Scotch Sampler
- Thread starter scotchandcigar
- Start date
I started to make a list of my favorite Beatles songs, and it's just too many. Let's just say they made a lot of songs I like. Fool On the Hill was one of the first songs I remember hearing on the radio. And Here, There and Everywhere was the song that played at the end of our wedding ceremony, for the procession to the reception. I did see Paul McCartney live around 2004, at Fenway Park. He was great.
Yea, that sounds like a daunting task. Just that sentence got me thinking of a few but then a few more came to mind. And so on and so on.
Very cool.
Also cool.
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My brother and I tried that once. Favorite 12 Beatles songs. It wasn't easy, too many good songs. Then after that, we kept going... 12 Billy Joel songs, 12 Elvis songs, 12 Motown songs, etc. 60 or 70 of those lists later, right now we're covering the music of Fogerty/CCR.
I forgot to mention that we hired a musician to play piano (one of those amplified upright things) for our outdoor ceremony. He played the Beatles song on his piano. When we met with him beforehand, we went through lists of stuff he knew, and we picked that. It was nice. Just an instrumental version.
That sounds really nice. Instrumental versions of well known songs put an enjoyable new spin on them.
Westworld is very good at it. Sorry if I'm repeating myself here but these have stuck with me.
They were all composed by this guy Ramin Djawadi who knows his stuff. He worked on GoT and Iron Man.
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The Beatles got their own "too many good songs" post. These next 3 British classic rock bands aren't quite in the same league, so I'm collectively giving them a "too many to list" post. My first exposure to Led Zeppelin was the album Led Zeppelin II. Lots of great songs, but I like this 2 song combo
Led Zeppelin – Heartbreaker/ Living Loving Maid
I probably started listening to The Who after seeing the movie Tommy in the theater. I feel they were among the most talented group of 4 rock musicians ever. Here's one I like
The Who - The Real Me
Pink Floyd is another band with one groundbreaking album after another. This is one of my favorite tunes of theirs
Pink Floyd – Shine On You Crazy Diamond (Live, Delicate Sound of Thunder)
Led Zeppelin – Heartbreaker/ Living Loving Maid
I probably started listening to The Who after seeing the movie Tommy in the theater. I feel they were among the most talented group of 4 rock musicians ever. Here's one I like
The Who - The Real Me
Pink Floyd is another band with one groundbreaking album after another. This is one of my favorite tunes of theirs
Pink Floyd – Shine On You Crazy Diamond (Live, Delicate Sound of Thunder)
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All three of those bands have made songs I absolutely love, some songs I think are good, some that I could take it or leave it, and some that make me wince and shake my head. But IMO, that's the sign of a great band - they take risks, they stretch boundaries, they experiment. Sometimes it doesn't work, sometimes it becomes one of the best songs of all time. Same goes with Queen, actually.
Time for another 3-fer. This time, American classic rock bands. Two from Boston and one from Californey (as Jed Clampett would say).
The album Rocks by Aerosmith is significant to me, because it's the last album my brother bought before moving out of our childhood home. The bad boys of Boston made some good ol' straight-ahead rock. Here's a favorite of mine from the album (excuse the video quality)
Aerosmith – Sick as a Dog (live)
The premier release from the band Boston was a real game changer. The unique sound, with both vocal and guitar harmonizing, along with soaring lyrics and layered keyboards, was rock radio gold. As a kid in my high-school prime, it was made for our generation. We played the hell out of it. It was among the first albums I went out and bought myself. Many years later, Brad Delp became a neighbor of mine, until his unfortunate demise.
Here's the adventurous Foreplay/Long Time
Whether we were driving ourselves around (speeding), or hanging-out at parties (drinking), the Doobie Brothers were with us. The Best of the Doobies became essential among our gang. I saw them live at the outdoor concert venue located behind Belmont Raceway on Long Island. It was like seeing a local band at a fairground - just a stage and a lawn - but it was the freakin' Doobies, so they had arena-sized towers of speakers. We were about 3 rows of folding chairs from the stack. It was - by far - the loudest collection of sound-waves to ever blow by my head. When the guitars and keyboards and vocals harmonized and layered, it was 100% audio overload. It caused me to lose my balance. Good times.
Michael McDonald later joined the band (coming from Steely Dan) and eventually had a big influence on the sound. I liked them both before and after, but in the end, their sound became easy-listening pop fluff. Here's a great tune from their earlier days
Doobie Brothers – Rockin’ Down the Highway (live)
The album Rocks by Aerosmith is significant to me, because it's the last album my brother bought before moving out of our childhood home. The bad boys of Boston made some good ol' straight-ahead rock. Here's a favorite of mine from the album (excuse the video quality)
Aerosmith – Sick as a Dog (live)
The premier release from the band Boston was a real game changer. The unique sound, with both vocal and guitar harmonizing, along with soaring lyrics and layered keyboards, was rock radio gold. As a kid in my high-school prime, it was made for our generation. We played the hell out of it. It was among the first albums I went out and bought myself. Many years later, Brad Delp became a neighbor of mine, until his unfortunate demise.
Here's the adventurous Foreplay/Long Time
Whether we were driving ourselves around (speeding), or hanging-out at parties (drinking), the Doobie Brothers were with us. The Best of the Doobies became essential among our gang. I saw them live at the outdoor concert venue located behind Belmont Raceway on Long Island. It was like seeing a local band at a fairground - just a stage and a lawn - but it was the freakin' Doobies, so they had arena-sized towers of speakers. We were about 3 rows of folding chairs from the stack. It was - by far - the loudest collection of sound-waves to ever blow by my head. When the guitars and keyboards and vocals harmonized and layered, it was 100% audio overload. It caused me to lose my balance. Good times.
Michael McDonald later joined the band (coming from Steely Dan) and eventually had a big influence on the sound. I liked them both before and after, but in the end, their sound became easy-listening pop fluff. Here's a great tune from their earlier days
Doobie Brothers – Rockin’ Down the Highway (live)
I keep meaning to listen to Rocks from start to finish. Someone I work with keeps mentioning it every few years as a classic. I'm from the Permanent Vacation/Pump generation. But I know the first two tracks on Rocks pretty well. While we're on the subject, the first (real) album I ever bought was Night In The Ruts.
A high school buddy of mine once said "If you don't like Boston's first album, you don't like rock and roll". It's definitely one of the best rock albums of all times! There's a couple songs on there I'll be talking about on my thread...
I'm a casual Doobies fan, I dig a handful of their hits. I like that concert story!
A high school buddy of mine once said "If you don't like Boston's first album, you don't like rock and roll". It's definitely one of the best rock albums of all times! There's a couple songs on there I'll be talking about on my thread...
I'm a casual Doobies fan, I dig a handful of their hits. I like that concert story!
In the big scheme of things, Rocks flies below the radar. Had it not been the only Aerosmith album I possessed, I may have overlooked it too. But looking back on it now, it's an album of refreshingly pure rock, among all the overplayed radio hits they have.
The Doobies are one of those bands that I was really into as a teenager, but now I mostly hear their softer stuff on the radio. They still deserve a mention.
Bonus round! Since I already have this next one queued-up, and we're still only halfway through the 70's, I'm going to go ahead and post it.
Before my brother brought home the Aerosmith album, he purchased Leftoverture by Kansas, and he said "listen to this" while he cued-up Carry On Wayward Son, and cranked it. It was awesome. The whole album was amazing. Classical-based progressive rock from a southern band, with violins. I probably listened to it non-stop for 6 months. Then I went out and bought their previous release, Masque. It was just as progressive and well-crafted, but less commercialized sounding. Here's one of the few tracks from that album that can easily be performed live.
Kansas – Mysteries and Mayhem (live)
Before my brother brought home the Aerosmith album, he purchased Leftoverture by Kansas, and he said "listen to this" while he cued-up Carry On Wayward Son, and cranked it. It was awesome. The whole album was amazing. Classical-based progressive rock from a southern band, with violins. I probably listened to it non-stop for 6 months. Then I went out and bought their previous release, Masque. It was just as progressive and well-crafted, but less commercialized sounding. Here's one of the few tracks from that album that can easily be performed live.
Kansas – Mysteries and Mayhem (live)
This is my Kansas collection:
Kansas - Carry On Wayward Son.mp3
Kansas - Dust in the Wind.mp3
Kansas - Fight Fire With Fire.mp3
Kansas - Point Of Know Return.mp3
Another one of those amazingly talented bands with crazy time signatures and incredible musicianship that gets a little lost on me, and I find myself only listening their radio hits. Much respect - but like old Chicago, I only go out of my way for the more easily digested songs.
Kansas - Carry On Wayward Son.mp3
Kansas - Dust in the Wind.mp3
Kansas - Fight Fire With Fire.mp3
Kansas - Point Of Know Return.mp3
Another one of those amazingly talented bands with crazy time signatures and incredible musicianship that gets a little lost on me, and I find myself only listening their radio hits. Much respect - but like old Chicago, I only go out of my way for the more easily digested songs.
I'll take Boston as my favorite of the list. They were probably more in line with my rock / proggy DNA than of the others. (Tom Scholz was a Toledo boy.) Aerosmith (once I get past the overplayed stuff (thanks FM)) are definitely my straight-up rock choice. The Doobies are great, but just not my thing.
Kansas is killer, but just a little too southern for me to seek out. Their guitar player in the mid 1980's (Steve Morse) used to write an article in a guitar magazine that I used to read. Steve was from Ohio too.
Ok, pardon the stupid question, but isn't there a guitarist in the Dixie Dregs named Steve Morse? Is it the same one?
Same guy. He got around. He was with Deep Purple for a while after Kansas.
See, here's the problem (for me) making lists. I'm trying to get past the mid-seventies, and then I realize I missed a shitload of favorite songs/artists from the 60's and early 70's. So with minimum fanfare, I'm going to try to cover it all.
Neil Young has written a number of "perfect" songs. Original, unique, and emotional. These are my favorites from his early work.
Neil Young – Old Man (live)
Neil Young – After the Gold Rush
Neil Young – Cinnamon Girl (live)
Neil Young – Down by the River
Neil Young has written a number of "perfect" songs. Original, unique, and emotional. These are my favorites from his early work.
Neil Young – Old Man (live)
Neil Young – After the Gold Rush
Neil Young – Cinnamon Girl (live)
Neil Young – Down by the River
I like all those songs from Neil. Those songs and The Needle and the Damage Done. Great songwriter.
Hey, here's something weird. I was grabbing a bunch of Hendrix tunes, and I came to realize that the internets have been scrubbed of all album versions of his music. All that's available are live performances that people have posted (which sounds nice, but most are sub-par), and covers - lots of covers. Like you go to listen, and you say WTF is this?! And it's some random guy covering the song. I wonder who owns the music?
I couldn't get a decent version of the following songs: Fire, Castles Made of Sand, Stone Free, and Manic Depression. But here's what I got
Jimi Hendrix – Hey Joe (live)
Jimi Hendrix (covered by SRV) – Voodoo Chile
I couldn't get a decent version of the following songs: Fire, Castles Made of Sand, Stone Free, and Manic Depression. But here's what I got
Jimi Hendrix – Hey Joe (live)
Jimi Hendrix (covered by SRV) – Voodoo Chile