“It wasn’t working”: the one guitarist Flea said never clicked with Red Hot Chili Peppers
Most bands have a period they’d rather forget, but the Red Hot Chili Peppers have had more than their share. Pinpointing the lowest point in their career is no easy task, but for a long time, the group and many of their fans pointed to 1995’s One Hot Minute. Their sixth album stands as their only record featuring former Jane’s Addiction guitarist Dave Navarro, who was brought in to fill the significant personal and musical void left by John Frusciante’s departure.
Frusciante was just 18 years old when he joined his favourite band in the wake of Hillel Slovak’s death. Despite his youth, his prodigious talent helped the Red Hot Chili Peppers navigate this incredibly dark period. With the addition of drummer Chad Smith, Frusciante brought a refined approach to their funk-rock sound, introducing more dynamism and a keen ear for melody. Their 1989 album Mother’s Milk was the first to feature the new lineup and marked a departure from their earlier, heavily rhythmic style. This shift set the stage for their 1991 global breakthrough, Blood Sugar Sex Magik, a crossover success that emphasised melody, epitomised by the timeless ballad ‘Under the Bridge’.
However, after that record, which thrust the band into the spotlight, Frusciante’s age started to show; he became deeply uncomfortable with fame and developed a secret heroin addiction. With the writing on the wall in a disastrous appearance on Saturday Night Live, wherein he brilliantly performed off-key to express his hatred of what his life had become, not long after, he quit the band following a Tokyo show. He flew back to Los Angeles and got lost in his ever-crippling addiction, living in squalor for years.
After trying out several replacements, including Arik Marshall, who played a few shows with the band, the Red Hot Chili Peppers eventually settled on Dave Navarro. Initially, they had invited him to join, but his struggles with drug issues prevented him from accepting at the time. Following their stint with Marshall and auditions with other players, Navarro informed them he was finally ready. On paper, he seemed like an exciting choice. Jane’s Addiction had mastered heavy grooves, and Navarro was one of the most highly regarded guitarists of his era, blending metal, psychedelia, and touches of folk into a powerful, elemental sound. His style was notably more muscular than John Frusciante’s choppy, melodic Stratocaster-driven approach.
While the band kicked off this new chapter positively, with a performance at Woodstock 1994 featuring early versions of some One Hot Minute songs, the wheels wouldn’t take long to fall off. Not only had Navarro and frontman Anthony Kiedis both developed heightened drug habits again, affecting inner-band relations and the creative process, but Navarro admitted he was not a fan of funk music or jamming, two things that were critical to Red Hot Chili Peppers. This meant something was fundamentally wrong.
The band had also gotten used to Frusciante’s rapid writing and ability to pull melodies seemingly out of the air to fit with Kiedis’ lyrics and vocal ideas. It wasn’t the same with Navarro, and due to his and Kiedis’ drug problems, bassist Flea was left to do a large chunk of writing.
As expected, when the album arrived, the band’s sound was different. Due to Navarro’s approach, the songs were heavier, darker, and, at points, more melancholic than anything they had ever done. Although receiving mixed reviews, it sold eight million copies and has since become a cult favourite. It took Red Hot Chili Peppers in a new direction, a welcome one from their somewhat rather one-dimensional funk rock.
In 1997, the band’s US tour was cancelled due to decaying relations, drug use, and Smith breaking his wrist. They played only three shows that year, and in April 1998, it was announced Navarro had left. Against all odds, his predecessor, Frusciante, returned from the brink to save them from oblivion as the idea of ending things started to arise.
Speaking to Guitar World in 2006, Flea recalled bringing Frusciante back in and explained how “it wasn’t working” with Navarro. Despite it being a risk, given Frusciante’s own addiction struggles, he said: “Well, I didn’t know. I didn’t care. With the band, I never thought ahead like that. But I knew that it wasn’t working with Dave [Navarro]. There were moments with Dave when it was really incredible. I’ve recently been going through some unreleased tracks from One Hot Minute, and they’re really fucking good.”
It proved to be a masterstroke. Frusciante had unfinished business with the band, and he showed that on 1999’s Californication. Following his arduous time in rehab, he knew this was the key to resetting his life. The band were refreshed, and the album remains their best-selling. One classic song even features lines about Navarro.
