Hollywood Vampires
Hollywood Vampires
Universal Music Enterprises
2015
L.A. has this classic rock club, the Rainbow Bar & Grill, that’s frequented by Rock and sometimes movie stars on a regular basis… one can find anyone from Lemmy to former members of Guns N Roses, should he enter… at any rate back in the early 70s the upstairs bar of that joing was indeed a gathering place for the rock stars living in or passing through L.A. In the drunken haze an unofficial “Club” was formulated an elite of people quite resilient or not very much so to drinking…
“To join the club, one simply had to out drink all of the members”, says Alice Cooper, a founding member of the Vampires. “I would walk in on a typical night”, Alice says, “and John Lennon, Harry Nilsson, Keith Moon – who would usually be in a costume like a maid or a chauffeur – Bernie Taupin, Jim Morrison and Mickey Dolenz would be there. The next week might be Bernie Taupin, Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison and Mickey Dolenz. You pretty much get the picture… those people would gather, get drunk and try to be merry, on occasion jamming together… not bad.
Some three years ago, Alice and good friend Johnny Depp got together and decided the spirit of the Hollywood Vampires should live again (minus the drinking). An environment for great artists to hang, laugh and play together. The Hollywood Vampires live again with the release of the “Hollywood Vampires” album. Alice and Johnny were joined by Joe Perry, who is an old friend of both of them and the recording began: a tribute to the original Hollywood Vampires.
For the next two years Alice, Joe and Johnny joined by producer Bob Ezrin and an amazing group of modern day vampires, including Perry Farrell, Dave Grohl, Sir Paul McCartney, Joe Walsh, Slash, Robbie Krieger, Zak Starkey, Brian Johnson and Kip Winger, recorded tracks by their dead friends and heroes. Also included are two original songs that tell the story of the Vampires, one of which, “Raise the Dead”, has an intro (“The Last Vampire”) narrated by Sir Christopher Lee, recorded just prior to his death.
Largely this is a covers album with some 1-2 medleys (again covers) and a couple of originals thrown in for good measure. This album ain’t too bad and the performances are expectedly all good but it doesn’t offer a whole lotta in the way of originality, although you can tell that it’s a labor of love… it comes in a nice faux leather-bound “book” style package, designed by big rock fan and fashion icon, John Varvatos with all artist proceeds being donated to MusiCares. What’s not to like?!
“To join the club, one simply had to out drink all of the members”, says Alice Cooper, a founding member of the Vampires. “I would walk in on a typical night”, Alice says, “and John Lennon, Harry Nilsson, Keith Moon – who would usually be in a costume like a maid or a chauffeur – Bernie Taupin, Jim Morrison and Mickey Dolenz would be there. The next week might be Bernie Taupin, Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison and Mickey Dolenz. You pretty much get the picture… those people would gather, get drunk and try to be merry, on occasion jamming together… not bad.
Some three years ago, Alice and good friend Johnny Depp got together and decided the spirit of the Hollywood Vampires should live again (minus the drinking). An environment for great artists to hang, laugh and play together. The Hollywood Vampires live again with the release of the “Hollywood Vampires” album. Alice and Johnny were joined by Joe Perry, who is an old friend of both of them and the recording began: a tribute to the original Hollywood Vampires.
For the next two years Alice, Joe and Johnny joined by producer Bob Ezrin and an amazing group of modern day vampires, including Perry Farrell, Dave Grohl, Sir Paul McCartney, Joe Walsh, Slash, Robbie Krieger, Zak Starkey, Brian Johnson and Kip Winger, recorded tracks by their dead friends and heroes. Also included are two original songs that tell the story of the Vampires, one of which, “Raise the Dead”, has an intro (“The Last Vampire”) narrated by Sir Christopher Lee, recorded just prior to his death.
Largely this is a covers album with some 1-2 medleys (again covers) and a couple of originals thrown in for good measure. This album ain’t too bad and the performances are expectedly all good but it doesn’t offer a whole lotta in the way of originality, although you can tell that it’s a labor of love… it comes in a nice faux leather-bound “book” style package, designed by big rock fan and fashion icon, John Varvatos with all artist proceeds being donated to MusiCares. What’s not to like?!