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Guitar whizz Paul Gilbert was just 19 years old when he helped form 80s metallers Racer X in 1985. In the almost four decades since, he’s proved to be a prolific and unpredictable force, playing with rockers Mr. Big and releasing an impressive 18 studio albums as a solo artist.
With Mr. Big having played their final show in August, he admits he’s taking the time to enjoy life a little more. Case in point: when he talks to Classic Rock about the music that set him on his musical odyssey, he’s visiting ARTIS Amsterdam Royal Zoo.
“I’ve probably enjoyed being a tourist more than I have at any other time of my life,” he admits. “Usually I’m spending every moment I can playing guitar, but this time I’m giving myself a kind of gift.”
The first music I remember hearing
My parents had a good record collection long before I got any records of my own. They had Who’s Next by The Who, Tapestry by Carole King, Best Of The Animals… They also had a lot of Beatles albums – of course they were the American versions of those Beatles albums. A Hard Day’s Night and Help! were two of my favourites, but also somewhat compromised because they’d have a lot of the orchestral stuff interspersed in there. Decades later I was overjoyed when I realised I could listen to pure Beatles without the orchestra!
The first song I performed live
When I started on guitar, I couldn’t really play. I had to go with stuff that was really simple. The first song I learned was 25 Or 6 To 4 by Chicago. I couldn’t play the whole thing, just a simplified version of the main riff I knew it from memory, having heard it on the radio.
The guitar hero
When I was growing up it was Jimmy Page and Eddie Van Halen. Nowadays it’s Robin Trower. I had Bridge Of Sighs when I was a kid, as well as Live! and Victims Of The Fury, and those three records, when I listen to them it’s like: “Why am I even playing?” Robin’s done everything. That’s how I want to sound.
The songwriter
When The Beatles broke up, I remember worrying: “Who’ll write the good songs now?” The answer was Elton John. He was the next great songwriter. I had Captain Fantastic, Madman Across The Water, Don’t Shoot Me I’m Only The Piano Player… I’d listen to those a ton. It’s hard to pick between the two, but I guess The Beatles had so few bad songs they win out. Even though I love Elton John’s best as much as I do The Beatles, he’s had a longer career so had a lot more filler. But who am I to talk about Elton John’s filler?!
The singer
Freddie Mercury comes to mind. I only had [Queen’s] News Of The World as a kid, but what a great record that was. Maybe Sheer Heart Attack too. I’d tape them from my friends, stuff like Live Killers. Sometimes the Queen records would have these great songs, but also some weird acoustic song with a banjo. I wanted all the rockers, so Live Killers was great.
The greatest album of all time
As much as they started changing and progressing, doing more complicated things with orchestras on albums like Sgt. Pepper’s or Abbey Road, I really love The Beatles’ early stuff; With The Beatles, A Hard Day’s Night and Help! are so hard to choose from., they’re all so wonderful.
The worst record I’ve made
There’s a Racer X album called Getting Heavier where we just ran out of time! I was gonna do things like doubling the guitars, overdubs, but the calendar ran out and we just had to go straight to mixing or miss the release date. But the cool thing is that it’s a raw record – you can hear the performances clearly. I was disappointed at the time because it didn’t have the bells and whistles, but now I kinda like it.
The best cover version
You Really Got Me by Van Halen comes to mind. It’s so fiery. The way Eddie plays the opening two chords is so drenched in style and control over the guitar. You think: “Two chords? Anyone can do that!” And they can. But the magic of the guitarist is making those two chords sound completely different compared to other players. Eddie cleared out a new part of the jungle when he did that intro.
My Saturday night party song
Maybe September by Earth, Wind & Fire, or The Rubberband Man by The Spinners. Disco tends to be pretty awesome for parties.
The song that makes me cry
There’s a live performance by Todd Rundgren, from the album Nearly Human, that makes me cry. It’s a ballad called Hawking, with lyrics inspired by Stephen Hawking. It’s almost a gospel ballad, with a lot of harmony vocals and it’s just ridiculous.
The song I want played at my funeral
After breaking my hip I was like: “I’m not long for this world!” ha ha. I’m hoping my wife will play my favourite Bach piece, Prelude In C Major, BWV 924. She grew up playing classical and plays really well, but these days she loves to play jazz, so I think she’d find Bach quite constricting because she can’t improvise. I often ask her, and she’ll say no. So I’m hoping at my funeral she’s got no choice!
Mr. Big’s latest studio album Ten is out now via Frontiers. The BIG Finish Live album is out now via Evolution Music.
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