The session was held at Philadelphia’s Sigma Sound Studios, with Earl Young on drums, Leon on piano, Norman Harris on guitar, Lenny Pakula on organ, and Larry Washington on percussion. Ex. 1 shows the song’s main riff, which was based on a keyboard-bass part Leon Huff developed. “I remember Leon simply handed me a torn-off sheet of paper that had the chorus line written out,” notes Jackson. “He said something like, ‘Okay, this time it’s yours.’ In those days there wasn’t a lot of talking; we just went in and played. I just embellished and filled out a very tiny amount—not enough to claim credit for.”
Whether you attack the line with your finger or a pick, consider handling the 32nd-notes on beat four of bar 1 by breaking your alternating approach with a single-direction rake in the picking/plucking hand. Anthony doesn’t remember where on his ’73 Fender Precision neck he played the part, so you can try in 3rd position, as notated in the tablature for bars 1 and 2, or in 8th position as written in bars 7 and 8. “The verse [Ex. 2] and instrumental bridge parts were my own,” says Jackson, who also adorned the long outro with drops and climb-ups, as in Ex. 3.