“Slash says, ‘You got the gig. Learn the whole catalog.’ I was like, ‘Don’t you have a set of songs?’ Slash goes, ‘There’s no setlist. Axl just calls ’em out’”: How Gilby Clarke got the Guns N’ Roses gig – and learned the band’s back catalog in a week

In the early ‘90s, Guns N’ Roses underwent a personnel change that saw the departure of electric guitar player Izzy Stradlin. As such, Slash and co – who were in the midst of the Use Your Illusion tour at the time – were in need of a new guitarist who could hold down the Guns rhythm slot for the foreseeable future.

In 1991, Stradlin was formally replaced by Gilby Clarke, who would serve as Slash's right-hand man for a three-year period that saw him close out the Use Your Illusion tour and feature on 1993’s The Spaghetti Incident?.

Speaking in a new interview with Guitar World, Clarke reflected on his whirlwind Guns N’ Roses career, recalling how he ultimately ended up landing the role as Slash’s sideman.

And his audition – as they so often are in such rock ‘n’ roll circumstances – turned out to be a rather stressful affair. Why? Well, such was the hurry with sourcing Stradlin’s replacement, he didn’t even have time to learn the songs.

After receiving a surprise call from Slash himself, who mooted Clarke for an audition, the guitarist then set about squeezing the slot into his hectic schedule – a schedule that didn’t grant him time to properly get to grips with any Guns N’ Roses material.

“I was working a night gig doing sound around town at small clubs, and I had zero time because Slash wanted me to come down the next day,” Clarke recalled. “So, I had no time to learn the songs and was literally in my car listening to them on the way to the audition. 

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“Luckily, they chose three easy ones and had me return the next day. I heard nothing after that, and then a friend said he got a call from Slash to come down, so I thought, 'Okay, I guess I'm not getting the gig.'” 

Fortunately, Clarke was indeed offered the job a few days later, but if he thought his audition required a quick turnaround, he had another thing coming. As it turned out, Guns N’ Roses had a hectic touring schedule meticulously planned out, so Clarke had to learn the entire GNR back catalog before hitting the road.

“Slash calls and says, 'You got the gig. We leave next week. Learn the whole catalog.'” Clarke continued. “I was like, 'What? The whole fucking catalog? Don't you have a set of 20 or 25 songs?' Slash goes, 'There's no setlist. Axl just calls 'em out, so you gotta know the whole catalog.’

“So, I had one week to learn 50 fucking songs; I was glued to my cassette player. I walked out on stage for my first show with no cheat sheets and having learned all these new songs in one fucking week.”

Clarke evidently did his job as any top professional would, and was able to keep up with the Use Your Illusion tour’s manic schedule. In fact, at the time, the two-plus year event was not only the band’s longest tour, but also one of the longest tours in rock history: 194 shows in 27 countries.

Head over to our full interview with Clarke to read how the guitarist’s time with Guns N’ Roses eventually came to an end.