Posted March 16, 2011 at 2:15 am | No comments
“Since I’ve Been Loving You” has always been known as a song that showcases Jimmy Page’s great blues-guitar chops, but few people might realize that it was tracked live in the studio by the legendary rock band Led Zeppelin. Because it was tracked live, you can still hear the squeaking of John Bonham’s bass-drum pedal during the song, and it was also one of the hardest songs to record during the Led Zeppelin III sessions. At the time, Page wasn’t happy with his guitar solo on the song, he just couldn’t find the tone he was looking for. So, he decided to take a walk to clear his head, and he stumbled upon an old, unused amp lying around the studio, which he would later use on the song as he loved the tone that it produced.
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Posted March 15, 2011 at 2:06 am | No comments
Whatever you may think of John Mayer’s recent comments in the press, or his breathy vocals, or his songwriting you have to admit that the guy can really play the guitar. Originally written for his duo LoFi Masters, his hit song “Neon” later appeared on his album Room for Squares. Since that first appearance, it has remained as a mainstay in his live sets, where he sometimes adds an extra verse as a tribute to the cousin of his songwriting partner Clay Cook.
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Posted March 14, 2011 at 10:47 am | No comments
Featured on his 1987 smash-hit album, and the one that he is probably best known for, Surfing with the Alien, instrumental guitar master Joe Satriani reached number 22 on the charts with his shredtastic song “Satch Boogie.” Featuring many of the technique that Satch has since become a legend for, including tapping, lightning fast hammer-ons and pull-offs and a deep, deep groove, the song has since become one of his best known pieces, and has been featured on just about every guitar or rock band based video game in the last few years.
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Posted March 13, 2011 at 9:00 am | No comments
Written by Dino Valenti, and originally recorded by The Leaves, “Hey Joe” is the song that started rock guitar down a path that it has never fully recovered from when a young Jimi Hendrix released it as his first sing with The Experience in 1966. After discovering Hendrix at the Café Wha? in New York City, Animals bass player Chas Chandler, who had been looking for a band to record a rock version of “Hey Joe,” found his man with Hendrix and the rest is history. Though it was the first single to be released with his new band, The Experience, it remains to this day a staple of classic rock radio, and is one of the songs that is most associated with the left-handed guitar genius.
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Posted March 12, 2011 at 10:30 am | No comments
Released in 2001 on Incubus’ Morning View album, “Nice to Know You” was one of the heavier songs on the album, which overall was softer than their previous releases. It was also the last album to feature bassist Alex Katunich, who left the band in 2003 after an 11-year tenure with the group, being replaced by current bassist Ben Kenney. The song features the iconic vocals of lead singer Brandon Boyd, who’s mixture of speech and singing became a trademark for the band early on and helped to differentiate them from the other alternative rock bands of the time.
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Posted March 11, 2011 at 7:59 am | No comments
When punk-rock band Green Day decided to move their music from post-grunge radio friendly hits to a more politically tinged writing style, very few people would have predicted the enormous amount of success and recognition that this would bring to the band. It’s always a risk when a band moves into the political realm, for various and often obvious reasons (just ask Sinead O’Connor about her Saturday Night Live appearance), but Green Day’s 2005 album American Idiot is a genuine attempt from the band to discuss current events surrounding politics and more specifically war. One of the most prominent anti-war songs on the album is the hit single “Holiday.”
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Posted March 10, 2011 at 7:39 am | No comments
The love triangle between George Harrison, Eric Clapton and Patti Boyd, is well known in the annuls of rock history, and though it created a lot of heartbreak, it was also the inspiration for some great rock and roll songs. One of the songs that it inspired is the classic love-ballad, “Wonderful Tonight.” Originally written by Clapton as he waited for Boyd to get ready for Paul and Linda McCartney’s annual Buddy Holly party, the song would be both special and heart wrenching for Boyd as her relationship with Clapton went from good to bad and the couple split in 1989.
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Posted March 9, 2011 at 8:44 am | No comments
Referred to as both a painfully slow ballad and one of the band’s best songs, “Desperado” has become a bit of an enigma for a band that has always walked the line between soft rock and hard rock. Written by Glenn Frey and Don Henley, the song was never released as a single when it first came out on the album of the same name, though it has since been released on several compilations of the band’s greatest hits. “Desperado” has become a favorite Eagles track when bands are searching for a tune to cover, and has been rerecorded by many famous acts that range from Clint Black to Johnny Cash to the Gimme Gimmes.
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Posted March 8, 2011 at 1:34 pm | No comments
While the song “Viva la Vida” was a huge hit for UK rock band Coldplay, it was also at the center of two separate plagiarism controversies. The first involved the band Creaky Boards, who claimed that Coldplay had stolen the melody to “Viva” from their song “The Songs I Didn’t Write.” The claims were based on the allegations that Coldplay singer Chris Martin had seen Creaky Boards perform live shortly before writing the song, an allegation that was later disputed. After going back and forth, and posting a video comparing the two songs on the internet, Creaky Boards retracted their claim and let things slide.
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Posted March 7, 2011 at 11:30 am | No comments
“More Than a Feeling,” which took Tom Schultz five years to write, has become Boston’s trademark song, after being released on their self-titled album in 1976. Over the years the song has gained much attention for the band, but it has also been noted for its shared similarities to other classic rock songs, and for songs that came after it which borrowed heavily from this classic track. Most notably, the song’s powerchord riff has been compared to the Kingsmen’s rock n roll track “Louie Louie.” It has also been compared to Elton John’s song “Screw You (Young Man’s Blues) as well as the lesser known track “Walk Away Renee” by the Left Banks.
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