The song Joe Perry called the best example of a great riff: “Everyone recognises it”
All great rock and roll usually centres around one word: riff. Whereas most artists try to decipher the subtle details of chords and how they relate to each other harmonically, it’s easy to just throw together a bunch of notes that sound great off a drum beat and sit on it for hours on end. While Joe Perry knows a thing or two about putting together fantastic tunes in Aerosmith, he knew that the first instance of what great riffs should sound like came from the Batman television series.
Once Perry first started working with Steven Tyler, riffs were practically a part of his everyday vocabulary. The Beatles and Bob Dylan had focused on putting together their own takes on rock and roll, but hearing The Rolling Stones and The Yardbirds helped open people’s eyes to what the guitar means in the context of any great tune. It wasn’t just a little flourish to put on the end of a track; it was the lead engine.
And for a lead guitarist, Perry was much more well-versed in riffs than in the traditional soloing methods. Sure, he may have looked up to guitar geniuses like Jimi Hendrix and Jeff Beck, but when you listen to him play, a lot of his soloing is incredibly riff-heavy, almost like he’s trying to simulate what a horn break in a classic R&B song might sound like.
He could solo all he wanted, but creating that kind of musical magic had to be short, and the theme from Batman is almost too perfect as a guitar lick. Sure, the Adam West program contains weapons-grade level cheese when it wants to, but the minute that those descending notes come on, the ‘Caped Crusader’ looks like the coolest person in the world.
Aside from the great licks that he took from Led Zeppelin and The Stones, Perry still thought that Neal Hefti created the ultimate musical statement for guitar players, saying, “I think it’s something people sort of sing along to. For the average fan, it’s something that’s memorable. One of the greatest examples is the original Batman theme song: It’s just three notes, but if you hum them, everyone recognizes it. If I’m doing my job, a guitar hook will stay in your mind just as much as the vocal does.”
The same can be said for any great hard rock act that came in the 1970s as well. Sure, Black Sabbath is known for their spooky demeanour and Ozzy Osbourne’s crazy stage performances, but there isn’t one soul who has gone to one of their gigs that couldn’t sing along to the guitar in ‘Iron Man’ if they wanted to.
In Perry’s case, though, the riffs are almost as lyrical as what Steven Tyler is singing. Tyler would sometimes follow the guitar line itself like on ‘Movin’ Out’, but even when they’re both doing their own thing, ‘Walk This Way’ is one of the most infectious guitar hooks that anyone has ever created.
A lot of guitarists have tried to reach Perry’s calibre by practising for hours until they hit on something, but sometimes, it just has to be the right time for the musical gods to deliver a classic lick. Because all great guitar lines aren’t something that is necessarily written; they’re birthed from somewhere deep in your gut.
