“Paul was tuning his guitar at one point, and I said ‘What key is that in?’, added a bassline and that became a song”: The good luck and creative chaos behind Mr Big’s Lean In To It

Mr Big's Lean Into It album

In March 1991, Californian rockers Mr Big were on an upward trajectory. Their self-titled debut album of 1989 had done well, although it hadn’t exactly set the charts alight. After tours with Rush in the US and Canada, and their own headlining tours of Japan and the Far East, the band’s second album, Lean Into It, arrived at a point when their profile was rising rapidly. The incoming winds of grunge hadn’t yet started blowing, so Billy Sheehan (bass), Eric Martin (vocals), Pat Torpey (drums), and Paul Gilbert (guitar) had much to be optimistic about.

Lean Into It become Mr. Big’s biggest-selling album, but it was assembled largely by instinct. “We went into a room together and started exchanging ideas,” said Billy Sheehan. “Paul was tuning his guitar at one point, and I said ‘What key is that in?’ It was the key of G, so I added the bass notes underneath it and that became the song Alive And Kickin’. We put it together, sent it up to Eric, and he did his lyrics.”