Rock instrumentals

[AuntiePam]

I was looking at my son's Wish List at Amazon this morning, and was surprised (and pleased) to see a bunch of rock instrumental CD's on it. He's 40, so he wasn't born when these songs were popular, but he grew up listening to them.

Duane Eddy, The Virtues, Santo & Johnny, Bill Doggett, Link Wray -- great stuff.

I haven't kept up with today's music. The radio is always tuned to NPR and I don't watch any of the music channels on TV.

Does anyone still do them? I suppose there are instrumental versions of songs, but does anyone still produce original instrumentals?

And while I'm here, what are some of your favorites? Anyone still listen to them?

'scuse me while I put my 45 of Apache on the turntable. :)

[Hey, It's That Guy!]

There is still an underground scene of instrumental surf bands out there, some of which are fantastic. Los Straitjackets perform in Mexican wrestling masks and matching suits, Man... Or Astroman? bring a sci-fi theme to their bizarre surf-inspired music, and even the great Dick Dale is still out there, playing reverb-drenched Stratocasters through Fender tube amps. The Volcanoes, Laika and the Cosmonauts, and the Hellbenders (who play more of "spaghetti western"-style music, like Ennio Morricone's soundtracks to the Sergio Leone/Clint Eastwood westerns) also come to mind as great instrumental bands--and we can't forget the original Ventures.

[AuntiePam]

I have Hellbenders and some Dick Dale but hadn't heard of those other bands. Cool!

It's good to know someone is still doing it. I keep hoping instrumentals will make a comeback and be as popular as they were in the 50's.

My mind is wandering again -- why are some groups strictly instrumental? None of them can sing? They didn't want to write lyrics? The music is more important to them, the words get in the way? Silly questions, probably, but it seems like most instrumental bands were never as popular as bands with singers, even if the more popular bands with singers had less talented musicians. Something to think about.

[Sean Factotum]

Dickie Dale blew through my area this summer - definitely glad I finally was able to catch him live.
And there's a guy based here that records new rockabilly stuff, Dexter Romwebber (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/search-handle-form/102-2096159-6534513). His stuff, especially Chased By Martians should fit in well with your son's tastes.

[Lord Ashtar]

If he's into good rock instrumental music, you'd do him a huge favor if you got him some Liquid Tension Experiment (http://www.yesiknow.com/lte/). Those guys are just sick (and I mean that in a good way ;) ).

[rackensack]

Showing my age a bit, I suppose, but the first thing that came to mind from reading the OP was The Raybeats (http://www.bar-none.com/bios/raybio.html). If the Ventures had been over-educated New York club scene veterans in the late 1970s, they'd have been the Raybeats. Bassist Danny Amis went on to feature in Los Straitjackets, mentioned by Big Bad Voodoo Lou.

In a somewhat different vein, but from roughly the same era, were Love Tractor (http://www.trouserpress.com/entry.php?a=love_tractor). They came out of Athens, GA at about the same time as R.E.M. and the rest, but were somehow different from any of the other Athens bands -- partly because they were strictly an instrumental group through their first few albums. Love Tractor rarely made use of the campy, sci-fi/surf/movie soundtrack cultural references of the Raybeats, but nevertheless were often interesting, usually appealing, and occasionally musically witty.

[Yookeroo]

Check out Mogwai (http://www.mogwai.co.uk/).

[plnnr]

Let me second Laika and the Cosmonauts. Just terrific, terrific stuff inspired by surf-music. Full of whammy bar, Vox organ, and related touches. Best of all - they're from Finland.

Also got to second Link Wray. "Rumble" is still a great song, even after all these years.

[Tamerlane]

Another good one from that genre - The Mermen. Not to mention that 'Kids in the Hall' fave, Shadowy Men on a Shadowy Planet.

- Tamerlane

[picker]

In popular music, I'd say we don't have nearly as much as back in the heydey.

That said, I work in bluegrass and jamgrass, and there's definitely a long traditon of instrumentals there - starting with Bill Monroe and stuff like 'Raw Hide' or any of the thousands of filddle tunes we play.

Currently my average performance set is at least 1/3 instrumental, more if I'm including any jazz or gypsy stuff in there.

[WordMan]

Are the Mermen still around? They were outta SF and played great surf instrumentals....

On purely hard-rock basis - there of course is Joe Satriani's Surfing with the Alien

My all-time fave instrumental CD (that's not jazz) is Freddy King's Just Pickin. It packed his infamous Let's Hideaway album onthe same CD with one from later in his career. It just doesn't get any better than Freddy (also spelled Freddie) King for poppy-blues-y instrumentals from the 60's.

[Reeder]

IMHO it's Mountain Jam from Eat a Peach by the Allman Brothers.

[Marley23]

IMHO it's Mountain Jam from Eat a Peach by the Allman Brothers.
Even if I could argue with that, I could only do it by talking about In Memory of Elizabeth Reed, Hot 'Lanta, Les Brers in A Minor, and High Falls. ;)

[AuntiePam]

Lotsa names here I haven't heard of -- glad to see someone's still doing this great music. ::toddling off to add to my Wish List:: :)

[wolf_meister]

My favorite instrumental is Wild Weekend by the Rockin' Rebels".
It has a gritty, raw rock energy. You'd recognize it immediately if you heard it.

[AuntiePam]

I think my favorite is Tall Cool One, but I'm spacing on who recorded it. The Wailers?

[wolf_meister]

AuntiePam
The Wailers? Wow I haven't heard that group name in decades. They were popular in the US Northwest in the early 1960's. Among other things, they did a rendition of "Louie, Louie" which the Kingsmen (another group from the Northwest) copied when they did their version. (The Kingsmen's guitar solo is the same and the lead singer yells "Okay let's give it to 'em right now !!" right before the solo).
I remember Paul Revere and the Raiders (yes, also from the Northwest) being interviewed and they said that in their early days, they were hoping that they might even become as famous as the Wailers. LOL

[scotandrsn]

When I hear "recent rock instrumental", I can't help but remember Boston's late, lamented Concussion Ensemble. Guitar, Bass, and four drummers.

Insane rhythms, pounding beats, raw rock 'n' roll at its finest.

They released an album you might find on e-Bay, but it didn't capture them well. They were an amazing live phenomenon around town in the mid-1990s

[buns3000]

King Crimson in 1973-4 had some very cool instrumentals. Check out their albums Larks Tongues In Aspic and Red, two of my all-time favourite albums.

[astorian]

The early 80's reincarnation of King Crimson had some great instrumentals, too... though I haven't liked anything Fripp's done in almost 20 years.

Check out "The Sheltering Sky" and "Discipline," from the "Discipline" album, and "Satori in Tangiers," from the "Beat" album.

And if you like their older stuff, you might like "A Sailor's Tale," from the "Islands" album.

[AskNott]

The Return of the Hellecasters by the Hellecasters

88 Elmira Street by Danny Gatton

[buns3000]

The early 80's reincarnation of King Crimson had some great instrumentals, too... though I haven't liked anything Fripp's done in almost 20 years.

Check out "The Sheltering Sky" and "Discipline," from the "Discipline" album, and "Satori in Tangiers," from the "Beat" album.

And if you like their older stuff, you might like "A Sailor's Tale," from the "Islands" album.

Yep, I like "Discipline" and you are prompting me to dust off "3 of a Perfect Pair" now, but I don't have "Beat"... or do I? Maybe its in there somewhere.

Concur re Fripp's last 20 years, sadly.

[Stan Doubt]

I doubt instrumentals will be as popular again as they were in the mid-late nineties anytime soon. Two principal factors in the resurgence were the punk explosion of 1993 and the inclusion of some surf tracks on the soundtrack to Pulp Fiction. While there are otherwise a decent number surf revival bands, the major label punk revival helped fuel huge explosion of a lot of sub-genres, such as ska, surf and drag, and even batchelor pad music. While there is a lot of tremendously good stuff from that era (many good bands mentioned already), there is also some serious crap.

I'd suggest an Emusic subscription for your son. For the cost of one CD your son can get 65 tracks of legal MP3s. Since they don't offer major label doo-doo, the prices are kept somewhat low. You even get 50 free downloads to try it out. Here's just a sample of what Junior could get in his first month:

The Looney Tunes Cool Surfin, The Euro Boys Jet Age, A Los Straightjackets record (they have 5 to choose from, including the Xmas record), The Phantom Surfers The Exiting Sounds of Model Car Racing.

That Looney Tunes record gets my vote for best surf album of that era, proving yet again that the best American Rock 'n Roll is made in Scandinavia!

[AuntiePam]

The Return of the Hellecasters by the Hellecasters

88 Elmira Street by Danny Gatton

Yes! I have those. Probably heard about them here, but it must have been a few years back.

[AuntiePam]

I'd suggest an Emusic subscription for your son.

Heck, I'll get one for me. Thanks. :)

[Typo Negative]

Check out Guitar 9 (http://www.guitar9.com/). Many of the acts mentioned above can be found there. And with audio clips.

[Sam Stone]

Of the Allman's instrumentals, I prefer Jessica.

Kansas[b/] used to do some pretty good instrumental songs

[b]YYZ by Rush is one of my favorite rock instrumentals.

[Typo Negative]

Rush has a number of fine instrumentals:
Leave that thing alone
Where's my thing?
La Villa Strangiato
YYZ

[Freejooky]

There's a whole instrumental genre/movement in modern music that's usually called post rock that's been around for a little over a decade now. The actual bands that get lumped in with the movement vary in style - from the jazz/experimental electronic angles of Tortoise and Fridgeto the epic sludge rock of Mogwai and Explosions in the Sky to the droning orchestral pretensions of Godspeed! You Black Emperor and Rachel's.

[Loach]

Steve Morse is the greatest guitar player on the planet. I will not listen to any arguments. Now he is paying the mortgage by playing with Deep Purple but he used to put out tons of instrumental music. I recommend anything by The Dixie Dregs or The Dregs as they were later called. I guess officially it would be called fusion because it is a cross between rock, jazz and country. I like his solo stuff even better. He had a tight trio called the Steve Morse Band which was still instrumental fusion but with more emphasis on rock. My favorite is the first record The Introduction. I'm not sure if he has any recent instrumental recordings.

[Loach]

For a more complete look at Steve Morse's career and recordings here is his website. (http://www.stevemorse.com/)

[scotandrsn]

Of the Allman's instrumentals, I prefer Jessica.


Yet another rare but welcome thing we agree upon, Sam Stone!

The finest driving song ever.

[Sam Stone]

There's a MIDI of 'Jessica' floating around on the internet that's the best damned MIDI file I've ever heard. Sometimes I prefer listening to it over the original, heretically enough.

Search for "Jessica MIDI" and you'll probably find it.

[AskNott]

Jeff Beck's Jeff Beck's Guitar Shop is nearly all instrumental, and it kicks ass.

Aaaand, since it's December, have you heard A Merry Axemas? About a dozen guitars sorcerers, doing wacked out Christmas music.

[sleestak]

As Loach said, Steve Morse is the greatest guitar player on the planet(#1). Not only that, he is a really nice guy.(#2)

He has a bunch of CD's out with The Dregs and the Steve Morse Band(SMB). His latest SMB CD is Major Impacts 2. Major Impacts 1 & 2 is Steve writing in the style of musicians that influenced him. He writes pieces inspired by Zepplin, Genisis, and others. Not a bad CD. My favorite SM disc is 'High Tension Wires'.

Another great player is Vinnie Moore. He has a new disc out. It's pretty good. His early stuff had a heavy classical influence. His latest is a little more diverse. Good CD.

Liquid Tension Experiment is pretty damned good. Some really talented guys recorded the CD in a very short amount of time(like a week IIRC). Great CD.

Slee

#1. Steve Morse won the Guitar Player magazine "Best Guitarist of the Year" award. The award is decided by readers. He won it year in and year out. In fact at one point Steve retired from recording/touring and became an airline pilot. He *STILL* won the award. The magazine finally retired Steve from being eligable for the award because he won it so many times.

#2. I've met him a couple of times. He is just a nice, sweet guy who goes out of his way to talk to fans and give advice.

[Typo Negative]

Now he is paying the mortgage by playing with Deep Purple but he used to put out tons of instrumental music. .Let's not diss his work with Deep Purple. Steve has cut three albums with those guys (2 studio, 1 live) and they are all really good. In fact, Purpendicular might be Deep Purple's best.

[Loach]

Let's not diss his work with Deep Purple. Steve has cut three albums with those guys (2 studio, 1 live) and they are all really good. In fact, Purpendicular might be Deep Purple's best.

To be honest I have been going through a point in my life where I did not listen to music much. Since I have been working out like a demon lately I have been listening to music again including a lot of Steve Morse. I have not heard much of the new Deep Purple. I will give it a try. I didn't know about the live album, sounds interesting. I was able to see the Steve Morse Band at the Stone Pony years ago. I was about 5 feet away from Steve Morse. He is unbelievable live.

[NicePete]

Two of my favorite Zappa albums are almost exclusively instrumental: Hot Rats and Burnt Weeny Sandwich. Sleep Dirt is another good instrumental album. Of course, there are great insturmental pieces on every Zappa album.

[Casey1505]

On purely hard-rock basis - there of course is Joe Satriani's Surfing with the Alien Along this line, check out Eric Johnson's Ah Via Musicom (not all instrumental, but many tracks are) and G3: Live in Concert (Satriani, Johnson, and Steve Vai).

[Typo Negative]

To be honest I have been going through a point in my life where I did not listen to music much. Since I have been working out like a demon lately I have been listening to music again including a lot of Steve Morse. I have not heard much of the new Deep Purple. I will give it a try. I didn't know about the live album, sounds interesting. I was able to see the Steve Morse Band at the Stone Pony years ago. I was about 5 feet away from Steve Morse. He is unbelievable live.
Steve w/ Deep Purple
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B000001Y9I/qid=1102213517/sr=1-25/ref=sr_1_25/102-0666271-1791332?v=glance&s=music
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B000007N8O/ref=pd_bxgy_text_1/102-0666271-1791332?v=glance&s=music&st=*
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B00005GD5C/qid=1102213817/sr=1-147/ref=sr_1_147/102-0666271-1791332?v=glance&s=music

[vl_mungo]

Big Bad Voodoo Lou hit the nail on the head as usual.

Speaking as a nearly 40 year old instrumental music fan (via Link Wray, I'm going to plug a few more...

Shadowy Men on a Shadowy Planet (now Atomic 7 (http://shadowy.brainiac.com/a7-main.htm))
Huevos Rancheros (now The Ramblin' Ambassadors (http://www.mintrecs.com/bands/speak/ramblin/ramblin2003.html)
and
Removal (http://www.newmusiccanada.com/genres/artist.cfm?mode=longBio&Band_Id=6373)

[Crandolph]

Wow, no one mentioned The Ventures! They pretty much own the genre. (Well, there's The Shadows in the UK.)

I think the instrumental had it's heyday when real DJs made their own programming choices, and they didn't always time their shows exactly, which forced them to slap on their personal fave new instrumentals near the end of the hour and/or their shift. That's precisely what made "Wild Weekend" a hit a couple of years after it was recorded.

The best series of albums I know of for great old obscure instrumentals is Strummin' Mental .

I have no less than 6 versions of "Apache" from the 60's... my fave one is Jorgen Ingmann's...

[Typo Negative]

I still say that the finest instrumental album is Mark Bonilla's EE Ticket.

Out of print. New copies are unavailable. Didn't get the attention it deserved.