Met Grover Jackson Yesterday At NAMM
Posted: Mon Jan 28, 2013 4:57 am
Hi All,
I went to the annual winter NAMM Show yesterday in Anaheim. Lots of fun stuff, per usual. (No Vinnie guitars this year, unfortunately.)
I had an opportunity to meet and briefly chat with the legendary Grover Jackson, who was exhibiting his new GJ2 Guitars line. I introduced myself, made some small talk and then moved into the direction of talking about Vinnie. Of course, I was a little nervous because I wasn't sure how he would react to talking about Vinnie. But I found Grover to be very nice and willing to talk. He had nothing but good things to say about Vinnie, from a musician standpoint, labeling him as one of the "most talented individuals I ever worked with." As we talked about his tenure with KISS, he said that Vinnie wanted the recognition with KISS "now" and that when he didn't get it immediately, the egos of Paul and Gene and Vinnie were like "oil and water." He then said that he liked Bruce Kulick and his playing, but KISS "lost" a lot when Vinnie left. He also said that he did not like Vinnie's playing in the Invasion, and said that Vinnie was "trying to be the next Yngwie."
That's about the gist of the conversation. It was fairly short, but again Grover was extremely nice. It was a pleasure to meet him, and I also thanked him for his pioneering guitar work. (I am proud owner of two Jackson guitars, and have played more over the years.) The good news is that Grover agreed to do an interview for KissFAQ, in which we will talk guitars, Vinnie and the late Mark St. John. So look for that in the coming months.
For those interested, I wrote a brief recap of my day at NAMM for KissFAQ:
http://www.kissfaq.com/forum11/viewtopi ... 38&t=83646
And also, a bit of a tease, in the next coming months we will be celebrating the 25th anniversary of "All Systems Go."
I went to the annual winter NAMM Show yesterday in Anaheim. Lots of fun stuff, per usual. (No Vinnie guitars this year, unfortunately.)
I had an opportunity to meet and briefly chat with the legendary Grover Jackson, who was exhibiting his new GJ2 Guitars line. I introduced myself, made some small talk and then moved into the direction of talking about Vinnie. Of course, I was a little nervous because I wasn't sure how he would react to talking about Vinnie. But I found Grover to be very nice and willing to talk. He had nothing but good things to say about Vinnie, from a musician standpoint, labeling him as one of the "most talented individuals I ever worked with." As we talked about his tenure with KISS, he said that Vinnie wanted the recognition with KISS "now" and that when he didn't get it immediately, the egos of Paul and Gene and Vinnie were like "oil and water." He then said that he liked Bruce Kulick and his playing, but KISS "lost" a lot when Vinnie left. He also said that he did not like Vinnie's playing in the Invasion, and said that Vinnie was "trying to be the next Yngwie."
That's about the gist of the conversation. It was fairly short, but again Grover was extremely nice. It was a pleasure to meet him, and I also thanked him for his pioneering guitar work. (I am proud owner of two Jackson guitars, and have played more over the years.) The good news is that Grover agreed to do an interview for KissFAQ, in which we will talk guitars, Vinnie and the late Mark St. John. So look for that in the coming months.
For those interested, I wrote a brief recap of my day at NAMM for KissFAQ:
http://www.kissfaq.com/forum11/viewtopi ... 38&t=83646
And also, a bit of a tease, in the next coming months we will be celebrating the 25th anniversary of "All Systems Go."
