Last month, legendary rock producer Tom Werman made headlines while promoting his upcoming autobiography when he ripped Motley Crue bassist Nikki Sixx saying: “Nikki slagged me in (his book) ‘The Heroin Diaries’. Nothing he said I agreed with. We both recalled things differently.”
Werman spoke again recently with Songfacts about Motley Crue. He was asked if the band was as crazy in the studio as they allegedly were in their personal lives.
“No. Vince (Neil) — if he had a chance probably would have been crazy,” Werman said. “Nikki and Tommy (Lee) dabbled with drugs for a while. But really, considering their reputation, we did pretty well in turning out those three albums. Especially ‘Theatre Of Pain,’ which was a tough one. That was their low point, I think, behaviorally. And they were sandwiched between tours. They had to go out to support ‘Shout at the Devil,’ and then they had to come in and write 12 or 14 songs in a hurry because there was another tour booked to support that album.”
Werman said it was difficult for Motley Crue to quickly follow up hit records given the demand for the band on the road.
“A songwriter in a band will spend many years writing songs,” Werman said. “They’ll be good, and they’ll finally have a chance to record them for their first album. And there are maybe one or two songs left over that they didn’t do on the first album that are included on the second album, but the rest of them have to be written. It’s like, get off the road, go to sleep for 24 hours, and then write an album that is a follow-up to this big hit you just made. It’s tough, which can lead to anxiety and self-medication.”
Werman went on to say that recording Vince Neil’s vocals could prove to be challenging, because the singer would try to “grind it out” in the studio between nights of partying.
“With Mötley Crüe, I remember there was one day when Vince, I guess, had a tough night. He was very good about coming in and putting in his hours, but he didn’t know the concept of ‘training.’ He wasn’t in training. He didn’t say, ‘I’ve got to sing tomorrow. I think I should get at least six hours sleep.’ He would party and do what he wanted, have a good time, and then come in and try to grind it out.”
“One day, he came and probably sang for three hours, and we kept one line. That was challenging. Some of Vince’s vocals were challenging.”
The producer also opened up about a particular low point for Neil. “One day, he came and probably sang for three hours, and we kept one line. That was challenging. Some of Vince’s vocals were challenging.”
Werman’s autobiography, “Turn It Up!: My Time Making Hit Records in the Glory Days of Rock Music,” will be released on November 21 via Jawbone Press.
