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Elbow's 'Grounds For Divorce' entered our Greatest Riffs Of The Decade poll at number 42. A Page-esque bluesy barn-stormer (powered by a multi-tracked Les Paul and an Electro-Harmonix Big Muff), the song was chosen as the lead single for their 2008 Mercury Prize winning break through album 'The Seldom Seen Kid' .

'Grounds For Divorce' blindsided Elbow doubters and won a coveted Ivor Novello award for Best Contemporary Song. TG spoke to guitarist Mark Potter to find out just where the hell it came from…

Check out Total Guitar issue 207, a Monster Riffs special.

© David Atlas/Retna Ltd./Corbis

Another attention-seeking lead guitarist

When did you come up with the riff?
"You know how most guitarists have something that they play every time they pick up a guitar? Well, that was my one. For 10 years the lads never seemed to notice it. I'd play it and look around the room expectantly and be like, 'Oh well, no reaction again.' Then about two years ago, I played it and Guy [Garvey, vocals] was like, 'What's that?' I said, 'What do you mean what's that? I've been playing it for 10 years!"

How did you record the song?
"It was a Gibson Les Paul through an Electro-Harmonix Big Muff pedal and then I used a '54 Vox AC30 head with a vintage Marshall 4x12 cab. It's not like I thought 'I'm writing a rock riff, therefore I must use a Les Paul'. My favourite guitar is a Gibson ES-335, but I played it on that and it didn't quite have the sort of crunch that I was going for, so as soon as I picked up my Black Beauty Les Paul, that was it – it sounded great. Originally I just recorded the one riff and then I thought 'Well, how about if I track it two of three tones up the octave?' Then I did down the octave and then I played it on a bass, bending the note on that as well. When we twinned these four or five signals of the same riff played in five places on the guitar, it just sounded massive."

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