Ole Beich (January 1, 1955 – October 16, 1991) was a Danish musician best known as the bass guitarist for the original lineups of L.A. Guns and Guns N' Roses.[1]
Early life
Born in the city of Esbjerg, Beich, in his youth, achieved a degree of fame amongst local musicians and fans.[1] He played guitar with several Danish bands, and recorded an album in 1979 with a band called Rock Nalle & The Flames. He was also a member of Mercyful Fate for a brief time,[2] before deciding to move to Los Angeles in pursuit of a career in music.[1]
L.A. Guns were first formed in 1983[3] by guitarist Tracii Guns and drummer Rob Gardner.[3][4] The first lineup included Guns, Beich, Gardner and singer Michael Jagosz.[5] The band recorded an EP Collector's Edition No. 1. Shortly after, Jagosz left the band following an arrest involving a bar fight and was replaced by Bill Bailey (who would later change his name to Axl Rose).[6] Bailey had previously fronted Rapidfire with Kevin Lawrence and Hollywood Rose with Izzy Stradlin and Chris Weber.[7][8] Jagosz came back after Rose left playing with the band for 2 weeks and for 5 shows.[9][10]
When L.A. Guns was reformed in 1985, Beich was replaced by Mick Cripps.
Hollywood Rose reformed for a New Year's Eve show on New Year's Eve 1984, with Rose, Stradlin, Guns, Gardner and Steve Darrow.[11][8][12] In March 1985 L.A. Guns merged with Hollywood Rose, changing their name to Guns N' Roses (combining the names of L.A. Guns and Hollywood Rose) with the lineup composed of Rose, Guns, Stradlin, Beich and Gardner.[13]
Following a few shows and two rehearsals, Beich either quit or was fired from the band.[14][15] He was replaced by Duff McKagan.[16] Tracii Guns left the group; he was replaced by Slash.[17] McKagan went on to book shows taking place between Sacramento and Seattle, which was dubbed “The Hell Tour“. During this time, Gardner quit the group and was replaced by Steven Adler.[8] Rose, Stradlin, McKagan, Slash, and Adler became known as the "classic lineup" of Guns N' Roses.[8]
Death
Beich died on October 16, 1991, drowning in Sankt Jørgens Lake in the center of Copenhagen.[1] Not long before, on August 19, Guns N' Roses had performed in the city. His family believed that he became depressed after leaving Guns N' Roses in 1985 and was heavily abusing drugs before returning to Denmark in 1988. Heroin, and a blood alcohol content of .148, are thought to have contributed to his drowning, but his family still believes it was suicide.[18]
Beich is buried in Esbjerg next to his father Aksel, who died in 1995.
"Guitaristen Tracii Guns forklarer i dag, at Ole selv valgte at forlade bandet." ("Guitarist Tracii Guns explains today that Ole chose to leave the band himself.")
"Ifølge Rob Gardner hev Tracii og Axl den danske bassist til side, og da han efterfølgende ikke ændrede sig, smed de ham ud." ("According to Rob Gardner, Tracii and Axl set aside the Danish bassist, and when he subsequently did not change, they threw him out.")
"Til nogle af sine venner forklarer han [Ole Beich], at han blev smidt ud, fordi han gik til koncert i stedet for at øve med Guns N’ Roses. Koncerten blev aflyst, men de andre var sure over Oles manglende engagement og smed ham altså ud." ("To some of his friends, he [Ole Beich] explains that he was fired because he went to a concert instead of practicing with Guns N' Roses. The concert was canceled, but the others were angry about Ole's lack of commitment and threw him out.")
^Cue, Raz (2019). The Days of Guns, & Raz's (2nd ed.). Raz Cue. Archived from the original on February 1, 2022. Retrieved February 1, 2022. After that second practice, another rehearsal was set for a tentative "in a few days." Ole neglected to tell anyone of his newest girlfriend, so when the next practice got scheduled, there was no way to get ahold of him. After three days of no one hearing from him, and rehearsal scheduled for the following evening, Izzy said, "If Ole doesn't want to be in the band, there's a guy who lives across the street from me who'll do the show."
