Response to #58: Killer Rift
It's hard to think of any guitar riffing without stirring up the nostalgia of high school. My boyfriend and I both came from modest homes where we were well sheltered, fed, and clothed, but for entertainment we were on our own. We both held down part-time jobs as early as 14, and when we started dating, most of that money went collectively to CDs and rock concerts. It didn't matter who made how much or who worked how many hours, Rock & Roll was a shared effort.
A flipping of the radio stations alone, especially Classic Rock or Hair Nation on Sirius, is a walk down memory lane. Ok, it's more than that. Sometimes I can actually feel the surge of teenage hormones when I hear an Eddie Van Halen or Phil Collen (not Collins) guitar riff, or a Jack Russell or Sebastian Bach power ballad. And of course nothing gets the blood rushing like a Jimmy Page guitar or an effortlessly guttural Robert Plant moan. I can scroll through my iTunes catalogue now, and almost any heavy tune hosts a riff that transports me back to my hormonal teenage years, when little mattered more than good music and making out.
I thought of a few pop artists from my teenage years who had some notable riffs, though considerably softer than my rock faves. "It's Only Love" by Bryan Adams* and Tina Turner, "Big Shot" by Billy Joel, and George Michael's acoustic "Faith" made especially memorable with his ass shake in the video. And who can forget Michael Jackson's "Beat It," and "Black or White," only to be outdone by sister Janet with the riff in "Black Cat." A mere mention of Prince in this post is a dramatic disservice to his catalogue, but if you don't know the opening riff to "When Doves Cry," you must have slept through the 80's.
I can't possibly cover the likes of all the best classic rock artists who paved the way, so I won't even try. You know who they all are. I would be remiss if I didn't at least mention a couple of my favorite female rockers like Lita Ford, who doesn't really have a particular riff that stands out to me, but man did I think she was cool... and hot! Joan Jett was the rockinest (I know that's not a word) female guitar player. Every song stands out, but the most obvious and memorable of her riffs is in, "I Love Rock N Roll." I'm not sure how much the riffs of Alanis Morisette stand out to casual listeners, but as someone who followed her music long after the Jagged Little Pill album, her 2002 album Under Rug Swept hosts multiple faves. The first two songs, "21 Things I Want in a Lover" and "Narcissus" both have great opening guitar riffs that continue to jam through the songs.
It's difficult to draw one favorite out over another, even one band over another. If I am to drill down to my many rock-related memories, I'm drawn to the opening riff of Led Zep's "Whole Lotta Love," or Van Halen's "Hot for Teacher," which is alongside an equally notable drum intro by the way**. Either of these bands can yield a whole list of faves. There's a host of others from my alternative/grunge bands too, like "Man in the Box" by Alice in Chains and "Dissident" by Pearl Jam. Tom Petty has a catalogue of his own, with "Running Down a Dream," "Mary Jane's Last Dance," and countless others. And who doesn't remember the opening riff to Def Leppard's "Photograph?"
But if I'm circling back to my original thought, a riff that transports me back to my hormonal teenage years, when little mattered more than good music and making out, there are only two places to land, and that's with Great White and Tesla.
Great White epitomizes 80's hair metal in many ways. The boys in the band didn't wear make-up, but there was lots of hair, several power ballads, and no shortage of sexual innuendo. Actually, I don't even know if it was subtle enough to be considered innuendo! Most popular was their tune "Once Bitten, Twice Shy." How do you not remember the opening riff from that? I'll tell you what though, the songs "Mista Bone" and "Rock Me" initiate a physical response in me that I can't even explain here for fear that sharing it can risk my reputation with someone who doesn't approve.
Tesla stirs up all the feels in me too. I've seen them in concert more than any other rock band, and I won't stop buying tickets to see them as log as they're still touring. Their music is the soundtrack to my love affair with my husband. Whether it's the melodic acoustic introduction to "Love Song" or "Little Suzi," that both get cut off the radio versions (and these videos-check out iTunes for the extended versions with acoustic intro), or the out-of-the gate heavy tunes like "I Wanna Live" and "Edison's Madison" (this one is serious metal), Tesla songs make my heart flutter and by cheeks flush with heat. It is the musical version of my adolescent libido.
So now that I have over-explained and tried and failed miserably to capture even the tiniest collection of guitar riffs in a world gloriously filled with more than I could ever do justice to, here is my guitar riff-inspired micro memoir...
Sex, Sex, and Rock & Roll: A Micro Memoir
We drove side by side with the windows down and silent stares between us. Sweaty and disheveled, we had been scooted along by a cop who found us fogging up the windows in the parking lot of a local park. After the concert we could barely contain ourselves, couldn't make it home so we pulled off the road. Now our thoughts in a vacuum, but the whooshing of the blustery wind through the car and the sound of heavy metal like lava in my veins, had my every nerve-ending engaged and hyper aware. He pulled into a parking spot outside my home, and we walked to the door unable to keep our hands off each other. Only 25 feet from the car to the door, we stopped two or three times to kiss. Giggling, drunk only on hormones, I fumbled with the keys desperately trying not to wake my mom while I unlocked the door. She was upstairs, likely asleep long before we arrived, and waking her would mean delaying our impulses. This was a routine we were pretty familiar with. Barely able to stand on our feet we were so anxious to get inside, our clothes dropped like bread crumbs from the door to the living room, and we stumbled to the carpet in the living room just below my bedroom. Downstairs was somewhat safe. We had a staircase and the ceiling between us and my mom, and a solid concrete floor covered with thick-pile berber carpet beneath us. No squeaky furniture. No creaky floors. Rock and roll still coursing through our veins, he played me like a rhythm section while I dug my teeth into his shoulder to keep from waking my mom.
Notes:
*I think Bryan Adams was undervalued as a guitarist. He was largely successful on the pop charts in the 80's and then he became a soundtrack singer. But I saw him in concert three times and what made his concerts rock, was that he played rock guitar.
**I'm really not interested in any conversation about whether this video was "inappropriate." It was a different time and none of us thought anything of it. Right or wrong, no matter. It was all about the music and we loved it!
Alanis Bonus! I found this while I was curating my links- even though "Ironic" doesn't make my favorites list of Alanis songs, she sounds great and thought I'd share.
Tesla Bonus! Tesla acknowledges all the bands that have influenced them over the years. They did an awesome album of covers called Real to Reel on which they recorded some of their favorite covers, on old school analog recording. These two are beautiful songs- Teslove: I Love You originally by Climax Blues Band, and Thank You originally recorder by Led Zeppelin (the guitar solo in Thank You is such a perfect stylistic crossing of Zep-Jimmy Page and Tesla- Frank Hannon).
No comments:
Post a Comment