“I’ve been fortunate sufficient to make a profession co-writing and producing information with nice singers and lyricists, John Leventhal explains. “However I’ve all the time had all this different music in me. I assumed, ‘What are you going to do with it?’”

Rumble Strip, his solo debut on the label he owns with spouse Rosanne Money, supplies that reply.

Over 45 years, the guitarist/songwriter/producer earned a distinguished popularity (and 6 Grammys) working with others. Making a musical assertion for himself proved more difficult.

“It’s one factor to make a report, write a tune, and play a little bit guitar, which I’m able to doing,” he mentioned. “But it surely’s one other factor to make a recording assertion that my inside critic wouldn’t cringe at. I needed to verify I wasn’t doing it as an empty gesture – that it had feeling and soulfulness.”

The pandemic grew to become the catalyst. Pressured off the highway, Leventhal and Money retreated to their Manhattan house, which accommodates a studio.

“I began writing, and finally realized I used to be making a report.”

He performed guitars, keyboard, upright bass, and drums, however not the horn elements. Percussion occurred first, for the title observe.

“That tune got here from a rhythmic place greater than a guitar place. I put down 8, 16, and 32 bars, then grabbed a [’60s Guild Mark IV] nylon-string and informed myself, ‘Reply viscerally, suppose minimally.’

“I used to be attempting to get house to imply as a lot because the notes, hoping it might really feel evocative. The tune was recorded late one evening; one nylon-string, one acoustic guitar, upright, and drums.”

“Floyd Cramer’s Dream,” honoring the revered Nashville A-Group pianist, displays Leventhal’s admiration for that legendary cadre of session musicians. “I began taking part in these little notes, and will hear myself twisting Floyd Cramer.”

Leventhal’s reverence for orchestral composers is mirrored in “Tullamore Blues,” and he embraces the work of American classical composers Aaron Copland (“Concerto for Clarinet”) and Samuel Barber (“Who’s Afraid of Samuel Barber?”).

“Howlin’ Wolf, Copland, Stravinsky, the Beatles, and Motown all meet someplace inside me,” he says.

“Inwood Hill” blends his love of solo guitar and “…actually good acoustic taking part in.” A Chet Atkins fan, he attracts extra from the subtler licks than his fingerstyle selecting.

“He might sound orchestral whereas taking part in a two-note determine.”

The lighthearted “Three Chord Monte” presents a distinction with the more-somber instrumentals. “You want a little bit bit of sunshine with all of the darkness,” Leventhal notes.

“Marion and Sam” drew from a musical cue written by composer Bernard Herrmann for a scene within the 1960 horror movie Psycho. “He wrote some extremely stunning orchestral items for these films. I transposed it for 2 guitars.”

Calling guitars his one materials vice, he notes, “I’ve quite a bit, and I love outdated acoustics. I performed Telecasters quite a bit; one has a Bigsby I put collectively and Extensive Vary humbuckers from the ’70s. I’ve a bunch of nice Gibson and Martin acoustics from the ’30s, ’40s and ’50s. All of them get used.”

After he and Money toured with Ry Cooder, he was notably impressed by Cooder’s Univox Premier, which led him to accumulate one in every of his personal.

“It was this odd solidbody with a rosewood neck, made in New Jersey within the Nineteen Fifties, with cool-sounding pickups. It’s a great-looking guitar.

“I’ve a bunch of amps, however my important recording amp is a Deluxe Reverb from the mid ’60s. I’ve had it for 40 years or extra and it sounds nice. I take advantage of it 85 or 90 % of the time as a result of it really works for every thing.”

The stately “Hymn # 2” encompasses a late-’40s Gibson J-50 that works particularly effectively for recording.

“It’s very mild and has a uncooked, elementary tone.”

He hooked up a DeArmond pickup and used the Deluxe Reverb “to offer it a little bit texture.”

“It’s recorded historically with a pair mics, and I despatched a sign to a different room to the Deluxe Reverb and miked that.”

“Soul Op,” impressed by a 2016 album he produced for Memphis R&B singer William Bell, used an similar setup. The Delta-flavored “Meteor” “…twisted Howlin’ Wolf in the identical approach I twisted Floyd Cramer. I performed a Concord Meteor,” and used a Gibson GA-20-T.

Leventhal is sensible in regards to the album’s potential.

“I do not know if anybody’s gonna care,” he mentioned. “I’ve a way some musicians and record-maker varieties who’ve an appreciation for what I do (will). However I’m beneath the radar, and I like having the ability to make my very own information. It’s enjoyable, it’s difficult, and I’ll see if there’s any traction.”

If that’s the case, he’ll go once more.

“It has sparked concepts, they usually’re fully completely different.”

This text initially appeared in VG’s April 2024 problem. All copyrights are by the writer and Classic Guitar journal. Unauthorized replication or use is strictly prohibited.