A paper bag saved Lenny Kravitz’s life
At the time, Lenny Kravitz he was a musician on the rise, he had already released two more than good albums, “Let love rule” in 1989 and “Mama said” in 1991, he was not yet a recognized star…but one night in 1992, in New York…
This is his account of what happened that night: “In 1992 I was living in a loft on Broome and Mercer. Lots of musicians lived there, so it was a bit of a mess, I’d never had an actual pad of paper. So I was listening to this track that we’d recorded that morning, which I’d brought home on a cassette, and I had no idea what I was going to sing on it. It was late, and I was probably high too, when suddenly I hear the song: I hear the melody, I hear the words. But I can’t find a piece of paper that can save my life! Then, as I run around the kitchen, with the boom box on the table, I see a paper bag from someone who brought Chinese food home. I opened the bag, flattened it, and found an old pen to scribble the words. The words came out quickly. I still have that paper bag somewhere.”
That song was “Are You Gonna Go My Way”. The lightning-fast and unmistakable guitar riff that characterizes the song came from the inspired fingers of the session musician Craig Ross at Waterfront Studios in Hoboken, New Jersey, on the morning of that same day. Here Lenny recounts the prequel to that night: “We were jamming when, all of a sudden, it happened. We didn’t know what it was going to do, but it was really good. We got it out on the first try, like we usually did, and I was left with this tape. It was just a fantastic riff.”
At that time the rock scene was engulfed by the grunge movement which ensured it was the present and future of rock, the good Lenny was recognized as an excellent musician but his first two albums had steered clear of the mainstream of the sales charts. “I’d made two albums and one big hit, ‘It Ain’t Over ‘Til It’s Over,’ but even when I was recording ‘Mama Said’ I was still taking the train to the studio. The funny thing about ‘Are You Gonna Go My Way’ is that when we recorded it I had absolutely no idea it was going to be a hit. Sometimes you record something and you get a feeling. Not with that. Compared to what was on the radio at the time, the sound, recording… it was quite eccentric. I sing lines like ‘I was born a long time ago’ and ‘I’m the chosen one, I’m the one’, but obviously it’s not about me. I’m talking about Christ, and it comes from that ‘Jesus Christ Superstar’ kind of situation. I sing in a role, as if it were a musical, and the question is: do you want to follow the path of love? Let’s think about what Christ really said. His methods were all about love. So the question is: will you continue to live this way, full of hate, or will you live in the way of love? Will you follow my path?”
In another part of the text the inhabitants of planet Earth are invited to ‘hug and rub each other’, in short
“Are You Gonna
Go My Way”
it seemed like good stuff for her
‘Summer of Love’
about twenty or more years ago, as if time had never passed. “When I released ‘Let Love Rule,’ they called me an idealist. ‘This guy always sings about love and peace and spirituality and equality.’ But those are really great ideals.”
Lenny’s sugary peace & love atmosphere hides some shadows. The already mentioned
Craig Ross
interviewed in 2009 by
Henry Yates
He was briefly surprised to discover that the session musician had not only co-written and played all the guitar parts, but also found it frustrating that the solo was attributed entirely to Kravitz. “I’m proud of what I’ve done, and I know I’ve done it. But it’s frustrating not to be ‘known’ like others.”
In this regard, Kravitz admits the injustice: “Honestly, I think Craig is a genius and doesn’t get the recognition he deserves. It all depends on how I record a song. If I play all the instruments in a song, I start with the drums and then build it up. But for “Are You Gonna Go My Way” I wanted the guitars and drums to be recorded at the same time, so I played the drums, Craig the guitar and Tony Breit on bass. So it was one of the songs where I had musicians. It was beautiful.”
In 1993
“Are You Gonna Go My Way”
it was heard everywhere, it reached the top of the charts and also brought the eponymous third album of the musician born in New York to the top in 1964. “People began to recognize me and the situation became feverish. Then “Are You Gonna Go My Way” came out and everything changed. From then on it was never the same. I had to change my life. But it was a great moment. That song has become a classic. I feel it played all over the world. I hear it in nightclubs, even when they play dance music, sometimes it gets mixed and it seems to really cross a lot of genres. The video, by Mark Romanek, helped a lot. It showed that you could dance, and it even had a certain swing.”
But is this song still relevant today, or have its values gone out of fashion?
Lenny Kravitz
he has no doubts: “Is the sentiment of ‘Are You Gonna Go My Way’ still relevant today? The world we live in today is really difficult, and it’s really sad to see where we’ve come as human beings, how we treat each other, and how we treat the world. So I think it’s even more relevant today. I would never take it out of the setlist. It wouldn’t feel complete. That song live is just beautiful, and it’s one of the ones I’ll always play.”
