Just last Saturday the story broke... according to KAAL-TV, a couple guys from Wisconsin were on their way to see Guns N' Roses in Vegas when they stopped for...what? A rest? A quick nap? A chance to eat those Potato Ole's they picked up along the way? Whatever it was, it looks like they didn't get to do it.

You can read the whole story HERE.

While I was researching the story, because that's what we do... make sure every single thing we write is as accurate as can be, I came across something that made my radio guy senses tingle. I found a piece of rock-and-roll history that I couldn't wait to share.

Opening Night Of Guns N' Roses' Second Residency At The Joint
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I found an unreleased early pre-hit version of 'Welcome to the Jungle' recorded in Eyota, Minnesota!

This was before the band hit it big, when they were traveling around the country doing any gig they could get. How did they end up in Eyota? Well, the story goes that the band finished a gig in a small Chicago-area bar, packed up the bus and headed for Minot, North Dakota. They were all hyper from the gig, but tired of being on the road, so they agreed to pull over at the next exit they found.

Record player, close-up
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Here, the various sources disagree. Did they actually stay IN Eyota? Did they pull into a park and camp it? Or did they find a hotel NEAR Eyota and crash? We'll probably never know for sure. But what we DO know is that they decided to work some more on 'Welcome to the...' (It was early days, so "Jungle" wasn't a part of the title, yet.) They carried around a super cheap recorder and a portable "record cutter" that Duff found in a Toledo thrift store. It actually cut the recording into a vinyl record (so they could send it to friends).

They played around for a while, did a very short version of what would soon become 'Welcome to the Jungle' and went to bed. That was it and the next day they made it to Minot.

So now, please enjoy what I'm calling, "Welcome to Eyota".

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