Bob Rock was producing Mötley Crüe's 1989 record Dr. Feelgood when he ran into a pretty shocking revelation – bassist Nikki Sixx wasn't sure if he ever played on the band's four prior albums.
In an interview with Talk Is Jericho, Rock said Sixx believed that all his bass parts on the first four records were re-recorded when he wasn't in the studio. Sixx then added "I don't really know how to play bass," to which Rock pretty much said "you're gonna learn." Rock went on to say that he feels Sixx has since become a much better player, which Rock would know considering he recorded Mötley Crüe's upcoming new material.
"[While we were making] Dr. Feelgood, [Nikki] says to me, he goes, 'I don't think I ever played on any of the Mötley Crüe records. I think somebody came in at night and replaced all my parts.' He says, 'So I don't really know how to play bass.' And I said, 'Too bad. You're playing bass on it.' So I worked with him through Dr. Feelgood, did a lot of edits and made him play every note.
"But when we did [the soundtrack for] The Dirt, the songs on The Dirt, I went to see him and we started working on the demos. He picked up the bass and started playing, and I said, 'Woah, woah, woah. What's going on here?' He had been taking bass lessons for five years. All of a sudden he's an amazing bass player. And I think that's so cool, in that point of his career, he wanted to be better. I admire that. So now, on The Dirt, Nikki and Tommy [Lee] played live off the floor, both of them."
Talk of Sixx's abilities have been hot lately after Mick Mars alleged that Sixx didn't play any of his bass parts on the band's 2015 farewell tour.
