Brett Downs birthday is today. Here's his compilation video from the last year of riding. There were a few "WTF did he just do?" moments in this for me. Thanks for the inspiration to ride, Brett.
Since about the time I turned 50, 5 years ago, I've been telling friends: At age 50 we stop aging, from now on we Level Up, like in a video game. Welcome to Level 50, extra man (or woman) added, rage accordingly. Brett live what I say. Props man!
Saul Hudson was born in July, 1965. He's a year older than myself, or Dennis McCoy, to put him in a BMX perspective. But he's known to all of us as Slash the legendary guitar player. About 4:00 minutes into this 131 minute documentary he talks about his time as a BMXer.
Yes, he was a BMXer, and he could JUMP. He got seriously into it around ages 12-13, while living in the Laurel Canyon area of L.A., between Hollywood and The Valley. Both of his parents were involved in the music industry, so he grew up around known musicians and industry people. There's one photo of Slash jumping in the documentary above that I've never seen before. You'll have to watch it to see it.
In the documentary above, he gets into his BMX riding about 4:00 minutes in, right after a bit by Alice Cooper. It's a short bit, but he talks about how BMX was his thing until he got into guitars. There was an old BMX industry urban legend in the late 1980's that Slash and Duff (or someone) met while riding BMX bikes at a bank. It turns out that, Like many legends, there's some truth to that.
Slash was a BMXer, and Steven Adler was a skater at his junior high. Later in this doc they talk about Steven eating shit on his skateboard, and everyone ignoring him. Slash thought he might actually have been hurt, and walked over and said something like, "Dude, you OK?" That struck up a friendship, and they started hanging out. It was Steven who later showed him a guitar, which changed the direction of Slash's young life around age 14-15. Nearly a decade after meeting on bike and board, Slash was the lead guitarist, and Steven was the original drummer for Guns n' Roses. This doc also explains where the nickname Slash came from. Welcome to the jungle...
I watched this documentary last night, and while there's very little actual playing in it, it's really interesting if you're into Guns N' Roses, Slash's later bands, or music and guitars. Check it out if those things are up your alley.
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Brett Downs birthday is today. Here's his compilation video from the last year of riding. There were a few "WTF did he just do?...
