Sometimes when one has derived so much pleasure from a piece of music, the only way to go deeper is to climb up inside it and drive. And so, this is my rendition of a 1973 recording by a then 25-year old Larry Carlton, his cover of a 1968 Tom Scott piece called “With Respect To Coltrane.”

After discovering Carlton’s elegant playing via Joni Mitchell’s enthralling 1975 album, “The Hissing Of Summer Lawns,” I unearthed an earlier solo album of his called “Singing/Playing,” where clearly somebody was trying to make him into a pop star. It was hit or miss, and I doubt it sold many copies, but this Side A closing track has stuck with me ever since. It has a moody, bluesy feel, and while Carlton can be acrobatic, this one feels warm and approachable, as if one could recreate it if one wanted to.

It was not as simple as that.

It’s a standard set of minor blues changes, repeated five times and done. After the head plays through once, we hear a guitar solo both dreamy and audacious, comprised entirely of harmonics, followed by a big, searing, sloppy, swinging dick of a fuzz solo. Huge. 

Let’s talk about tone: many have chased the mystery of that Larry Carlton sound over decades and gear and endless discussion. Ultimately, his tone is simply constructed: humbucker pickups into a fender-style amp at the edge of breakup. That’s it. There are nuances that come with housing those pickups in a semi-hollow Gibson 335, and hot-rodding the Fender amp (Mesa Boogie, Dumble, Bludotone), but it really is that simple. The rest is LC's magic fingers…

As for gear, I am using a decades old Gibson 335 with a pair of ’57 Humbuckers into an original Ethos Overdrive preamp, at 18v for headroom. And that – plus a Fuzzface for the fuzz solo – is that!

As for that harmonic solo in the 2nd verse: It seemed clear enough; no fast runs, double tracked for two-part harmony. There was however a rude awakening: these harmonics are located well beyond the safety of the fretboard. The entire solo was comprised of notes located somewhere over the neck pickup! Ouch.

Next, the 3rd verse Fuzzface onslaught. How nuts is it to put a 335 through a Fuzzface? I would never think to do such a thing, but here we are. I used a classic battery-powered Fuzz Face in front of the Ethos preamp, and just dove in. 

This solo, sloppy fuzz notwithstanding, is all about phrasing. Every phrase is played with pride, confidence, economy, and purpose. Each phrase knows it belongs. Did Carlton compose or improvise it? I do not know, but I did see him play live back then, and spontaneous perfection is just what he does. 

Beyond phrasing is technique. For instance, at 1:47, we hear some standard blues rock strutting, beginning with a bend up; some rapid stuff, a bend back down. My expectation was that this was a standard 2-string figure, with the bend on the lower string and the fast fire on the higher string. But this is just not feasible, due to the need for insanely fast cross-picking; maybe Molly Tuttle could do it? Instead, the whole affair takes place on a single string! Bend up; then while holding that bend firmly in place, hit the rapid back & forth gunfire on that same string, at the higher frets; then release the tension and bend back down. Unreal. 

Finally, can’t climb in & drive only part of a vehicle, so I’ve done my best to recreate the band’s performances too: Stix Hooper’s drumming, Wilton Felder's bass, and Joe Sample’s electric piano solo. It's always good to transcribe solos, no matter the instrument. Then we recap the head, and exit through the outro.

Mastered by Tardon Lawrence at Mr. Toad's Recording: mrtoads.com

I hope this info is fun for guitarists out there; it was definitely a rewarding endeavor for me. Thanks for listening, and be sure to check out the sources:

Larry Carlton's version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gRYe3UcAjLM
Tom Scott's original: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pNKNU9PHC6Y

New tracks tagged #larrycarlton