mr dave

facing extreme boredom this afternoon i'm going to make a stupid long post. you've been warned.

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1) Chuck Berry - "Johnny B. Goode"
classic - one of the first great guitar rock tunes and a standard in guitar lessons everywhere.

2) The Jimi Hendrix Experience - "Purple Haze"
same as above. i can only imagine the look on teenagers faces when the first notes of this one came through their speakers after thinking the riff from 'day tripper' was heavy.

3) Cream - "Crossroads"
clapton overplays a bit on this one but it's still a great example of the skill he had

4) The Kinks - "You Really Got Me"
the birth of power chord riff rock another song just about every guitar player knows.

5) The Rolling Stones - "Brown Sugar"
yes

6) Van Halen - "Eruption"
takes cheesy wanking so far that it loops over to cool again.

7) The Beatles - "While My Guitar Gently Weeps"
you can thank clapton for this one.

8) Led Zeppelin - "Stairway To Heaven"
as much as its overplayed on the radio, it's nowhere near as bad as the amount of piss poor attempts made by guitar players worldwide.

9) The Allman Brothers Band - "Statesboro Blues"
never really got into the allman brothers. can't really comment.

10) Nirvana - "Smells Like Teen Spirit"
it changed rock music and i've yet to meet a guitar player who got into music in the 90s who couldn't at least play the main riff to this one.

11) Led Zeppelin - "Whole Lotta Love"
the riff plows through you like a locomotive chugging down the tracks there's no escaping it.

12) The Jimi Hendrix Experience - "Voodoo Child (Slight Return)"
one on hand it's probably the simplest tune in this list, it's a blues vamp in E minor. on the other it's probably the coolest blues vamp in E minor i've ever heard.

13) Derek And The Dominos - "Layla"
you can thank duane allman for this one.

14) Born To Run - "Bruce Springsteen"
rolling stone does have to hit the boomer demographic after all.

15) The Who - "My Generation"
who says guitar players have to be flashy lead players?

16) Neil Young With Crazy Horse - "Cowgirl In The Sand"
i think this song is great but it's still just 10 minutes of fuzzed out psychedelic noodling that never really goes anywhere.

17) Black Sabbath - "Black Sabbath"
the birth of metal. **** yes.

18) Ramones - "Blitzkrieg Bop"
the first single and the birth of american punk in the eyes of the mainstream. i've yet to meet a guitar playing punk who doesn't know some ramones.

19) Prince And The Revolution - "Purple Rain"
the only reason this is a classic guitar track is the intro solo, which was normally edited for radio play. now with prince being a crazy uptight control freak on the indirect use of his music you can't even hear fans trying to cover it on youtube. **please don't sue me**

20) The Impressions - "People Get Ready"
a soulful preview of the style hendrix would overdrive into the stratosphere just a few years later.

21) The White Stripes - "Seven Nation Army"
that riff = badass

22) The Beatles - "A Hard Day's Night"
the first real glimpse that the beatles might be able to rock.

23) The Yardbirds - "Over Under Sideways Down"
jeff beck, jimmy page, and eric clapton all played in this band at one time or another - need i say more?

24) Rage Against The Machine - "Killing In The Name"
as much as i dislike tom morello and think he's overrated the rhythm in this track is golden.

25) The Rolling Stones - "Can't You Hear Me Knocking"
i can see why people like it but it doesn't really do much for me.

26) B.B. King - "How Blue Can You Get?"
YouTube - BB King : How Blue Can You Get
not necessarily a great 'guitar' song but if your hair doesn't stand on end during that clip check for a pulse.

27) The Paul Butterfield Blues Band - "Look Over Yonders Wall"
it's a good blues rock tune i guess.

28) U2 - "Where The Streets Have No Name"
i thought this list was about guitar songs... why not 'bullet the blue sky'?

29) AC/DC - "Back In Black"
hell yes

30) Bill Haley And His Comets - "(We're Gonna) Rock Around The Clock"
it should be up there with johnny b. goode.

31) Queen - "Keep Yourself Alive"
queen has never really done anything for me.

32) Dire Straits - "Sultans Of Swing"
i know it's popular with guitar players, it's just too slick for me.

33) Metallica - "Master Of Puppets"
i prefer 'battery' but it's like choosing between your righticle and lefticle.

34) Aerosmith - "Walk This Way"
i've seen people try to cite the original as the birth of rap rock due to tyler's vocal delivery. there's no denying the remake was the commercial birth of rap rock though. but the riff still kicks.

35) The Stooges - "1969"
great song, yes. great guitar rock song, not so much.

36) Pink Floyd - "Interstellar Overdrive"
spaced out psychedelic perfection.

37) Elvis Presley - "That's All Right"
seems the editors at RS forgot this was a list of great guitar songs.

38) The Faces - "Stay With Me"
jeff beck is awesome and the faces serve as a perminent reminder of just how far rod stewart has strayed.

39) Santana - "Black Magic Women"
let's just check the original instead - YouTube - Black Magic Woman (live) - Fleetwood Mac

40) The Who - "I Can See For Miles"
why not?

41) Television - "Marquee Moon"
gotta represent the origins of post punk somewhere

42) John Mayall And The Blesbreakers - "Hideaway"
clapton.

43) The Sex Pistols - "Holidays In The Sun"
cultural significance does not equal great guitar tune.

44) Sleater-Kinney - "Dig Me Out"
i can't differentiate the guitar in this song from a myriad of other punk inspired indie offerings.

45) The Beatles - "I Saw Her Standing There"
because it rocks harder than 'helter skelter'... yeah... ...

46) **** Dale And The Del-Tones - "Miserlou"
you can thank 'pulp fiction' for this position.

47) Van Halen - "Panama"
why so low on the list?

48) The Clash - "London Calling"
absolutely

49) Jimi Hendrix - "Machine Gun"
hell yes, being that it was only released on a live disc is probably why it's so low on the list.

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