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| Brian Setzer From Wikipedia.org |
Every boy has a hero, someone they want to be like and spend numerous hours trying to emulate.
In 1991, I was invited by my girlfriend to see a band she thought I would enjoy. I was very into 1950s rock 'n' roll. I wore blue jeans and rolled-up white T-shirts and I had just bought myself a 1956 Buick Special, red with a white top, four doors, a little rusty but the original tube radio still worked…I was sold.
She bought tickets for my birthday to see a band that was playing at the Bacchanal, an old club that existed off of Claremont Mesa Boulevard. The band was called the Stray Cats. I had a recollection of them from the early '80s, but did not know much about them.
My girlfriend and I went into the club early and got a great place right in front of the stage. When the show began, three lonely musicians took the stage. An upright bass, a very small drum setup, and a guitar and amp were the all the back line provided for this tiny trio. I don’t know exactly what happened after that, all I can say was that I was rocked out of my socks.
That night struck a chord in me that has never stopped ringing. I dropped out of school the next day and set out to start my own group. My friends were studying to be doctors, lawyers and responsible business people. I wanted to start my own version of the Stray Cats, but more importantly, I wanted to be Brian Setzer.
Setzer was born on April 10, 1959, in Massapequa, New York, and raised in Long Island. In 1979 Brian formed a rockabilly cover band with his brother Gary on drums and Bob Beecher on bass, calling themselves the Tom Cats. Brian left in early 1980 to join school pals Jim McDonald and Lee Drucker to form the Stray Cats.
By the summer they left the U.S. and headed to Britain where they thought people might be hipper to their sound. Following a gig at London's The Venue, they encountered Dave Edmunds in their dressing room. Famed as both a performer and producer, Edmunds told them he'd like to work with them before a record label or manager (that probably didn't know what they were doing) screwed them all up.
They signed to Arista Records and over five days in October they recorded their first album at the Eden and Jam Studios in London. The following month, “Runaway Boys” was released as their first single, and the rest his history.
“Runaway Boys” is a neo-rockabilly classic. It was perfect for the time and helped generate a new band of followers for the group and the genre. They returned to the U.S. and with the strength generated from their first hit in England, they charted in the U.S. as well with “Runaway Boys” and had even greater success with songs such as “Rock this Town” and “Stray Cat Strut,” which went to number three in 1983.
Brian, Lee, and Jim had successfully and single-handedly brought back the rockabilly sound reminiscent of the days of Elvis Presley, Buddy Holly and Eddie Cochran.
After many years of success, Brian and the Stray Cats went their separate ways. Setzer had a few solo album releases but eventually went on to his next idea. Brian had a huge love for jazz standards and big band music. He decided to form his own big band and do standards and originals lead by an electric guitar. Brian put together The Brian Setzer Orchestra, aka BSO.
BSO originally got signed to Hollywood Records. They had moderate success with the first album release but because of the great expense of a 17-piece orchestra and no major hit, the label dropped Setzer. Brian shelled a large portion of his own money into the project. He was still making quite a bit off of his royalties with the Stray Cats, but it was depleting fast.
Nevertheless, he believed in the project and kept it afloat. When it seemed as though he would run out of money, BSO got signed to Interscope Records. This major label gave the group the marketing push that it needed. “Jump, Jive, and Wail,” a tune made famous by Louie Prima, made the top 40 list and in 1999, Brian Setzer received two Grammy awards: Best Pop Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocal for “Jump, Jive, and Wail” and Best Pop Instrumental Performance for “Sleepwalk," a catchy instrumental penned and performed originally by Santo & Johnny.
Once again, Brian Setzer had done the impossible. He had brought back the “big band” sound to a mainstream level. The jazz music genre, which at first was reluctant to the greasy rock and roller, accepted Brian and credited him for helping get mainstream folks back into jazz music.
I met Brian at the NAMM show in California for the first time in 1993, two years after I saw him perform with the Stray Cats. I gave him the first album release of my group, Hot Rod Lincoln. I had dedicated the album to him for inspiring me to form the group and chase my own dreams.
I met him six months later at a press appearance for his orchestra on 91X, the San Diego-based radio station. Brian told me that he really enjoyed the album and thanked me for the dedication. It was then that I had the opportunity of a lifetime. I thanked Brian personally for inspiring me and when we looked at each other, I almost broke down. He was touched by this and we have been friends ever since.
Hot Rod Lincoln has opened for BSO many times. We even played a Christmas party at his private home. Brian wrote “Blue Café," the title track to my third record. The album won “best local recording” at the San Diego music awards in 1997.
Brian Setzer, in my opinion, is one of the best guitarists in the world. He has single-handedly brought back two genres of music, regardless of the music going on at the time. His energy is incredible both on and off the stage.
Aside from the style of his playing, Brian has taught me a couple of things that have become my own rule of thumb. Once he told me, “It is more important to take one note and hold it for the guy in the front row than to play a lot of great chops.” I have never forgotten that and always try to play to the audience rather than in front of them.
The other was to be humble. I have never met a guy more humble than Brian. Anytime a fan wants to talk, I always make a point to stop and give them the time they deserve, just as Brian has done for his fans and did for me. I often wonder what I might be doing with my life if I had not seen Brian Setzer perform in 1991.
I wanted to add that -- since this time (I wrote the above piece a while ago) -- I became lead guitarist for Lee Rocker, bassist of the Stray Cats, and also got to open for their tour of Europe in 13 countries during the summer of 2008. It’s been a fantastic ride and continues to be. I believe if one follows their heart and dreams, good things will come.
Here’s a video of me playing with the Stray Cats the last night of the tour in Brussels in front of about 3,000 people. This was the pinnacle of my life, as far as dreams are concerned. Truly going full circle from being in the front row, to on stage with my favorite band ... an indescribable experience.
Immediately after I got off the stage, I went to the dressing room along and stared at myself in the mirror for 10 minutes. I couldn’t believe it happened.
The best way to experience Setzer's music is live. Fortunately, we can have the next best thing, seeing videos of live shows. You got a taste of the Stray Cats in the last article, but lets take a look at his big band. Check out the video here at http://www.guitar-tube.com/watch/brian-setzer-mercury-blues.
Setzer's latest album, Setzer Goes Instru-Mental, is his first ever all instrumental album. This next post catches you up to speed with the album and offers some of Setzer's insight into his songwriting method and guitar gear. Check it out now at http://www.guitaraficionado.com/from-the-magazine-brian-setzer.html.
In a career spanning more than four decades, Brian Setzer has made an indelible mark on rockabilly and big-band music. With his latest album, he’s now conquered instrumental music as well.
By Chris Gill
You won’t find many successful musicians forsaking Southern California’s balmy climes for Minneapolis’ frigid environs, but that’s just what Brian Setzer did. In 2005, the guitarist relocated to the city from Los Angeles, his home for two decades. The move apparently did nothing to slow him down. Since then, the former Stray Cats frontman has recorded several outstanding albums, including the rocking solo album 13 and his most recent studio effort with the Brian Setzer Orchestra, Songs from Lonely Avenue, a jazzy, sophisticated collection of self-penned material that many critics praised as some of the finest work in his 30-year career.
“Minneapolis is a good place to be,” says Setzer, relaxing among an impressive assortment of vintage and custom Gretsch guitars and classic amps scattered about his downtown loft. “It’s really nice up here, if you don’t mind the cold weather. The people are great, it’s not crowded, and there is no rush-hour traffic. You can drive 15 minutes and go fishing or enjoy any variety of outdoor activities. There’s also a really good music scene downtown.”
Although Setzer spent most of 2010 enjoying the comforts of home away from the road, he didn’t relax idly by the ol’ fishin’ hole. Instead, he recorded his first all-instrumental effort, Setzer Goes Instru-Mental, which is the album longtime fans of his guitar playing have waited to hear. While Setzer has offered a few tastes of his fierce guitar-playing skills on a handful of extended solos or a rare instrumental track on his albums with the Stray Cats or the Brian Setzer Orchestra, Setzer Goes Instru-Mental showcases his impressive talents and the breadth of his playing like never before. In the pantheon of great instrumental guitar albums, it deserves a prominent place alongside hillbilly jazz classics by Jimmy Bryant, Hank Garland, and Joe Maphis as well as discs by modern style-fusing virtuosos like Danny Gatton and the Hellecasters.
“I didn’t start off wanting to do a purely instrumental record,” Setzer admits. “When I started writing songs for this record, I quickly completed six or seven songs with vocals. All of a sudden, I started fooling around with the melody chords that became the foundation for my version of ‘Blue Moon of Kentucky.’ I thought it sounded really cool.
Rockabilly guitar
People don’t really play that style of chord melody any more. Before I knew it, I had the whole song rearranged and redone. I ended up abandoning the other path I was on and started going in an instrumental direction. Then the ideas started flying.”
Although the album features a few covers, like “Blue Moon of Kentucky,” the jazz standard “Cherokee,” and the quintessential Gene Vincent rockabilly classic “Be-Bop-A-Lula,” most of the songs are new original compositions. “Far Noir East” tips its wide-brim Borsalino to moody crime jazz, while “Earl’s Breakdown” pays tribute to bluegrass legend Earl Scruggs, with Setzer pickin’ and grinnin’ on a five-string banjo.
“Intermission” has the smooth savoir-faire of a Jimmy Bryant barnburner, contrasting the gritty, reverb-drenched, surf-inspired “Go Go Godzilla” and “Hot Love.” The track “Pickpocket” showcases Setzer’s signature rockabilly-infused Travis picking at its finest, while his solo performance on “Hillbilly Jazz Meltdown” will likely earn him respect from a new following of guitar connoisseurs.
When told that several of the songs on the album feature performances that are reminiscent of classic instrumental tracks by Jimmy Bryant, Hank Garland, and Les Paul, Setzer admits, “I don’t really study other players, per se. It just comes out of me sounding the way it does. I’m Brian Setzer, but I am influenced by a wide variety of guitar players who make me who I am. Sometimes I think that playing so many different styles might hurt me a little bit; people generally want to listen to a musician or artist who does one thing straight down the middle. That just ain’t what I do. You could argue that it’s been to my advantage, and maybe that’s why I’ve been around for more than 30 years. I do it because I always like to try to do different things. I get bored doing the same thing. In this case, I realized that I had never made a record where it was just me playing guitar.
“All of the songs have a little taste of somebody else,” he elaborates. “The end of ‘Cherokee’ sounds a little like Les Paul, and ‘Be-Bop-A-Lula’ is my own version of that song, but if you’re a guitar player you just have to play Cliff Gallup’s solo. I didn’t nail it down perfectly note for note, but you have to get that same feel because it’s so classic and good.”
Speaking of classic and good, the guitars that Setzer used to record the album included several choice instruments from his collection that he’s rarely had the proper opportunity to record with before. “I finally got to use my 1963 D’Angelico Excel on ‘Cherokee,’” he explains. “That guitar is a god. It has a Rhythm Chief pickup on it, and I plugged it straight into a 1961 Fender Twin amp. The acoustic rhythm guitar is also the D’Angelico, but I unplugged it and recorded it acoustically with a mic. If you’re going to play an archtop, there’s nothing that compares to a D’Angelico. The D’Angelico is the Stradivarius of the modern age. It sounds like a piano. I’m lucky to have two D’Angelico guitars: the Excel and a New Yorker.”
Setzer played another iconic jazz archtop on “Lonesome Road.” “I used a Stromberg Master 400 on that song,” he says. “Wow! What a guitar. It has a big, beautiful sound that is unlike anything else. It’s a whole different beast than the D’Angelico, but it sounds great as well. I really love old archtops. I’ve always wanted a Stromberg, and I finally found some guy in England who had one for sale. I couldn’t believe it when I found it. I traded one of my guitars with him and gave him some cash.”
However, for most of the album Setzer relied primarily on his trusty Gretsch guitars. “For the rockin’ stuff, I’ve never been able to beat that Gretsch tone,” he says. “I bought my first Gretsch 6120 when I was a kid. When I plugged it into my Bassman amp I went, ‘There it is!’ That was the sound I was looking for. I’ve tried to improve upon that sound, and I’ve even tried playing through other rigs. I once tried playing a Les Paul through a Marshall, for example. But I never could beat that sound. It works for me.”
To record Setzer Goes Instru-Mental, Setzer initially planned to use that same iconic 1959 Gretsch 6120, which he has played on records since the beginning of the Stray Cats, plugged into his 1962 Fender Bassman amp piggybacked on a matching 2×12 cabinet. But his signature rig started giving him trouble as soon as recording got underway.
“A lot of my vintage gear broke down on me while I was using it,” he says. “I played my ’59 Gretsch through the ’62 Bassman on the first song I recorded, but halfway through the song I realized that one of the speakers was blown. Luckily, we miked the speaker that was still good. After that, the Gretsch started to fall apart. First a few frets slid out, and then the Bigsby broke. I guess I play my guitars pretty hard. I just said the hell with it and grabbed my new signature model Gretsch or one of my Gretsch Hot Rod guitars instead and used them for the rest of the record.
“It worked out because it inspired me to try different things. My tone on ‘Far Noir East’ is probably the best guitar tone I’ve ever gotten. I played my signature 6120 through the ’61 Twin and a 1961 Fender Reverb unit. The sound that came out of that rig was just beautiful.”
Setzer is an avid Gretsch fan who played a significant role in the company’s resurrection in the late Eighties and has helped the brand maintain and grow its popularity these last three decades. Although he’s collected a wide variety of vintage Gretsch guitars over the years, including several White Falcons, Silver Jets, and even a 1955 Roundup with a matching amp, he feels that the guitars Gretsch is making today are as good as they’ve ever been, if not better.
“Vintage Gretsch guitars need to be maintained and refurbished,” he says. “You can’t play a stock Gretsch from 1959. It probably won’t play in tune and the fretboard will probably be warped and pitted. You can get it refurbished to make it playable, but that takes away some of its value. The new Gretsch guitars are pretty much spot on. I’m glad we’ve got them playing right again. When Gretsch first came back in the late Eighties, they just weren’t doing them right. They lost their way and were making guitars with big, thick tops on them. I couldn’t get them to make the guitars the way people wanted, which is like the way they made them in the Fifties.”
Setzer credits FMIC (Fender Musical Instrument Corporation), which took control of the production, distribution, and marketing of Gretsch guitars in 2002, with taking the necessary steps to make the guitars the way Gretsch enthusiasts wanted them. As an example of Fender’s commitment, he tells the story of how Fender vice president Mike Lewis put a vintage Gretsch 6120 through a CAT scan machine to accurately replicate the distinctive trestle bracing used on that model during the late Fifties and early Sixties. “Mike wanted to do it right,” says Setzer. “He figured that a CAT scan was the best way to figure out how it was done.”
Setzer’s guitar collection features a handful of instruments that don’t fall into the Gretsch or jazz archtop category, including a 1964 Gibson Firebird V with a Cardinal Red custom color finish, a 1959 Guild Bluesbird, a 2003 Bigsby BY-50, and a 1956 Martin D-28.
“That old red Firebird plays real good,” he says. “I have a lot of vintage guitars, but I don’t own any Flying Vs or ’59 Les Pauls. What I have is what I play. I’ve gotten rid of stuff that I don’t use. It doesn’t make any sense to me to keep a guitar in a closet and just look at it occasionally.”
Fans in Europe and Japan will have the opportunity to hear a few of Setzer’s new instrumental songs live when he brings his latest project, the Rockabilly Riot, on tour there this year. “The Rockabilly Riot is three bands in one that covers my whole career,” he explains. “It has two standup bass players, two drummers, piano, and me. We aren’t all on the stage at the same time until the end. I want to have two guys standing on their basses trading licks. I think that would be cool, and I don’t think that’s been done. I want to have a real rockabilly riot at the end.”
In the U.S., fans will have to wait until year’s end when Setzer will be reviving his annual holiday tour with the Brian Setzer Orchestra. Although Setzer once hinted that he was considering retiring his big band, after 18 years it’s still going strong. “I can’t kill the big band,” he says, laughing. “I don’t have any plans to record an album with them because it’s very expensive to record a big-band album. I have to be really confident about what I want to do with them before I enter the studio. The Christmas tour has become a standard, and people really missed it when I took a break last year, so I’m doing it again this year.”
Considering all the different musical avenues Setzer has cruised down these past few years, from recording faithful recreations of Sun Records rockabilly classics to reworking classical compositions with swing arrangements, it’s hard to predict which direction he’ll turn next. “I just stay true to myself,” he says. “Deep down I’m a rockabilly cat, but I jump in all these different directions, as cats will do. Looking back over the last 30 years, I’m very lucky. Not many people go that long. They burn out or just end being forgotten about. I’m very grateful.”Brian Setzer is a great role model for any guitarist hoping to make it in the music industry. Mike's Guitar Talk is committed to providing the best guitar information to you on the web. Subscribe now to receive it all daily in your inbox. Also, join your friends on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Mikes-Guitar-Talk/208529755864772.
Have fun and stay tuned!
Mike
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