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- AgesOfTheIce
- Rep: 10
Re: Who wrote Oklahoma?
Axl said it was inspired by a 1995 court date, though that doesn't necessarily mean it was written then. However, Dave Dominguez says it was written by the time they got to the studio, as in 1998 or so. It seems it was still an instrumental as of late 1999/early 2000, though it's inclusion on the 2001 HOB setlist indicates lyrics were added at some point in between. In 1996 Axl started playing rhythm guitar on GNR stuff, Slash said they were working mostly on Axl's material and described Axl's guitar sound as "synthetic". Is it possible Slash wrote the aggressive parts and Axl the softer, more atmospheric notes?
Re: Who wrote Oklahoma?
Unfortunately we may never know the origins of the track. The waters are so muddy for that time period.
All I know is it's one of the best songs from those sessions and should've been immediately A listed and never dropped down a notch.
Edit
Im also in the minority who believe it originates from the 95-96 sessions.
- FlashFlood
- Rep: 55
Re: Who wrote Oklahoma?
Axl claims he wrote it after the OKC bombing. Probably a Loder or Rolling Stone article.
Re: Who wrote Oklahoma?
"[Oklahoma] was inspired by a court date with ex-wife Erin Everly. 'I was sitting in my litigation with my ex-wife, and it was the day after the bombing, [April 20th, 1995]' Rose remembers with a wince. 'We had a break, and I'm sitting with my attorneys with a sort of smile on my face, more like a nervous thing - it was like, 'Forgive me, people, I'm having trouble taking this seriously.' It's just ironic that we're sitting there and this person is spewing all kinds of things and 168 people just got killed. And this person I'm sitting there with, she don't care. Obliterating me is their goal.'" (Axl, Rolling Stone, 2000)
"As the far as the songs go: 'Oklahoma' was pretty much written by the time they got to the studio. Axl wrote that with inspiration from the Oklahoma City bombing (more as a tribute to those who died, if I'm not mistaken). [...] (Dave Dominguez, Sp1at, 02/07/05)
[...] Song after song combines the edgy hard rock force and pop smarts of vintage Guns N Roses with surprisingly modern and ambitious music textures. In addition to the album's almost grungy title track, tentative song titles include 'Catcher in the Rye,' 'I.R.S,' 'The Blues', [...] 'Oklahoma' - heard tonight only as an instrumental, [...] and 'TWAT,' which he says stands for 'there was a time.'" (Rolling Stone, 01/00)
Q:-What's a Riad/Bedouin and can you clarify for the last time if the song is Oklahoma or not?
A: Another one step at a time question! It’s not Oklahoma which later became Berlin and subject to change. (Axl Rose, chinesedemocracy.com, Dec. 2008)
- metallex78
- Rep: 194
Re: Who wrote Oklahoma?
Has anyone actually even heard Oklahoma? And we’ve got a thread asking who wrote it when we haven’t heard it yet...
Only in the land of GN’R...
Re: Who wrote Oklahoma?
Has anyone actually even heard Oklahoma? And we’ve got a thread asking who wrote it when we haven’t heard it yet...
Only in the land of GN’R...
We heard the instrumental last year. No Axl, but I mean you can tell it's a kick ass guitar driven track.
It's exactly what an updated GNR might have sounded like in 96. Hence the thought that maybe it actually is.
- metallex78
- Rep: 194
Re: Who wrote Oklahoma?
metallex78 wrote:Has anyone actually even heard Oklahoma? And we’ve got a thread asking who wrote it when we haven’t heard it yet...
Only in the land of GN’R...
We heard the instrumental last year. No Axl, but I mean you can tell it's a kick ass guitar driven track.
It's exactly what an updated GNR might have sounded like in 96. Hence the thought that maybe it actually is.
I must’ve missed that one amongst the leaks. Anyone care to hook me up?
Re: Who wrote Oklahoma?
Here's an interesting quote for those who believe some of the Village Sessions originated before the CD era officially kicked off.....
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"You played in a rather bizarre version of Guns n Roses in the mid-90s - Sid Riggs was on drums I believe, who else was involved? Paul Tobias?
KB: Well now, keep in mind Sid and I were recording on demos. Paul was involved. If you talk to him, tell him to call me too. He’s a great guy. As for the recordings, across the mixer were such people as Slash, Zakk, Matt, Duff, Dizzy, and a host of others. We were all a part of putting tracks down on the demos. So, it was never a "version" of the band. It was fun though... The only time I really talked to [Axl] was up at that particular Halloween party at his house. He was never there when I was doing any playing. He told me he liked the bass parts and asked if I was getting paid on time, gotta love that. " (Krys Baratto, Sp1at, 04/15/05)
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Absolutely bizarre. A huge revolving door WHILE Slash, Duff, and Matt were still in the band.
Since at least some version of Oklahoma existed, even if incredibly basic( like Soundgarden's Lemon Days, first demo of Fell On Black Days) in 1994....its possible (likely) that this revolving door of musicians worked on it...even if only fleshing it out in a jam session.
This would be 1994-96.
Zakk was jamming with GNR in 1995.
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We have been doing mostly Axl's material. (Slash chat, 10/16/96)
We are working on rock songs that last only 4 minutes (laughs). We already did 7 songs and we will write 7 others. (Matt, 09/23/96)
The songs are really good, and I have a good vibe about it. (Slash, Kerrang, 09/21/96)
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7 songs that are 4 minutes in length?
Matt... would one of those happen to be Oklahoma which clocks in at 4:21?
