- Hillel Slovak
Infobox musical artist
Name = Hillel Slovak
Img_capt =
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Background = non_vocal_instrumentalist
Birth_name =
Alias = Slim
Slim Bob Billy
Huckleberry
Born = birth date|1962|4|13|mf=yHaifa ,Israel
Died = death date and age|1988|6|25|1962|4|13
Los Angeles,California , U.S.
Instrument =Guitar ,Talkbox
Genre =Alternative rock ,Funk rock ,Funk metal
Occupation =Musician ,Songwriter
Years_active = 1980 - 1988
Label = MCA,EMI
Associated_acts =Red Hot Chili Peppers What Is This?
URL = [http://www.redhotchilipeppers.com redhotchilipeppers.com]
Notable_instruments =Fender Stratocaster
Fender Telecaster
Gibson Les Paul Hillel Slovak ( _he. הלל סלובק ;
13 April ,1962 –June 25 ,1988 ) was an Israeli Americanguitarist . He was best known as being the original guitarist for the bandRed Hot Chili Peppers .Biography
Early years
Slovak was born in
Haifa ,Israel to Jewish parents; survivors of theHolocaust . His mother was of Polish and his father ofYugoslavia n descent. The family emigrated to the U.S. when Hillel was four. They settled inQueens ,New York , then in 1967 relocated toSouthern California . Slovak attended Bancroft Jr. High School inHollywood , where he met future bandmatesJack Irons and Michael "Flea" Balzary. The three then attended Fairfax High School. While at Fairfax, Slovak learned how to play guitar and he, Irons, and Balzary met future bandmateAnthony Kiedis . Slovak formed a band with Irons on drums and two other high school friends,Alain Johannes and Todd Strasman. They called their band Chain Reaction, then changed the name to Anthym after their first gig. Slovak became dissatisfied with Strasman's bass playing and eventually taught Balzary to play bass. Balzary quickly took over bass duties in Anthym.After graduating from high school, the band changed their name to
What Is This? Balzary left Anthym around this time to accept an offer of playing bass in the prominent L.A. punk band Fear. What Is This? continued on and performed many shows along theCalifornia coast.Red Hot Chili Peppers
One night, Kiedis' friend Gary Allen suggested that Kiedis, Slovak, and Balzary form a "one-off" band and open for his own band. For the gig, they enlisted Irons as their drummer and wrote the song "Out in LA". They dubbed themselves "Tony Flow and the Miraculously Majestic Masters of Mayhem". They were a hit with the club audience and the owner asked them to come back the next week.The band changed their name to
Red Hot Chili Peppers , and Kiedis began writing more lyrics. The lyrics would eventually become songs such as "Green Heaven" and "True Men Don't Kill Coyotes ". Over the course of the next six months, the Red Hot Chili Peppers played many shows in L.A. clubs and became something of an underground hit. They scored a record deal withEMI only six months after the band was formed, and were set to record their first album. Balzary left Fear to pursue the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Unfortunately, What Is This? had also gotten a record deal. Since Slovak considered the Chili Peppers to merely be a side project and not a serious commitment, he left them to concentrate on What Is This?During the recording of the second What Is This? album, Slovak became frustrated with the band. He contacted Balzary about rejoining the Red Hot Chili Peppers. This came at an opportune time, as Kiedis and Balzary were both dissatisfied with Slovak's replacement, Jack Sherman. After the culmination of the promotional tour for their first album, Sherman was fired and Slovak rejoined the band.
Slovak returned to the Chili Peppers for their second and third albums, "
Freaky Styley " and "The Uplift Mofo Party Plan ". The songs "Skinny Sweaty Man" and "No Chump Love Sucker" from the latter album were written about Slovak. He was nicknamed "Slim Bob Billy", "Slim", or "Huckleberry", and throughout the albums Kiedis calls him by these nicknames before he starts a guitar solo.Death
Slovak and Kiedis became addicted to
heroin early in their careers. During the European tour supporting "The Uplift Mofo Party Plan", suspicions of his drug problems began to haunt the band, and he was temporarily fired. Unfortunately, these suspicions came to public light when he relapsed, resulting in erratic behavior and botched performances.Slovak was found dead of a speedball overdose on
June 25 ,1988 , shortly after the band returned from the European tour. He is interred atMount Sinai Memorial Park Cemetery inHollywood Hills ,California .His last recording, a cover version of the
Jimi Hendrix song "Fire", would later appear in "Mother's Milk ".Remembrance
Slovak's work was one of the major contributing factors to the Red Hot Chili Peppers' early sound. He was also a huge influence on a young
John Frusciante , who would later replace him as guitarist in the band. Frusciante based a lot of his playing style on Slovak's work. The songs "Knock Me Down " (from "Mother's Milk ") and "My Lovely Man" (from "Blood Sugar Sex Magik ") were written as tributes to Hillel, as is "Dosed" from "By The Way ", and many others.Slovak's brother James recently started a site for sales of "Behind the Sun", a book featuring writings from his brother's diaries, paintings, and hand written notes from Kiedis and Balzary.
The Red Hot Chili Peppers also hosted a user-made music video contest for the song "Charlie" (from "
Stadium Arcadium ") in which the winning entry includes a dedication at the end, partially to Slovak.Discography
With What Is This?
*"Squeezed" – (1984)
*"What Is This?" – (1985)
*"3 Out of 5 Live " – (1985)With Red Hot Chili Peppers
*"Freaky Styley " – (1985)
*"The Uplift Mofo Party Plan " – (1987)
*"The Abbey Road E.P. " – (1988)
*"Mother's Milk " – (1989)
**Performs on only one track, "Fire"
*"What Hits!? " – (1992)
*"Out in L.A. " – (1994)
*"" – (1998)
*"The Best of the Red Hot Chili Peppers " – (1998)References
* cite book
last = Kiedis
first = Anthony
authorlink = Anthony Kiedis
coauthors = Sloman, Larry
title = Scar Tissue
publisher = Hyperion
date=October 6 ,2004
location =
pages =
url = http://www.amazon.com/dp/1401301010/
doi =
id = ISBN 1-4013-0101-0External links
* [http://www.crushgroove.com/ Official site for "Behind the Sun", a publication of Hillel's diaries]
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