Izzy Stradlin & The JuJu Hounds

Big fan of Izzy & JuJu Hounds first release, but lost track of the band after that but. I believe Izzy has released a bunch of albums since that first one w/ the JuJu Hounds. At the time of their release, were any of them available in brick & mortar (record) stores. Or were they sold exclusively via the interwebs?

Looking for recommendations on one or two of Izzy's albums, with or without the JuJu Hounds, similar in sound, vibe, content, etc. to his first album. (In the vein of early 70's Stones, first two Black Crowes, etc. releases.) At this time I'm not interested in any of Izzy's albums that are predominantly in the style of GnR? or punk rock.

TIA.

 

117°

 

It's too bad he didn't do more with the Ju Ju Hounds. That debut of his is a really great record.

 

for awhile Izzy was only releasing his albums on itunes. I like his acoustic album a lot. He released a song and video on youtube about a year or two ago and has been silent since then

 

Stradlin's tone, feel, and rhythm were the heart of G'n'R to these ears -- without his tight yet unpredictable playing (he would alternate between playing slightly ahead of and slightly behind Slash), Slash wouldn't have sounded as good as he did.

 

Ju Ju Hounds is my favourite Izzy album but there's decent material scattered among his other releases. 117° [1998] and River [2001] are both pretty good and are probably closest to the Ju Ju Hounds sound.
Some of his most recent releases are iTunes only and have no physical release. Some more before that (Ride On [1999] and On Down the Road [2002]) were only released in Japan.

I'd also recommend checking out the Live EP with the Ju Ju Hounds that only came out in Japan as well.

 

Anyone familiar with his solo work over the past 15 years can hear a lot of the classic GNR sound in the structure of the chords, melodies, song structure, etc. Izzy played a significant musical role in that band. It is too bad he is largely so reclusive because it would be nice to hear and see more of his music. He releases these under-the-radar things and rarely seems to hit the road or promote the music in any sort of significant way. He just sort of does what he wants, when he wants with little fanfare. He must have invested his GNR money well because he doesn't seem to need a music career to be an income-driven enterprise. It almost seems like a passionate hobby.

 

He's got more Gn'R writing credits than anyone but Axl. Dude is loaded.

 

I'm looking forward to hearing the GNR songs that have Izzy's writing contributions on them (Down by the Ocean and a few others)

 

Needles is my favorite Izzy song that came after the Ju Ju Hounds debut!

 

His guitar tone in "Shuffle It All" is one of the best I've ever heard.

 

Slash and Axl were out front but Izzy had the tunes. Of course that's not to diminish both Slash and Axl's contributions but chances are some of the better rocking GnR songs have Izzy all over them. He has shied away from the limelight for many years now, very content just doing what he wants when he wants..which ain't such a bad gig if you can get it.
In the interim he has stayed clean and sober and really turned his personal life around for the better. He's still earning some decent sized royalty checks I am sure so I wish him the best and hope he can continue doing what he loves for many more years.

 

slash should of joined izzy and got myles to sing.

 

Didn't Izzy bow out of what became Velvet Revolver? It seemed at the time that part of the reason was that the touring of a real band would make it hard to stay sober.

 

I don't think he was ever technically in the group. But my understanding was that as soon as a lead singer showed up, Izzy bailed. After the Axl experience, Izzy is completely soured on lead singers as a breed!

I never liked Velvet Revolver but I bet they'd have been pretty good with Izzy and his songs!

 

Yeah, Izzy bailed. I don't think he wants to be around that sort of lifestyle anymore.

 

"Shuffle It All" is the great lost song of the 90s in my view. The guitar, the bass line, Ian McLagan's Hammond B-3... doesn't get any better. It would've fit right in on Long Player or A Nod's As Good As a Wink, which is about the highest praise I can give a song.

 

Izzy was the writer. Axl was the wanna be. Still is.

 

The first album is great. I've heard everything he's done after but can't really think of one that's as good. I think 117 was the only other one that was even close. Not that the others are bad, just not quite as good.

He really has been MIA for the past couple years. Wish he would come out of his shell more as he's an excellent songwriter!

 

I have the first album on right now. Haven't played it in years. Thanks! The Ju Ju Hounds beats out quite a bit of the material included on the Use Your Illusion albums.

 

Not tryin to brag....er whatever but . My cousins went to high school with Jeff and Bill in Lafayette, IN. Really just regular kids and then....they took off to LA. Oh my god.....

 

And well deserved.

 

Lead guitarists, bass players & drummers are replaceable. It might take a few rounds to figure out the best guys for the gig, but adequate replacements are out there. Lead vocalists and songwriters can not be replaces.

I have no idea how many good* songs Axl brought to the band, but he had a great voice which will forever be identified with, and the only voice appropriate for GnR. However, at the end of the day it's the quality of a band's songs that give it credibility. Once Izzy split there were no great songwriters left in GnR - which ultimately means GnR's output of strong tracks ended when Izzy wrote his last tune for the Use Your Illusion albums.


*November Rain is a bloated piece of self-indulgent cr*p.

 

Izzy & Ju Ju Hounds was my first ever club show back in '92. I was 16 and got a fake ID just so I could go. It was awesome. Really great local supports (a 'hey! That's the guy from my record shop busting out killer guitar solos!' moment) every other support act I had seen at concerts sucked because they were always picked by the record labels.
Anyway Izzy and band got on after midnight and just killed it for 2 hours. My first experience of a band being 'the real deal'. Changed the way I looked at and thought about music forever.
I saw the bloated GnR line up at a raceway a few months later and I knew it was over for them without Izzy.
I bought 117* when it came out and was bitterly disappointed, except for the cover of Memphis Tennessee.

 

I actually like that album better than the Guns & Roses albums.