Music/Song Suggestions

[UndertheWire]

JCL, I've just reread your list and it doesn't include Cream. That's probably just an ommission as they are such an obvious choice. My favourite album would be Disraeli Gears and favourite song, "Sunshine of Your Love".

[MortSahlFan]

Paul McCartney & Wings - Old Siam, Sir (lots of Paul fans I know don't know this great song with this great riff)

John Lennon - Out The Blue, Bless You (Lennon thinks the Stones 'borrowed' the riff, sped it up to create "Miss You" which he said he likes, and that no one owns music)... There's also a lot of unreleased songs you can find online. "My Life" being a really good one.

I know there are some Pink Floyd fans - check out Rick Wright's first solo album. I also love Roger Waters' "The Pros and Cons of Hitchhiking"

[Freypower]

JCL, I've just reread your list and it doesn't include Cream. That's probably just an ommission as they are such an obvious choice. My favourite album would be Disraeli Gears and favourite song, "Sunshine of Your Love".

WS started a topic on Cream further down the page.

[Jonny Come Lately]

Just wanted to reply as much as possible to those who’ve come up with suggestions so far. Thank you for doing this!

tlr: Thanks for those two song suggestions. I really like the Pure Prairie League song you posted – really reminds me of the spirit of early Eagles, which is a great thing. Interestingly I noticed it was written by Gene Clark. I gave a listen to his version too, although I prefer the PPL version. The Outlaws track was decent too, but I was impressed more with Kansas City Southern. As for heavy metal, the heaviest album (and closest to metal) I’ve got to date is Deep Purple In Rock (an album which has ‘rock’ in the title… ) so throwing around lots of metal bands probably won’t mean much to me.

NMB: Just listened to the Jeff Beck track you posted. I must admit I think that style of music is slightly outside my normal taste, but the guitar work is excellent for sure.

UtW: This Alain Stivell guy sounds quite different! I’ll try and give his music a listen at some point, although I'll probably want to listen to some of the rock artists mentioned first.

I think I’ll probably start off by exploring Cream’s music, as I notice they’ve been mentioned more than once. I know and like Sunshine Of Your Love, but am not really familiar with their other songs. I get the sense Disraeli Gears is probably the best starting point for them. (If you don’t mind me asking, which list did you check? Just me being dim-witted I suspect).

WS82: For the first set of bands you mention, here is a rough but honest guide to how much I know about each and which works I know.

. Alan Parsons Project – I’m familiar with Parsons himself through his work with Pink Floyd in the Dark Side era, but not with his band although I’ve heard the name before.
. The Allman Brothers Band – The only one that I own a full album by, as I have Brothers & Sisters. Overall I think it’s not bad by any means, but only 2-3 of the tracks really appeal to me. However I have since become aware that this was recorded after Duane’s death so I probably need to listen to the band’s work while he was around.
. Cream – Addressed previously (although I did notice you posted some songs in their thread. Think I’ll check them out).
. ELP – I know who they are and that they’re a progressive band but I’ve not really listened to them (having said this, Lake’s I Believe In Father Christmas is one of my favourite Christmas songs, if that’s of any use in finding a good starting point).
. Foghat – I definitely remember hearing Slow Ride on a classic rock channel a couple of years ago, which I thought was pretty decent. Not really heard anything else by them though.
. Grand Funk Railroad – Honestly know nothing about them and wouldn’t be able to name a single song off the top of my head.
. Steely Dan – I have two songs on my iPod – Reeling In The Years and Dirty Work, although my parents own the Then And Now compilation album. Really ought to give that another listen.
. Tom Petty – Another where I know who he is and who his band are, but I’d struggle to name one of his albums. Definitely need to check his stuff out though, especially as I’m quite a fan of Mike Campbell’s work with Don H.

I won’t go into detail for the others you mention, as for one thing there are some names that are new to me and the other is that you mentioned quite a lot of artists. Thank you for such a long list, looks like there’s plenty there to discover.

I probably need to use some kind of music cataloguing website where I can keep a record of what’s in my collection which would enable me to update it when I made new additions (message boards just aren’t good places for that sort of thing). I think that would make it a bit clearer what I do and don’t have, giving a better indication of what I’m familiar with.

[Annoying Twit]

I know there are some Pink Floyd fans - check out Rick Wright's first solo album. I also love Roger Waters' "The Pros and Cons of Hitchhiking"

I really like Rick's "Wet Dream". Subtle, but good. It's a pity Rick didn't get many tracks on PF albums during that era.

[MortSahlFan]

I really like Rick's "Wet Dream". Subtle, but good. It's a pity Rick didn't get many tracks on PF albums during that era.

I'm guessing Roger Waters wasn't happy doing most of the work, while all the others saved their music ideas for their solo albums. I know Roger Waters liked some of the songs from his album, probably thought "I could have made this better with some lyrics" as most of Rick's songs were instrumental, and the lyrics on a few songs are pretty weak...

[Annoying Twit]

I'm guessing Roger Waters wasn't happy doing most of the work, while all the others saved their music ideas for their solo albums. I know Roger Waters liked some of the songs from his album, probably thought "I could have made this better with some lyrics" as most of Rick's songs were instrumental, and the lyrics on a few songs are pretty weak...

Roger did mention that Rick hadn't bought those ideas to him, and said that there were a 'few things' that he would have used. I preferred Pink Floyd when it wasn't a few others bringing 'chord progressions' to him. Democracy > Dictatorship.

[UndertheWire]

JCL, by list I just meant "Eagles, Pink Floyd, Led Zepp, Neil Young and more". My sister had "Disraeli Gears" and I remember liking most of it.

[NightMistBlue]

Jonny, I may be wide of the mark here but for some reason I've felt compelled to suggest Leonard Cohen for you. I don't know why.

I think he's a love 'em or hate 'em kind of choice. My friend thinks he cannot sing, and has been mocking her husband for years because he's a fan.

Then one day I heard "Suzanne" and the world went still. Such a beautiful song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=svitEEpI07E

[MortSahlFan]

Roger did mention that Rick hadn't bought those ideas to him, and said that there were a 'few things' that he would have used. I preferred Pink Floyd when it wasn't a few others bringing 'chord progressions' to him. Democracy > Dictatorship.

Pink Floyd was at their best when Roger Waters was the dictator.. David Gilmour on many, many occasions has said he's very lazy. He's also mentioned that most of the stuff on record was stuff he'd fiddle around with, and then Roger would build an idea, write chords, lyrics... The two contributions of "Wish You Were Here" album was the 5-note riff.. "Shine on..." came about the haunting 4-note guitar riff.

I think the other three guys had it made. When Roger left, the band didn't write anything great, even with the 12 writers on staff and all the session guys.

As for Steely Dan, check out the following songs:
-Don't Take Me Alive
-Kind Spirit
-The Bear
-This All Too Mobile Home