By the Sword

Album: Slash (2010)
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Songfacts®:

  • This song is the first single from British/American musician Slash's self-titled debut solo album. It features the vocals of Wolfmother guitarist and singer Andrew Stockdale. When asked by BBC's Newsbeat how the collaboration with Slash came about, the Australian rocker replied, "At the start of the year Slash contacted my manager and asked if I was interested in singing on his record. Maybe because I've got that old-school delivery it matches what he was trying to do." He added: "He [Slash] is an iconic figure in rock 'n' roll history. I thought, 'It's an honour.'"
  • Slash told his side of the story to Musicradar: "Andrew's phenomenal singer but I'd never met him before so I didn't know who to f---ing contact! And a friend of mine – Tom Zutaut, the guy that signed Guns N' Roses to Geffen back in the '80s - got his number for me.

    Andrew happened to be in Hollywood working on Cosmic Egg, so I took an acoustic over there and we wrote the song together. I had this riff and a couple of chord changes and he changed a couple of chords for the chorus, it was just very organic. It's a very cool song."
  • The song was debuted by Stockdale and Slash at the former Guns N' Roses guitarist's benefit concert for homeless kids at LA's Avalon Theatre on November 22, 2009.

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