Monday
Jan132020
Another L.A. Guns Legal Battle
Monday, January 13, 2020 at 07:41AM
Tracii Guns and Phil Lewis are suing Steve Riley over the use of the L.A. Guns name and logo. I wondered when this would happen. With Tracii and Phil going gangbusters as a band again, it was only a matter of time. I suspect Tracii and Phil will win this one, but who knows. Watch this space.
TRACII GUNS, PHIL LEWIS Sue STEVE RILEY Over Usage Of L.A. GUNS Moniker https://t.co/nImwjDrM3o pic.twitter.com/k0FLCG4Lpo
— BLABBERMOUTH.NET (@BLABBERMOUTHNET) January 12, 2020
Reader Comments (11)
I have it on good authority from someone who knows Nichols, he wanted to rejoin them but they didn’t want to pay him enough to make it worth his while.
On a side note, I was just looking at this photo and realized, man, Guns must be really short!
I saw the classic line-up L.A. Guns 5 times from ‘87 to ‘89 in clubs (point blank, naturally), the first time in L.A., then subsequently, twice in Pasadena, Maryland and twice in NYC. and didn’t notice.
Why do I say this? I met Phil Lewis on The Monsters of Rock Cruise and noted he was short when I shook his hand. Not that it means anything, just sayin’.
Having 2 versions of any band on tour sucks no matter what. It's kind of known by this point, buyer beware.
Having 2 versions of a band releasing albums is a nightmare, especially in the streaming and social media age.
I don't think that I am in the minority when I say that personalities aside, releasing an L.A. Guns album which includes no participation from Tracii Guns AND Phil Lewis is completely pointless.
Kelly Nickels had some writing credits on the first few albums; I do not believe that Steve Riley wrote anything (he certainly did not play on S/T or Vicious Circle).
Can the other guys in that band write songs.. well who cares, really.
If Kelly has a bunch of badass LAG-type songs in the vault, he should definitely go ahead and record them, but call it something else for everyone's sake. They were prepared to call the band "L.A. Nickels" back in '92 when Tracii left LAG to do Killing Machine....
p.s. Though I recently sold almost ALL of my 6,500 CDs, I did manage to hold onto a mint Japanese import (with OBI) of “Killing Machine”, more as a curio than anything else, though it’s also because, as you would expect from Guns, the album possesses some seriously shredding guitar solos.
Do I assume a lot here? Yup. Is it possible that Lewis and Guns broke bread, hugged it out, and realized . . . that Riley was a snake? Sure. Or was it that no one was putting enough into the band, so it fell on Riley to keep the ship floating until Lewis saw better days switching back to the person he had suggested was beneath him? Also possible.
But it is beyond reasonable to suggest that _all_ of them created this mess. Riley and Nickels have a right to have their cake (and the fact that Nickels was willing to work with Riley is a curious thing, given that he seemingly didn't need to do so). So, too, Lewis and Guns. I assume most prefer the latter. But the latter must have gotten a bit mad that the former stirred up at least a little interest. And, really, any version of LA Guns stirs up limited interest. They didn't necessarily rise to the occasion when they were a cohesive unit.
So I see this as a legal way to cannibalize their own limited legacy. You have the voice and the guitar. What I will love to find out is: do you have the standing to cut out the other two? And, even if you do, you won't likely rise above the club level. So you gain . . . what?
Ahhh . . . control. But, again, of what? They all might want to email the members, past and current, of Ryche and Great White to ask how things are going.
But he was asked to perform at M3, and it went over well (or better than a lot of people thought). He is also partial owner of the trademark, correct? So isn't it his legal right to do what he pleases? I know, I know. This lawsuit will settle that issue, as Guns alleges a lot of past-fact reasons--embezzlement, misappropriation, etc.--why Riley should no longer be allowed to continue to use the name. Retrospective-sense-making is a fine and clear thing, esp. when you are now besties with a person who used to be in the other camp. And Guns' attempts to mitigate Riley's involvement in the band, when he was and was not in the same band, are very interesting.
Thing is, according to the some sources that list parts of the complaint, past illegalities aren't the only reason for this lawsuit. No, this is also a suit about the current status of the band (of besties and their employees). As Blabbermouth notes:
"The Tracii Guns version of L.A. GUNS is the real version of the band in the public's mind," the complaint claims. "When the public goes to see L.A. GUNS or thinks they are going to see L.A. GUNS, they go to see the band containing its namesake... and they go to hear the signature voice of Lewis, who recorded the lead vocals on nearly every L.A. GUNS album. They do not go to hear Riley, a drummer who, though [he] admittedly played on a number of L.A. GUNS albums, is neither the face nor the sound of L.A. GUNS."
Which is partially the point you made, Dj. And, like I said, I get it. But, again, as I said in my first post, I think a lot of the blame deserves to be spread around to all the parties involved, Guns included. So, again, check with Ryche and Great White to see how these things get settled (though the facts differ, natch).
One final thing, Dj. I think you are likely right. Riley is probably a bit lazy. But I also think Guns doesn't have a great memory. Hopefully, both of them will remember the judgment in this lawsuit. And most of the world will yawn. You fight over crumbs when there is little bread left on the table.
To be clear, I have no dog in this fight. I would go see either version and probably enjoy myself. I just find these late-stage machinations interesting. So I follow them. And I mean no animus to those who truly and deeply love LA Guns, in whatever form.