Chords for King of Swing Brian Setzer Discusses His Career

_ _ _ _ [C] _ _ _ [G] _
_ you should be larger than life on stage.
Welcome to WatchMojo.com and today we'll be learning more about the life and [Bb] career of [A] Brian Setzer.
[G] Born April 10th, 1959 [C] [G] in Massapequa, New [Am] York,
Brian Setzer was [Gb] interested in [C] music from [G] a young [F] age
[Bb] and started out playing [Dm] brass horns before switching to [Gm] guitar.
I started playing guitar [G] when I was 8 years old and luckily my parents didn't have a lot of money, they were broke.
And they found a guitar player _ in the Yellow [Bb] Pages.
He really took his time and showed me how to play [Cm] the guitar and how to read and [Bm] write music.
And then of [Gbm] course I was influenced [G] by all these people growing up.
As a young boy, probably bands like the Allman Brothers and Creedence Clearwater Revival.
[Em] And then one day I was listening to a Beatles record
[Bm] and my dad [G] came in and started singing along with [F] Honey Don't.
[Bb] _ [C] And I said, how do you know?
How come [G] you say you will when you won't?
And he was singing along with it.
He goes, _
[E] _ [D] this is by a guy named [G] Carl Perkins.
I don't know who the Beatles are, _ but it's by a guy named Carl Perkins.
And then I had realized all the Beatles and Stones, Rolling Stones [N] records, the first ones, were Rockabilly songs.
[Em] So that's how I really [E] got [Db] my [Gm] vision of what I [F] was.
[G] Once his musical influences were set by [Bm] the end of the [E] 1970s,
Setzer formed a Rockabilly revival band.
The Stray Cats lineup was solidified by [A] 1979,
with Setzer being joined by Lee [Em] Rocker and Slim Jim Phantom.
[Gb] The trio [B] then set out to stimulate [A] interest in their chosen [D] genre and [A] the music of the [Bm] 1950s.
I don't really think about [A] reviving musical styles.
I love the [B] sounds of _ [Em] music that comes from the blues.
[A] [Em] I love jazz.
[E] I love country. _
Swing, rock and roll, rockabilly.
To me it all comes from the blues.
[B] And in my way of thinking, there's [C] no reason why you can't take all [D] these kinds of music [G] and blend them together,
which is kind of how I always thought.
And I never [N] consciously thought of blending them.
It just kind of happens in [E] my head, and it comes out of my hands that way.
They gained [Eb] a following in the New York scene.
However, it was their move [D] to the United Kingdom that really solidified the Stray Cats as a success.
[C] I love the Stray Cats [Gbm] because [A] _ the [D] boys in the band are my brothers.
We grew up _ since we were [G] seven [D] years old.
I would like to tour [E] the States with them.
[D] We're just [Ab] very, very [D] popular in Europe.
Just three [Dm] months after moving to England [Gbm] in the summer of [D] 1980, the band had a record contract.
Their breakthrough album was 1982's Built for [Ab] Speed, and it made [Dbm] them [B] popular in [C] Europe [D] as well as in the U.S.
This [Gb] record [F] featured the hit [Dm] Rock This Town, and that song has [A] since been listed [Abm] as one [Cm] of the most [Am] important songs in rock [D] history.
I'm gonna rock this town.
Rock any town.
_ _ I'm gonna rock this town.
Make them [A] scream and [B] shout.
_ [Cm] _
They [Bb] followed that up with [Ab] Stray Cat Strut, [G] and these [Cm] singles [Bb] exemplified their punk [Ab]-infused jazz [G] rock style.
[Cm] In [Bb] 1984, the [G] band broke up.
It was also [Cm] around this time [Bb] that Setzer began [Ab] performing with [G] former Led [Cm] Zeppelin frontman [Bb] Robert Plant
in [Ab] his R&B [G]-inspired rock [Cm] band, The Honey Drippers.
_ By 1986, [Fm] Setzer had struck out on his [Eb] own and [Db] released a mildly [C] successful [Fm] solo album.
Even [F] so, the [Db] Stray Cats [C] reunited that year [Fm] and managed to [Ab] stay together until [Db] the early [C] _ [Fm] 1990s before parting [B] ways,
only to reunite [Bb] again for a farewell tour in the [E] 2000s.
In [A] 1987, Setzer was able to pay homage to his idol Eddie [F] Cochran by portraying him in [A] the film La Bamba.
_ _ _ [E] He's my biggest inspiration.
When I saw a picture of Eddie Cochran, I said, wow, I don't know, I want to look like that guy.
I thought [Am] _ [E] he was the coolest thing.
[A] And then when I heard his [B] music, [E] it was like a double _ [Am] _ knockout punch.
_ He's the guy.
I want to pattern myself [E] after [G] this guy, Eddie Cochran.
[E]
And so when I started, I really wanted to _ sound like him and look like him and evolve from [Gb] there, I guess. _
By 1992, Setzer had founded the blues and swing band, The Brian [F] Setzer Orchestra.
I always do things in extremes.
It seems to go from three piece to [Em] 18 piece to sometimes playing alone.
_ No, I [Am] always play the same style of guitar.
_ [G] And one day I had the idea _ to [Gb] _ write a [Dm] big band, to have a big [E] band behind the Stray Cats.
And to me, I thought to myself, why [Gb] wouldn't this work?
Because it's all the same music.
It's true the big band is much more jazz [Em] oriented.
[E] So when those guys are playing those chords, you've got to be aware of what's going past you.
But to me, I play the same [Ab] style of guitar in that format, [F] in any format.
It's still me if [Gb] it's with three people or [B] 18 people.
[Fm] The instrument [Bb] ensemble was an ambitious project and the band's popularity grew [F] primarily due to its [Db] energetic live show.
[Gm]
The orchestra's biggest mainstream hit came in 1998 with their cover of Jump, Jive and Wail.
And that song won Setzer one of his three Grammy Awards.
I knew that it was something musically that had not been done before.
There had not been a guitar leading a big band.
Because the [Eb] big band era died and [G] rock and roll [Bb] was born.
So the two never got to [Dm] meet.
Throughout his time with the Brian Setzer Orchestra, the frontman continued to [Gm] release solo records.
_ [Em] In 2002, [Dm] he joined several [G] members of rock [A] royalty on an episode of The Simpsons.
[Dm] Mentoring Homer while at rock and roll fantasy camp.
We're going to start with the fundamentals.
Playing a burning guitar with your teeth.
_ _ Setzer is almost as recognizable for his [Eb] look as he is for his [G] music.
His bouffant blonde pompadour and [C] 50's style [Bb] clothing is a [Em] throwback to the original rockabilly days.
He [B] is recognized as [Eb] the man who brought two dying musical genres back to [G] popularity.
And [E] that's why Brian Setzer [G] is known as the king of swing.
[Gb] Most big [C] bands really don't [D] approach it from the guitar point of view I [G] think.
[C] _ _ _
And the guitar leads the orchestra so it's going to rock because that's what I do.