Classic Rock Song of the Day (Deep Cuts now being featured!!)

[7deg_inner_happiness]

Grateful Dead - Casey Jones

I'm not sure I'd call myself a fan of this song, but I've always been entertained by how blatant the drug references are.  Ah, the 70s were so grand, weren't they?

Never been a Dead fan.  The only song I really like is Touch Of Gray.

I'm not a fan either, but I do like exactly 5 Dead hits: Casey Jones, Touch of Gray, Friend of the Devil, Truckin and Uncle John's Band.  When I was in my '20's I picked up Skeletons from the Closet to see if I could become a fan.....but it never happened!

[Podaar]

Also not a fan of 'the dead', yet their concerts were not to be missed if for no other reason than to party with their fans. Man, those were some great times. 

[Orbert]

I'm not a huge dead fan, but I like some of their stuff.  I never went to one of their concerts, but I've seen The Grateful Dead Movie and some other clips, and they're amazing.  On stage is where they really shine.

[KevShmev]

Alice Cooper - Eighteen

While not much of a fan of his, I do enjoy this song quite a bit.  Of the handful of songs of his that got any kind of regular airplay on classic rock radio, this is the one that stood out to be the most.  It has a dirty edge to it that makes it more appealing than the others.

[jjrock88]

I find a lot of Coopers 70s material to be hit or miss, but this is a great one.

[Cool Chris]

I never got in to AC for whatever reason, but loved this song before I really knew anything about him. A great, concise song that still rocks today.

[Orbert]

Good song.  Some Alice Cooper works for me, some does not.

I think this particular song means something different to actual 18-year-olds than it does to guys who are older.  18 is a time of a lot of confusion, coupled with newfound abilities and responsibilities (which add to the confusion), so what he's saying in the song is true, but most of us don't really understand it until we're older and have the benefit of perspective.  Personally, I didn't like 18, but in retrospect it was a pretty awesome time.

[bl5150]

I'm a bit the same as a few above - I find AC quite hit and miss but this was a good song.  Sorry to nitpick but I think it's called "I'm Eighteen."

As a tribute to TAC and in order to keep things flowing I'd like to suggest Winger: Seventeen for the next song

[Podaar]

Yea, when it came to Alice Cooper I was more of a Halo of Flies sort of fan. I'm Eighteen never did it for me (to put it nicely).

[King Postwhore]

I'm a bit the same as a few above - I find AC quite hit and miss but this was a good song.  Sorry to nitpick but I think it's called "I'm Eighteen."

As a tribute to TAC and in order to keep things flowing I'd like to suggest Winger: Seventeen for the next song

I think TAC just felt a disturbance in the force right now.

[KevShmev]

Looks like the song is called I'm Eighteen, although when it was released a single, it was just called Eighteen.  So, it can work either way.

[KevShmev]

Lynyrd Skynyrd - Call Me the Breeze

This has always been one of the two or three Skynyrd songs I've enjoyed the most.  The fantastic piano solo in the middle is probably a big reason why.  It sounds like it would be fun as hell to play that section.

[jingle.boy]

The only Skynyrd I have is the Gold/Platinum greatest hits double CD.  This song did not make it.  I know the song, and wouldn't change the radio if it was on, but haven't heard it in a long time.

[Orbert]

Looks like the song is called I'm Eighteen, although when it was released a single, it was just called Eighteen.  So, it can work either way.

It's obvious (to me anyway) that you've taken great care to get the names of the songs correct, including exact wording, spelling, and sometimes even punctuation, and I've been impressed thus far.  I thought the name of the song was "Eighteen" also, and was surprised to double check and see that on the album, it's "I'm Eighteen".  I think some sneaky person must've changed it.

Strange times we live in.

[Orbert]

Lynyrd Skynyrd - Call Me the Breeze

This has always been one of the two or three Skynyrd songs I've enjoyed the most.  The fantastic piano solo in the middle is probably a big reason why.  It sounds like it would be fun as hell to play that section.

Fun song.  I should learn that piano solo because yeah, it's pretty cool.

[Podaar]

Love me some Skynyrd! I can honestly say that I've enjoyed every song I've ever heard from them and Call Me the Breeze is no exception.

Why don't I own any of their albums again? 

[KevShmev]

Looks like the song is called I'm Eighteen, although when it was released a single, it was just called Eighteen.  So, it can work either way.

It's obvious (to me anyway) that you've taken great care to get the names of the songs correct, including exact wording, spelling, and sometimes even punctuation, and I've been impressed thus far. I thought the name of the song was "Eighteen" also, and was surprised to double check and see that on the album, it's "I'm Eighteen".  I think some sneaky person must've changed it.

Strange times we live in.

Thanks, I appreciate that!  Really, that's the grammar and spelling nazi in me that makes me do it.

   I should learn that piano solo because yeah, it's pretty cool.

I have a hard time thinking of many rock piano solos that are better.  Sure, a lot of prog guys can play more dazzling solos from a technical standpoint, but as far as fun solos that sound great, they don't get much better than this one.

Love me some Skynyrd! I can honestly say that I've enjoyed every song I've ever heard from them and Call Me the Breeze is no exception.

Why don't I own any of their albums again? 

Honestly, to me, Skynyrd is one of those bands where it is best to spend 10-15 bucks at amazon or iTunes just buying their best songs individually.

[7deg_inner_happiness]

Call Me the Breeze has a great catchy groove, and such a positive vibe for being so bluesy.  I never tire of listening to this "feel good" song.  Yes, it has some great piano, as well as neat horns.

Skynyrd pumped out their first 5 albums in consecutive years starting in 1973, then they were dealt a horrible tragedy.  IMO, some of their best tracks on these albums were not the radio hits.  Skynyrd is my favorite group from the Southern Rock genre.  They had lots of soul and were pretty darned good musicians.

Nice pick, Kev.  And great job with this thread; I'm liking it. 

[KevShmev]

Thanks!  I am doing my best.

The Guess Who - American Woman

This is one of those songs that every classic rock fan knows like the back of their hand, but it seems to be a song no one ever talks about anymore.  It kind of gets the "yeah, I know that song" treatment.  I remember hearing it at a very young age, probably because my parents liked The Guess Who a lot, so by the time I went through my classic rock discovery phase in 1989 and 1990, I already knew it pretty well. 

[Podaar]

Like you say, as familiar as the back of my hand. My brother bought The Best of The Guess Who in the very early '70s and wore out the grooves of side one. Since we shared a bedroom I had These Eyes, Laughing, Undun, No Time, American Woman, and No Sugar Tonight / New Mother Nature all imprinted onto my DNA. My children automatically sing along with these songs if I just simply hum the chorus.

Still, I like American Woman even when it's being performed by Lenny K. (especially the video).

[KevShmev]

Yeah, I was going through my Guess Who songs on iTunes last night, and I had totally forgot about some of those songs.  They definitely have not been featured in this thread for the last time!

[Orbert]

The Guess Who have a lot of really good songs, but somehow I've never pursued them.  No albums, not even a greatest hits thing.  Basically, by the time I was buying music, I was already into prog, so I have very little straight pop in my collection.

Years later, I heard a radio interview with Burton Cummings and he touched on the breakup of The Guess Who.  He talked about how the band was actually starting to get into more complex music.  That's the direction they wanted to go.  He told a story about how they were doing a song one time that had a 9/8 section, and it just hit him that he didn't want to have to count while he's trying to sing.  Songs should be in 4/4, maybe 3/4, but sure as hell not 9/8.

Okay, that's one attitude, and I understand it even if I don't agree.  If you're a pop singer with no prog leanings whatsoever, you're not going to want to sing in 9/8 and have to count it out just to know when to sing your part.

The full-length version of "American Woman" has that acoustic shuffle part before the main song starts, which is kinda cool even if it doesn't really add anything.  The long version of "No Time" has a few more breaks and solos.  "No Sugar Tonight / New Mother Nature" is very clever in how the two songs fit together.  I see these all now as examples that The Guess Who were really shooting for something more than basic pop songs.  Maybe someday I'll buy a Guess Who album.

[7deg_inner_happiness]

American Woman, fun tune.  I always laugh at the end of the song with the vocals, drawn-out lower pitch:
Gonna look you right in the eye...tell you what I'm gonna do:
You know I'm gonna LEEEEEEEAVE!
You know I'm gonna GOOOOOOOO!   

[KevShmev]

David Bowie - Ziggy Stardust

Somehow, I never heard this song until the mid 2000s, or maybe it's that I never paid attention to it until then, cause it was played on the radio here in St. Louis, as the one year KSHE did an A-Z week where they played every song in their rotation in alphabetical order of the titles, and Ziggy Stardust was the last song played.  Anyway, great, fun song; love the vocal melodies, and the guitar melody is lots of fun, too.

[Orbert]

I like the song, and I have a soft spot for songs that tell a story, but I've never understood the massive adoration some people have for it.  Yes, it's a great song, but calm down, it's just a song.

[Podaar]

I couldn't recall anything about this song so I fired it up on Youtube. The opening riff sorta rang a bell but the rest of the song I was unfamiliar with. Yeah...not my thing I guess.

[KevShmev]

Led Zeppelin - Stairway to Heaven

This had to be featured at some point, so, I figured, why not now?  To a lot of people, this song is overplayed and overrated, but while it might be overplayed, I cannot call it overrated.  While I might not call it the best rock song ever like a lot of people do, it still is totally awesome in just about every way possible.  Sure, the guitar intro sounds a lot like the song Taurus by Spirit (a band LZ had toured with in the late 60s), but if we hold ripping someone off against Zeppelin, we'd have to demote a lot of their songs.

[Orbert]

This is one of my favorite Led Zeppelin songs.  I agree, it cannot be overrated.  It is a perfectly constructed song.

With each verse and refrain, there are subtle changes, additions and subtractions.  The Mellotron which initially was the only instrument you heard besides the acoustic guitar and which provides countermelody to the first verse, eventually drops out.  Electric guitar isn't added until the first refrain.  There is no bass at first, but piano instead provides the bass and fills.  Bass and drums come in halfway through the verses.  Everything leading up to the guitar solo is a slow buildup, changing, building strength and rhythm, getting louder.  It's the foreplay.

The guitar solo of course is where things kick into high gear.  The heavy thrusting.  Foreplay is over; we're breaking some sweat now, baby.  The bed is rocking.

When the vocals come back ("And as we wind on down the road...") it's something new and we're still building.  Both parties are now screaming, the neighbors are complaining.

"...And she's buying a stairway to heaven."  The catharsis, the afterglow.

This song is sex set to music.

[jjrock88]

awesome

[Cool Chris]

Heard this on the radio the other day. My first inclination was to change the channel as I've heard this song a billion times, but I caught myself and decided to listen to it. Was reminded how brilliant it really is.

[KevShmev]

This is one of my favorite Led Zeppelin songs.  I agree, it cannot be overrated.  It is a perfectly constructed song.

With each verse and refrain, there are subtle changes, additions and subtractions.  The Mellotron which initially was the only instrument you heard besides the acoustic guitar and which provides countermelody to the first verse, eventually drops out.  Electric guitar isn't added until the first refrain.  There is no bass at first, but piano instead provides the bass and fills.  Bass and drums come in halfway through the verses.  Everything leading up to the guitar solo is a slow buildup, changing, building strength and rhythm, getting louder.  It's the foreplay.

The guitar solo of course is where things kick into high gear.  The heavy thrusting.  Foreplay is over; we're breaking some sweat now, baby.  The bed is rocking.

When the vocals come back ("And as we wind on down the road...") it's something new and we're still building.  Both parties are now screaming, the neighbors are complaining.

"...And she's buying a stairway to heaven."  The catharsis, the afterglow.

This song is sex set to music.

 

[jingle.boy]

Bob did it justice.

Chris aptly described it as well.  No matter how many times it's been played (and ended every elementary school dance I ever attended), I will never tire of it.  It's absolutely flawless.

[CrimsonSunrise]

Quite simply the greatest Rock and Roll song ever.   PERIOD.

[bl5150]

Not a fan of Zep in general but love this song.  Never released as a single either .

[jingle.boy]

Not a fan of Zep in general but love this song.  Never released as a single either .

Pretty sure that 45s were made to handle 8 minute songs.