2005.04.25 - Denver Post - Family, Outkast's Genius And Crescent Rolls (Duff)

Family, Outkast's genius and crescent rolls

Duff McKagen is the legendary Guns N' Roses bassist who has since moved on, with some of his GN'R bandmates, to form Velvet Revolver. Here he shares his thoughts on everything from touring with his kids to the celebrated genius of OutKast.

MUSIC: OutKast's "The Love Below" is not just Andre bulging his "hitmaker" muscles with "Hey Ya" and "Roses." This record (21 songs in all) showcases an emerging soul talent, the likes of which hasn't been seen since early Prince. This record is a journey that truly inspires and provokes thought. I have personally listened to this record upward of 500 times and am still learning new things about the "inside" of some of these tunes. Do give this record a listen beyond the "hits."

FAMILY LIFE: I guess things haven't changed much since Led Zeppelin toured in the '70s. They must have had "shark tales" on their tour bus ... heck, these tales even made it to the great Zep biography "Hammer of the Gods." Now that my two little girls tour with my wife and me, we too have "Shark Tales" on the tour bus!

BOOKS: "Q," the autobiography of Quincy Jones, is truly mesmerizing and a must-read for anyone, not just music fans. In the wake of Ray Charles' passing, one can gobble up early stories of Quincy and Ray hanging out and playing clubs in a late-1940s Seattle at the ripe ages of 15 and 16. The rise and fall and rise again of Quincy Jones is a fascinating story.

MUSIC MERGERS: This syndrome that has overtaken record companies in the last 10 years has really stymied the creative process of the artist and therefore crushed good bands or has driven them back to the "underground" There was a time when record companies were privately held, leaving stockholders out of the picture (also leaving out the now-coveted "bottom line"), and letting bands develop in a natural stride that brought great music out that we now take for granted.

For instance, if U2 were a new band now and were just coming out with "Boy" (their first record, which only sold maybe 80,000 copies at the time), they would be dropped from the label and written off as a loss. Four albums later brought "The Joshua Tree," and U2 became a household name. If you are a new band now and don't sell a million records on your freshman effort, you are gone. This creates a situation where stale pop now rules the airwaves. Hey, it sells and creates a great bottom line. Commerce and true art don't mix.

FOOD HISTORY: On a recent European tour, I strolled up to an ancient church in Vienna on a rare day off. Going inside, I was stunned at the magnificence of this Gothic giant piece of architecture. As luck would have it, an English-speaking tour was passing by ... so I joined in.

As it turns out, construction on this church started in 1162, only to be stopped in the 1200s because the Ottomans were coming. Construction was then started on a wall around the city to protect it from the oncoming Turks. This is where they were finally defeated on their quest to conquer Europe. The people of Vienna ventured out to the Turkish camps (now empty) and found a new delicacy called coffee. The bakers in town celebrated by brewing this new hot drink and fashioning bread rolls in the shape of their defeated enemies' flag emblem ... to this day, still the crescent roll. And all this time we thought they were French!