Alright, Alright

Album: Chickenfoot III (2011)
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Songfacts®:

  • This is a track from Chickenfoot III, the second album by the rock supergroup Chickenfoot. The band comprises ex Van Halen vocalist Sammy Hagar, his former bassist bandmate Michael Anthony, drummer Chad Smith of the Red Hot Chili Peppers and guitarist Joe Satriani.
  • This song originated from a jam session when the band was touring. Satriani told Music Radar: "We were backstage jamming before a show, and I started playing the opening guitar sequence. Chad and Mike joined in, and then Sam walked in and began singing, 'Alright, alright, alright!' We recorded what we had right there, and everybody looked at me and said, 'Joe, you're going to finish that, right?'" He continued: "When I was working on it later, I was trying to figure out a way to give it more guts. It's a light kind of a chorus, so I wanted to bring it down and give it weight. I gave it a Stonesy sort of a verse and some funky key changes for the solo."
  • Satriani commented to MusicRadar there are "some funny guitars on it." He explained: "Besides the Ibanez JS guitars, there's a '58 Esquire on the right channel and a '59 Gibson ES-335 on the left. The JS2400 was my main tracking guitar, and for the solo section that's one of the JS prototypes with three DiMarzio Choppers. I used it on quite a few songs. That prototype has one of the punchiest Strat sounds I've ever heard. It gave the solo on Alright, Alright a vintage quality. Sam calls it the 'Sunshine Of Your Love'guitar solo.'"
  • Sammy Hagar discussed the songwriting process for Chickenfoot III during an interview with SoundSpike: "Mostly Joe and I write the songs, but there are three songs that are band songs. Those are the ones where we just got in there and played them. Just made it up on the spot. The rest of them Joe and I co-wrote before we all got together. Joe brings the music and I listen to it. He's so prolific, when I say, 'OK, Joe. Let's get together next week. You want to bring me a few ideas?' He comes with a CD with about 20 ideas. Not just ideas, almost finished musically. An intro, verse, a bridge, a chorus and an outro and an ending. I have to listen to hear what I can relate to. I write melodies and lyrics and that's how I write."

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