Sweet Child O’ Mine

Sometimes I like to see if I can even pull off a tough one like this. 3 gtrs 2 vcls & a whole lotta fun.

http://www.dmarkette.com/sweet

Sweet Child O’ Mine” is the third single by American hard rock band Guns N’ Roses, and the third from their 1987 debut studio album, Appetite for Destruction. Released on August 18, 1988, the song topped the Billboard Hot 100 chart[1], becoming the band’s first and only number-one single, and reached number six on the UK Singles Chart.[2]

Sweet Child O’ Mine” was written by the band about Axl Rose’s then-girlfriend and eventual wife, Erin Everly.[3][4]

Slash has been quoted as having a disdain for the song due to its roots as simply a ‘string skipping’ exercise and a joke at the time.[citation needed] In a VH1 special, it was stated that Slash played the riff in a jam session as a joke.[citation needed] Drummer Steven Adler and Slash were warming up and Slash began to play a “circus” melody while making faces at Steven. Izzy asked Slash to play it again, and Axl rushed upstairs to find an ode he’d started writing for his girlfriend Erin Everly, but had not finished. With Steven Adler’s added drum part, the harmony became the core of the song. Originally, there was a third verse to the song. However, this verse was later cut from recording as the band’s producer, Spencer Proffer, felt the song would carry on for too long. The final dramatic breakdown was not added until Proffer suggested the band add one. They agreed, but weren’t sure what to do. Axl started saying to himself, “Where do we go? Where do we go now?” Spencer suggested that he sing that, and “Sweet Child O’ Mine” was born.[3] In an interview with Hit Parader magazine in 1988, bassist Duff McKagan noted:

“ The thing about ‘Sweet Child,’ it was written in five minutes. It was one of those songs, only three chords. You know that guitar lick Slash does at the beginning? It was kinda like a joke because we thought, ‘What is this song? It’s gonna be nothin’, it’ll be filler on the record.’ And except that vocal-wise, it’s very sweet and sincere, Slash was just messing around when he first wrote that lick.[5]

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