Guest Michael Rife
GuestForum Replies Created
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Hi Jackie and all;
I would jump at the chance. I could do drums or rhythm guitar or mandolin and sing harmony (either baritone or tenor). 10 songs?? Hmmmmmm………including covers I would want:
1) This Boy
2) If I Fell
3) You’re Gonna Lose That Girl
4) Sweet Loraine
5) Close To You
6) Wide, Wide Land
7) In My Life
8) Count on Me
9) Here, There, and Everywhere
10) In It for Love
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Oh well……my two cents: 1) Jimi; 2) Clapton; 3) SRV; 4) Page; 5) Beck; 6) Santana as the top five or so. Now some surprising ones not necessarily in the top 10 but ones who were better than I thought: George, Prince, Glen Campbell…….I’m sure there are others. The surprising thing about Glen Campbell is that he was a member of the Wrecking Crew before his involvement with the Beach Boys and his solo career. To be in the Wrecking Crew meant he had to have some serious talent. I saw some video clips of him playing and it really changed my opinion of him. Also…….though different styles, I always liked Feliciano and Leo Kottke. Mike.
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Thanks for the comments Jung and Jackie. In my day job I am a professor at some universities and I teach in an analytical field. At times when answering a question or discussing something I go into analytical overdrive. My response above was one of those times………sometimes I can be verbose and overly analytical……it’s a left brain thing. Sorry for all the analysis. Mike.
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OK.…..in looking at this again I also believe there is a big difference between the 10 best songs and my 10 favorite songs of all time. For example, the 10 best songs would include A Day In The Life, but it would not make my top ten favorite list. I remember when I first heard A Day In The Life in 1967 I had no idea what I had just heard…..it was constructed in such an innovative way that many in the music business felt like giving up……David Crosby and Brian Wilson come to mind. But, it is not in my top 10 favorite list because to me it lacks in song meaning. I tend to like songs that have a message, but this song includes a car wreck, 10,000 holes in Blackburn Lancashire, and with a middle of getting ready to go somewhere through being in the upper deck of a bus.
So, to pick the greatest songs would include songs that changed music during the period from the mid 1950s to the mid 1970s. This would have to include artists like Elvis, Chuck Berry, Buddy Holly, Roy Orbison, the Everly Brothers, the Beatles, and other innovators.
1) Elvis: This one is hard to pick because Elvis was initially popular before I was aware of music. I was two years old when he first hit it big. But, from what I remember one candidate could be “Jailhouse Rock”………. the song is pure RnR and has a pretty good hook in the beginning of it. Personally I think I Can’t Help Falling In Love With You is pure genius……the first line says it all……”Wise men say only fools rush in” is a line that is good for all time.
2) Chuck Berry: Johnny B. Goode…..enough said. Maybe No Particular Place to Go…..but Johnny B. Good has been covered by so many. His only #1 hit was in the early 1970s and was My Ding-A-Ling…….go figure.
3) Buddy Holly: Hard to pick on this one……Not Fade Away or Words of Love….hard to choose between the two.
4) Roy Orbison: Probably Pretty Woman…….classic guitar intro. But, many of his earlier songs were innovative, too.
5) Everly Brothers: Hard to pick one here, too. They gave us how to harmonize. Likely “All I Have to Do Is Dream.” Other two possibles: Cathy’s Clown and Wake Up Little Suzy.
6) a. Early Beatles: Now you know I like She Loves You….to me the perfect Beatles song. But, the song with the most impact was I Want To Hold Your Hand. They would not come to the US until they had a #1 song over here and it was IWTHYH. After that they were on Ed Sullivan and the US went crazy.
b. Middle Beatles: A Day In The Life based on what I said above.
7) Late 1960s/early 1970s gospel-like folk rock/anthem songs. It seems like during this time period many were doing more complicated songs which had elements of gospel folk-rock elements. Let It Be and Hey Jude by the Beatles and Bridge Over Troubled Waters are examples of this approach. So, from this I would choose Bridge. It was a huge hit in 1970.
8) Oh…….I forgot about Dylan. He had many changes during his career just in the 1960s. If I had to pick one that had the most impact from him, it would have to be Like A Rolling Stone. But, his Blonde on Blonde, other songs on Highway 61, and Nashville Skyline showed a shift from him to rock/country or maybe even country-rock and, heaven forbid, going electric. Alternate: Blowin’ In The Wind…..it was his first popular song……
9) Singer-songwriters of early 1970s. Dylan was the first really big singer-songwriter and he kinda built on what Woody Guthrie did earlier. But, in the early 1970s the singer-songwriter genre really increased, e.g., James Taylor, Paul Simon as solo, each Beatle as solo, Cat Stevens, Gordon Lightfoot (though he was around in the middle 1960s), Joni Mitchell, Carly Simon, Carol King, and many more. It is difficult to pick one song from all of these artists. My choice is Fire and Rain by JT. It showed a shift in a way by the songs being more introspective and autobiographical.
10) Rock Opus-type songs: These songs were long but, in some cases, moved back to the 3 movement technique comparable to classical songs. The songs were longer than 3 minutes. Songs in this category would include: Suite: Judy Blue Eyes, Stairway to Heaven, Hotel California, Bohemian Rhapsody. I have my favorite(s) from these 4, i.e., Judy Blue Eyes and Hotel California……..but the one with the most impact and innovation was Bohemian Rhapsody.
OK.….so there is my top ten on the greatest songs in the RnR period. I have missed so many good artists/songs in this, e.g., Laura Nyro, Fats Domino, Jerry Lee Lewis, Jimi Hendrix, Yesterday and many other songs by the Beatles. But, I tried to pick the songs and artists that caused changes or were the most innovative during the time period. My disclaimer from earlier still applies……..not all of these are in my favorite list…..and I tried to be as objective as possible.
So, there is my list of the 10 “greatest” songs and like all lists it is somewhat subjective and likely wrong. But, it’s my 2 cents worth.
Mike
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Hi all;
Rolling Stone mag and others say that Satisfaction is the best RnR song ever. I kinfa understand why they pick it, but for me it is not even the best Rolling Stones song…..I like their music during the Mick Taylor period. For all time top 10 it is hard to say. I like music from Lou Reed to the Association including things in between and from Linda Ronstadt to others in country-rock and from James Taylor to Sweet (especially Ballroom Blitz). If you looked at my CD collection, you would find an eclectic grouping of CDs.
I guess my favorite song overall is She Loves You because it is a dividing line in RnR music. What was before it was OK but with this song RnR changed forever due to unusual chordal structure and vocal harmonies. After that it is wide open……Bohemian Rhapsody and Hotel California is in there somewhere. Also, I tend to like the Beatles from Help through Sgt. Peppers especially John doing Dylan in those LPs. After that I put Abbey Road up there including George’s songs, You Never Give Me Your Money, and The End. CSN(Y) is likely in there, too, but mostly Stephen’s material. For James Taylor I tend to favor his first two US LPs. Poco and Pure Prairie League has to be in the mix somewhere too. And, of course, MLT. But, the list would change from day-to-day depending on my mood.
Mike
So, I guess that overall there is just too much music from which to choose. To get a top 10.
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Hi all;
The one Lisa picked was the one I thought she would. We have seen that picture of her with the guitar several times and the look on her face says it all. Also, the video about Mona’s drum kit is so special and cute.
Thanks for answering this one. I hope this Christmas is just as special to MLT and all in the Club.
Mike
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I saw one the other day at the beginning of some video…..can’t remember which one. But, I kinda figured they use ads around subjects I am interested in. Mike.
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Hi all;
Not really hidden……I found this factoid in the Paul bio entitled Fab. But, of all the Beatles bios I have read (and I have lost count by this time), Fab is the only one that mentions it. Mike
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I’m in the US and have never heard Walking In the Air before.
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Hi Jung!!
Not to be disagreeable, but I believe we see signs of Rubber Soul in Help!! Two songs in particular on Help!! sounds very “Rubber Soulish”…….You’re Gonna Lose That Girl and You’ve Got to Hide Your Love Away sounds to me like preambles to Rubber Soul. Now for one of my pet peeves…..the US and UK releases from Help!! through Revolver are different….so really in the US the three LPs are different from the UK releases…….so much so that in the US there was another album released between Rubber Soul and Revolver, i.e., Yesterday and Today, to reconcile the differences. I’m not going to go song by song…..but, for example, I’ve Just Seen A Face is on the US Rubber Soul release and it is on the UK release of Help!!! Mike.
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I would go with Elenore, too. Quirky lyrics (et cetera). Great drum part and generally a “feel good” song. There are a couple of lines that border on risqué, though.
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Hi Howard;
I could go with the capitalism argument but Capitol started to leave songs off albums starting at least with Help. At that point did they really know there would be enough songs, both singles not on Europe releases and songs “rearranged” on Europe albums not yet released, to make the extra album Yesterday and Today? Seems very unusual to have a strategy like that because Capitol was betting that the Beatles would always be there producing albums for Capitol to rearrange…..not saying it is impossible, it just increases risk.
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Hi Jung;
What was Capitol thinking??? I can only speculate. To me it would seem that Capitol thought it “knew better” what songs belonged where. The company was the dominate record label in the US…..they had the Beach Boys, Bee Gees, Nat King Cole, Neil Diamond, Bobby Darin, Miles Davis, and many others during the 1960s. So, arrogance comes to mind as to why they rearranged the songs. Mike.
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Hi Jackie;
It depends……If side 1, track 1 of your Rubber Soul is “I’ve Just Seen A Face”, then you don’t have the official UK release (the one the Beatles wanted). Capitol rearranged songs on their Beatles LPs…..actually now that I have typed that, I just figured out an easier way. That is, if your LPs are Capitol, then the ordering of the songs is not what the Beatles intended. If it is Parlophone, then it is what the Beatles intended. I have a feeling that the Capitol LPs went to all of North America, though. Also, if you got the LPs later……like in the 1980s to 2000s, then it might be on Apple and would be like the Parlophone releases. Clear as mud???? Mike.
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Hi Jung;
It’s a hard call as to the best. When I answered “She Loves You”, I was answering my favorite (though it did change the direction of RnR) and to me there is a difference between favorite and best. Favorite is subjective and can sometimes change over time. Best looks at how the song is constructed and the song’s impact on RnR.
Also, to pick the best song is a daunting task because the Beatles changed so much over the short six years they were together and globally known. I read something earlier today or yesterday that it was only 3 and a half years between She Loves You and Strawberry Fields. At the time I was 10 to 13 years old and 3.5 years was a long time…..over 30 percent of our lives. Now 3.5 years is so very short…..crowding in on only 2% of our lives. So, in retrospect they changed their music so quickly.
When it comes to the overall “best”, maybe sub-categories are needed, e.g., ballads, RnR, novelty, psychedelic, or time periods, e.g., best song for each year 1964 through 1969 or even best song on an LP (or near an LP since they released many singles that never made its way to an LP).
So, She Loves You is my favorite for reasons given…….an additional reason is because in the US people were going through a group depression of sorts because we lost a President in November of 1963. But the best????? I can give a top 5: 1) A Day In The Life, 2) Yesterday, 3) Something, 4) Here Comes the Sun, 5) Many tied for #5.
Mike
