I.R.S. Records released a whole series of instrumental albums under the No Speak label. Lots of really tasty tracks to choose from, Hard to pick just one, but for today I’ll choose Spikes by Pete Haycock:
Not sure if this is Surf Rock or Rockabilly but here’s “Forty Miles of Bad Road”:
Here’s one of the prettiest surf instrumentals ever recorded
IIRC this is the song that was used in Problem Child 2 during the infamous tilt-a-whirl scene.
Picked up Emerson, Lake & Palmer’s WORKS album. As a twenty-something, I was surprised at suddenly loving a piano concerto.
Here’s the First Movement, studio version, with the London Philharmonic Orchestra (and the score!).
2:09 is where the piano comes in…and has SO much fun.
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Want more energy? Here’s the Third Movement (Toccata Con Fuoco), live, with everyone going gonzo:
This version of In a Sentimental Mood
Way too many to choose from, but amongst others…
That piece is in 5/4 time and it, along with a few others (Jethro Tull’s Living In The Past and the theme to Mission Impossible I’ve discovered are THE best ways to interrupt a persistent earworm. Something about the 5/4 time signature just corrects your mental record skip I guess.
Los Straitjackets RULE!
How about the greatest rock guitarist teamed up with a wicked keyboardist?
Two of my favorites have already been mentioned (Frankenstein and Jessica), but this thread isn’t complete without one of the best instrumental groups ever, Booker T And The MG’s. Everybody knows “Green Onions”, and it’s great, but I like “Melting Pot” even better.
It’s not mentioned in the title, but does Country count too? Here are my three favorite Country instrumentals: (the first two are at the blurry line between Country and Rock anyway, just like the last between Country and Pop)
Buck Owens - Buckaroo
And clearly in that tradition, “Nashville West” by the band of the same name (the nucleus of many later Country Rock bands), with Clarence White on guitar:
And a piano classic, Floyd Cramer’s “Last Date”
In the Smooth Jazz genre, it would have to be DREAMS by The Rippingtons, from the Moonlighting album.
Well, just thanks a lot, everybody. I guess I really didn’t plan on getting anything done for the next hour or two… And now I’m sure I won’t, having to listen to all those suggestions.
(Seriously, thanks. Some great stuff In there that I’ve never heard.)
Oh, I forgot my favorite Hip Hop (or rather Funk) instrumental, “In 3’s” by the Beastie Boys. It’s so damned cool and funky and not even three minutes long. Of course it was already retro when it came out 30 years ago, that’s why the Beastie Boys were called old school.
To carry on with the Beastie Boys, this is Mix Master Mike doing his thing (he did a lot of work with the BBs). Absolutely mesmerizing watching him work. I have only a marginal understanding of what he’s actually doing, but I know he’s good enough that he’s permanently banned from all DJ competitions world-wide.
I could pick a bunch of Santana tracks, but here’s one I particularly enjoy:
“Watermelon in Easter Hay” by Frank Zappa is utterly gorgeous, and turned me from a casual listener into a fan. I suppose technically it’s not 100% instrumental, because it opens with the annoying whispered narration by The Central Scrutinizer that mars the rest of the Joe’s Garage trilogy.
Speaking of Zappa, my runner-up pick would have to be “Sofa” in the live version off the Zappa in New York album.
Also, I’d say the long (18 minute) version of “Elegia” by New Order would be right up there.
The Peter Gunn Theme.
By Mancini
One of my favorite FZ instrumentals:
…with Jack Bruce and Jim Gordon.
Ooh, nice one, thanks!
I have SIXTEEN different versions of that piece and they all rock.
I have whole mixtapes of rock, and jazz, and jazz-rock instrumentals, some of which have already been mentioned.
To limit myself to two, one rock, one jazz, neither famous.
Danny Kirwan’s “Sunny Side of Heaven” by Fleetwood Mac, a song that lives up to its title.
And for jazz, the one-of-a-kind track “Computer Incantations for World Peace” with Jean-Luc Ponty playing all the instruments.
