Classic kravitz

“MR. CAB DRIVER” LET LOVE RULE (1990)

“This was a crunchy riff idea I had — very simple. I was trying to get to the studio one day, and I couldn’t get a cab to pick me up, because a lot of times, if you’re Black and you’re hailing a cab, and you’re going uptown to Harlem, or Brooklyn or whatever, they don’t want to take you.

“Anyway, I got to the studio after an hour of trying to get there, and I was just pissed off. I picked up the guitar and this song is what came out. I was kind of going for a New York, late-’60s or early ’70s grunge kind of sound, maybe some Velvet Underground or something, you know? A real simple thing. The tone on the guitar is real cool — broken up but kind of clean at the same time. A street sound.”

“ALWAYS ON THE RUN” MAMA SAID(1991)

“That was about me and Slash. We went to high school together. I met him again when Guns N’ Roses came out and we were both at an awards show. I said to him, ‘I know you, dude!’ Then we spoke and realized, oh shit, we went to school together. [laughs] “Anyway, we said we should work together sometime, and then at the end of one of his tours he flew from London on the Concorde to the States, where I was working on the Mama Said album. He came in with the riff for this, I got behind the drum kit and we worked out an arrangement and got it down real quick. I picked up a Les Paul and did the opposing part, which I call the funk part — the counterpart. The two guitars together just fit and weave perfectly together. I did the bass part on a Gibson EB bass, and that was it. I then took the track home, wrote the lyrics and melody and went back in to finish the song. I did a horn chart for it, and there it was, man. It was just a beautiful combination.”

“TUNNEL VISION” CIRCUS(1995)

“I used a custom-colored, black ’60s Strat with a matching painted headstock for this. My vision was for a Hendrix-y, funky kind of thing. It was an experience with an amp and a guitar that sounded great together, s