About the only one missed so far was Bruce Springsteen’s Rosalita
Otherwise, it’s “Stairway to Heaven” or “Layla.”
Oooooh, that’s a toughie! From a dual “audience reaction” plus “fun to play” point of view (I play in several “cover bands”) I would say Radar Love and Born to Run. (Hey, Bohemian Rhapsody is too difficult to do live, otherwise it would probably win hands down by the criteria I mentioned.)
It’s gotta be "Born to be Wild".
This song perfectly captures the classic essence of rock and roll.
It’s a song about youth, rebellion, and adventure. It has the basic rock instrumentation of guitars, electric organ, drums, and an intense vocal lead. It’s not over-produced with instruments and extra harmonies layered on.
And the intro has that special quality of forcing you to turn up the radio whenever it comes on.
I’ll never buy a recording of it - I always want it to be a fresh surprise when it comes on the radio.
Here’s my two nominations, both by Kansas:
Carry on Wayward Son
Dust in the Wind
How about “Come Sail Away” by Styx? I don’t know the exact parameters of “classic rock,” but I’d think they’d be included.
Otherwise, I must say I like “Carry on, my Wayward Son” by Kansas better than any of the others mentioned.
Santana, Everybody’s Everything
Jimi, Foxy Lady
Led Zep, What is and What Should Never Be
Well, Stairway for sure, but if you want CLASSIC how about “Shake Rattle and Roll” or “Rock around the Clock”? I also always crank up Procol Harum’s “Conquistador” I won’t do it if I’m driving though. Do you know that song can quite effectively drown out an ambulance…
I can’t stand Led Zepplen’s version of Stairway to Heaven. Is sounds awful. I Prefer Frank Zappa’s cover version. Sounds great with a horn section playing the guitar solo. The guitar solo is nothing too special either.
These are all great songs. It is so hard to choose just one. But my vote would have to be Jethro Tull’s Locomotive Breath. Gotta love that flute solo!
I can’t really argue against anything already mentioned, so I’ll just throw out a few more to youse guys.
LA Woman, Light My Fire, The End- Doors
Freebird- Lynyrd Skynyrd
Baba O’Riley, Won’t Get Fooled Again, My Generation- The Who
Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, Rocket Man, Daniel- Elton John
Just to name a few.
‘Won’t get fooled again’ came out when I was at University - still lifts the hairs on the back of my neck.
‘Bat out of Hell’ by Meatloaf (both as a song, and an album).
Bah! It HAS (I mean HAS) to be Bohemian Rhapsody. There is no more discussion. No more, I say.
You CANNOT mention Elton John and classic rock in the same sentence…gimme a break! No, Molly Hatchet’s “Flirting with Disaster” (vocal by Danny Joe Brown), “Ramblin’ Man” by Bob Seger or “Born to Run” by Bruce Springsteen…any one of those.
Elton John! Gawd.[ul]
[li] Truckin’ (the Grateful Dead)[/li][li] Moondance (Van Morrison)[/li][li] Suite: Judy Blue Eyes (Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young)[/li][li] Piece of My Heart (cover by Janis Joplin)[/li][/ul]
Hmmm…SuzieQ by CCR popped into my head…love that song.
Aw, come on Spartacus, Crocadile Rock? Saturday Night’s Alright for Fighting? Gotta admit, they rock!
'nuther vote for Layla…It rocks. It rolls. It screams to be played at 11. It has everything a classic rocker should have.
Well, depends. If Queen can be considered classic rock, then I would have to say that Bohemian Rhapsody is one of the tops, for when I am in the car. Another favorite driving song is Freebird, Skynnard, of course. Then there is the Zepplin. Although I think they are over-rated, just a tad ;), I do love Stairway to Heaven. Gotta love some CCR, Down on the Corner, in particular. Oh well, I am only 17, so I have an exscuse to not have more to list…
- throws a new name in the hat *
** Kayleigh ** by Marillion.
OK, classic rock is defined to include anything after the British invasion and before punk rock. Essentially, we are talking about songs they play or played on “classic rock” stations, not “oldies” and principally excluding R&B, funk and disco. To be the “best” of this genre, a song would have to be longer than 3 minutes and contain either exceptional musicianship or a song structure that makes it especially anthemic. In keeping with “classic rock” radio format, it could be a single or an album cut.
Hence:
“You Can’t Always Get What You Want”, “Tumblin’ Dice”, “Gimme Shelter” - Rolling Stones
“Hey Jude”, “Strawberry Fields Forever”, “A Day In The Life” - Beatles
“Voodoo Chile” - Jimi Hendrix
“Like A Rolling Stone” - Bob Dylan