My 5 Favourite Guitar Riff Songs
Saturday mornings are great for waking up to music. It’s always different because well, every Saturday is different. On this particular Saturday I started out with Counting Crows, “Mr Jones” and well the energy just kind of took me to The Strokes, “Machu Picchu”. Listening to the guitaring in that song, I realized that there were songs I enjoyed purely for the way the guitar was featured in the song,
Below are my top 5 all time favourite songs featuring the guitar. Give them a listen and LMK what you think.
“But he could play a guitar just like a-ringin’ a bell”
#5 - Johnny B. Goode - Chuck Berry
To start this list right, I have to start with a song that probably is the quintessential guitar riff song. The fast real blast of a classic rock and roll song with a swaggering guitar riff is the sound of Chuck Berry’s “Johnny B. Goode. Taking it way back here to 1958. From the first chord played of the riff you can hear the energy. Right from the start the energy captures exactly what the song is about. A poor country boy who had one thing that he loved to do well, his ability to wail on the guitar and attract a crowd.
The energy carries you through the classic format for a great rock song, which is a firecracker, even by todays standards. Just imagine being in your home back in 1958 and hearing this song over the old radio. Chuck Berry was one of the first artists to tackle the writing a song that speaks so rawly about how much money a person could make playing guitar. Songs that came after like The Byrds “So You Want to be a Rock and Roll Star” and Joe Walsh’s , “Life’s Been Good”, did not have that same charging riff.
Chuck Berry wrote the song and it landed on the Billboard top R&B songs for 1958, it was also 8 on the Billboard Hot 100 songs.
As a huge old school rock and roll fan, the list would not be right without starting out right here. Take is away Chuck!
#4 - Celebrity Skin - Hole
Right, 1998 Sam would have never expected to be putting this song on a list of guitar riffs that moved me, but… It is EdgeFest and Hole are playing the main stage in late afternoon. Most of the friends I took this journey with were in fact going to see Hole. Yes! I was curious. However, I was still mourning losing Kurt Cobain and well… I was upset with Courtney for not saving him from himself.
Never the less I went to the show because there were all sorts of others artist I was interested in beyond Hole.
“Oh, make me over, I’m all I wanna be, a walking study in demonology”
So there I was on that hot Canada Day weekend in July, hungover from Pride and ready to get drunk again on bands like Moist, Big Wreck and Treble Charger. Of course I follow my friends over to listen to Hole. Who am I kidding, I was also incredibly curious. Everyone was claiming she was fluff and everything had been written for her. Reportedly it was Billy Corgan of The Smashing Pumpkins who was to have written the riff. Either way, when Hole took the stage and Courtney lifted her leg up onto her amp, raised up her arm to hit that first chord, my entire opinion changed. WOW.
Celebrating the songs 20th anniversary, Naomi Fry wrote in the New Yorker,
“What turns “Celebrity Skin” into an enduring artifact, though, is it’s aggressive undertone. Beneath the saccharine harmonies, there is a hint of darkness, placing the song in a lineage that proceeds from melancholy pop bards like the Beach Boys all the way to contemporary divas like Ariana Grande, who tends to mix her sweetener with a dash of poison. We can hear this right from the start, when the song begins in medias res, with a riff that becomes unforgettable after only a couple of listens, up until its end, when it abruptly cuts off, almost before you can catch your breath.”
#3 - Machu Picchu - The Strokes
The Strokes IMHO are a highly underrated band. I mean have you given them a listen lately. Their quiver of great tunes is loaded. However my all time favourite is this ditty that inspired this entire list. Machu Picchu.
The lead track from the Strokes 4th studio album, Angles, released March 18 2011 has a riff that carries through Julian Casablancas signature mumbled voice. Upbeat and melodic the song appears to be about finding things to accomplish. Climbing Machu Picchu would be a huge things to do and accomplishment. It also speaks to the humans need to wear dead animal meat on them as well as the burdens of a growing civilization.
On Billboard’s Hot 100 the song peaked at #26, 2 months after being released.
“Waves turn to grey, Life in the shade, A violent crime... And that’s the USA”
#2 - Crazy On You - Heart
From the acoustic intro through the change into the electric intro, the guitar grabs you. Crazy On You is a hard driving song that really lets the guitar shine. Crazy On You, the debut Heart song from sister Anne and Nancy Wilson reveals a take on love and heart break, a wondering tale of feelings poured into a powerful song. From Anne’s powerful screams to the drive of the guitar howling right back, pulls you into the emotion.
Released in March 1976, Crazy On You is a fast and fiery guitar rhythm that just moved you into a beautiful and yet brooding momentum. The best part, the lyrics bring you along. Anne tells the story and you can feel it carry you through as her mood shifts and she feels completely at a loss.
The riff itself was created in the studio during the initial recording session. The band had been there in the studio listening to some Moody Blues and band member Roger Fisher just put it out there.
“With bombs and the devil, little kids keep coming. No way to breathe easy, no time to be young”
Peaking at number 35 in 1976 on the Billboard’s Hot 100, Crazy On You, is one of Heart’s best contributions to rock and roll and considered and evergreen classic rock song. Heart has had many fantastic songs spanning from the mid 70’s though to the 2000’s.
#1 - Rock and Roll - Led Zeppelin
While some may claim it is in songs like The Immigrant Song or Whole Lotta Love that the true talent of Led Zeppelin’s quitar riffs lie. Both songs really let out a strong driving energy from their initial get go. However, for me, the best driving guitar rock song ever has to be Led Zeppelin’s Rock and Roll.
First released on their 4th album in 1971, the song included a guest appearance by Rolling Stone pianist, Ian Stewart. In 1972, music journalist Robert Christgau called it
“simply the most dynamic hard-rock song in the music.”
Like its title suggests it should, the song is based on the 3 chord traditional rock and roll structure for a song. With a steady tempo of 170 beats per minute you can understand when you listen why its called a driving rock song. Jimmy page holds nothing back in his playing. Developed from a spontaneous jam when trying to finish “Four Sticks”, Bonham began the drum intro from the Little Richard song “Keep a Knockin” and with the tapes rolling, page added a Chuck Berry style riff and Rock and Roll was created!
“It’s been a long time since I rock and rolled. It’s been a long time since I did the stroll”
Incidentally, the song was released on my fourth birthday, February 21st, 1972. Unfortunately, I was not yet appreciating the awesomeness that was Led Zeppelin. It would not be long though. Since I was in high school Led Zeppelin have been in my top 5 all time bands! List coming soon!
Like these picks? Think you have better picks? Comment in the section below, even post the video link, to your favourite rock and roll guitar riff songs!
