You are not logged in. Please register or login.
- Topics: Active | Unanswered
Re: Jimmy Ashhurst (Ju Ju Hounds) Interview
My friend Michael has posted the first half of his recent interview with Ju Ju Hounds bassist (now Buckcherry bassist) at his site izzyontour.com. Jimmy discusses his time in the Ju Ju Hounds 
Q: The first Ju Ju Hounds show took place at The Avalon club in Chicago (09.23.1992). What do You remember about this show. Did you and the other guys feel a little bit nervous?
Jimmy Ashhurst: Well, sure we were a bit nervous considering the fact that there were lots of eyes and ears on us at the time - all curious to see what Izzy was going to come up with after quitting GnR. We were already in Chicago by then, I think. We had finished recording the album there after leaving Los Angeles because of the riots that were going on at the time. Izzy was thinking about using Chicago as home base for the band since he had a house nearby in Indiana. Charlie lightened the mood by showing up in the van wearing some funny- lookin Moroccan slippers...y'know, the kind that have the toes that curl up in the front? Nice. As far as the show is concerned, I remember it being pretty sloppy. I think we played all the songs super-fast partly because of the adrenaline I'm sure...but we at least got the "first show jitters" outta the way.
Q: How did you come up with the idea to get Rick and Chalo into the band, why them?
J.A.: In Rick's case my former band The Broken Homes had toured and become great friends with his band The Georgia Satellites over the years prior to putting the JuJu Hounds together. I knew Izzy was a big fan of the Satellites and more specifically Rick's guitar playing, so when Izzy decided he wanted a great guitar player we started looking for someone who played like Rick. Of course, there is no one who plays like Rick so we ended up just calling Rick. Charlie I'd met a lot over time spent in and around Los Angeles and he was and is the best drummer I'd ever played with. Somehow he found out about the auditions and had my number from the time we used him for some Broken Homes shows, so he called one day. I'd known he was playing with Bob Dylan at the time so I never called him thinking there was no way he would have quit that gig. Turns out he called me - and he did quit Dylan's band...poor fucker.
Q: Shuffle It All was the biggest hit from the Ju Ju Hounds album. Could you tell us something about the writing process of this song? Where was it written?
J.A.: Wasn't it the ONLY hit? haha! As far as I can remember, it was written pretty much in a house Izzy had rented near the studio in Redondo Beach outside of Los Angeles. Izzy had some little ghetto recording rig set up and was in the next room when I started fucking around with the bass riff. He came in told me to push the record button before I forgot it, then walked off somewhere. When we moved the whole thing to Chicago I'd still not forgotten it and Izzy had the tape so that's when it all came together - especially Rick's guitar parts which are nothing short of amazing on that track. It was one of those songs that when it finally came together we knew we had something pretty cool right away.
Q: What do You remember from the Ronnie Wood's party at A&M Studios and the recording sessions of the song Take a Look at the Guy, which took place at 4 a.m. after the party?
J.A.: Funny I was just thinkin about that night the other day. All this Phil Spector courtroom drama going on here in California reminded me of when he showed up at that party at A&M Studios in Hollywood. I watched him get out of an old, kinda fucked up looking grey Rolls Royce. That car that looked like it never really went anywhere anymore, but had at some point in the past been to all kinds of fabulous parties. Then it looked like it had just been sitting in a garage somewhere and gathering dust; kinda sad really - but not as sad as the two teenage blonde runaway looking girls who stepped out of it with Phil between them. It wasn't long after his arrival - an hour or so - that the shit hit the fan. I was sitting at a table with Ronnie and one of his people came up behind him and whispered something in his ear. Ronnie quickly got up and said "ah Christ, Phil's at it again" and walked off. Turns out Phil had pulled a revolver out of his shabby suit and started drunkenly waving it around and yelling. I never got close enough to hear what he was yelling about since two of Ronnie's guys hustled him out the door immediately. From what I understand, it wasn't the first time he'd pulled out a gun, and sadly it wasn't the last time either. I think the recording session was actually the following night. Izzy had convinced Ronnie to come down at the party and had arranged to pick him up at his manager Nick Cowan's house the following evening. I think we showed up at a reasonable hour like 8 or 9, only to find that Ronnie was nowhere near ready to go. In fact, he said he was in the middle of watching a film upstairs and asked if we would join him. Izzy and I were so anxious to finally get to record with Ronnie the last thing we wanted to do was sit through a movie, let alone the fact that the movie Ronnie was watching was "Spartacus" which is like 3 hours long! haha! Anyway it ended finally - after having to sit through all Ronnie's jokes during the movie - "I don't know which one's Spartacus, but he looks a lot like Kirk Douglasss - bahahahahaha!!!" et cetera....
Q: The lyrics of Cuttin' The Rug says "watch Jimmy dance, he's cuttin' the rug". So, were you the king of Chicago's clubs' dance floor?
J.A.: Uhh...no, I wasn't. I think it came from staying at the beautiful old Knickerbocker Hotel in Chicago. I think it was Izzy and me and Rick who were waiting on the elevator as there was some sort of wedding or dance going on in the lobby. I asked the guys if anyone was interested in "cutting a rug" with me. I was kidding, of course. The next day it showed up in a song we had been workin on but had no lyrics for yet. Now people think I'm some kind of Fred Astaire...thanks Izzy.
Q: Marc Ford plays guitar and slide guitar on Somebody Knockin' but he isn't credited in the album... why?
J.A.: Marc isn't credited because at the time he had just joined the Black Crowes. I think at that point he had just gotten back to town from Georgia where they had recorded "The Southern Harmony..." album. His relationship with those guys was still pretty new and neither he nor I were sure about how they would have reacted to Marc working on outside projects. I don't know if he had a contract or what, but it turns out we were all great friends and it probaly wouldn't have mattered if we had credited him. I'm just glad that now there are a few people who know it was him...great playing. One of my other great buddies and amazing players Craig Ross (Lenny Kravitz Band), who was in my first band The Broken Homes with me also played on a few tracks. Whenever I listen to that album I love trying to pick out the different guitar playing styles. I think just about all my favorite guitar players ended up on that album...doesn't happen every day.
...to be continued...
