MAKIN' TRACKS DAN AUERBACH
THE EVER-BUSY FRONTMAN WALKS US THROUGH FIVE CLASSIC BLACK KEYS SONGS — AND FIVE FROM THE BAND’S LATEST ALBUM, DROPOUT BOOGIE
Interview by Joshua M. Miller
“Wild Child” From Dropout Boogie (2022)
It started with a drum loop that we made in the studio — [Black Keys drummer] Patrick Carney and I — and then we added guitar. We laid down this very simple thing — it felt so good — and I was just like, “Okay, what do we do now, to not mess this up?” That was the goal. It’s such a simple song, but it’s like that thing they always talk about: deceptively simple things. It’s such an iconic chord change; it’s in six million songs — just the most basic, fundamental change. There are so many songs that use that riff: songs by the Kinks, Jimi Hendrix, the Doors and AC/DC. It’s one of those things where it’s like, “How do we create this thing where we don’t try to get too smart and mess it up? And don’t try to get too complicated, just keep it very simple?” That’s the battle a lot of times. Especially in this day and age, when you have the computer and you can make a million changes, it’s trying to keep it simple.
“Good Love” From Dropout Boogie
That’s a first-take improvisation. That’s Billy Gibbons and me on guitar and Pat on the drums. Billy came over and I handed him this old [Gibson] Trini Lopez that used to belong to [Hill Country guitarist] Mississippi Fred McDowell and plugged it straight into an amp. And it sounded exactly like Billy Gibbons. I was playing my ’59 Les Paul. And that was the first take. It really has that real raw, loose feeling. We were set right next to each other; our amps were right next to each other. We were grooving. I mean, we were right there, with each other. Pat was just across the room. We were just locked in.
“Happiness” From Dropout Boogie
I played that on an old guitar that used to belong to Hound Dog Taylor. It’s tuned down, in open B. Gives it that heavy sound. I was playing his guitar, and that’s the tuning he would use. So obviously, I was influenced by him. He was one of my favorites starting out. The fact they didn’t have any bass guitar in the band too — I thought that was cool. Nothing against bass players, I just thought that was cool. They had a good, full sound, but he always played those Teiscos, those Japanese guitars. And he’d make them sound incredible — plug straight into his Super Reverb and turn it all the way up.
“Didn’t I Love You” From Dropout Boog
