Earl Slick

All Music Guide:

Best-known as one of David Bowie's guitarists (during one of his most successful periods commercially -- the mid-'70s), Earl Slick has gone on to play on a variety of other projects before returning back to Bowie in the early 21st century. Slick (then only 22 years old), came out of virtually nowhere to serve as Bowie's first proper replacement for Mick Ronson after Bowie had spilt up the Spiders from Mars. Although Bowie supplied most of the guitar work for his hit 1974 release, Diamond Dogs, he sought the then-unknown Slick to replicate his and Ronson's previous guitar parts on tour. Not only did Slick duplicate them, but the incredibly versatile guitarist managed to expand on them and inject his own style into the tunes, resulting in one of the greatest rock guitar albums of all time (albeit usually woefully overlooked), David Live, recorded at a stop at the Tower Theater in Philadelphia. Slick remained with Bowie for his next two studio albums, which saw the singer transform into his "Thin White Duke" persona and take on the funk genre, resulting in the classic full-lengths Young Americans (1975) and the more experimental Station to Station (1976), as well as the hit singles "Fame" and "Golden Years."

Leaving Bowie's band just as the singer decided to pack his bags and relocate to Germany, Slick continued on as a "gun for hire," as he appeared on Leo Sayer's Top Ten 1976 release, Endless Flight (which spawned the schmaltz hits "When I Need You" and "You Make Me Feel Like Dancing"), ex-Mott the Hoople singer Ian Hunter's 1977 solo outing, Overnight Angels, and also releases by such obscure hard rock outfits as Bad Boy and Tonio K. Also during this time, Slick attempted briefly to launch a solo career, resulting in such releases as Razor Sharp and Earl Slick Band. Up next for Slick was one of the high points of his entire career -- working alongside John Lennon on what would become Lennon's final all-new studio recording, 1980's chart-topping Double Fantasy. After Lennon's death the same year, Slick returned to the studio with Lennon's widow, Yoko Ono, and appeared on what would become her highest-charting solo release, 1981's harrowing Season of Glass (Slick's guitar work would also appear on the posthumously released compilation of Lennon leftovers, 1984's Milk and Honey, as well as CD box sets for both Ono, 1992's Onobox, and Lennon, 1998's Anthology).

The early to mid-'80s saw Slick return briefly to Bowie's band (for the sold-out Serious Moonlight world tour in support of 1983's Let's Dance), and also virtually replacing Brian Setzer in the Stray Cats, as he joined up with ex-Cats Lee Rocker (bass) and Slim Jim Phantom (drums) in the trio Phantom, Rocker & Slick. The short-lived outfit issued a pair of moderately successful albums, 1985's Phantom, Rocker & Slick and 1986's Cover Girl, before disbanding. Slick would appear on other artists' releases throughout the late '80s/early '90s, although he took a break from the music biz to sort out his personal life (allegedly to kick a serious drug problem). Slick returned stronger than ever, as he founded his own record label, Slick Music Inc., which specializes in solo releases by Slick (2000's Lost and Found), as well as archival releases by other artists (Fanny, Kasim Sulton, etc.). In 2000, Slick accepted an offer to rejoin Bowie full-time, as he toured steadily with his previous employer and appeared on his 2002 studio effort, Heathen. David Bowie, The Cure's Robert Smith, Joe Elliott of Def Leppard and others joined him for Zig Zag, which appeared on Sanctuary in fall 2003.

Wikipedia:

Earl Slick (born Frank Madeloni in Staten Island, New York, 1 October 1952) is a guitarist best known for his collaborations with David Bowie, Jim Diamond and Robert Smith, although he has also worked with other artists (John Lennon: Double Fantasy, Milk and Honey, Yoko Ono), John Waite, and released some solo recordings.

Musical career

In the early 1970s, Earl Slick gained his reputation on New York music scene as a talented, skillful rock guitarist while playing in a band called Mack Truck featuring both singer/songwriter Jimmie Mack and his brother, drummer Jack Mack. His work with Scottish singer/songwriter Jim Diamond was as the duo Slick Diamond. They toured and gave performances for a short time in the late 1970s.

Slick was initially hired by David Bowie to replace Mick Ronson as lead guitarist for the Diamond Dogs tour in 1974 (the live album David Live was culled from this tour). Slick also played lead guitar on Bowie's Young Americans and Station To Station albums, released in 1975 and 1976 respectively. It was Slick's powerful playing that made the latter album's "Stay" an enduring favourite of fans of Bowie and of guitar virtuosity alike. After running afoul of Bowie's management, Slick was replaced as lead guitarist for the Station To Station tour (1976), his role being taken by Stacey Heydon. Slick continued working in the studio with Leo Sayer, Ian Hunter, John Lennon, and Yoko Ono, but also formed his own solo band.

Slick returned to Bowie for 1983's Serious Moonlight Tour, which supported the Let's Dance album. Ironically, Slick, who had been ousted as lead guitarist from Bowie's 1976 tour, was the last-minute lead-guitarist replacement for this 1983 tour, substituting for Stevie Ray Vaughan.

Slick then formed Phantom, Rocker & Slick with Slim Jim Phantom and Lee Rocker. In 1990, Slick was in the collaboration Dirty White Boy which only saw one album, Bad Reputation (1990), and industry showcases in London and Los Angeles. He also played briefly in Little Caesar in 1991-92.

The early 2000s saw Slick return to Bowie's roster, appearing on the tours supporting the Heathen (2002) and Reality (2003) albums. From 2006 he was a member of both The Eons with singer, songwriter Jeff Saphin and Slinky Vagabond. Slinky Vagabond are Glen Matlock, Clem Burke, and Keanan Duffty. Slinky Vagabond (the name comes from the lyrics to the David Bowie song "Young Americans") played their debut concert at the Joey Ramone Birthday Bash in May 2007.

On February 11, 2011, UK-based Noble PR announced Slick had joined the New York Dolls for their March UK tour. New York Dolls' rhythm guitarist Sylvain Sylvain confirmed the report, "We made some calls and now we finally have got Earl Slick playing guitar. So Earl's going to be joining us for the upcoming tour. He's the newest member of the New York Dolls, if I can put that right now."

In a December 2011 interview featured in Sound Check Magazine, Earl Slick revealed that he is currently collaborating with up-and-coming indie artist, Me of a Kind.

Solo discography

With Phantom, Rocker, and Slick

Equipment

Amps

Pickups

Endorsements and Other Ventures

In 2010, Slick announced that he had begun marketing his own line of customized guitar straps, called Slick Straps, in an exclusive distribution deal with Guitar Fetish, an online guitar customizing and shop. In addition to the Slick Straps line, Slick has been quoted as endorsing the GFS line of guitar effects pedals marketed by Guitar Fetish.

In January 2011, Framus International announced the release of the Earl Slick Signature Model guitar which debuted at the Winter 2011 NAMM show in Anaheim, California.