DC47 wrote:But I came to Clapton in the late 60s. By the mid 70s I had listened to hundreds of hours of Clapton with Mayall, the Yardbirds, Cream, Blind Faith, Delaney and Bonnie, Bangladesh, the Beatles, George Harrison, and Derek and the. I had tried my hand at his songs. So I had his brilliance firmly etched in my brain before listening (as little as possible) to him collapse into middle-age commercialism. I respected what Clapton had done. But didn't want to hear what he was doing now.
funny and i think spot-on relating to P Collins, who was a crazy-great musician/drummer. I know Genesis is nowhere near everyone's cup of tea but Suppers Ready?. come on!
Steve of phpBB wrote:Layla may not be the greatest classic rock radio single of all time, but for me it's hard to think of a more classic classic rock radio single.
Maybe Stairway to Heaven?
Suite: Judy Blue Eyes.
It's the sixth version of The Swamp. What could possibly go wrong?
I've got a thousand songs on my phone and half of them are classic rock. But relatively few of the songs mentioned on this thread, because even if they're great, I've heard most of them so many times that I'm sick of them. There are thousands of songs that classic rock radio stations can choose from, and they just play about fifty of them over and over again, into the ground.
/getoffamylawn
sancarlos wrote:I've got a thousand songs on my phone and half of them are classic rock. But relatively few of the songs mentioned on this thread, because even if they're great, I've heard most of them so many times that I'm sick of them. There are thousands of songs that classic rock radio stations can choose from, and they just play about fifty of them over and over again, into the ground.
/getoffamylawn
When I was in college one of the radio stations switched formats to all-70s. We were excited, until it seems they simply purchased Time-Life's 'Sounds of the Seventies' and played it on repeat.
Is this considered Classic Rock now? I generally think of the genre as songs of my youth (or just prior to me being born) that I wasn't really cognizant of because of my age.
I feel this song was just an outlier during the age of synth-pop.
(BTW, "Stepping Out' by Joe Jackson is the greatest synth-pop song of all time.)
Jerloma wrote:And if you want a Skynyrd song, the answer is Simple Man.
I'm a big fan of that one as well. Curtis Lowe too.
That said, cliche as it might be - and this one totally fits my earlier criteria - when Free Bird really gets cranked up with all of the driving guitars. Man... You HAVE to turn that shit up, no matter how man times you've heard that song. I swear, you feel like they've hit the crescendo, playing as fast as any man (men) possibly could, and yet ... they turn it up another notch. And then, again.
It's really too bad that song became a cliche.
(I like Hotel and Stairway as well. Sorry.)
Yeah, I don't give a shit, I like early Eagles.. a lot. I like Fleetwood Mac, I like Meat Loaf.
I just don't care. Free Bird is a just an amazing fucking song.
I want to thank everyone on this thread. I'd really forgotten how much I liked this era. And per the article posted, classic rock on the radio today plays the songs that I was around to grow to hate for being overplayed back in the day. So when that shit comes on now, it's just a reflex to change the station. The "deep" cuts being posted are what I remember loving.
You can lead a horse to fish, but you can't fish out a horse.
Played regularly (or at least, regularly enough that I hear it occasionally even though I best browse through once or twice a day) on NYC's biggest (only) classic rock station:
The band that really bugs me, in part because I'm not a fan and in part because of the "this is classic rock???" reaction, is Green Day.
I'm about to drop the hammer. Graham Parker got a nod way up thread, but the guy that is probably as notable for his lack of notoriety (as evidenced, in some small way, by lack of mention here):
Warren Zevon. I mean, what's interesting to me is that Excitable Boy is probably one of the best albums of its day, but the only song the vast majority of folks today could name is Werewolves. There at least 4 other songs on that album that kick incredible amounts of ass.
But he has so many great songs spread across 3 decades. His final album, knowing that he is writing about his impending death... It's hard to listen to, but beautiful nonetheless.
In honor of Letterman's last week, and as homage to one of our resident old people:
You can lead a horse to fish, but you can't fish out a horse.
rass wrote:For when we branch out to the classic rock radio driving songs...
I'm gonna put that in the top 5 driving songs of all time.
This was played at the start of every road trip I took in college and beyond. In fact, this thread reminded me of that fact.
I'll probably get hell but I always enjoyed "Whipping Post" more than most of their other tracks you'd hear on the radio.
Also in this vein, Lynard Skynard also has some great tunes that aren't "Sweet Home Alabama". I heard "Gimmie Back My Bullets" and "The Ballad of Curtis Lowe" a few days ago on a doubleshot.
I switched on the same station when I got in the car is afternoon. Interstate Love Song. It's a song I'll admit a nostalgic affection for, but I don't want it to be classic rock.
Nonlinear FC wrote:This [Rambling Man] was played at the start of every road trip I took in college and beyond. In fact, this thread reminded me of that fact.
You and me and thousands more no doubt. My cassette (of course) tape had this one as well.
Pop a cold one, fire up a J, and you could get a long, long way down that highway in a good head space. As we used to say.
It was in such a mode that I recall tooling down the sparsely-populated 101, headed south from Ukiah, on one Friday evening after killing myself on a construction site all week. I shifted the VW Bus up to fourth, stuck a 2X4 under the dash so that it would hold the accelerator down at the right spot, and kicked back. Literally, with both feet -- bare of course -- out the drivers' side window. I think it was when the tape got to Tucker playing "Take the Highway" that I passed the cop, driving slow in the right lane.
Fortunately he must have thought long-haired, bandana-wearing guys smoking a J while blasting Tucker songs were really cool. Or, it could be that I dropped the J on the floor, pulled my feet in the window and knocked the 2X4 out from the accelerator just in time.
As always, only the gods know the truth.
I stopped in Cloverdale to get a soft-serve cone, and sat on the steps of the vine-covered church, soaking up the soft summer breeze. Then back on the road again.
Last edited by DC47 on Wed May 20, 2015 9:44 pm, edited 1 time in total.
BSF21 wrote:I'll probably get hell but I always enjoyed "Whipping Post" more than most of their other tracks you'd hear on the radio.
Also in this vein, Lynard Skynard also has some great tunes that aren't "Sweet Home Alabama". I heard "Gimmie Back My Bullets" and "The Ballad of Curtis Lowe" a few days ago on a doubleshot.
At least through the late '70s, the hard-core Allman fans reserved a special place in their hearts for 'Whipping Post'. At a concert, the first bass notes caused a fan eruption that was of a higher order.
It's truly a brilliant song, done brilliantly. My favorite of theirs, among many, is 'Elizabeth Reed.' At the time, this was just astonishing. It was especially bold to put out a long instrumental in that era. But 'Whipping Post' still gets me too.
I never thought of Skynard as derivative. Obviously, any southern rock band with blues roots and multiple lead guitarists that broke out after the Allman Brothers would get this tag. But they were doing a lot of different things.
'Free Bird' is to a large extent their 'Layla'. Great song, structurally similar, played unto death. But, great song. They had many other very good ones, which you mention. I'm fond of 'Simple Man' and 'Working for MCA'.
For the Allmans I hold a special place for Le Bres in A Minor and Mountain Jam (the latter as I loved to play it when I was a radio DJ, allowed me to go roll and smoke a J, get a sandwich, whatever.
My wife was basically raised on 90s music and country. So it's fun watching her discover music. She was a HUGE fan of Simple Man for awhile, like played it 60 times over a month fan.
Rush2112 wrote:For the Allmans I hold a special place for Le Bres in A Minor and Mountain Jam (the latter as I loved to play it when I was a radio DJ, allowed me to go roll and smoke a J, get a sandwich, whatever.
My wife was basically raised on 90s music and country. So it's fun watching her discover music. She was a HUGE fan of Simple Man for awhile, like played it 60 times over a month fan.
'Les Brers' is a terrific song. If people wonder what made Berry Oakley so good, this is the answer. And for those who thought they wouldn't be able to play sophisticated, jazz-oriented tunes without Duane, Dickey provided the answer.
How did your wife discover an old, somewhat obscure Skynyrd song?
BSF21 wrote:I'll probably get hell but I always enjoyed "Whipping Post" more than most of their other tracks you'd hear on the radio.
Also in this vein, Lynard Skynard also has some great tunes that aren't "Sweet Home Alabama". I heard "Gimmie Back My Bullets" and "The Ballad of Curtis Lowe" a few days ago on a doubleshot.
At least through the late '70s, the hard-core Allman fans reserved a special place in their hearts for 'Whipping Post'. At a concert, the first bass notes caused a fan eruption that was of a higher order.
It's truly a brilliant song, done brilliantly. My favorite of theirs, among many, is 'Elizabeth Reed.' At the time, this was just astonishing. It was especially bold to put out a long instrumental in that era. But 'Whipping Post' still gets me too.
I never thought of Skynard as derivative. Obviously, any southern rock band with blues roots and multiple lead guitarists that broke out after the Allman Brothers would get this tag. But they were doing a lot of different things.
'Free Bird' is to a large extent their 'Layla'. Great song, structurally similar, played unto death. But, great song. They had many other very good ones, which you mention. I'm fond of 'Simple Man' and 'Working for MCA'.
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"Simple Man" is one of the few songs I can think of in which another band has upped it via cover. This version just kills.
Falling for a song just a few seconds into it is a cool experience. Like love at first glance.
It harkens back to what it was like, as a kid, to listen to the radio. With so little musical background, your first impression of a new song was a pure thing. I recall listening to the radio in the mid to late 60s, just waiting for a new song that would knock me out. And every week or so, it was delivered. Music was exciting then.
I rarely have this experience in my older years. The new stuff doesn't move me, and I've mined the richest veins of the old. But every once in awhile, I am taken back to the day where a song that just happened to be on the radio once again, against heavy odds, knocks me out.
Here's one that comes to mind. Halfway through the chorus I was head and heels in love. There is so much that is great going on in this song. To my ears, it's almost as good as 'By the Time I Get to Phoenix', which is a work of pop genius. This was on the first album by young Australian country singer, Jamie O'Neal, and she is the co-writer. I like country music, yet in the past 15 years, I've never heard another song from her that I find more than mildly interesting. This one song like a lightning strike. These days, I feel blessed whenever I'm struck.
fwiw, I have two Skynyrd songs on my phone - their cover of JJ Cale's "Call Me the Breeze", and "Don't Ask Me No Questions". As mentioned upthread, we've all heard their most popular songs sooooo many times already.
sancarlos wrote:fwiw, I have two Skynyrd songs on my phone - their cover of JJ Cale's "Call Me the Breeze", and "Don't Ask Me No Questions". As mentioned upthread, we've all heard their most popular songs sooooo many times already.
Great cuts. People don't think of Skynyrd as doing covers, but they did some fine ones. Jimmie Rodgers' T for Texas' also comes to mind. Great live band. I was more into the Allmans and Tucker at the time, so I failed to fully appreciate them. I never got to a concert before the crash, to my regret.
When the rest of the road makes me feel old, I can count on someone in the Swamp to reminisce on an album released the year before I was born and pick me up a bit.
Today, who knows? Maybe Lady Gaga covered after hearing it in a video game or in a movie.
Back in 1973 I was listening to NYC radio stations, both the ones that played the hits and the progressive 'free form' ones that played the album cuts (e.g., the legendary WNEW and WPLJ), and don't recall hearing much of this song. Southern rock was certainly popular though, and Skynyrd was part of the explosion.
I just glanced at the 'Billboard Hot 100' chart for 1973. Good lord, the public still bought good music back then. And of course, despite the amnesiac views of the old timers, they also bought a lot of crap. So 'Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Old Oak Tree' could be #1 (dreck alert: do not search for this song). But 'Ramblin' Man' could still make the charts at #79. Paul McCartney's 'My Love' (see note above) could be in the top 10, but Steely Dan landed two songs in the top 100.
So the music-loving general public was not totally insane in 1973. Quality still mattered to some. But no Lynyrd Skynyrd song made the top 100.
By the way, I really liked that cover by Shinedown. It was even an interesting video. I may have to look into this group, even though they tick the boxes in several of my 'must avoid' musical criteria.
That Shinedown cover was good, but in no way does it surpass the original to me. I'm guessing BSF first heard that version before the original. For most of us, the version we know first is the one we prefer. To me though, the guy just tries to hard and his overwrought passion doesn't really match the message and tone of the lyrics.
