Brian May once named “the first rock riff ever”
We greet the intro to our favourite rock songs like they’re long-lost relatives. There’s a power contained within those first few seconds as familiar notes are played, and people immediately know what song is coming up. That’s the power of the riff: notes played in a particular way that shows the intention of a track and ushers people into the main event. They’re a quintessential part of rock music and have been a determining factor when people talk about their favourite guitarists for decades now.
One person who knows the importance of a good riff is Brian May. He’s been responsible for a lot and was one of the driving factors behind what made Queen so successful. When people hear the likes of ‘Fat Bottomed Girls’ and ‘One Vision’, there is no denying that you are about to listen to one Queen’s very best.
Rick Wakeman once said that he had a lot of respect for Brian May because of the fact his guitar sound is instantly recognisable. “Brian May. He’s such a unique player,” he said, “There are very few guitarists, and the moment you hear them, you know who they are. Brian is one of those.”
Brian May holds the art of the riff very close. It’s something he thinks about a lot when he writes music and something which he looks out for whenever he listens to rock. When discussing some of his favourite riffs, he recalled the first chord progression he heard that he believes to be the original.
“I think one of the first, which is on the album, is an acoustic riff from Eddie Cochran, ‘Summertime Blues’,” he said, “There you notice the very strategic gaps. It’s not just strumming. There’s something very aggressive there: it’s push and stop.” While this might not have intentionally been written as a riff, it possesses the qualities of one.
He continued, “To me, that may be the first rock riff ever. I would be willing to debate this one day. I think the first heavy metal – or heavy – riff was ‘You Really Got Me’ by The Kinks.” There is certainly a lot more intention with what The Kinks tried to do. Instead of just adding a rhythm pattern to strumming, strings were bent and plucked in a certain way to create something that would play throughout the song and become the section of music that the track would be known for.
The heaviness of the track was taken to another level when Van Halen covered it. May also talks about this version, “Van Halen’s version is wonderful, with some phenomenal guitar playing from Edward, but when you put the original on, it still sounds great, devastatingly powerful.” He concluded, “Made, I imagine, on an amp that had been completely destroyed by playing too loud for too long.”
