Still Red Hot; Chili Peppers Rock On!

In a day when the full length record album or the CD have all but disappeared, and songs are bought more often individually than as collections, The Red Hot Chili Peppers are one of the few great rock bands still making great records in 2013. The impact they’ve had on music can be seen across the board - on MTV, at festivals and world tours, in record sales and election to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Two consistent elements in their success are front man Anthony Kiedis, and the legendary bass playing of Flea, who ranks at the top of the list of all time rock bassists.  Throughout their years, The Red Hot Chili Peppers have had four main guitar players who have influenced the band with their own unique styles – including rock, alternative, funk, psychedelic rock and jam rock.

Hillel Slovak
Original guitarist, Hillel Slovak, was born in Israel and relocated to Southern California, where he was exposed to hard rock guitar players like Jimi Hendrix, Jimmy Page, Carlos Santana, Ace Freely and endless 70’s funk guitarists. His hard-playing funk style, most-often scripted on a 1972 vintage Fender Stratocaster, was the main factor in creating the original Chili Peppers sound. His style evolved to include elements of punk rock, speed metal and reggae, and incorporated psychedelic effects with emphasis on melody.

Slovak played a major role in earning the Chili Peppers acclaim throughout the music industry and across the world with two killer records, Freaky Style and The Uplift Mofo Party Plan. “Freaky” was produced by George Clinton and was an assemblage of funk that echoes Parliament Funkadelic style. Its punk rock attitude paved the way for a whole new type of funk that is still huge in alternative rock and hip-hop today. “Uplift” took the Peppers away from funk and shifted their focus to punk, jam and psychedelic rock. Slovak often experimented outside of funk with talk-boxes and even sitar, as heard on the immortal “Behind the Sun.” Throughout this period, a serious drug addiction got the best of him. To the great loss of music lovers everywhere, he was found dead on June 27, 1988.

John Frusciante

About a year before Slovak died, a young teenage guitarist by the name of John Frusciante became obsessed with Slovak’s playing and became the band’s biggest fan. He was an acquaintance of Slovak’s and spoke with him often about playing shows and how it felt from the audience. His first Chili Peppers show had been at age 15, and by that time he had already auditioned with Frank Zappa. When Frusciante met Anthony Kiedis outside a show, Kiedis knew that when the time came, John was the obvious choice to join the band. John had been involved in the L.A. Punk scene, listening to The Germs and The Dead Kennedys, and then elevating his playing to the styles of Jeff Beck, Page, David Gilmour and Hendrix. He had not previously played much funk, but quickly mimicked Slovak’s styles. The funk evolved immediately after mixing up his playing with Flea’s bass lines.

John first played on “Mother’s Milk” in 1989. Immediately, there was more emphasis on melody vs. rhythm.  A cover of Stevie Wonder’s “Higher Ground” took off on MTV and the Chili Peppers were Rock Gods.  Rick Rubin was hired to produce their next record. A studio was set up in a haunted house in L.A. and over a few months the band recorded one of the greatest records in the history of Rock. “Blood, Sugar, Sex, Magic” was released in 1991. It is a collection of every type of music and every emotion.  Band members’ experiences bottled up from 4 lifetimes of positive vibes mixed with 4 lifetimes of tragedy. The result was a creation of excellence that rarely appears in any one musician’s lifetime. Frusciante contributed more than any other member on this masterpiece with his vintage Fender Stratocaster, using a different style on every song. Blindsided by his newfound fame, Frusciante left the band in 1992.

  Dave Navarro
After using fill-in players to wrap up their tour, the Peppers hired former Jane’s Addiction guitarist, Dave Navarro, and in 1995 recorded the highly underrated album “One Hot Minute.” Navarro’s contributions during this time are often overlooked, as are his lifetime achievements. During his Chili Peppers days, Navarro often played Parker Fly Guitars and a vintage Fender Stratocaster.

In 1998, John Frusciante returned to the band and created a massive songwriting comeback. “Californication,” “By the Way” and “Stadium Arcadium” all achieved the highest possible success. In 2007, the band added a second “touring” guitarist, Josh Klinghoffer, who was a long time associate of Frusciante.

Josh KlinghofferIn 2008, Frusciante quit the band for a final time and was replaced full-time by Josh  Klinghoffer who wrote, collaborated and toured with the band, ultimately releasing “I’m With You” in 2011. Josh succeeded in stepping in to the guitar and song writing role in the band seamlessly. His playing style, which mimics Frusciante and Slovak at times, has added new life to the band. Klinghoffer has quickly bought up a large collection of vintage guitars, favoring vintage Fender Stratocasters and vintage Fender Telecasters. He has also been seen with some extremely rare 12 strings such as a vintage Fender Coronado and an ultra rare 12 String Gibson Firebird.

Still RockingRarely, in the history of Rock Music, has one band experienced as much success as the Peppers. To have four notable players on board in that time span is an unbelievable feat. And today, they’re still red hot. 

The Ibanez Destroyer

The Ibanez Destroyer

Imitation is The Surest Form of Flattery. And Lawsuits!

When you hear the name” Ibanez Destroyer” a lot of famous players come to mind. So does the word “lawsuit”. Here’s why. In (date?), a Californian named Hosino bought a small Spanish guitar company called “Ibanez”. He moved the company toJapanand began to make copies of famous Gibson, Fender and Rickenbacker models. They were great copies, and were very affordable. Among the copies was the Ibanez Destroyer, created in 1976 as a copy of the 1958 Gibson Explorer. The major difference between the two was that the Destroyer was made of Ash, and the Explorer was made of Korina. (The idea of copying another model is not unlike the Epiphones and Squires of today.) The real difference between the two was that the Ibanez copies were not licensed. This, of course, left them open to lawsuits. In 1977, Gibson was the first to file suit claiming trademark infringement, specifically for the head stock designs and logos on all the copied Gibson models. Hoshino settled out of court in early 1978 and the case was officially closed.

The Copies that Became Classics

The initial pre-lawsuit line of Ibanez Guitars produced some classics, but none more famous than the original Destroyer. The most famous user of this model is by far Edward Van Halen who used Destroyers live in L.A.clubs pre-VH, in the studio on the first three Van Halen records and most famously on the front album photo of the 3rd record, Van Halen’s “Woman and Children First.” And Eddie was not the exclusive rocker of the day to play a “Lawsuit” Destroyer. Ace Freeley played one during the “Kiss Alive” era of the mid to late 70s, and is said to have used one in studio on the original “Black Diamond” tracks.

Life Beyond Lawsuit

After the Ibanez out-of-court settlement, a whole new line of Ibanez Guitars were developed, including two new designer models. First, the “Ibanez Iceman” was a radical new design, immediately embraced by Steve Miller and Paul Stanley of Kiss. The second innovative new model was an all new Destroyer II, with a new headstock and a modified body shape. The new Destroyers earned immediate fame with two metal bands that had a new ground breaking sound in theUSat the time – the “New Wave of Heavy Metal” from the UK’s Def Leppard and Iron Maiden. At the time, Iron Maiden had just wrapped up “The Number of the Beast,” which went on to become one of the most legendary metal albums of all time. Rhythm guitarist, Adrian Smith, not only played the guitar, but openly endorsed it in some famous advertisements from the time in Guitar Magazines. The Destroyer’s second high visibility endorser was Phil Collen of Def Leppard. After replacing Pete Willis following the “High ‘n Dry” record, Collen recorded the pop-metal masterpiece of the generation, “Pyromania”. Collen’s Destroyer, customized to include a third pickup and a Kahler Tremelo, was soon available as a production model. Following its time in the spotlight in the 80’s, the Ibanez Destroyer largely maintained its popularity. With its unique history, and the fact that it went out of production in Japan in 1998, and ceased subsequent production in Korea, the Destroyer is now a highly collectible vintage guitar.