They weren’t the first band to rise out of the L.A. club scene, but they probably rose the highest.

And that’s no surprise, because hit rockers Guns N Roses grew out of two of the best known and most successful West Coast glam bands of their day.L.A. Guns took its name from lead guitarist Tracii Guns, and featured bass player Ole Beich and drummer Rob Gardner. In the early ‘80s the band made quite a splash on the Sunset Strip, with Guns as the central attraction.

Meanwhile, another L.A. band was making some noise. Hollywood Rose featured a talented and energetic singer named Axl Rose, and its lineup included a young guitar player named Izzy Stradlin.

In 1985, with both bands splintering, their two stars decided to join forces. Rose and Guns lent their name to the project, forming Guns N’ Roses. The lineup was rounded out by Stradlin on guitar, Beich on bass and Gardner on drums.

But GNR didn’t solidify until Beich was fired and replaced by Duff McKagan on bass, and Guns, who was increasingly at odds with his bandmates, left the group. The band then reached out to a guitar player named Saul Hudson, who had played with McKagan on another local band, Road Crew.

Hudson, who is better known by his stage name “Slash,” helped cement the lineup — despite one final change which saw Gardner quit and replaced by Slash friend Steven Adler on drums.

The rest, as they say, is history. Guns N’ Roses went on to rock superstardom, and pretty much ran the table until it slowly began to break apart in the 1990s. Although they never officially disbanded, the members of the early lineup left over the years, with the exception of Rose. McKagan was the last to go, leaving in 1997.

Slash and McKagan went on to a new successful career with Velvet Revolver, while Rose continues to front GNR with a new lineup — despite a lengthy break to record the band’s latest album, Chinese Democracy.

As for Hollywood Rose, some of the band’s songs were later released. But L.A. Guns has been the more successful of the two bands that spawned GNR.

Tracii Guns returned, and later left, the band, which has recorded 15 albums over the years, including five live releases.

(NOTE: This is part of an occasional Listening Room series I’ll be doing on noted rockers and where they came from. JF)

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