Great opening song riffs

[HeyMoe]

Limelight by Rush

 

[8893]

Beatles "Hard Day's Night" single opening chord.

55 years later and musicians are still fighting about that damn chord.

Bottom line is it can’t be played.

It’s not a single instrument it’s 4!

What is it about that chord, Augie? My guess is that it's two Ricks (or more) played simultaneously.

Edit from Wiki: Looks like everyone played on that chord!

Best guess these days is Harrison 12 string Ric F add 9 , Lennon 6 string acoustic the same, Mac playing D on bass and George Martin playing a G on piano .

All on one track of a 4 track
Amazing.

The best description ive heard is:

Paul plays D on Hoff bass
John plays D sus4 on Rickkenbacker 325
George plays F with added g note on both E strings on Rickenbacker 360/12 C63
George Martin played a chord of some D variation on piano

Macca chimes in this pretty fascinating read:

The following week, we are back on the sofa in McCartney's London office. When I mention that moment in rehearsal when he had realized that he might not be playing "A Hard Day's Night" correctly, and wonder aloud how he could not know by now, he protests: "People aren't you, and they don't experience it. People haven't written 300 songs. And that's just with John. They haven't written…too many songs. So you don't remember them." And he points out that when he and his band decided to play the song again in 2016, they realized that they didn't know what the song's famous opening chord was. "Nobody knows what that chord is," he says. "It's a mystical chord."

As he says this, McCartney grabs the acoustic guitar that's standing beside the sofa. "We had to investigate it," he says. "I said, 'I think it's this.…'" He fingers a good approximation, and lets it ring out. "That's sort of like it," he says. "But it's not."

In the end, he says, they actually had to go back into the original multi-tracks, to analyze it, and discovered that there were a number of different things being played there, layered. "I think maybe even George Martin might have added something after our session," McCartney says.

 

[August_West]

Macca chimes in this pretty fascinating read:

As he says this, McCartney grabs the acoustic guitar that's standing beside the sofa. "We had to investigate it," he says. "I said, 'I think it's this.…'" He fingers a good approximation, and lets it ring out. "That's sort of like it," he says. "But it's not."

55 years later and musicians are still fighting about that damn chord.

Bottom line is it can’t be played.

It’s not a single instrument it’s 4!

 

[JCSuperstar]

I didn't bother reading the thread, so if I'm the 20th person to post Body Count's 2nd biggest song, then there are 19 other people potentially as cool as me.

 

[Guapo]

Macca chimes in this pretty fascinating read:

Yeah, that was really one of the greatest magazines profiles ever written.

When I read it the other day; I thought about starting an OT thread on here. There’s a lot to discuss...

 

[8893]

Yeah, that was really one of the greatest magazines profiles ever written.

When I read it the other day; I thought about starting an OT thread on here. There’s a lot to discuss...

Yeah, I think the author did a great job of getting to stuff that hasn't already been covered hundreds if not thousands of times. I've been a Beatles freak since I was eight years old and have digested pretty much everything I could find about them since, and I was surprised and impressed by the depth of this piece and the new revelations in it.

 

[storrsroars]

Even if you could afford 1000 of them, why in hell would anyone spend $1,095 on a yellow sweater? And then you stretch out the sleeves by rolling them up your arm?

That kind of crap, along with playing to a room comprised of narcissistic celebrities, is what pisses me off about famous people.

It's not Phil Collins flying a Concorde to play both venues of Live Aid waste of money - likely nothing will top that ever - but it's annoying nonetheless.

 

[the Q]

It’s Layla by Derek and the dominos.

/thread

 

[Madmannsucks]

Just curious, has anyone mentioned My Girl by the Temptations?

 

[8893]

Even if you could afford 1000 of them, why in hell would anyone spend $1,095 on a yellow sweater? And then you stretch out the sleeves by rolling them up your arm?

That kind of crap, along with playing to a room comprised of narcissistic celebrities, is what pisses me off about famous people.

It's not Phil Collins flying a Concorde to play both venues of Live Aid waste of money - likely nothing will top that ever - but it's annoying nonetheless.

Um, it's a fashion magazine and I doubt he paid for any of the clothes. Odd that that would be your takeaway from the article. If there is anyone on the planet for whom narcissism would be understandable, I would think McCartney would be it; yet the article as a whole paints a much more complex portrait imo.

I was never a Phil Collins fan but I was at Live Aid (in Philadelphia) and I recall that that stunt helped bringing an additional level of hype to the whole deal, which was kind of the point, i.e., to bring attention to the starvation in Ethiopia. Yeah, you could feed a lot of people with the money spent on that, but you could say that about any charity event. It was a big deal because it was supposed to be.

 

[Ewekon]

Um, it's a fashion magazine and I doubt he paid for any of the clothes. Odd that that would be your takeaway from the article. If there is anyone on the planet for whom narcissism would be understandable, I would think McCartney would be it; yet the article as a whole paints a much more complex portrait imo.

I was never a Phil Collins fan but I was at Live Aid (in Philadelphia) and I recall that that stunt helped bringing an additional level of hype to the whole deal, which was kind of the point, i.e., to bring attention to the starvation in Ethiopia. Yeah, you could feed a lot of people with the money spent on that, but you could say that about any charity event. It was a big deal because it was supposed to be.

Phil Collins was in the movie A Hard Day's Night. Go figure.

 

[8893]

Phil Collins was in the movie A Hard Day's Night. Go figure.

 

[Bezzz]

Phil Collins was in the movie A Hard Day's Night. Go figure.

Awesome. Listed as "seated fan with necktie".

 

[c29328]

Puts me right back in that era.

 

[A10 fan]

Not really a riff, but a great intro anyway.

Funkadelic - Cosmic Slop - 05 - Cosmic Slop

This goes straight into the main riff, and man does it rock hard.

 

[meyers7]

Damn I thought you guys were younger over here. Some stuff from this Millennium anyway.

So She's Leaving - The Trews

 

[meyers7]

Simple but effective.

Fleeting Trust - The Trews

 

[meyers7]

From Scotland

Only Friend - The Temperance Movement

 

[meyers7]

Same band from 2018

Built in Forgetter - The Temperance Movement

 

[meyers7]

More of a groove opening riff.

Always Alright - Alabama Shakes

 

[meyers7]

Ok it's a remake, but a little amped up riff.

Smooth Criminal - Alien Ant Farm

 

[meyers7]

A little older.

Fly Away - Lenny Kravitz

 

[meyers7]

Like their take on the opening of this song from way back.

Got My Mojo Working/Folsom Prison Blues - Needtobreathe

 

[storrsroars]

More of a groove opening riff.

Always Alright - Alabama Shakes

Not really my style these days, but dayum, she has presence. I'd invest in a ticket.

 

[jayteeman]

Perfect name for the best opening.
Alto Reed's sax on Segar's "Turn the Page"