isn't very much alike Pearl Jam, I don't know what is...
For years I thought this was a PJ song...   I only found out a couple of years ago it was STP 

[uwe]

I find it more Alice in Chainsy*** (with less heavy guitars) than Pearl Jammy, but it's a moot point, they all had similar influences (and influenced each other in the early nineties).

That's an EB-2!! (Posted on your behalf in the Gibson forum already.)

***Ever the chameleon, Weiland in the Plush vid even looks a bit like Layne Staley (another unfortunate addiction death)



Note to self: Kurt, Layne, Scott ... grunge singers die young. Eddie Vedder and Chris Cornell should take good care of themselves (which they seemingly and hopefully do). Makes you wonder whether it's depressed souls making the music or whether the music depresses in the long run. 

[Basvarken]

Well the chameleon in him could do a quite convincing Jim Morrison too




And so could Eddie...

[slinkp]

This was pretty revealing. A familiar story for many people I'm sure... but I've never experienced much in the way of drugs, so it's only when somebody can articulate it like this that I feel like I can get a glimmer of what kind of hell it can become.   Sad that the optimism of the end of this article (from 2005)  proved temporary.
http://www.esquire.com/entertainment/music/news/a40198/scott-weiland-interview/

[gweimer]

I always thought he was one of the best vocalists rock had to offer.  He had a way of weaving into the songs of STP like a singer should.  Even that band hinted of the burden that came with that talent.  Here's another interesting read from his ex-wife.

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/scott-weiland-s-family-dont-glorify-this-tragedy-20151207?page=2

[uwe]

Well the chameleon in him could do a quite convincing Jim Morrison too




And so could Eddie...

They both do it well, but, man, Weiland really nails that Morrison vibe (slightly off notes and all)! The older I get, the more I like The Doors. I even enjoyed listening to Other Voices (the first Dooremnants album after his death) recently and thought to myself what compositonally a great (complete) Doors album that could have been if he had been around to sing it.

I can't believe that Ray Manzarek really has incense sticks on his keyboard in that first vid. 

[uwe]

I always thought he was one of the best vocalists rock had to offer.  He had a way of weaving into the songs of STP like a singer should.  Even that band hinted of the burden that came with that talent.  Here's another interesting read from his ex-wife.

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/scott-weiland-s-family-dont-glorify-this-tragedy-20151207?page=2

That's a tough read. Some people just never grow up and assume - however shakily - responsibility. On the other hand you could ask the question whether you can actually mary someone like Weiland, have two children with him and expect him to be even a semblance of a dad and husband. (Edit: To be fair, Mary was 16 when she got to know him and must have been in her mid-20ies - by then a cleaned-up ex-addict and she stayed clean - when she had her first child - his son, now 15 - with him.)

I find this quote from his Esquire interview very telling:

"My stepfather was the complete opposite of my dad. He was a corporate guy at TRW. He'd played football at Notre Dame and then got his master's degree at USC in aeronautical engineering. His favorite group was the Kingston Trio. If I were to sum up my stepfather in one word, the word would be responsible. That word was always coming out of his mouth: "You have to be responsible, Scott." "Scott, you have to be responsible." Responsible, responsible, responsible. And he was responsible. I think that's what attracted my mom to him in the first place."

And this here:

"You want to kick. But in a sense, kicking to me was always just kind of a way to prepare your body to be able to experience that first fix again. I mean, there are always those noble intentions in the beginning, but ultimately that's all it ever was...back then, at least. Back then it was, like, too little too late, you know, a little half-assed pass at getting clean, always at the request of others, at the request of family members, the manager, whoever. At some point it just becomes, you know, how to get them off your back. Because I never wanted to quit. Never. I saw narcotics as something I needed in order to function. I believed at the time that I was born with a chemical deficiency. Which I was. I was totally correct. But at the time, I believed I was born with this particular chemical deficiency that only opiates could fulfill. My basic thought was: How the hell can all you people want to keep me away from the one particular medicine that could keep me from blowing my head off?"

Junkie alright. 

[Pilgrim]

They both do it well, but, man, Weiland really nails that Morrison vibe (slightly off notes and all)! The older I get, the more I like The Doors. I even enjoyed listening to Other Voices (the first Dooremnants album after his death) recently and thought to myself what compositonally a great (complete) Doors album that could have been if he had been around to sing it.

I can't believe that Ray Manzarek really has incense sticks on his keyboard in that first vid. 

Man, I REALLY like that first video. I agree, Weiland nailed it - and that performance raises him considerably in my estimation.

When Manzarek kicks in that Fender keyboard bass riff, the hair tries to stand up on the back of my neck.  LOVE it!

[Basvarken]

Whereas the keyboard sound in that second video (with Eddie Vedder) is awful...

[Pilgrim]

Yes, there's a world of difference - and Ray was on keys both times. Terrible sound mixing.

[uwe]

The difference is simple: He plays different keyboards in Vid 1 and Vid 2! Vid 1 is what looks like a vintage organ plus what looks like some analog monophonic synth (but might be a shortened keyboard for other purposes, I'm no keyboard expert), Vid 2 has some modern day digital synth trying to emulate those sounds. And that is what you hear: an emulation, ok on its own, but when compared to the original sounds it has none of the depth, warmth and oohmph. To be fair: Vid 2 is seven years earlier, we all know how much digital sounds can improve, that's at least two keyboard generations. So it's probably fair to assume that a digital reproduction of Manzarek's organ (the one with the keys!) would have sounded quite a bit better in 2000 than it did it in 1993. A lot happened in the intervening years. When the DX7 came out, I thought it was the most amazing thing, a couple of years later those orignal DX7 sounds appeared kind of naff, we were all spoiled along the way by sonic improvements.

But in the end it's what Jon Lord said about digital Hammond emulations: "They sound so much better today than they used to. But only as long as you don't play them side by side with the real thing."