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West Arkeen

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
West Arkeen
Background information
Birth nameAaron West Arkeen
Also known asWest Arkeen
Born(1960-06-18)June 18, 1960
Neuilly-sur-Seine, France
OriginSan Diego, California
DiedMay 30, 1997(1997-05-30) (aged 36)
Los Angeles, California
GenresRock, hard rock, blues rock
Occupation(s)Musician, songwriter, record producer
InstrumentsGuitar, vocals
Years active1978-1997
LabelsReality Entertainment
Formerly ofGuns N' Roses, The Outpatience, Drunkfuxs, Duff McKagan, Brother Cane, Phantom Blue, Asphalt Ballet, Back Alley Sally, Femme Fatale

Aaron West Arkeen (June 18, 1960 – May 30, 1997) was an American musician best known for co-writing several Guns N' Roses songs.

Early life

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Aaron West Arkeen was born in Neuilly-sur-Seine, France. He was the son of Morris Arkeen, a retired U. S. Army Master Sergeant.[1] He grew up in San Diego, California, with his older brother, Abe.[1]

Arkeen suffered from craniosynostosis, a birth defect in which the skull grows irregularly, often constricting brain growth.[1] The condition required surgery, from which he fully recovered, but left an ear-to-ear scar over the crown of Arkeen's head.[1]

Arkeen's mother abandoned him after the surgery and was a non-factor in his life, contributing to his later substance abuse.[1]

Arkeen began playing guitar when he was 14 years old.[2] He took a single guitar lesson and was a self-taught musician.[2] He cited Elton John, John Lennon, Jimi Hendrix, Earth, Wind, and Fire, and Ted Nugent as musical influences from his youth.[2]

Arkeen worked briefly in the oil industry in East Texas and as a slot machine repairman in Las Vegas. In 1986, he relocated to Los Angeles, where he worked as a house painter for a day job while pursuing a music career.[2]

In an LA Weekly profile on Arkeen, Wendy Lou Gosse - his partner for nine years - described the couple "going to see bands at local clubs and bring friends back to jam and write, sometimes deep into the next day."[3]

Music career

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Arkeen befriended a group of musicians in Los Angeles, who would soon rise to international fame as Guns N' Roses.

Arkeen lived in an apartment next to Guns N' Roses bassist Duff McKagan.[4] He and McKagan formed a friendship and began writing songs together.[5] Though he was never a member of the band, the group's vocalist Axl Rose considered adding him as a third guitarist, primarily for his prolific songwriting abilities.[5]

Arkeen collaborated with Guns N' Roses members to co-write "It's So Easy," "Crash Diet," "Bad Obsession," "The Garden," "Sentimental Movie," and "Yesterdays."[6] Guns N' Roses traditionally opens its live performances with "It's So Easy."[7]

Arkeen also wrote "Make Your Play" and "Pressure" for Birmingham, Alabama band Brother Cane, as well as co-writing "My Misery" for Phantom Blue.

After working on other songs with the band for their double set Use Your Illusion I and II, Arkeen started his own project in 1995, The Outpatience. Featuring vocalist Mike Shotton, bassist James Hunting, guitarist Joey Hunting, drummer Abe Laboriel Jr. and keyboardist Gregg Buchwalter, the band released their debut album, Anxious Disease, in Japan in 1996. Axl Rose, Slash and Duff McKagan appear as guest artists and Izzy Stradlin co-wrote one of the songs.[5]

Izzy Stradlin and Duff McKagan are most closely associated with Arkeen. The trio played in The Drunkfuxs' side project together, and Arkeen co-wrote two of the songs on McKagan's debut solo record, Believe in Me.

Death

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On May 30, 1997 Arkeen was found dead in his Los Angeles home from a drug overdose with heroin, morphine, and cocaine in his system.[8]

Legacy and influence

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Duff McKagan credits Arkeen with teaching him about alternate tuning on guitar.[9] Slash stated that Arkeen was "the only one that always came through when any of us needed anything. For a long time, he literally was the only one we could trust."[10] Arkeen's bluesy style affected Guns N' Roses' songwriting style.[11] The Guns N' Roses album Live Era: '87-'93 was dedicated, in part, to his memory.[12]

Discography

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Year Artist Album Title(s)
1987 Guns N' Roses Appetite For Destruction "It's So Easy"
1991 Use Your Illusion I "Bad Obsession", "The Garden"
Use Your Illusion II "Yesterdays"
Asphalt Ballet Asphalt Ballet "Wasted Time"
1993 Asphalt Ballet Pigs "Crash Diet"
Brother Cane Brother Cane "Pressure", "Make Your Play"
Duff McKagan Believe in Me "Man in the Meadow", "Swamp Song", "Fuck You"
Phantom Blue Built to Perform "My Misery"
1996 The Outpatience Anxious Disease
2001 Adam Bomb New York Times "Anxiety"
2004 Wildside The Wasted Years "Crash Diet"
2015 The Seekers A World Of Our Own "The Seekers"

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e Wake, Matt (July 19, 2017). "The Unsung Songwriters Who Helped make Appetite for Destruction a Classic".
  2. ^ a b c d Wake, Matt (2017-07-19). "The Unsung Songwriters Who Helped Make Appetite for Destruction a Classic - LA Weekly". www.laweekly.com. Retrieved 2023-12-25.
  3. ^ Wake, Matt (July 19, 2017). "The Unsung Songwriters Who Helped Make Appetite For Destruction A Classic". L. A. Weekly. Retrieved July 19, 2017.
  4. ^ "West Arkeen: 14 Things You Might Not Know". iHeart. Retrieved 2023-12-25.
  5. ^ a b c Wake, Matt (July 19, 2017). "The Unsung Songwriters Who Helped Make Appetite for Destruction a Classic". LA Weekly. Retrieved April 19, 2017.
  6. ^ "Who wrote "Sentimental Movie" by Guns N' Roses?". Genius. Retrieved 2024-03-10.
  7. ^ "Guns N' Roses Boston Setlist – Fenway Park – Aug 21, 2023". JamBase. Retrieved 2023-12-25.
  8. ^ Ark Behavioral Health Editorial Team, Ark (August 15, 2023). "Ark Behavioral Health".
  9. ^ McKagan, Duff (2011). Stacy Creamer (ed.). It's so Easy (and other lies). Collaboration by Tim Mohr. Touchstone. p. 45. ISBN 978-1451606645.
  10. ^ Slash; Anthony Bozza (30 October 2007). Slash. HarperCollins. pp. unknown. ISBN 978-0-06-135142-6.
  11. ^ Wake, Matt (July 19, 2017). "The Unsung Songwriters That Made Appetite For Destruction A Classic". L. A. Weekly. Retrieved July 19, 2017.
  12. ^ Fricke, David (January 20, 2000). "Live Era '87-'93". RollingStone.
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