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Tim’s 70s Classic Rock song playlist “Life’s Been Good” (1 Viewer)

timschochet

timschochet

Footballguy
Yay another song thread!!

But this time, no ranking, no countdown. I wanted to take a break from the album thread for a while (I’ll get back to it but at the moment I’m burned out a little on album discussion) and have a song discussion instead. Last night I started making a playlist of the 70s classic rock songs I most enjoy listening to. After about 20 minutes I stopped at 84 songs; I hadn’t even skimmed the surface and I so love this genre of music. So I decided it would be fun to have a general discussion, the way we have done for the albums. No ranking, just talk about how much you like or don’t like the song, what you like about it, favorite or unfavorite sections or musicians, etc. All are welcome. 

All songs are in the genre known as “rock”, all songs were released between 1970 and 1979, all songs received some radio play. Other than that, no limitations. Except that if I post it, that means I really like it. 

 
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“Magic Man” - Heart (1975) 

written by Ann Wilson and Nancy Wilson

The “Magic Man” in the title was Michael Wilson, the band’s manager, who was Ann’s boyfriend at the time. What makes this song work for me is the lead guitar by Michael’s brother Roger. I always wonder: although the writing is credited to the Wilson sisters, if Roger Fisher was allowed to create the guitar solos, shouldn’t he be credited as well? Or did they write that for him. 

The single was only 3 minutes long and the album version is nearly twice that; it’s the album version, with Fisher’s interlude, that most people are familiar with. The lyrics are somewhat dated and might even be treated as politically incorrect by today’s standards; but it the music that draws me in- it’s dark, compelling, and it rocks no matter how many times I hear it. Almost as good as Fisher’s guitar is Ann’s  voice, she  is for my money as good as any female rock vocalist in history. 

 
timschochet said:
“Magic Man” - Heart (1975) 

written by Ann Wilson and Nancy Wilson

The “Magic Man” in the title was Michael Wilson, the band’s manager, who was Ann’s boyfriend at the time. What makes this song work for me is the lead guitar by Michael’s brother Roger. I always wonder: although the writing is credited to the Wilson sisters, if Roger Fisher was allowed to create the guitar solos, shouldn’t he be credited as well? Or did they write that for him. 

The single was only 3 minutes long and the album version is nearly twice that; it’s the album version, with Fisher’s interlude, that most people are familiar with. The lyrics are somewhat dated and might even be treated as politically incorrect by today’s standards; but it the music that draws me in- it’s dark, compelling, and it rocks no matter how many times I hear it. Almost as good as Fisher’s guitar is Ann’s  voice, she  is for my money as good as any female rock vocalist in history. 
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No. The chord progressions/song structure and lyrics are the vital parts of the song. Adding solos is easy.

 
timschochet said:
Do you think it’s easy? I love those solos. They make the song for me. 
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Easy may be an slight overstatement but they do not require the creative mind that it does to create the song. They doesn't mean the solo isn't great or iconic. I just don't believe creating the solo deserves song writing credit.

Eddie Van Halen received no song writing credit on Michael Jackson's "Beat It."

 
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Given how you like to play loose and fast with the rules of your own music threads, what is the over/under on when you feature an Adele song in this classic rock thread? 

 
Ghost Rider said:
Given how you like to play loose and fast with the rules of your own music threads, what is the over/under on when you feature an Adele song in this classic rock thread? 
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Oh I plan on it.An early song from her album “2”. 

Wait- that would still be in the 90s, wouldn’t it? 

 
Perhaps i can shed a little light on this. There is a million people who can play the guitar, drums, keyboards, sax for every one who can write a song the public might buy. There are thousands of people who can conceive of solos, drum fills, leads for every one who can write a song the public might buy. There are hundreds of people who can add body to the production of a song on demand for every one who can write a song the public might buy. Those "for every one"s literally call the tune because they're the only ones who can call the tunes that allow people to play & sing in the first place. Writing is the difference between amateur & professional.

Plus, DeNiro or Julie Andrews dont get writer credits in movies. Sam dam ting.

 
wikkidpissah said:
Perhaps i can shed a little light on this. There is a million people who can play the guitar, drums, keyboards, sax for every one who can write a song the public might buy. There are thousands of people who can conceive of solos, drum fills, leads for every one who can write a song the public might buy. There are hundreds of people who can add body to the production of a song on demand for every one who can write a song the public might buy. Those "for every one"s literally call the tune because they're the only ones who can call the tunes that allow people to play & sing in the first place. Writing is the difference between amateur & professional.

Plus, DeNiro or Julie Andrews dont get writer credits in movies. Sam dam ting.
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OK I can see the point. 

But I still love the great guitar in this song. It wouldn’t be the same song without it. 

 
timschochet said:
It wouldn’t be the same song without it. 
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And that's the key buzz for most songwriters. There are some who hear every note & nuance in their heads as they conceive a song but, fortunately for modern music, most of them live to be a part of the alchemy which occurs between song & recording. I've never experienced anything more exciting than bearing witness to that process.

 
wikkidpissah said:
Perhaps i can shed a little light on this. There is a million people who can play the guitar, drums, keyboards, sax for every one who can write a song the public might buy. There are thousands of people who can conceive of solos, drum fills, leads for every one who can write a song the public might buy. There are hundreds of people who can add body to the production of a song on demand for every one who can write a song the public might buy. Those "for every one"s literally call the tune because they're the only ones who can call the tunes that allow people to play & sing in the first place. Writing is the difference between amateur & professional.

Plus, DeNiro or Julie Andrews dont get writer credits in movies. Sam dam ting.
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My best example is this bar guitar guy who could replicate Jimi and every other blues guitarist worth anything down to the note. I saw this guy for no cover week after week while drinking 2 dollar beers about 10 feet from the stage. But he was the first to admit he was never a songwriter and that's why he was still in that place.

 
Leroy Hoard said:
My best example is this bar guitar guy who could replicate Jimi and every other blues guitarist worth anything down to the note. I saw this guy for no cover week after week while drinking 2 dollar beers about 10 feet from the stage. But he was the first to admit he was never a songwriter and that's why he was still in that place.
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Yeah, i got a lot of the same thing when i returned East after 30some years. Reunion stuff ain't my bag, but my best pal - who'd offered me his carriage house when my health made me unable to continue my career - loves dat #### and my tenure in the music biz was most of the reason he started following me around when we were young. So he had kept up with a lot of the folks who'd been clients of my B Sharp Mgmt or guests at my giant practice/party house backinaday. NONE of em had advanced a step, artistically or professionally, since i'd cut bait with em 35 yrs before.

Oddly, that was the year that i had reviewed an old half-finished romcom in an edit of my files and thought it might work as a musical. Can't play a finished piece on the piano but can bang stuff out and have a singer's sense of melody and had helped folks w lyrics since forever, so i tried to apply some tunes to these scenes. Turns out i got a lil bit of the song gene, tho poor skillz to follow it up with, and now have a musical with 23 numbers i'm rather proud of. So i indulged my host's desire to hook me up w our old music folk in order to possibly find an arranger for my work. Not only had none of these folks advanced but they'd been kidding themselves for so long that they'd long ago lost any semblance of the musical originality they'd had. Matter of fact, the only one i got past the talking phase with on my project blew our arrangement by selling some of my songwork as his own less than a month out of the box, so desperate was he to finally be seen by his buds as creative. Pretty sad.

 
Totally agree about songwriting. I often see comments about this musician or that musician isn't that great because a lot of people can cover their songs or solos easily.  Okay, but can those people write songs like the original artists?  The Edge from U2 is a good example. I often see him dogged for his style that apparently anyone can mimic, but get back to me when any of those players can write something as iconic as Where the Streets Have No Name. 

Songwriting credit can be tricky, and varies from band to band.  Every Breath You Take is credited solely to Sting, but Andy Summers wrote the guitar lick in that, yet received zero songwriting credit for it, which is a shame because that song wouldn't have been as huge without that lick, which you could argue is the hook in the song.  On the flip side, Pink Floyd did a song called Learning to Fly in  1987, that David Gilmour had no problem giving partial credit to non-member Jon Carin, who had written a single chord progression that was used in the song.  

 
“Reelin’ In the Years” - Steely Dan (1972) 

Written by Walter Fagen and Donald Becker 

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=2WTh_IEyU1w

The link is to a Midnight Special performance. My impression is that Steely Dan may be in the running for ugliest rock band of all time (though there is certainly a lot of competition for this.) 

Such a great song. Obviously everybody loves Eliot Randall’s guitar line (it’s supposedly Jimmy Page’s favorite of all time) and I agree it’s awesome. But I also love the main melody and the lyrics crack me up- other than Bob Dylan’s “Idiot Wind”, these may be some of the cruelest, cutting, caustic lyrics ever played on radio. Years later Fagin called the song “stupid”; I don’t agree and don’t understand, but he’s a weird dude. 

 
Aja has always been my favorite Steely Dan record, but their two big classic rock mainstays from their debut will always be my favorites by them, Do It Again and Reelin' in the Years.  Two great songs I never get tired of hearing. 

 
wikkidpissah said:
And that's the key buzz for most songwriters. There are some who hear every note & nuance in their heads as they conceive a song but, fortunately for modern music, most of them live to be a part of the alchemy which occurs between song & recording. I've never experienced anything more exciting than bearing witness to that process.
Click to expand...


timschochet said:
“Reelin’ In the Years” - Steely Dan (1972) 

Written by Walter Fagen and Donald Becker 

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=2WTh_IEyU1w

The link is to a Midnight Special performance. My impression is that Steely Dan may be in the running for ugliest rock band of all time (though there is certainly a lot of competition for this.) 

Such a great song. Obviously everybody loves Eliot Randall’s guitar line (it’s supposedly Jimmy Page’s favorite of all time) and I agree it’s awesome. But I also love the main melody and the lyrics crack me up- other than Bob Dylan’s “Idiot Wind”, these may be some of the cruelest, cutting, caustic lyrics ever played on radio. Years later Fagin called the song “stupid”; I don’t agree and don’t understand, but he’s a weird dude. 
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talk about a band that thrilled over the contributions of strangers. i had no connection to the Dan, but the biz in the 70s was rife w musicians who had stories of pouring their guts out or giving away their biggest secrets trying supply Fagen & Becker w what they wanted, only to have it forgotten or co-opted. and every damned one of em would go back, Jack and do it again in a sec if they could cuz they respected the hell out of what them boys was going for, ultimate soundwise.

 
timschochet said:
“Reelin’ In the Years” - Steely Dan (1972) 

Written by Walter Fagen and Donald Becker 

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=2WTh_IEyU1w

The link is to a Midnight Special performance.
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That performance had Denny Dias on lead, as Randall IIRC was merely a session guy that played the lead for "Reelin" on the album but unlike Dias, was not a full fledged member. David Palmer, who sang lead on "Dirty Work", up front doing background vocals.

Randall also played the killer lead guitar work on Irene Cara's Fame

 
zamboni said:
That performance had Denny Dias on lead, as Randall IIRC was merely a session guy that played the lead for "Reelin" on the album but unlike Dias, was not a full fledged member. David Palmer, who sang lead on "Dirty Work", up front doing background vocals.

Randall also played the killer lead guitar work on Irene Cara's Fame
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I had no idea that wasn’t Randall. Thanks. 

 
“Kashmir”- Led Zeppelin (1975) 

written by Jimmy Page and Robert Plant (and John Bonham) 

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=PD-MdiUm1_Y

Back to the songwriting issue again: In this case Page and Plant credit Bonham for “contributions” to the songwriting effort. Per the Wiki page, this song took over 3 years to create. It also says something that I, as a non musician don’t understand: Plant’s vocals are in a triple rhythm, while Page’s guitar is in a quadruple rhythm- any musicians in here that can explain the significance of this? 

This masterpiece runs 8:37 (often much longer in concert.) Apparently Plant is singing about Morocco, though the title of the song refers to the disputed area between India and Pakistan, which ironically no member of Led Zeppelin has ever visited. 

The band regards it as their best song; that’s certainly up for debate. For me it’s probably the most suspenseful rock song I am aware of: by that I mean it sounds like a movie theme where you’re expecting something shocking or action packed to take place- like the iconic James Bond theme. That makes it, in terms of rock, a unique piece of music. 

 
timschochet said:
“Kashmir”- Led Zeppelin (1975) 

written by Jimmy Page and Robert Plant (and John Bonham) 

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=PD-MdiUm1_Y

Back to the songwriting issue again: In this case Page and Plant credit Bonham for “contributions” to the songwriting effort. Per the Wiki page, this song took over 3 years to create. It also says something that I, as a non musician don’t understand: Plant’s vocals are in a triple rhythm, while Page’s guitar is in a quadruple rhythm- any musicians in here that can explain the significance of this? 

This masterpiece runs 8:37 (often much longer in concert.) Apparently Plant is singing about Morocco, though the title of the song refers to the disputed area between India and Pakistan, which ironically no member of Led Zeppelin has ever visited. 

The band regards it as their best song; that’s certainly up for debate. For me it’s probably the most suspenseful rock song I am aware of: by that I mean it sounds like a movie theme where you’re expecting something shocking or action packed to take place- like the iconic James Bond theme. That makes it, in terms of rock, a unique piece of music. 
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Or a date night out to a German restaurant.

 
timschochet said:
“Kashmir”- Led Zeppelin (1975) 

written by Jimmy Page and Robert Plant (and John Bonham) 

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=PD-MdiUm1_Y

Back to the songwriting issue again: In this case Page and Plant credit Bonham for “contributions” to the songwriting effort. Per the Wiki page, this song took over 3 years to create. It also says something that I, as a non musician don’t understand: Plant’s vocals are in a triple rhythm, while Page’s guitar is in a quadruple rhythm- any musicians in here that can explain the significance of this? 

This masterpiece runs 8:37 (often much longer in concert.) Apparently Plant is singing about Morocco, though the title of the song refers to the disputed area between India and Pakistan, which ironically no member of Led Zeppelin has ever visited. 

The band regards it as their best song; that’s certainly up for debate. For me it’s probably the most suspenseful rock song I am aware of: by that I mean it sounds like a movie theme where you’re expecting something shocking or action packed to take place- like the iconic James Bond theme. That makes it, in terms of rock, a unique piece of music. 
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The rhythm lead guys, man. You can have the Lennon/McCartney/Jagger/Mercury/Wilson visionaries, you can even have the Hendrix/Beck/Santana/Van Halen guitarists. Give me the rhythm lead guys, man - the guys who cut the riffs you can build a pyramid on, the guys who gather the impossible assemblies of chords (are they even chords sometimes?) that knock your chakras into your genechtegezoink and crunch your soul into breakfast flakes. Richards, Page, Perry. And never has there been a riff & chord web like Kashmir. Even Puff Daddy couldnt #### it up. nufced.

 
zamboni said:
Or a date night out to a German restaurant.
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Of course the strange thing about this is that the advice is to play any song from LZ IV- after that scene was shot the producers asked for permission from the band for a song from that album and they were refused- but apparently they were granted permission to use “Kashmir”. Why LZ would refuse one and not the other? And why not just reshoot the original scene? Who knows? 

 
timschochet said:
Of course the strange thing about this is that the advice is to play any song from LZ IV- after that scene was shot the producers asked for permission from the band for a song from that album and they were refused- but apparently they were granted permission to use “Kashmir”. Why LZ would refuse one and not the other? And why not just reshoot the original scene? Who knows? 
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There have been a lot of theories on why Kashmir was kept. One plausible explanation I've read attributable to Cameron Crowe is that the Rat character was such a nervous dweeb that putting on the wrong album would totally be something he would do. 

 
“Smoke On the Water”- Deep Purple (1972) 

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ikGyZh0VbPQ

Written by Ritchie Blackmore, Ian Gillan, Jon Lord, Ian Paice, Roger Glover

Interesting that in this case the whole band gets songwriting credit. Of course the iconic guitar riff is all Blackmore’s- arguably the most famous riff in rock history? When I was learning to play electric guitar as a teenager this was the first riff I tried to play, and this is probably true for thousands of kids who grew up in my era. 

Per the wiki page the lyrics are based on a true story about a fire at a Swiss recording studio, but I’ve never paid much attention to the lyrics anyhow- not that I don’t love Gillan’s vocals- his range is amazing, which all fans of Jesus Christ Superstar know. The rhythm section of this band: Paice on drums and Glover on bass- are especially strong on this tune. 

 
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timschochet said:
“Smoke On the Water”- Deep Purple (1972) 

Written by Ritchie Blackmore, Ian Gillan, Jon Lord, Ian Paice, Roger Glover

Interesting that in this case the whole band gets songwriting credit. Of course the iconic guitar riff is all Blackmore’s- arguably the most famous riff in rock history? When I was learning to play electric guitar as a teenager this was the first riff I tried to play, and this is probably true for thousands of kids who grew up in my era. 

Per the wiki page the lyrics are based on a true story about a fire at a Canadian nightclub, but I’ve never paid much attention to the lyrics anyhow- not that I don’t love Gillan’s vocals- his range is amazing, which all fans of Jesus Christ Superstar know. The rhythm section of this band: Paice on drums and Glover on bass- are especially strong on this tune. 
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That's news to me. It was about a fire on a mobile barge in Montreux, Switzerland where the band was recording (and Frank Zappa had just played a concert there). 

 
touching all the hot spots, timmy - gonna hafta get a new shag and take my black velvet pants with lightning bolts down the seams (really had a pair, custom made) out of mothballs if you keep it up. barre chord blitz for every amateur. the Purps played the Sunset Series on Boston Common every summer (the best format for their 135db output) and SotW has to be the greatest crowd surge for a song i've ever seen.

ETA: now don't screw it up by trying to shoehorn Seals & Croft or One Tin Soldier in there....

 
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Leroy Hoard said:
My best example is this bar guitar guy who could replicate Jimi and every other blues guitarist worth anything down to the note. I saw this guy for no cover week after week while drinking 2 dollar beers about 10 feet from the stage. But he was the first to admit he was never a songwriter and that's why he was still in that place.
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I was in Nashville last month..heard female singers as good as Adele and Janis Jopin, heard males that were better than Garth Brooks and Toby Keith. Saw a bunch of super talented musicians playing in Honky Tonks.  Two things..need to write or find a song writer and need some sort of break.

 
Da Guru said:
I was in Nashville last month..heard female singers as good as Adele and Janis Jopin, heard males that were better than Garth Brooks and Toby Keith. Saw a bunch of super talented musicians playing in Honky Tonks.  Two things..need to write or find a song writer and need some sort of break.
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only once in a long life attached to & involved in music have i heard a truly fine song - it was called "The Wall", written by two brothers named Weisman for Helen Schneider (the backup singer in Eddie & the Cruisers and Germany's leading chanteuse for decades) but they wouldn't let us have it when she got a recording contract and proved unavailable in subsequent attempts  - that didn't see the light of day. by & large, songs make their own luck

 
zamboni said:
That's news to me. It was about a fire on a mobile barge in Montreux, Switzerland where the band was recording (and Frank Zappa had just played a concert there). 
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and the Mothers  :headbang:

 
"Dream On"- Aerosmith- 1973

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=54BCLYNkFKg

Written by: Steven Tyler

Tyler was 22 when he wrote this song- how many lines on his face did he have at that point? (Later on there would be plenty of lines on the mirror, of cocaine, but perhaps not by 1970). He says he was influenced by his dad's Julliard training. This is certainly a very anthem like song, got the band established in a big way starting out.  I love Tom Hamilton's bass work on this song.

 
timschochet said:
"Dream On"- Aerosmith- 1973

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=54BCLYNkFKg

Written by: Steven Tyler

Tyler was 22 when he wrote this song- how many lines on his face did he have at that point? (Later on there would be plenty of lines on the mirror, of cocaine, but perhaps not by 1970). He says he was influenced by his dad's Julliard training. This is certainly a very anthem like song, got the band established in a big way starting out.  I love Tom Hamilton's bass work on this song.
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Boston's "Stairway to Heaven". Local radio hit for a year, with StH-level airplay, but did nothing nationally. Then, just when one could sing for the laughter & sing for the tear again without getting a wikkid migraine, they re-released it nationally and it took off for another year-long cycle. Since i can still hear it without getting the wakemeheebiesbeforeyoujeebies, it must be a good song.

 
Dream On is a quality tune, albeit an overplayed one. The upside is that it always reminds me of the ending credits of Miracle.

 
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timschochet said:
Of course the strange thing about this is that the advice is to play any song from LZ IV- after that scene was shot the producers asked for permission from the band for a song from that album and they were refused- but apparently they were granted permission to use “Kashmir”. Why LZ would refuse one and not the other? And why not just reshoot the original scene? Who knows? 
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huh.  never knew this.  explains the "error".

 
zamboni said:
That performance had Denny Dias on lead, as Randall IIRC was merely a session guy that played the lead for "Reelin" on the album but unlike Dias, was not a full fledged member. David Palmer, who sang lead on "Dirty Work", up front doing background vocals.

Randall also played the killer lead guitar work on Irene Cara's Fame
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What's with the head thing after every sentence? That's pretty annoying

 
timschochet said:
“Kashmir”- Led Zeppelin (1975) 

written by Jimmy Page and Robert Plant (and John Bonham) 

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=PD-MdiUm1_Y

Back to the songwriting issue again: In this case Page and Plant credit Bonham for “contributions” to the songwriting effort. Per the Wiki page, this song took over 3 years to create. It also says something that I, as a non musician don’t understand: Plant’s vocals are in a triple rhythm, while Page’s guitar is in a quadruple rhythm- any musicians in here that can explain the significance of this? 

This masterpiece runs 8:37 (often much longer in concert.) Apparently Plant is singing about Morocco, though the title of the song refers to the disputed area between India and Pakistan, which ironically no member of Led Zeppelin has ever visited. 

The band regards it as their best song; that’s certainly up for debate. For me it’s probably the most suspenseful rock song I am aware of: by that I mean it sounds like a movie theme where you’re expecting something shocking or action packed to take place- like the iconic James Bond theme. That makes it, in terms of rock, a unique piece of music. 
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Always loved the instrumentals on this song, but really really hate Plant's wailing and moaning through the whole thing. I like "Big" songs and this certainly fits the bill. Never But man, he just kills the song for me. I never thought of it as suspenseful. Big and Dramatic was what I felt it as.  Suspenseful  is a good description though (minus RP)

 
“Foreplay/Long Time”- Boston (1976) 

written by Tom Scholz

Scholz’s epic masterpiece, conceived in his basement, dominating most of side one of the band’s first album. What is it about this song that makes it so incredibly satisfying? Is it the conversion from the first part to the second, with its soaring electric guitar? Is it the feel good lyrics? Is it the harmonies? The great musicianship? 

Whatever the answer, this music was, for me growing up, sublime. And even today it moves me as much as anything I have ever heard on the radio. 

 
timschochet said:
“Foreplay/Long Time”- Boston (1976) 

written by Tom Scholz

Scholz’s epic masterpiece, conceived in his basement, dominating most of side one of the band’s first album. What is it about this song that makes it so incredibly satisfying? Is it the conversion from the first part to the second, with its soaring electric guitar? Is it the feel good lyrics? Is it the harmonies? The great musicianship? 

Whatever the answer, this music was, for me growing up, sublime. And even today it moves me as much as anything I have ever heard on the radio. 
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I love songs that build to something. This is the preeminent example of that pattern for me. 

 
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