Chords for Greg Phillinganes talks about Rod Temperton (2016)
Tempo:
93.2 bpm
Chords used:
F
E
C
C#
G#
Tuning:Standard Tuning (EADGBE)Capo:+0fret
Start Jamming...
You know, he came in with that little ditto,
that little ditty called Thriller.
And then everything changed.
What can you tell these guys about Rod Temperton?
Who he was and what his importance is.
Where do I start with this guy?
Rod Temperton was, you know in school,
like in high school, the yearbooks,
they have like different categories of people.
Like most likely to succeed and write, that kind of thing.
Well, I would imagine his little bio in that high school book
saying, the guy you least expect to write massive hits.
Because he was just this little skinny British guy
from a little band called Heat Wave
that he was a member of and wrote songs [C] for them,
to little things like Boogie Nights, Always and Forever,
[F] Groove Line, Ain't No Half Steppin', all these hits.
And Quincy plucked him out and brought him into the fold
and said, you're going to write for Michael.
Because again, the brilliance of Quincy,
understanding talent and understanding
the potential for expanding that talent.
And he realized that, or he felt that Rod
would be a great addition and a key element
in the new version of Michael.
And Rod took on the challenge.
But then he understood Michael musically too.
I think that's why he fit so well.
And that's why he was able to come up
with these custom gems like Off the Wall and Rock With You
and songs [F] like that.
And he was just a brilliant guy.
And his methodology for songwriting, oh my.
Let me tell you, this guy was a consummate songwriter.
And he brought new depth and meaning to the [N] term
doing your homework.
This guy, in the creation of one song,
would come up with 200 titles, just freaking titles, 200 of them
just so he can pare down and finally nail one
to start a concept with.
That's just a song title.
He hadn't written a note yet.
I'm just going to just come up with options for song titles.
So he starts with that.
And then everything is of painstaking detail.
And all the little layers and details of parts,
he came up with all of them.
It's not like we were improvising.
Every part came from him, and we were duplicating it.
Like all the little parts to Thriller
and with all the multi-layers of sounds and parts,
that all came from him.
And that was for every song.
Do you remember the original title to Thriller?
Starlight.
Right?
Correct.
To Starlight.
[N] And Rod made these fantastic demos.
And everything was great until you heard the vocal,
because he could not sing.
Let's listen to one of the demos, actually, for Starlight.
[C#]
[G#] Not quite the same.
But yeah.
And then I think it was Quincy that said,
we need a title with a little more of an edge.
So 200 titles later, Thriller.
OK.
Now we're onto something.
And then that opened up a whole new world.
And Rod said that he knew that he
wanted to have some kind of voice
to do this spoken word section.
Did Rod write the spoken word section, too?
Yeah.
OK.
Yeah.
You want to know how he wrote it?
He wrote it in the taxi on the way
from the airport to the studio.
That's how he came up with the spoken.
All that [F] darkness, fall.
[B] He was in the taxi going, darkness, fall,
and the car [N] got back.
He was in the damn taxi.
The taxi.
That's how brilliant he was.
He's like, Rod, I need some lyrics here.
I think I'll, I say, I've got to go to the studio now.
Rod, maybe I'll just do it now.
Anyway, that's how that happened.
I think we should listen to this in full.
You know, it's good to the last drop.
Now, I have to say some things about that.
It's good to the last drop.
Did you ever imagine that you'd be grooving to a dance
tune with a pipe organ in it and Vincent Price rapping?
Who does that?
Come on, man.
And it's like one of the greatest dance tracks
of all time.
And what I wanted to say about Rod,
another element of his brilliance
was that he made sure that every section of his songs
were equally as strong.
You know, a lot of songs will have a great hook, and that's it.
Or they'll have like a really interesting verse,
and then the chorus just kind of flutters away.
No, no, no.
With Rod's songs, the verse and the chorus and even the bridge,
they could be separate songs on their own.
Go back and check out his work, and you'll see that's right.
And that was to his brilliance.
I mean, the bridge of Thriller, that's a song right there.
That's just the bridge.
But that was the level of quality
[F#] that he brought to every song, no matter who the artist was.
Even like with George Benson, Give Me the Night,
the same thing, if you listen to that,
the bridge and the hook and the verse
could be songs on their own.
And yeah, Love Times, all that stuff.
And so there's that.
And then, again, people ask me, do
I remember what it was like being in the studio?
I remember playing the parts and listening
[F] on the massive JBL speakers in the control room.
It was just blasted, just tick-a-tick, tick-a-tick.
And we're just rolling.
And it was so much fun reproducing the million parts
that Rod came up with, [E] and then [G] the big pipe organ
sound [E] at the end.
All that's me.
It was crazy.
It was just a crazy ride.
And
that little ditty called Thriller.
And then everything changed.
What can you tell these guys about Rod Temperton?
Who he was and what his importance is.
Where do I start with this guy?
Rod Temperton was, you know in school,
like in high school, the yearbooks,
they have like different categories of people.
Like most likely to succeed and write, that kind of thing.
Well, I would imagine his little bio in that high school book
saying, the guy you least expect to write massive hits.
Because he was just this little skinny British guy
from a little band called Heat Wave
that he was a member of and wrote songs [C] for them,
to little things like Boogie Nights, Always and Forever,
[F] Groove Line, Ain't No Half Steppin', all these hits.
And Quincy plucked him out and brought him into the fold
and said, you're going to write for Michael.
Because again, the brilliance of Quincy,
understanding talent and understanding
the potential for expanding that talent.
And he realized that, or he felt that Rod
would be a great addition and a key element
in the new version of Michael.
And Rod took on the challenge.
But then he understood Michael musically too.
I think that's why he fit so well.
And that's why he was able to come up
with these custom gems like Off the Wall and Rock With You
and songs [F] like that.
And he was just a brilliant guy.
And his methodology for songwriting, oh my.
Let me tell you, this guy was a consummate songwriter.
And he brought new depth and meaning to the [N] term
doing your homework.
This guy, in the creation of one song,
would come up with 200 titles, just freaking titles, 200 of them
just so he can pare down and finally nail one
to start a concept with.
That's just a song title.
He hadn't written a note yet.
I'm just going to just come up with options for song titles.
So he starts with that.
And then everything is of painstaking detail.
And all the little layers and details of parts,
he came up with all of them.
It's not like we were improvising.
Every part came from him, and we were duplicating it.
Like all the little parts to Thriller
and with all the multi-layers of sounds and parts,
that all came from him.
And that was for every song.
Do you remember the original title to Thriller?
Starlight.
Right?
Correct.
To Starlight.
[N] And Rod made these fantastic demos.
And everything was great until you heard the vocal,
because he could not sing.
Let's listen to one of the demos, actually, for Starlight.
[C#]
[G#] Not quite the same.
But yeah.
And then I think it was Quincy that said,
we need a title with a little more of an edge.
So 200 titles later, Thriller.
OK.
Now we're onto something.
And then that opened up a whole new world.
And Rod said that he knew that he
wanted to have some kind of voice
to do this spoken word section.
Did Rod write the spoken word section, too?
Yeah.
OK.
Yeah.
You want to know how he wrote it?
He wrote it in the taxi on the way
from the airport to the studio.
That's how he came up with the spoken.
All that [F] darkness, fall.
[B] He was in the taxi going, darkness, fall,
and the car [N] got back.
He was in the damn taxi.
The taxi.
That's how brilliant he was.
He's like, Rod, I need some lyrics here.
I think I'll, I say, I've got to go to the studio now.
Rod, maybe I'll just do it now.
Anyway, that's how that happened.
I think we should listen to this in full.
You know, it's good to the last drop.
Now, I have to say some things about that.
It's good to the last drop.
Did you ever imagine that you'd be grooving to a dance
tune with a pipe organ in it and Vincent Price rapping?
Who does that?
Come on, man.
And it's like one of the greatest dance tracks
of all time.
And what I wanted to say about Rod,
another element of his brilliance
was that he made sure that every section of his songs
were equally as strong.
You know, a lot of songs will have a great hook, and that's it.
Or they'll have like a really interesting verse,
and then the chorus just kind of flutters away.
No, no, no.
With Rod's songs, the verse and the chorus and even the bridge,
they could be separate songs on their own.
Go back and check out his work, and you'll see that's right.
And that was to his brilliance.
I mean, the bridge of Thriller, that's a song right there.
That's just the bridge.
But that was the level of quality
[F#] that he brought to every song, no matter who the artist was.
Even like with George Benson, Give Me the Night,
the same thing, if you listen to that,
the bridge and the hook and the verse
could be songs on their own.
And yeah, Love Times, all that stuff.
And so there's that.
And then, again, people ask me, do
I remember what it was like being in the studio?
I remember playing the parts and listening
[F] on the massive JBL speakers in the control room.
It was just blasted, just tick-a-tick, tick-a-tick.
And we're just rolling.
And it was so much fun reproducing the million parts
that Rod came up with, [E] and then [G] the big pipe organ
sound [E] at the end.
All that's me.
It was crazy.
It was just a crazy ride.
And
Key:
F
E
C
C#
G#
F
E
C
You know, he came in with that little ditto,
that little ditty called Thriller. _
_ And then everything changed.
What can you tell these guys about Rod Temperton?
Who he was and what his importance is.
Where do I start with this guy? _ _ _
Rod Temperton was, _ _ _ you _ know in school,
like in high school, the yearbooks,
they have like different categories of people.
Like most likely to succeed and write, that kind of thing.
_ Well, I would imagine his _ _ little bio in that high school book
saying, the guy you least expect to write massive hits.
_ Because he was just this little skinny British guy
from a little band called Heat Wave
_ that he was a member of and wrote songs [C] for them,
to little things like Boogie Nights, _ _ Always and Forever,
_ [F] _ Groove Line, Ain't No Half Steppin', all these hits.
And Quincy plucked him out and _ brought him into the fold
and said, you're going to write for Michael.
Because _ again, the brilliance of Quincy,
_ understanding talent and understanding
the potential _ _ for _ expanding that talent.
And he realized that, _ _ or he felt that Rod
would be a great addition and _ a key element
in the new version of Michael.
And Rod took on the challenge.
But then he understood _ Michael musically too.
I think that's why he fit so well.
And that's why he was able to come up
with _ these custom gems like Off the Wall and Rock With You
and _ songs [F] like that.
And _ he was just a brilliant guy.
And his methodology for songwriting, oh my.
Let me tell you, this guy was a consummate songwriter. _ _ _ _
And he _ brought new depth and meaning to the [N] term
doing your homework.
This guy, in the creation of one song,
would come up with 200 _ titles, _ _ just freaking titles, 200 of them
just so he can pare down and finally nail one
to start a concept with.
That's just a song title.
He hadn't written a note yet.
I'm just going to just come up with options for song titles.
So he starts with that.
And then everything is of painstaking detail.
And all the little layers and details of parts,
he came up with all of them.
It's not like we were improvising.
Every part came from him, and we were duplicating it.
Like all the little parts to Thriller
_ _ _ _ and with all the multi-layers of sounds and parts,
that all came from him.
And that was for every song.
Do you remember the original title to Thriller?
_ Starlight. _
Right?
_ Correct.
To Starlight.
[N] And Rod made these fantastic demos.
And everything was great until you heard the vocal,
because he could not sing.
Let's listen to one of the demos, actually, for Starlight.
[C#] _
_ _ [G#] Not quite the same. _ _
_ _ _ But yeah.
And then I think it was Quincy that said,
we need a title with a little more of an edge.
So 200 titles later, Thriller.
OK.
Now we're onto something.
And then that opened up a whole new world.
And Rod said that he knew that he
wanted to have some kind of _ _ _ voice
to do _ _ this spoken word section.
Did Rod write the spoken word section, too?
Yeah.
OK.
Yeah.
You want to know how he wrote it?
He wrote it in the taxi on the way
from the airport to the studio.
That's how he came up with the spoken.
All that [F] darkness, fall.
[B] He was in the taxi going, darkness, fall,
and the car [N] got back.
He was in the damn taxi.
The taxi.
That's how brilliant he was.
_ He's like, Rod, I need some lyrics here.
I think I'll, I say, I've got to go to the studio now.
Rod, maybe I'll just do it now. _
_ _ _ Anyway, that's how that happened.
I think we should listen to this in full. _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ You know, it's good to the last drop.
_ _ Now, I have to say some things about that.
It's good to the last drop.
Did you ever imagine that you'd be grooving to a dance
tune with a pipe organ in it and Vincent Price rapping?
_ Who does that?
Come on, man.
And it's like one of the greatest dance tracks
of all time.
And what I wanted to say about Rod,
another element of his brilliance
was that he made sure that every section of his songs
were equally as strong.
You know, a lot of songs will have a great hook, and that's it.
Or they'll have like a really interesting verse,
and then the chorus just kind of _ flutters away.
No, no, no.
_ With Rod's songs, the verse _ and the chorus and even the bridge,
they could be separate songs on their own.
Go back and check out his work, and you'll see that's right.
And that was to his brilliance.
I mean, the bridge of Thriller, that's a song right there.
That's just the bridge.
_ But that was the level of quality
[F#] that he brought to every song, no matter who the artist was.
Even like with George Benson, Give Me the Night,
the same thing, if you listen to that, _
the bridge and the hook and the verse
could be songs on their own. _
_ _ And yeah, Love Times, all that stuff.
And so there's that.
And then, again, people ask me, do
I remember what it was like being in the studio?
I remember _ playing the parts and listening
[F] on the massive JBL speakers in the control room.
It was just blasted, just tick-a-tick, tick-a-tick.
And we're just rolling.
And it was so much fun _ reproducing the million parts
that Rod came up with, [E] and then _ [G] the big pipe organ
sound [E] at the end.
All that's me.
It was crazy.
It was just a crazy ride.
And
that little ditty called Thriller. _
_ And then everything changed.
What can you tell these guys about Rod Temperton?
Who he was and what his importance is.
Where do I start with this guy? _ _ _
Rod Temperton was, _ _ _ you _ know in school,
like in high school, the yearbooks,
they have like different categories of people.
Like most likely to succeed and write, that kind of thing.
_ Well, I would imagine his _ _ little bio in that high school book
saying, the guy you least expect to write massive hits.
_ Because he was just this little skinny British guy
from a little band called Heat Wave
_ that he was a member of and wrote songs [C] for them,
to little things like Boogie Nights, _ _ Always and Forever,
_ [F] _ Groove Line, Ain't No Half Steppin', all these hits.
And Quincy plucked him out and _ brought him into the fold
and said, you're going to write for Michael.
Because _ again, the brilliance of Quincy,
_ understanding talent and understanding
the potential _ _ for _ expanding that talent.
And he realized that, _ _ or he felt that Rod
would be a great addition and _ a key element
in the new version of Michael.
And Rod took on the challenge.
But then he understood _ Michael musically too.
I think that's why he fit so well.
And that's why he was able to come up
with _ these custom gems like Off the Wall and Rock With You
and _ songs [F] like that.
And _ he was just a brilliant guy.
And his methodology for songwriting, oh my.
Let me tell you, this guy was a consummate songwriter. _ _ _ _
And he _ brought new depth and meaning to the [N] term
doing your homework.
This guy, in the creation of one song,
would come up with 200 _ titles, _ _ just freaking titles, 200 of them
just so he can pare down and finally nail one
to start a concept with.
That's just a song title.
He hadn't written a note yet.
I'm just going to just come up with options for song titles.
So he starts with that.
And then everything is of painstaking detail.
And all the little layers and details of parts,
he came up with all of them.
It's not like we were improvising.
Every part came from him, and we were duplicating it.
Like all the little parts to Thriller
_ _ _ _ and with all the multi-layers of sounds and parts,
that all came from him.
And that was for every song.
Do you remember the original title to Thriller?
_ Starlight. _
Right?
_ Correct.
To Starlight.
[N] And Rod made these fantastic demos.
And everything was great until you heard the vocal,
because he could not sing.
Let's listen to one of the demos, actually, for Starlight.
[C#] _
_ _ [G#] Not quite the same. _ _
_ _ _ But yeah.
And then I think it was Quincy that said,
we need a title with a little more of an edge.
So 200 titles later, Thriller.
OK.
Now we're onto something.
And then that opened up a whole new world.
And Rod said that he knew that he
wanted to have some kind of _ _ _ voice
to do _ _ this spoken word section.
Did Rod write the spoken word section, too?
Yeah.
OK.
Yeah.
You want to know how he wrote it?
He wrote it in the taxi on the way
from the airport to the studio.
That's how he came up with the spoken.
All that [F] darkness, fall.
[B] He was in the taxi going, darkness, fall,
and the car [N] got back.
He was in the damn taxi.
The taxi.
That's how brilliant he was.
_ He's like, Rod, I need some lyrics here.
I think I'll, I say, I've got to go to the studio now.
Rod, maybe I'll just do it now. _
_ _ _ Anyway, that's how that happened.
I think we should listen to this in full. _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ You know, it's good to the last drop.
_ _ Now, I have to say some things about that.
It's good to the last drop.
Did you ever imagine that you'd be grooving to a dance
tune with a pipe organ in it and Vincent Price rapping?
_ Who does that?
Come on, man.
And it's like one of the greatest dance tracks
of all time.
And what I wanted to say about Rod,
another element of his brilliance
was that he made sure that every section of his songs
were equally as strong.
You know, a lot of songs will have a great hook, and that's it.
Or they'll have like a really interesting verse,
and then the chorus just kind of _ flutters away.
No, no, no.
_ With Rod's songs, the verse _ and the chorus and even the bridge,
they could be separate songs on their own.
Go back and check out his work, and you'll see that's right.
And that was to his brilliance.
I mean, the bridge of Thriller, that's a song right there.
That's just the bridge.
_ But that was the level of quality
[F#] that he brought to every song, no matter who the artist was.
Even like with George Benson, Give Me the Night,
the same thing, if you listen to that, _
the bridge and the hook and the verse
could be songs on their own. _
_ _ And yeah, Love Times, all that stuff.
And so there's that.
And then, again, people ask me, do
I remember what it was like being in the studio?
I remember _ playing the parts and listening
[F] on the massive JBL speakers in the control room.
It was just blasted, just tick-a-tick, tick-a-tick.
And we're just rolling.
And it was so much fun _ reproducing the million parts
that Rod came up with, [E] and then _ [G] the big pipe organ
sound [E] at the end.
All that's me.
It was crazy.
It was just a crazy ride.
And