Zak Starkey has appealed to Axl Rose to return a master recording that - according to him – could raise up to £2 million for charity.
The recording in question is a cover of the T Rex classic Children Of The Revolution that was cooked up in studios in Rio, New York and LA and features Rose plus bandmates Slash and Duff McKagan alongside Elton John and Ringo Starr (Starkey’s dad, of course).
The idea came about after Guns N’ Roses and The Who played the track at Rock In Rio at 2017. Originally, it was supposed to be included on a Teenage Cancer Trust charity album, but for some reason, that never came about.
Now, Starkey has taken to Instagram and asked Axl to release the master so the track can finally see the light of day.
Starkey wrote: “Dear Axl Rose, please give me my master of this track back. Me and Sshh (Liguz, Starkey’s wife) spent three years making this Bolan tribute for teen cancer.”
The drummer said that between them his wife, dad and himself had “arranged to include a modulating section for Slash’s guitar, another for Duff’s bass solo and plenty of room for Elton before you asked Sshh if you could sing it”.
“It’s a drag that the record is on the shelf, as Christie’s (auction house) have advised it could generate $2M for teen cancer,” he added. “C’mon bro.”
Starkey first alerted the world to the existence of this charity album last year, again in an Instagram post. Describing how the Bolan cover was recorded, he wrote: “My dad played drums in LA (while I fudged the bass) then in Rio, Duff cut bass.
"A couple of weeks after the tour we cut guitars in NYC with Slash – sent the track with sshh guide vocal to Elton who played amazing piano. Sssh went to hang with Axl, who said he’d like to sing it – wow! – Axl killed it – amazing vocals.”
The album, he said, was: “Produced by me n sshh it’s a full album with more than one Beatle, a Smith, a Pretender, an Ashcroft, an Iggy and many more …. Soon come.”
No doubt, we’ll soon see if Starkey’s public petitioning has the desired effect.
