Need You Now
The general idea here was to take a song that feels very BIG in every way and turn it into something small. So I started with a very choppy, tiny electric keys part and took it from there.
To be completely honest, I didn't know this song very well (It must have been released while I was living under a giant rock, which was convenient and cheap, but cold at night), so I had to educate myself over the course of several listens. Unsurprisingly, it's an indestructible, undeniable mega smash. Most, if not all, of these Grammy tunes are structured like giant condo buildings with enormous underground parking lots. I mean that in a good way. For all of their frivolity and hip-ness, they're very deeply thought out, these tunes. They're designed for success. It's kind of amazing, actually. (Rehab may be an exception --- that song seems to be more of a Lightning In A Bottle situation, in which the MOOD and TONE was exactly equal to the messenger and the MOOD and TONE of the moment it was released. It's more of a continuous groove than a carefully structured piece. There are probably other exceptions too, but I'm writing this quickly, with very little thought, after a night of so-so sleep.)
The bass I introduce about halfway through the tune is a 1976 Rickenbacker that my Uncle Randy gave me 15 years ago. It was his as a kid and, when he saw that I was getting serious about music, he handed it down. It's still one of my favorite instruments. I lay that thing down on a LOT of tracks. (I used it in the REHAB cover as well.) THANKS, UNCLE RANDY!
That's all I have to say at this moment. On to the next song. Here's NEED YOU NOW in YouTube form:
Talk soon,
Kyle