Ace Von Johnson states that there is no legal recourse to stop L.A. Guns feat. Riley and Nickels at M3
Ace Von Johnson states that there is no legal recourse to stop L.A. Guns feat. Riley and Nickels at M3
Photo by Christopher Carroll ROCK Photography
L.A. Guns and Faster Pussycat guitarist Ace Von Johnson took to Twitter yesterday to voice his displeasure with the L.A. Guns version spearheaded by drummer Steve Riley and bassist Kelly Nickels from playing at the M3 Rock Festival in Columbia, Maryland, USA on May 4, 2019. Von Johnson joined L.A. Guns back in or about September 2018 and did not play guitar on the band’s latest album The Devil You Know, which was released last month via Frontiers Music Srl. Tracii Guns ended up handling the lead and rhythm guitar parts on The Devil You Know.
Von Johnson tweeted: “I wish M3 would be more honest about their “LA Guns” on the bill, because I’m tired of telling people that they will NOT be seeing myself, @traciiguns & Phil there in May. It’s not @LAGuns. Just several past members. Huge difference. Also, tacky pulling the wool over fans eyes.”
When someone asked him if there was any legal recourse that could be taken [by L.A. Guns featuring Tracii Guns and Phil Lewis], Von Johnson replied: “It’s complicated and doesn’t involve me/isn’t my place to get into it. But long story short, no.”
In an interview with Sleaze Roxx back in March 2019, Lewis acknowledged that Riley had a legal right to the L.A. Guns name as he stated: “All that stuff went down when I wasn’t in the band. I guess it had never been registered — the trademark or whatever — the rubber stamp. And I wasn’t in the band. I wasn’t even in music. I was working at Fox and I really couldn’t care less what they did. I guess it was as simple as writing out an application, standing in line at the courthouse downtown and having it stamped, and they made no stipulations. They said, “OK. We got the name 50-50.” And that was it. That was the legacy that ensued after that. That’s the piece of paper. It’s ridiculous and Tracii should have never have done it. He knows that but he did. Just have to deal with that.”
