# your favourite opening guitar lick/riff/whatevs **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 20, 2018, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favourite-opening-guitar-lick-riff-whatevs/814521 "2018-05-20T20:01:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2018, 11:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favourite-opening-guitar-lick-riff-whatevs/814521/41 "2018-05-21T11:55:03Z")
I am a solid fan of **Johnny B. Goode’s** opening lick, since it kinda transformed popular music. And **Can’t You Hear Me Knocking** because it is the greasiest tone and badass-est opening lick around. I love well-done guitar riff openings - nothing special, just starting things off: **Feel Your Love Tonight** by Van Halen is just a great riff. Same with **Sin City** by AC/DC. Meat and potatoes riffs, love 'em. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2018, 12:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favourite-opening-guitar-lick-riff-whatevs/814521/42 "2018-05-21T12:02:57Z")
[quote=“Temporary\_Name, post:35, topic:814521”] The beginning of Cold Shot, especially the Stevie Ray Vaughan version usually makes the hair on the back of my neck stand on end. It always makes me feel like I wish I had tuned in a few seconds before I did; like I tuned in right after the best lick in a great building intro. Even when I start it myself I feel like I am coming into something great that is already going on. [/QUOTE] This, sooo this. Oh, and also Gary Moore **Still Got The Blues** and **Parisian Wakway**. How could this thread go so long without Gary Moore getting a nod?? ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2018, 12:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favourite-opening-guitar-lick-riff-whatevs/814521/43 "2018-05-21T12:11:40Z")
Oh, and I use **Oh Well** , by Peter Green’s Fleetwood Mac to check out the low end response on Acoustic guitars 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2018, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favourite-opening-guitar-lick-riff-whatevs/814521/44 "2018-05-21T13:29:52Z")
**Pride and Joy** , and **Voodoo Child** , both by Stevie Ray Vaughan. **Long Cool Woman** , The Hollies, just because it’s a classic rock song intro of guitar, bass and drums. ---
**Author:** ![velomont](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/8491ac/32.png) [@velomont](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/velomont)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2018, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favourite-opening-guitar-lick-riff-whatevs/814521/45 "2018-05-21T13:49:11Z")
> [@Guest-starring\_Id](#): > > M.E.W. - > For the classic, meat-and-potatoes HEAVY opening, it’s gotta be: > [“Symptom of the Universe” - Black Sabbath](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GhZ4t7pRyjE) I fully concur. And how about, in “Megalomania”, at the start of the second part as the cowbell is ending, the raw purity of that riff. ---
**Author:** ![Alpha\_Twit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alpha_twit/32/265_2.png) [@Alpha\_Twit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alpha_Twit)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2018, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favourite-opening-guitar-lick-riff-whatevs/814521/46 "2018-05-21T13:52:46Z")
How is it that nobody has mentioned [**CHINA GROVE**](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=udSHItTjWyQ) yet? ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2018, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favourite-opening-guitar-lick-riff-whatevs/814521/47 "2018-05-21T14:11:21Z")
No AC/DC yet? are you all deranged? [Thunderstruck](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v2AC41dglnM) [Back in Black](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pAgnJDJN4VA) [You shook me all night long](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lo2qQmj0_h4) [Whole lotta Rosie](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H2Gwr-VrNFM) [Highway to Hell](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l482T0yNkeo) I mean, I could go on… ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2018, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favourite-opening-guitar-lick-riff-whatevs/814521/48 "2018-05-21T14:13:17Z")
See my post. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2018, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favourite-opening-guitar-lick-riff-whatevs/814521/49 "2018-05-21T14:22:38Z")
> [@WordMan](#): > > See my post. 😉 Ah! yes, you snuck it in there. My faith in the dope is restored. Still… just the one? ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2018, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favourite-opening-guitar-lick-riff-whatevs/814521/50 "2018-05-21T14:27:09Z")
> [@Novelty\_Bobble](#): > > Ah! yes, you snuck it in there. My faith in the dope is restored. > > Still… just the one? See post #5. (As I’ve said before, there really ought to be a name for this phenomenon a la Gaudere’s Law, that when somebody breaks into a thread with a post starting “I _can’t believe_ nobody’s mentioned XXX,” that XXX has, indeed, already been mentioned, and probably multiple times. 🙂 ETA: Although **Alpha Twit** appears to be in the clear in this regard. So perhaps rephrase it to there being a “high probability” that XXX has been mentioned.) ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2018, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favourite-opening-guitar-lick-riff-whatevs/814521/51 "2018-05-21T14:30:39Z")
Three more for your consideration. [“baby I call hell”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c2OjVFp54po) by Deap Valley. So much sound coming from just one little lady. Plus the video is simple, informal and sexy as hell. [“Go with the flow”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DcHKOC64KnE) by QOTSA. A great video as well though you could never accuse it of subtle imagery. [“lazy eye”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z-mxBDuRaZ8) by Silversun Pickups. And again a damn fine video, a gentle story rather at odds with the aggression and wildness of the song ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2018, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favourite-opening-guitar-lick-riff-whatevs/814521/52 "2018-05-21T14:43:22Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > See post #5. > > (As I’ve said before, there really ought to be a name for this phenomenon a la Gaudere’s Law, that when somebody breaks into a thread with a post starting “I _can’t believe_ nobody’s mentioned XXX,” that XXX has, indeed, already been mentioned, and probably multiple times. 🙂 ETA: Although **Alpha Twit** appears to be in the clear in this regard. So perhaps rephrase it to there being a “high probability” that XXX has been mentioned.) ARSE! I wouldn’t care but I read through again just to check that I wasn’t making the same mistake again. DOUBLE ARSE AND BALLS! ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2018, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favourite-opening-guitar-lick-riff-whatevs/814521/53 "2018-05-21T14:53:18Z")
After dinner at an old friend’s house, we sat drinking wine and talked for hours… while her husband tried to master one acoustic guitar riff. So I’ve listened to the first lick from _Chuck E’s In Love_ at least a thousand times. Still love it (the Rickie Lee Jones version, not the “Trina’s husband’s version”). ---
**Author:** ![E-DUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/e-dub/32/403_2.png) [@E-DUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-DUB)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2018, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favourite-opening-guitar-lick-riff-whatevs/814521/54 "2018-05-21T14:56:16Z")
No one has yet mentioned the Beatles “I feel fine”. Was that the first intentional use of feedback? ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2018, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favourite-opening-guitar-lick-riff-whatevs/814521/55 "2018-05-21T15:02:16Z")
I was just thinking “What’s that Beatles song with the feedback?” > [@pulykamell](#): > > (As I’ve said before, there really ought to be a name for this phenomenon a la Gaudere’s Law, that when somebody breaks into a thread with a post starting “I _can’t believe_ nobody’s mentioned XXX,” that XXX has, indeed, already been mentioned, and probably multiple times) Why don’t we call it Puly’s Law? Starting right now… Or did someone else make that comment already? ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2018, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favourite-opening-guitar-lick-riff-whatevs/814521/56 "2018-05-21T16:25:28Z")
The Kinks’ [_Labour of Love_](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bwlHlrgG9No) handles the wedding march with brutal honesty and disrespect, and the actual song follows suit in its treatment of marriage in general. ---
**Author:** ![Guest-starring\_Id](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guest-starring_id/32/21736_2.png) [@Guest-starring\_Id](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guest-starring_Id)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2018, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favourite-opening-guitar-lick-riff-whatevs/814521/57 "2018-05-21T21:00:59Z")
> [@velomont](#): > > I fully concur. And how about, in “Megalomania”, at the start of the second part as the cowbell is ending, the raw purity of that riff. I don’t know why that riff reminds me of the Nuge’s “Dog Eat Dog”. Heh, sorry for bringing him up - making ME bring something up. Not totally similar, possibly. Another fine Sabbath riff - [Supernaut](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GHN29Mr2lRs). According to wiki, big fans of the tune are Niel Young, Zappa, Bonham, and, interestingly, Beck, who considers the actual riff, itself, his alltime favourite. I always imagined, for this riff, that Iommi was listening to some Celtic or Gaelic shanty and was like - hey, wait a minute! _YYYYYEAH_! Someone’s gonna appropriate something!!! (said in annoying sing-songy voice) ---
**Author:** ![TroutMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troutman/32/6721_2.png) [@TroutMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroutMan)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2018, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favourite-opening-guitar-lick-riff-whatevs/814521/58 "2018-05-21T21:12:36Z")
Lots of good choices so far. I’ll go with a little more obscure one, [Freak Ya Loneliness](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MGmfYFplwD0) by Bumblebeez. I wish the entire song was that opening riff and the uhh-WOOOOO-ooo’s. ---
**Author:** ![scabpicker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scabpicker/32/8268_2.png) [@scabpicker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scabpicker)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2018, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favourite-opening-guitar-lick-riff-whatevs/814521/59 "2018-05-22T04:00:48Z")
[Brother James](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EgxevKwvbaQ) - Sonic Youth. God, the whole intro is my favorite SY intro. [The Most Exalted Potentate of Love](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e8T45wL4eJs) -The Cramps. Odd scale, funky way to use it. [Hortense Buttermilk/Grumbler](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F9DovM3HxhU) (it’s been released under both names) By Ed Hall. Every amp I try out gets a test of that riff of that and… [20th Century Boy](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JB6WZu8IAZg) by T. Rex. If the Amp doesn’t sound good doing those, bleah. [Roman Bird Dog](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zvg8hEhTmE4) - The Melvins. To quote the promo from Boner Records: “Like watching dough rise.” Admittedly, it’s hard to distinguish guitar intro from song in that one. I personally draw the line at 7:51 when the beat picks up, and the guitar gets simpler. And, of course, [Misirlou](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-y3h9p_c5-M) by Dick Dale. Glissade into that open E like you fucking MEAN it, and then pepper the hell out of it (and I’m pretty sure the Cramps got that scale from here). ---
**Author:** ![scabpicker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scabpicker/32/8268_2.png) [@scabpicker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scabpicker)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2018, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favourite-opening-guitar-lick-riff-whatevs/814521/60 "2018-05-22T04:12:36Z")
Heh, and a bass guitar is still a guitar. This is probably my favorite opening lick from either register (but it really combines both): [Hey Hey, My My (Into the Black)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQhEvfeJocM) By Neil Young and Crazy Horse. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favourite-opening-guitar-lick-riff-whatevs/814521.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favourite-opening-guitar-lick-riff-whatevs/814521.md?page=4)