Songs where one instrument starts, then another, then another, etc. with a least a couple seconds between each.
Whole Lotta Love by Led Zeppelin is a classic example of this. First the guitar does the riff for a few seconds, followed by the bass, then vocals, and then finally drums.
I’m also thinking the live version of Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin) by Sly and the Family Stone also does this, but my ear isn’t good enough to say for certain.
Others?
How about the infamous Canon and Gigue for 3 violins and basso continuo :
https://musescore.com/user/5793236/scores/4789143
Or Boz Scaggs’ Lowdown?
I saw him live in the late '70s and the band opened with this in a very extended version. Bass player walked on stage alone, started playing the bass riff and played by himself for a long time, maybe 20 seconds. Then the drummer walked on, started up his part. Another 20 seconds, then keyboard, etc. Repeated till everyone except Boz himself was on stage. Then he walked on and away they went. Fun way to start a concert.
Kansas “Miracles Out Of Nowhere”. Not at the start of the song, but the instrumental break about 2:20 in.
Harry Chapin’s “Six String Orchestra” not only did it (on the chorus) but made a joke of it. Harry Chapin - Six String Orchestra - YouTube
The Intro & The Outro by The Bonzos
Frankie Beverly & Maze “Twilight”, from about 0:30 to about 2:30.
The first thing I thought of was the part of Tubular Bells where a voice dramatically identifies the instruments as they enter. I remember that being played as a single on AM radio back in the 1970s.
Bing Crosby and Louis Armstrong’s Sextet, from the movie High Society:
Drums
Bass guitar
Guitar 1
Piano
Guitar 2
Melody Voice
Harmony voice
Wikipedia says:
Guitarist Greg Leon, who initially took Randy Rhoads’ place in Quiet Riot, claims that the iconic verse riff to Ozzy Osbourne’s “Crazy Train” came about when he and Rhoads were messing around with “Swingtown”. “We were hanging out, and I showed him the riff to Steve Miller’s “Swingtown”. I said: “Look what happens when you speed this riff up”. We messed around, and the next thing I know he took it to a whole other level and end up writing the “Crazy Train” riff.”[7]
I don’t hear it…
My personal favorite is Al Stewart’s “On the Border”.
Chicago’s cover of “I’m A Man” - bass, drums, a couple of types of percussion, tambourine, keyboards, guitar, then vocals:
Pink Floyd. One of These Days.
I think the most famous example is Deep Purple’s “Smoke On The Water”, at least that’s the first song that came to mind for me. I love that intro:
Guitar
Hi hat
Snare
Bass guitar
Full band
David Bowie’s Station to Station starts with a full minute of a train running on a track and then another minute building the groove one instrument at a time.
Ravel’s Bolero?
And for the opposite, where instruments leave one at a time, there’s Haydn’s “Farewell” Symphony.
Decades ago I went to a Jazz club to hear Yellowjackets. There were weather issues that night, so the band was just doing one set.
The drummer went up and was fussing with his kit, getting everything set up just so. Then he started really playing and the crowd hushed. His sound check turned into a 15 minute solo, near the end of which the bass player went up and began playing with him. They played a while, then the sax guy climbed onto the stage. Guitar next.
It took a good 30 minutes before the entire band was onstage and playing, and they never stopped. Eventually the guitar played a massive solo and left the stage, leaving the remaining band up there playing. A half-hour later, the absolutely exhausted drummer was all that was left on the stage. He tried to dry off with a towel while playing with one stick, lost the drumstick and continued playing with one bare-hand and one towel.
One looong set.