The rock legend Alice Cooper called an “auxiliary guitarist”
Alice Cooper is one of the most recognisable faces in rock music. The jewellery, his long black hair, snake and recognisable vocals make for an excellent watch. Any kind of lover of rock music will see everything they adore about the genre in Alice Cooper. His flamboyancy and attitude represent everything that the genre stands for, and the excellent range of guitarists he has worked with only enhance his standing in rock.
Cooper had a huge respect for the electric guitar. Like most rock fans, he saw the guitar as the forefront of the genre. While he was strictly a singer, all his songs had piercing guitar riffs and solos, which helped bring his songs to life and give them the perfect edge necessary for an artist like Cooper.
Given he loved his flamboyancy, it’s hardly a surprise that he was a big fan of Jeff Beck and his exceptional stage presence. “Jeff Beck, they’re playing the song, he holds his guitar like this [upright, in one hand] and it’s feeding back,” recalled Cooper, “He’s talking to somebody, he’s like 19 years old, and while he’s talking, he’s dropping the guitar and doing triplets. Perfect triplets. And then, he catches it right on the last note, where it’s feeding back, and we went, ‘What? That’s impossible!’”
While Cooper loved Beck’s playing style, it wasn’t a perfect match for the kind of music he made. Cooper’s style was a bit darker and slightly more gothic. While he worked with a number of different instrumentalists, one of his favourites to team up with was Slash, as they had styles that complemented each other perfectly.
It wasn’t just their identical long black hair that made them good partners, but their musical styles lined up. They had enough in common that when Alice Cooper went on tour, he took Guns N’ Roses with him. The flamboyant and exaggerated rock music they made came together for a big night of rock that fans everywhere loved. It also cemented their friendship, seeing Cooper and Slash work together on multiple occasions.
One of the biggest tracks they made was ‘Vengeance Is Mine’ a slow and gritty number which is riddled with Slash’s infectious guitar solos. “He’s my auxiliary guitarist,” said Cooper when talking about the Guns N’ Roses lead, “I took Guns N’ Roses on their first tour in 1984, so he’s always been like my boy.”
Another of their biggest hits together was 2010’s iconic single ‘Baby Can’t Drive’, which showed how well the two of them could work with modern artists and old rockers. Cooper had a hand with the vocals, as Nicole Scherzinger also helped out, matching Cooper word for word with her exceptional, rock-fuelled delivery.
Partnerships are important when it comes to having an elongated career in rock music, as Cooper and Slash found. They didn’t work together constantly, but when they did it was an eagerly anticipated song.
