# What are the great Instrumentals of the Classic Rock Era? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 22, 2017, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-great-instrumentals-of-the-classic-rock-era/796930 "2017-09-22T01:01:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![drad\_dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2017, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-great-instrumentals-of-the-classic-rock-era/796930/101 "2017-09-24T22:55:56Z")
> [@Crotalus](#): > > I think my favorite is [Cliffs of Dover](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=15eu7ar5EKM) by Eric Johnson. If there was ever a song that was “not rock” this has to be it. I can’t help but listen to it while I’m hating it though. ---
**Author:** ![drad\_dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2017, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-great-instrumentals-of-the-classic-rock-era/796930/102 "2017-09-24T23:07:24Z")
> [@blondebear](#): > > Jeff Beck put out some nice instrumentals during that era. Pick anything from _Blow By Blow_. > > Pete Best’s group recorded this little number in '61: [Cry For A Shadow](https://youtu.be/jXsfza2EaEk) I done forgot about Jeff, esp in the 70s period. He was a major name making his records under the category “instrumental,” and maybe the biggest one of those. So is this post the first to say “Freeway Jam”? ---
**Author:** ![buddha\_david](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ee7513/32.png) [@buddha\_david](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buddha_david)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2017, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-great-instrumentals-of-the-classic-rock-era/796930/103 "2017-09-25T02:12:21Z")
Certainly the greatest instrumental title ever: [“Losfer Words”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3kLafYgKCTU) by Iron Maiden. ---
**Author:** ![JHBoom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/13edae/32.png) [@JHBoom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JHBoom)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2017, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-great-instrumentals-of-the-classic-rock-era/796930/104 "2017-09-25T02:23:57Z")
If we’re gonna push the end-point of the Classic Rock era into the '80s and '90s… Stevie Ray Vaughan’s expansion of Jimi’s [Little Wing](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=An4uDegHB8s) SRV again; [Riviera Paradise](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V8wtZeVAa9I) ---
**Author:** ![Quercus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/7ab992/32.png) [@Quercus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quercus)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2017, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-great-instrumentals-of-the-classic-rock-era/796930/105 "2017-09-25T15:54:52Z")
For completeness, someone should add The Grateful Dead’s “Drums” and “Space” right? ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2017, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-great-instrumentals-of-the-classic-rock-era/796930/106 "2017-09-25T16:45:01Z")
> [@Quercus](#): > > For completeness, someone should add The Grateful Dead’s “Drums” and “Space” right? Call me a drummer disser or a percussion putdowner, but “Drums” was when I would go out to pee. (And I wasn’t the only one) ---
**Author:** ![drad\_dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2017, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-great-instrumentals-of-the-classic-rock-era/796930/107 "2017-09-29T05:21:50Z")
Country Joe and The Fish - Section 43 [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/2yhiE03G0H4/hqdefault.jpg "Country Joe & The Fish "Section 43"") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2yhiE03G0H4) ---
**Author:** ![MikeF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MikeF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MikeF)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2017, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-great-instrumentals-of-the-classic-rock-era/796930/108 "2017-09-29T18:15:14Z")
I’ll have to second or third Santana’s Europa - specifically, the version on Moonflower. Amazing guitar work. Plus, I like instrumentals that start out slow and build to a powerful conclusion. Freudian, maybe? ---
**Author:** ![Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/marvin_the_martian/32/2898_2.png) [@Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marvin_the_Martian)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2017, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-great-instrumentals-of-the-classic-rock-era/796930/109 "2017-09-29T19:11:16Z")
I was always partial to [_Black Pit_](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i9PfrbScLi0) by Steppenwolf. ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2017, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-great-instrumentals-of-the-classic-rock-era/796930/110 "2017-09-29T19:41:00Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > No mention of the Alan Parsons Project? They had one or two instrumentals on every album. (Example: [Sirius](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BH7nVxWb9aU)) > [@Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](#): > > Alan Parsons - I Robot, Sirius, The Gold Bug, Mammagamma [Alan Parsons Project —Lucifer](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E9e9tp3_PE8) [Alan Parsons Project — In the Lap of the Gods](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bUZ3tijNe3A) ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2017, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-great-instrumentals-of-the-classic-rock-era/796930/111 "2017-09-29T19:47:15Z")
^^^^ technically I guess “In the Lap of the Gods” isn’t an instrumental (it has that choral stuff at the end) ---
**Author:** ![Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/face_intentionally_left_blank/32/288_2.png) [@Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Face_Intentionally_Left_Blank)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2017, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-great-instrumentals-of-the-classic-rock-era/796930/112 "2017-09-29T21:05:04Z")
> [@MikeF](#): > > I’ll have to second or third Santana’s Europa - specifically, the version on Moonflower. Amazing guitar work. Plus, I like instrumentals that start out slow and build to a powerful conclusion. Freudian, maybe? Thirding or fourthing that. One of my favorites since high school, dunno how I didn’t mention it. And yes, the Moonflower version. I’ll drop in a little [Tangerine Dream, “Lana’s Theme”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fQ2OE_Vodgw). Might be pushing the ‘rock’ definition, but it has good energy to it. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2017, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-great-instrumentals-of-the-classic-rock-era/796930/113 "2017-10-03T19:55:43Z")
Ritchie Blackmore’s Rainbow did a nice instrumental version of the old Yardbirds tune “Still I’m Sad.” [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/ECJ6l38mf_A/maxresdefault.jpg "Southern Accents") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ECJ6l38mf_A) ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2017, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-great-instrumentals-of-the-classic-rock-era/796930/114 "2017-10-07T04:07:34Z")
Stevie Ray Vaughan - [Lenny](https://youtu.be/i5sqJNFFwqc) ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2017, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-great-instrumentals-of-the-classic-rock-era/796930/115 "2017-10-10T15:48:12Z")
[“Amazing Grace”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=izbmzmsVlM0) by The Mighty Groundhogs. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-great-instrumentals-of-the-classic-rock-era/796930.md?page=5)