It's Easy As A Horse To Ride
One Song + One Mic = Substack Sessions SS0003
Do you know Paul?
I first discovered Paul Gilbert in the Guitar Player Magazine back in the 1980s where he had a challenging column. His blazing speed and impeccable technique impressed me as a teenager even more because he is only two years older than me. He was teaching at Musician Institute in Hollywood, California.
In 1989 I visited M.I. to find out more about the school and especially, its vibe. And yes, that summer I decided to try everything to come back to California to learn all about music and them six strings.
When I arrived back there in the spring of 1990 Paul Gilbert was not there anymore, because Mr.Big recorded their first album in 1989 and went on tour as a support act for Aerosmith, if I’m not mistaken. I can only remember that I saw them opening for Aerosmith in Zurich, Switzerland in 1991 because they had such a bad sound and the opening beats of the toms of Aerosmith were louder than the entire Mr. Big band. Suspicious, ain’t it?!
But during my time at Musicians Institute he visited the facility for several private lessons and I had one with him. Eye-opening experience! But my focus shifted from achieving blazing single string performance to, let’s call it what it is - carry a tune. Before I was noodling around endlessly but now I realised, if you want to make a living as a musician you need a repertoire. And Paul Gilbert knew so many songs from different decades and he could play them with great chord arrangements. His concert at P-100 (M.I.’s concert hall) is still present in the back of my mind when he performed there with his cover band - Electric Fence - featuring Russ Parish (‘Satchel’ from Steel Panther) on bass/vocals and Jeff Martin (Michael Schenker Group) on drums/vocals.
Since then my focus was on having my own trio. A concert by Crowded House (on their Woodface tour) in Edinburgh in autumn of 1991 sealed the deal for me when Neil Finn (vocals/guitar), Nick Seymour (bass/vocals) and Paul Hester (drums/vocals) set the roof of a small club on fire (can’t remember the name of the place - anyone?!)
Substack Sessions SS0003 - Green-Tinted Sixties Mind
After this slight detour in my musical history we return to a song that Paul Gilbert wrote for Mr. Big’s second album - Lean Into It - which is still on of my favourite Mr. Big songs.
The opening guitar lick is a great exercise for improving your finger-eye coordination on a guitar fretboard. But essentially it’s a brilliant pop song. Apple Music | YouTube Music
I played it in many keys but in the key of A it seems to work best for me on my acoustic guitar, even though when I hit the record button I never seem to dare to go for the higher notes. Bare with me, I probably have to produce a single of my version with all the harmonies, bells and whistles.
Here’s my morning hair version from my ‘Start Your Day With A Song’-series on my YouTube channel.
So how about my Substack Sessions version? Well, I noticed that I play guitar like Herbie Hancock plays piano - humming along (chuckle) - Enjoy!
If you like my performance of - Green-Tinted Sixties Mind - you can listen to it on Spotify | YouTube Music, starting in January 2025.
Previous Substack Session Songs
SS0001 - Waiting In Vain
SS0002 - Big Yellow Taxi
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