Guitar Tricks Insider September / October Issue | Page 20

CLASSIC CORNER: BACKTRACK
P
by John Stix
Paul Gilbert is back on road with Mr. Big supporting their 9th stu-
dio release, Defying Gravity. Gilbert is the rare shredder who made
the move from how (fingers) to why (ears) we play music. Without
compromising his prowess on the instrument he has instead, found
ways to incorporate his guitar skills into songs with hooks, melo-
dies, and sing-alongs. For this segment of Back Track, he examines
Mr. Big’s number one hit, “To Be With You”.
How was the song presented to you?
I had gone up to San Francisco to do some writing with Eric
(Martin). He was driving the car and I was in the passenger seat.
He had a cassette, and he just said, “I know you are a Beatle fan
so you might like this song I wrote. And he played it and I did like
it. And it stuck with me. And maybe a year passed. And I thought,
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GUITAR TRICKS INSIDER
DIGITAL EDITION
SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER