“Peace Frog”
played by the perennial underrated Robbie Krieger.
She Talks to Angels- Black Crowes
Take Me Out - Franz Ferdinand
Domingo - Yello
Psycho Killer - Talking Heads
Life During Wartime - Talking Heads
Lola, You Really Got Me and All the Day and All of the Night by the Kinks
“What Goes On” by The Velvet Underground
I absolutely love rhythm guitar. It’s the reason I preferred British heavy metal to LA heavy metal in the 1980s.
All those hair-band lead guitarists were playing a million notes a minute with no rhythm guitar behind them, or if there was a second guitar, it was just playing power chords. A couple exceptions were Van Halen (Eddie laid down some great rhythm parts) and Motley Crue. Unfortunately, both of those were one-guitar bands, so the rhythm parts were overdubbed and probably absent in a live situation.
British heavy metal ruled. Judas Priest and Iron Maiden were the kings of rhythm guitar. Two guitarists in each band. And while all four guitarists (Tipton, Downing for Priest; Smith and Murray for Maiden) were accomplished lead guitarists, they also knew then importance of playing solid rhythm guitar while their partners were soloing. And that’s what made their music sound so solid and driving.
So I could nominate just about anything from either of those bands, but I’ll try to pare it down to two or three:
Judas Priest: Call for the Priest; White Heat, Red Hot; Hell Bent For Leather
Iron Maiden: The Number of the Beast; Two Minutes to Midnight
And a tip of the head to Malcolm Young of AC/DC. There’s another guy who know how to lay down a rhythm part.
Wow - I am a rhythm guitarist - proudly wearing the badge for 25 years. A reasonable post, but there is a difference between "what is a great riff’ vs. “who is a great rhythm guitarist”
I can list great rhythm riffs for years - Problem Child by AC/DC, Whole Lotta Love, Sunshine of Your Love, hell, Rockaway Beach, Sad But True by Metallica - they are all good.
But in terms of who is a great rhythm guitarist - to me, that is a bigger question. To me, that is about holding it down, staying locked in to a rhythm - and whether you are moving between the main riff and leads, or the main riff and other riffs - are you staying locked in? That is a big deal. My favorite rhythm guitarists, based on that, are:
Keith Richards - say what you will, but he can lock it in
Jimi Hendrix - people comment on his lead playing and song writing, but he consistently holds it down - listen to Wind Cries Mary or Voodoo Chile
Stevie Ray - please - anyone who calls him a lead guitarist isn’t listening - seriously - his rhythm work is what alllows his lead work to happen.
Jeff Beck - always the most tasteful - his rhythm authority on the album Truth is what makes the album work.
enough said - lots of great rhythm work - but it depends on how you define it. Rebel Rebel with Mick Ronson is amazing, but so is My Sharona by the Knack, and What I Like About You by the Romantics. All good.
Maybe it’s not the rhythm guitar in that song that I really like then. The “help me if you can I’m feeling down” part has something in it I really like, and I always thought it was the chords that John uses. Maybe it’s the way Ringo drums it or something then.
This is why Beatles boot…, uh, alternately sourced recordings are so popular. In many cases, you get to hear stripped down or early drafts of songs.
I’ve always thought that they should release a box set for each album with every known take of the songs therein.
Sometime just in the last two days or so I heard that ass-kicking guitar riff used in a promo for (I think) a TV show; dang, it’s driving me crazy trying to remember it now. But I recognized it immediately, even though I hadn’t heard it in probably ten years.
I’d nominate “Lovely Day” by the Pixies, with that simple-but-unstoppable guitar riff.
Jeez, how’d we miss “Bigmouth Strikes Again” by the Smiths? Johnny Marr was/is a fantastic rhythm guitarist (good lead too, only Morrissey hated guitar solos and virtually forbade them, except for a few occasions, like “Shoplifters”). And that wild reverb on “How Soon Is Now”…I’ve tried my damn’dest to replicate it, but even when I get that electro-vibrato you can drive a truck through, I still can’t figure out quite how he played into it so smoothly.
A day later, I saw the “Peace Frog” commercial again; it’s an ad for ESPN’s coverage of the X Games X.
Yes, but those would be way overpriced.
I can’t believe I forgot Johnny Marr! Yes, he’s amazing. I think one of the first few songs on Electronic’s first album also has some guitarism I really like.
Didn’t he do a lot of studio layering? That might be why it’s so hard to do correctly.
Tons of good Smiths guitar songs… Ask, Sweet and Tender Hooligan, Oscillate Wildly, etc.
:smack: I named about a dozen bands and forgot the Smiths!
What you guys said plus
The Boy With A Thorn In His Side, This Charming Man and Hand In Glove
What a good idea for a thread.
Two rhythms that come to mind are:
Satisfaction - Rolling Stones
She Came in Through the Bathroom Window - The Beatles
Dunno why, but I was always impressed by the rhythm guitar in those songs.
I saw the thread title and the first thing that came to mind were the opening chords of - Jimi Hendrix playing ** All Along the Watchtower**.
I was surprised to see it not on the list until Chefguy added it.
For my money Jimi’s five chord open is at the top followed by Joe Walsh’s intro on the James Gang’s Walk Away.
In no particular order:
Jane’s Addiction-“Jane Says” (It doesn’t get much simpler)
Indigo Girls-“Closer To Fine” (Instantly recognizable campfire song with the accented bass notes)
R.E.M.-“Moral Kiosk” (Or pretty much the whole “Murmur” album)
Bob Dylan-“Like A Rolling Stone”
Joni Mitchell-“Big Yellow Taxi” (The chorus always has just a fun feel to it)
Belly-“Gepetto” (listed more because this song for some reason is really easy but I’ve never gotten the rhythm down, grr"
Tina & the B-Side Movement-“Million Miles Away” (The original version)
The Sundays-I Kicked A Boy"
Whiskeytown-“Crazy for You”
Patty Griffin-“Every Little Bit”
Nanci Griffith-“Outbound Plane”
John Wesley Harding-“When the Sun Comes Out” (Interesting bass line/rhythm)
Greg Brown-“Here in the Going, Going, Gone”
Damien Rice-“Cannonball”
Cheryl Wheeler-“Walk Around Downtown”
Alison Krauss-“Sleep On” (The fun bassline on this one)
John Mayer-“No Such Thing”(I love the atypical chording)
Dave Matthews Band-“Jimi Thing”
Tracy Chapman-“Gimme One Reason”
I can’t believe that nobody has mentioned:
“The Ocean” by Zep
“Voodoo Lady” by Ween
“Remedy” by the Black Crowes
“Steal My Kisses” by Ben Haper"
“Courduroy” by Pearl Jam
Gosh, there are a bunch. Let me add:
[ul]
[li]“Crazy On You”, Heart[/li][li]“More Than a Feeling”, Boston. They were mentioned already for “Long Time”, but IMHO “More Than a Feeling” is one of rock’s quintessential rhythm tracks.[/li][li]“Don’t Fear the Reaper” & “Burnin’ for You”, Blue Oyster Cult[/li][li]“Renegade”, Styx[/li][li]“Your Love”, the Outfield[/li][li]“Forever Man”, Eric Clapton, and also his work on “Can’t Find My Way Home” (w/Blind Faith), among many others. First mention of Clapton in this thread? :eek:[/li][li]“World Turning”, Fleetwood Mack[/li][li]“Jojo”, Bozz Scaggs (w/Ray Parker, Jr. on guitar); also “Lido Shuffle”[/li][li]“Loverboy”, Billy Ocean - who is laying that guitar down?[/li][/ul]
I feel the need to get some Rush and Cheap Trick on this list. But for the purposes of the OP, is there a problem with guys who frequently rove between rhythm work and solos on the same tracks?
Not at all a crap song, IMHO. I second “Cruel Summer” heartily.
Dave Mason (of Traffic fame) played the acoustic guitar on All Along the Watchtower, so I think it’s actually him banging out those famous chords.