Entertainment For Lively Minds
In The Beginning
Posted by David Wright on 25 April 2008 - 7:43am.
Just finished reading Eric Clapton's autobiography and upon re-listening to Layla, was reminded of what a great guitar introduction this song has.
Like the opening chapter of a good novel, Layla immediately sets the tone of what's to come.
Maybe it'sjust me, but I think good intros are becomming a forgotten art form? The fade in intro is not to be recommended either; see "Oasis's Rocking Chair".
Here are a few of my favourite intros , can these be topped I wonder? Heard any other good new intros recently?
"Layla"-Eric Clapton
"Sweet Child Of Mine-"Guns N' Roses
"Hotel California"-The Eagles
"Shine On You Crazy Diamond"-Pink Floyd
"When The War Came-The Decemberists
- More from David Wright.
- Login or register to post comments
-
Ronnie and the Delinquents...
'Bad Neighbourhood'.
But shurely...
Shine On You Crazy Diamond has a fade-in opening?
THE fade in...
opening. No.1 in the Best Ever Fade-In Chart.
Ah, grasshopper. Therein lies difference.
Between a band that can't be arsed to come up with an intro, and just fade themselves in lock, stock and Beatles Songbook, and a band who know when a single instrument playing a single chord can gently set the scene for a piece of great imagination and beauty.
My favourite Floyd tune...
haunting, melancholic and beautiful.
Neatly clarified
Yes, it's one of my favourites, too. In fact, it was the track that finally convinced me there might be something in these new-fangled CDs, when I heard it at a mate's house, without any of the surface hiss and crackle that used to preface it when I played my vinyl copy of "Wish You Were Here". So once again we see that there are no bad techniques, just bad and lazy applications of techniques.
Best fade in?
Nope - for me it's Virginia Plain
Roxy = masters of the "fade in"
Street Life is a wonderful start also
Earl's Court
If I remember rightly they started with SOYCD at the Earl's Court concert when the seating collapsed right at the start of the show.
That opening was: "kbrd hummmm....(gtr)dawrn-dawrn-dawrn-CRRAAASSSSHHHH" Stop.
Guilty Your Lordship
It does I hold my hands up; couldn't not include it though!
Plaistow
Patricia
Surely
Gimme Shelter is the best intro of any rock song ever written?
correct.
it is...i saw this blog topic and Gimme Shelter immediately popped into me head...
and for the record, and to sort of tie in with the original comment, i think the 'outtro' of Layla is still great. I mean, separate tune and so on, but it's marvellous. Still.
Magic
It's a great outro, I must buy the full album one day. I would say on the strength of Layla, the best musicians Clapton has ever worked with.
the full album is jolly good.
i bought it solely on the strength of Layla and a knowledge of 'nobody knows you when you're down and out' (from ECs Unplugged album)
Layla and other assorted thingies gets regular play around my gaff. trust me, David, you have spent good money on worse albums!
I agree
I gave it a relisten lately after rereading the Allman Brothers biog section on Duane recording Layla and it is an excellent album - "Bell bottom blues" a real gem. If you're interested in the album it is worth a read
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Midnight-Riders-Story-Allman-Brothers/dp/0316294...
You should of course also get the Allmans live at the Filmore if you haven't got it - the two make a perfect set for a long car journey. 70s rock at its best.
Great
Think I must buy it on pay day!
Only Ones
Vulpes beat me to Plaistow Patricia, so instead I'll nominate "Another Girl Another Planet" which must be one of the best intros ever.
Also...
Virginia Plain
Not fair
I wanted Another Girl Another Planet.
I Fought the Law's a goodie.
Temptation by New Order can on shuffle this morning which has a fade intro, and is a cracking tune to boot
either
the album or single version of Lazarus by the Boo Radleys. 10 jet engines strapped to four skinny lads from Wallasey.
Our House
...by Madness. I'd put this alongside Another Girl Another Planet as a great example of an intro which builds up, layer by layer, until the vocals take the stage. See also Pink Floyd's "Echoes" and XTC's "River Of Orchids".
Madness
Definitely; one of the best bass intros ever.
More Madness
How about (Waiting For The) Ghost Train? Brilliant!
on a completely different vein
in terms of 'setting an agenda' i've always thought that on the 'Pop' front, Pet Shop Boys intro to 'Always on my Mind' is great also. There's just a wonder sparse intro where the rhythm is all that's there until BANG, the killer chord sequence comes in...
Another two
Hard day's night - the open strings of the guitar struck had by Lennon
And, breath deeply, Stairway to Heaven
Are talking singles or any track? Cos the opening to "Tubular Bells" is instantly evocative as is "Echoes" by the aforementioned P Floyd.
BTW trivia point - the Layla riff and all the lead guitars are actually played by Duane Allman not EC.
Yeah, but
Eric played the riff at Blackbushe. I remember watching as thousands of people cheered and rose to their feet when that riff rang out; it was one of those moments when the whole day moved up a gear.
When was that?
I saw him on the tour post- "461 Ocean Boulevard" and was amazed when he played rhythm and George Terry played the famous riff. Yvonne Elleman and Marcy Levy on BVs too. Good gig, but I remember being surprised that EC played so little incendiary lead guitar - I was still in the neo Bluesbreakers discovery phase of his work, being a youngster at the time.
Hitched there,
got a lift from some opium smoking hippies from Cornwall!
http://www.ukrockfestivals.com/blackbushe.html
Layla
Never realised that, you learn something new every day.
Teenage Kicks
I mean, it's the perfect tune anyway but the intro (quick drum beats and away we go) is an unmistakeable signature - in much the same way as Hard Day's Night.
It's been said, but...
In the magazine this was done a while back, and I'll say what I said then: "Like A Rolling Stone - beat that."
And, I've said this too, but the first 7 of 12 notes of the Layla riff are played, note for note, by James Burton in The Everly Brothers' version of Rufus Thomas' Walking The Dog on their 1965 album Beat & Soul. If you have it to hand, it's at 2.14.
This would just be a tale of "there's nothing original any more, blah blah blah" were it not for the fact that Jim Gordon, the co-writer of Layla (ok, just the keyboard bit, but the co-writer nonetheless) was in the room when Burton played the riff. He plays on the Everlys' album too.
My brother Sam -
http://www.wordmagazine.co.uk/users/sam-hare
- pointed this out to me, so I can't take any credit for spotting it.
And when he was just a liddle biddy boy. . .
aged 15, James Burton came up with the Suzie Q riff. Here it is (at 1:20):
Yeah. Fifteen.
Anyway, he then came up with the chicken-picking riff for "Mystery Train" that went on to appear on a thousand country rock records. Here's one James made earlier:
So the suggestion that he might also be the man behind the Layla riff is a far from outlandish one. Although, to be fair to EC, those seven notes are just quavers running up and down the blues scale. You can play it with just one finger, hammering on. Pretty simple stuff, really - unlike the "Suzie Q" riff, which is deceptively tricky to play decently.
layla
I agree. As a guitar player, it's very easy to stumble across that shape, even if the song has never been an influence. However, it's half as complicated to play in open E tuning (Duane) as standard tuning. Anyway... yeah, Suzie Q is a great riff, but again one that someone else probably would have come up with eventually. It's basically just a Lightnin' Hopkins thing. But still, all credit to Burton as I love the man. Basically, all these people were there at the right time to come up with these things for the first time. If it wasn't them, it would have been someone else. I feel that way about Elvis, The Beatles... it was easier to be original back then, right?
JB
I saw him at the 100 Club last year and he still picks like a bugger. Likes the ladies too judging by his scrutiny of the front row!
TCB
Speaking of James Burton again, I've thought of a song where the intro is, in my opinion, far better than the body of the song... 'It's only love' by Elvis Presley. One of the best guitar tones ever. I'd also include 'Monkey man' by The Rolling Stones in that 'better intro than song' category.
layla
And as long as we understand that the high riff, plus most of the other great playing on that album is Duane Allman, and not Clappers, we're all good. Brother, please don't get me started on the Layla riff - I have other things to do today. Duane always said he got it from Albert King's 'As years go passing by'. And then if you listen to one of the jams on the box set, pretty sure it's 'Jam IV', you'll here Dickey Betts, the other guitarist in The Allman Brothers Band play the exact riff, with Duane & Clapton playing in the same jam, just a few weeks before Layla was recorded. So that's another theory. While we're on this, Rita Coolidge claims that her and Jim Gordon wrote the piano part together, while they were a couple. So, as I've said before... Layla (Clapton/Gordon/Allman/ King/Burton/Coolidge/Betts...?)
Mentioning Dickey Betts
you've reminded me of another superb intro; "Ramblin' Man" from the Brothers and Sisters album has a really sweet guitar introduction.
Opening riffs
If we're on The Allmans, 'Whipping Post' is pretty cool for an intro.
Which box set
which one?
Box set
He means this one:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Layla-Sessions-Derek-Dominos/dp/B00005HRNM/ref=s...
Ta Lucus
I got the remastered album a few years ago - feel loath to rebuy the bugger again for the extra discs, though it is very tempting, esp if Duane is on them.
I'll go for...
1. You Really Got Me - The Kinks (and the birth of heavy metal)
2. I Saw Her Standing There - The Beatles (the greatest count in...)
3. This Town Ain't Big Enough for the Both of Us - Sparks (for the fade in, followed by a glam rock Gilbert & Sullivan-esque melody)
4. Street Spirit - Radiohead
5. Schizophonic - The Wildhearts
6. MobScene - Marilyn Manson (an eerie drip of evil followed by a HUGE punching intro)
I was just thinking about The Kinks
Easily my favourite intro; heavy metal and punk, and the riff that kickstarted Townsend as well all in one tune.
School disco
Nothing got people onto the floor at school discos like the intro to "Can't get enough " by Bad Company - "one, two one two three four snare bablam" enter power chordarama.
Grebo
Alert!
The correct answer is...
Grace by Jeff Buckley. Those rapid arpeggios snaking out from the neck of a 12-string electric guitar make my pulse quicken every time; then there's the pause, then the crack of the drums, then the demented thrashing of the said guitar, which sounds slightly out of tune - but in a good way. The song better live up to that, and the voice better be special, you think. It does, and it is.
Its always going to be
Sweet Home for me.
And I'll give it to you both ways.
Oh Yeah.
That's so fine it could have been a Feat song. Top class.
WELL underrated
The Skynyrd, on their day, could blow any band off the stage. Legend has it Pete Townsend bricked himself every night they were support for the Who.
opening time
Neil's"Like a Hurricane",
"When I Get to the Border, Shoot Out the Lights-"Richard and Linda Thompson"
A whole slew of soul including "heatwave, in the midnight hour, you cant hurry love, reach out i'll be there",
Jimi's "Crosstown Traffic",
A Hard Days Night !!!!!!!,
Muddy's "Hoochie Coochie Man", Jackie Wilson"Higher and Higher"
Betty Wright"Clean Up Woman"
Anarchy in The Uk, The opening drums of "Janie Jones"
not forgetting (heh heh) The Bonzo's "Intro and the Outro"
The thrilling "Stay With Me" The Faces
Hey and "Maggie May"
The shiver down the spine opening of "No Woman No Cry" Live as the audience reacts to the intro.
The sparkling opening guitar of New Order's "Ceremony"
The fade fazed in of The Byrds "I Wasn't Born to Follow"
The jingle jangle of "There She Goes" The LA's
"Wont Get Fooled Again" and "Baba O'Reilly", not forgetting "I Can See For Miles"
Land of 1000 Dances
The intro to this Wilson Pickett song kicks some serious ass. As does the whole song.
This is a public service announcement...
With Guitar!
Blam!!!
Know Your Rights ~ The Clash
I'll have: Pinball Wizard -
I'll have:
Pinball Wizard - The Who
I Want You Back - Jackson Five
Blockbuster - The Sweet (you can't beat that siren!)
American Music Club - The Dance
The story of a cop who comes home to his girlfriend, high, waving his gun around and demanding that she dance with him.
The vocals come in almost as soon as the song starts so there's no musical intro. However the first verse could easily be the opening lines of a novel, so eloquently does it set the scene for what comes after.
"When she first saw him,
in her blood, she knew her role
He'd be king of the castle
she'd be the riches he stole
Some only wander through
the empty rooms of their soul
They need the ashes of others
to make 'em whole."
The album's been hovering in my sights for a while
and I'm wondering about investing my hard earned. I haven't yet seen an objective review from someone who's actually paid for it, care to elucidate?
The album...
...plows much the same furrow as its predecessors: Confessional lyrics (Mark Eitzel knows how to twist the knife in his own self-inflicted wounds). Simple arrangements that occasionally blossom. The tempo seldom rises above a trot.
The songs don't bear casual listening and take a while to sink in.
I'm glad that I bought it.
My favourite track is The Windows On The World.
Be my baby by The Ronettes.
'Nuff said.
SPOT ON
how could i have missed this????
Smells like...
Smells Like Teen Spirit. Apparently it's a botched attempt to play 'More Than A Feeling'.
Callling
Good comments and I forgot to mention The Clash-"London Calling", one of my other favourites, brilliant intro, immediately sets the scene and era of the times.
Devilish intros!
A couple of fave intros:
Sympathy for the Devil by the Stones "great aaaahs"
I Feel Fine by the Beatles -- first feedback usage [I think!]
I can't believe no one has mentioned...
Satisfaction
It was quite popular in its time.
Born to Run is quite handy too.
The best opening though has been namechecked twice that I've seen. It has to be A Hard Day's Night. The only song I know of that is a virtual time machine. Whenever I hear it I'm three years old sitting in pyjamas watching the Beatles cartoons. The effect is fleeting but instant.
This one leaves them all behind
For me, pound for pound, the best intro of all time has got to be RIDE's "Leave Them All Behind."
It's a magnificent crashing crescendo of a thing, a mighty two minute rush of everything that was remarkable about the quality Creation Records artists at the time (of which there was at least a glass and a half) - madouva guitar, punishing bass, flighty drums and a nicely picked chiming riff after about 1 minute 20. It's an astonishing piece of breathtaking craftsmanship by a band at the absolute peak of their collective powers and shame on Alan McGee for not including the full eight minute song on that Creation Records "International Guardians Of Rock'n'Roll" compilation.
Actually the biggest shame of it all is that co-guitarist, co-singer and co-writer Andy Bell gave it all up to plod away as bass player in Oasis.
David Sylvian
Surely, like David Sylvian not being a 5 star artist, nothing by Ride can be the best of anything? ;-)
(**removes troll head**)
Includes a bit of 'new', as requested
Led Zeppelin - When the Levee Breaks, for drums intro.
Also good for drums - Damned - New Rose and The Smiths - The Queen is Dead.
Stones - Honky Tonk Women, and many more from that era.
e.g Can't You Hear Me Knocking - not many more exciting.
Bassy:
The Breeders - Cannonball
Joy Division - Transmission
Pink Floyd - One of these Days
Arcade Fire - Intervention. Nice bit of swelling organ.
Guillemots - Get Over It. Brand new and pretty impressive if you ask me.
I suppose there's mostly those that come right out at you, singles probably, and those that gradually build.
Best disco intros
"Ain't no stoppin' us now" - McFadden and Whitehead
"Upside down" - Diana Ross - or for that matter pretty much anything produced by Nile Rodgers
"The Backstabbers" - O'Jays
harold melvin
dont leave me this way. great meandering opening
Didn't I Blow Your Mind This Time
By The Delfonics. Classical music as performed by men favouring the Crimplene jumpsuit.
Great Intros
Watching the Detectives - Elvis Costello
Tempted - Squeeze
When Doves Cry - Prince (impossible to hum along to)
The New Polution - Beck
Tom's Diner - Suzanne Vega
be my baby
so good its just keeps getting re-used
and again
and again
What is?
The name of the third song?
"All I Wanna Do" by The School
(Pssst. If you double-click on embedded videos, it takes you to the original YouTube page.)
Thanks...
...for the info.
My broadand is playing up at the mo...I got the first thirty seconds of the track and then it stopped. Cheers.
In the voice of Vivian Stanshall
Grand piano...
Professor Longhair, 'Big Chief'
Ruben Gonzalez, 'Tumbao
Bass guitar...
Stevie Wonder, 'I Wish'
Temptations, 'My Girl'
Nasty Guitar...
Alice Cooper, 'School's Out'
Eddie and the Hot Rods, 'Do Anything You Wanna Do'
Nice Guitar...
La's, 'There She Goes'
Slightly distorted guitar...
The Jimi Hendrix Experience, 'Voodoo Child (Slight Return)
Shouts...
Big Country 'In A Big Country'
Cowbell...
Rolling Stones, 'Honky Tonk Women'
Move, 'Do Ya'
Organ...
Procol Harum, 'Whiter Shade of Pale'
Bob Marley, 'No Woman, No Cry'
Plus tubular bells...
Mike Oldfield, 'Tubular Bells'
Respect
Respect
Chuck Berry!!
...almost any of his as a lot of them sound the same.
But not played live, when the mistakes outnumbered the good notes far too often.
surprised nobody's mentioned these yet:
Jungleland - Bruce Springsteen
Superstition - Stevie Wonder
Pretty Vacant - Sex Pistols
Can't Explain - Who
Love Is The Drug - Roxy Music
The Only Song i Can Play on A Touch Tone Phone
Great Intros -SMOKE ON THE WATER surely ?
Leader of the Pack,Though i Can't play that on a Phone.
Cherub Rock - Smashing
Cherub Rock - Smashing Pumpkins
New Rose - The Damned ("Is she really going out with him?" Then drums, then guitar, then shout of punk anguish. Gets me jumping every time!)
Baba O Riley - The Who
Just Like Honey - Jesus and Mary Chain (The 'Be My Baby' intro belongs to this song in my mind.)
I Fought The Law - The Clash
Are we allowed live intros? If so, I have plenty more...
Baby I feel good......
"Till The End of the Day" by The Kinks
I Wanna Be Adored
dum, dum, dum dum, dum dum dum, dum dum, dum.....
Does Your Mother Know? - Abba
How Soon Is Now? - The Smiths
LA Woman - The Doors
Back to Clapton...
I have to say I much prefer the 'Unplugged' version - "See if you can spot this one."
Other great intros:
Get Back's 'false' start
The Stranglers' No More Heroes
Madness - Night Boat To Cairo
And one for the Quo fans - Whatever you Want
"Three, Four.."
Best count in goes to John Lennon's "Nobody Told Me". Best pop intro goes to Squeeze's "Is That Love". And best Beatles intro is, indeed, "Hard Days Night" although it's not an unfretted guitar being hit. Discussion ebbs and flows as to the actual chord shape, to the point where Gary Moore-out-of-Thin Lizzy apparently once went to the well and asked George Harrison to show him. Apparently, upon doing so, The Quiet One was promptly asked, to his incredulity, "That doesn't sound right - are you sure?"
Dodgy
Good Enough. Happy-dappy-slappy-nappy!
Happier
Chicago 'Beginnings'. Makes the world a better place.
And to add to this debate...find me a song with a better outro. If you don't know this record, hit play and stick with it for the whole 8 minutes. Turn it up loud loud LOUD. You'll love it. Honest!
Smash It Up
The Damned.
If you've never heard it, go listen to it now and then try telling me it's not the BEST build up to the BEST stomper of a song ever..!
Step forward Jimmy & Terry
Jam & Lewis really knew how to start a record. Best of the lot is the intro to The SOS Band's Just Be Good To Me, which is nothing short of apocalyptic.
OK, so a bit off genre.....
...but if the pastoral beginnings, followed by a choral massive, of Lay Me Low, from Rise Up Like the Sun/Albion Band is not one of the beginnings to (not) die for, i don't know what is.
Something a little different
May I suggest:
This Corrosion by Sisters of Mercy - a simply massive, multi-tracked choir before the guitars and drum(machine)s kick in. Jim Steinman with every knob turned up to 11.
Ich Will by Rammstein - Till Lindemann's none-more-German voice intoning "Ich Will... Ich Will..." before the everything else piles in. My wife and I considered having this as the music for our dance at our wedding, as we would have loved to have seen people's surprised/curious faces, but we bottled out and had to settle for something by Bon Jovi. *sniff*
Experiment IV by Kate Bush (especially the 12" version) - a powerful keyboard/guitar/drum riff then her voice - and what a voice. She simply can't make enough music as far as I'm concerned.
Sisters
This Corrosion...hell's teeth, I wish I'd have thought of that. That's one colossal record, complete with an earth-stopping intro. The CD single version goes on for 11 minutes, and that's not long enough.
Here's the whole thing. I would have posted the video, but the versions on You Tube cut most of the fabulous intro out.
Turn it up, and rip the knob off.
Blimey!
so I'm not alone in my fetish
Some suggestions...
Don't Fear The Reaper - got to be worth a shout
Rock N Roll Part II - yes, I know he's allegedly a nonce, but it's well stompy
Sir Duke - happiness in a jar
as for some new:
The Winehouse's "Back To Black" sets the scene pretty well.
I'll add:
Love Action - the Human League, that synth that sounds like a cat meowing..
Can You See The Real Me - The Who; one of their best ever performances, the way it crashes in after the extended album intro. Simply a thrill!
Heard It Through The Grapevine - Marvin Gaye
Going Underground - The Jam - hell throw in In The City, Strange Town, Eton Rifles while you're at it.
Babylons Burning by The Ruts
Hanging On The Telephone - Blondie
Look Of Love - ABC
Shaft - Isaac Hayes
Papa Was A Rolling Stone - The Temptations (full version)
All those get me going when they pop up on the iTunes
Mari Wilson
Mari's song Beat The Beat. It fades in nicely, and there are those insanely catchy but a bit psychotic la-la's. Should have been a huge hit!
And while we're in the early 80s....
Kings Of The Wild Frontier - Adam And The Ants
Our Lips Are Sealed - The Go-Gos and Fun Boy Three versions
Hyperactive - Thomas Dolby "tell me about your childhood"
Ghost Town - The Specials
Eye Of The Tiger - Survivor - cheese but what glorious cheese
House Of Fun - Madness
Instinction - Spandau Ballet - what the hell does 'steal a cake to eat the moon' mean anyway?
Stand And Deliver - Adam And The Ants. How exciting did this sound on the radio?
Senses Working Overtime - XTC
Lets Dance - David Bowie
Embarrassment - Madness
Chant No 1 - Spandau Ballet
Happy Birthday - Altered Images
John Wayne Is Big Leggy - Haysi Fantayzee
Prince Charming - Adam And The Ants
Hand Held In Black And White - Dollar (no really!)
The Message - Grandmaster Flash And The Furious Five
Mickey - Toni Basil
Random play in the 80s folder
Spellbound - Siouxsie & The Banshees - just majestic.
The The
Both Uncertain Smile and This Is The Day have fade-in's. Uncertain Smile also has my all time favourite outro, and probably the best performance Jools Holland has been responsible for.
And finally...
Before I go and cook dinner, sticking with the early 80s theme:
Vienna - Ultravox
Temptation - Heaven 17
Just time for one more before I start chopping onions....
Einstein A Go Go - Landscape!
Cortez The Killer
Brilliant intro - 3 minutes 24 seconds of pleasure
One Step Beyond
How I can mention Madness in a thread about intros and not mention One Step Beyond..."the nuttiest sound around"....
Byrds
OK, I know that we always stuff Mr Tambourine Man as a fave intro but what about a left-field Byrds selection, Lover Of The Bayou from (Untitled) - McGuinn and Clarence White duelling for all their live's worth. Interestingly this has been covered by Tom Petty's reformed Mudcrutch and can be viewed on youtube.
three faves
Debaser - the Pixies - I had to sit down in the middle of Manchester when I heard this for the first time
Phew Wow - the Farmer's Boys - uplifting intro from mid 80s Norwich band
Ziggy Stardust - Bowie - I really thought they were aliens when I first heard this.