I was fourteen going on fifteen, and my friends Mike Jett on drums and John Przedpelski on bass and I played in a tiny attic room on the third floor of Mike’s house in Forest Hills, where we all grew up. Mike somehow crammed his brand new, six piece Ludwig black pearl drum set in there and John had a Gibson EB-3 bass and a Baldwin bass amp. I played a ’76 Hard-tail Strat through a Silver Face Twin. I also had an electro-harmonix Big Muff. It was very loud! We did everything instrumentally – no mics, no singing, and no ear plugs. Michael’s brother Robert told me later, “Don’t practice all the time with a fuzz box or you’ll get sloppy.” I took his advice to heart.
Rock & Roll Hoochie Koo – Rick Derringer
This song makes for a great workout. We must have dragged it terribly, because the pace of the original is very up. What a production! Interestingly, this and another of my formative songs, The Thrill Is Gone, were both produced by Bill Szymczyk. He actually doesn’t take credit for this one, but is listed on Derringer’s album. With Rick Derringer and Edgar Winter in the studio, who needs a producer? In addition to hearing it and seeing the album cover at another kid’s house, I saw local cover band Threads of Iron playing it at a church dance (St. Luke’s). Although Johnny Winter recorded the song first, I think of it as Rick’s song. He wrote it and recorded the hit version.
Jumpin’ Jack Flash – The Rolling Stones/Johnny Winter
I love the Rolling Stones’ original version of this song, especially the way Mick Jagger says, “Watch It!” at the beginning. I would imagine he was half passed out in the gutter and someone was going to swipe his wallet when he gave this warning. But I was turned onto the song more by Johnny Winter, who was very popular in NYC at the time. This was before anyone thought about using the open G tuning ala Keith. There are three main, chunky parts, perfect for fledgling garage (or attic) rockers. I also love the original video for the song, which includes Brian Jones. He apparently hung on long enough to show Mick and Keith how to do it one more time.
Foxey Lady – Jimi Hendrix
My guitar teacher at Crest Music Center, Terry, showed me the riff. I took lessons from him for three years. He turned me onto Mississippi John Hurt and lots of other stuff. He even tried to turn me onto the Jam, but I couldn’t get my head around their haircuts. He showed me how to play blues scales all over the neck and in different keys, such as F# ala Foxey Lady, and how to use modes from major and minor to dorian, mixolydian and the rest. I still play this song and it’s always exciting and a challenge. Thanks, Terry!
Hey Joe – Jimi Hendrix
This is a song that everybody learns and loves. I once heard some kids playing it in a garage as I was walking over to my friend’s house. They played it clean, like The Leaves, who had the first hit version. We played it a lot louder and more aggressively. I used my Big Muff fuzz pedal, although there is none on the original. I still like to take aspects of Hendrix and mix and match them, ie a fuzz pedal on Hey Joe, or octaves anywhere. My first blog post discussed the solo, and I would eventually write my master’s thesis on Hendrix.
Sunshine of Your Love – Cream
This one would have to be included as the first time I ever jammed on a song, because I played it with John and our sadly departed friend Arty McKean (1962-2013) in John’s basement one night. We played this one song the whole night. I had a copy of The History of Eric Clapton, a landmark collection that you never see or hear about anymore. I remember John once saying about the solo, “The thing that’s so cool about it is that it sounds like shit!” He was too young to understand the “Woman Tone” at the time, I guess. At another church dance (Lady Queen of Mercy) I saw the eventual lead guitarist of Threads of Iron renamed Highway, Rob Perucci, playing it left-handed on a Black Les Paul Custom, upside down and backwards. To this day, I hate to see anyone playing upside down and backwards, I don’t know why. Maybe because Perucci nailed every single note of the solo. Some things never change! -Chris Botta
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