Hot Licks, Memorable Licks, and Unusual Licks.
At the outset, I would like to unequivocally state that this post has nothing to do with tongues. It does have everything to do with musical licks, which are snippets of songs that are: 1. â€Hot†because of their musical complexity and difficulty to play, 2. Memorable because of their innovation or effect they had on music in general at the time they appeared, or 3. Unusual, because one would ordinarily not expect to hear them in a rock and roll tune.
I got to thinking about what Licks have caught my attention over the years. Mind you, I didn’t spend a good deal of time mulling over this list. These just popped into my cruller, so I thought I would share. The categories and picks are mine alone (doubtless many can think of better examples), and they are in no particular order.
Outstanding Bass Guitar Lick: It’s the two or three bar bass lick in the middle of “Call Me Al†by Paul Simon. That is some ass-kickin’ bass playing.
Two Guitar Solo: No question. It’s the two-guitar solo in the Eagles’ “Hotel Californiaâ€. Gives me chills every time I hear it.
Piano Lick: Probably a zillion that could qualify, but the one that comes to mind is the piano playing at machine gun speed in the beginning of Billy Joel’s “Angry Young Manâ€.
Ass-Kicking Song Beginning: Is there a better instrumental beginning of tune than the beginning of “China Grove†by the Doobie Brothers? That grabs you by the guts and won’t let go.
Guitar Hook that Runs Through the Entire Tune: It’s Mark Knopfler’s guitar lick in “Money for Nothingâ€. Honorable mention to Keith Richards’ guitar lick in “The Last Timeâ€.
Drums: It is the very basic four bar “solo†in the Venture’s “Walk Don’t Runâ€. This is a classic example of a lick that is not notable for its difficulty. On a scale of difficulty from one to ten, this is about a 0.1, but it caught everyone’s attention at the time and was probably responsible for Slingerland, Rogers and Ludwig selling thousands of drum sets.
Guitar Lick with Distortion: Gotta be the guitar lick in the Rolling Stones’ “Satisfactionâ€. I remember when the record first appeared, no one could figure out exactly what instrument was playing the now-famous guitar part. However, it didn’t take long before music stores were selling “fuzz boxes†like hotcakes.
Outstanding use of a Wah-Wah Pedal: For me, it is the beginning of Isaac Hayes’ “Theme form Shaftâ€. Every time I hear that, I consider it a Master Lesson in the proper use of a Wah-Wah pedal.
Best Bassoon in a Tune: Small category, this, but ya gotta love the bassoon part in Simon and Garfunkel’s “Feeling Groovy†(a/k/a the “59th Street Bridge Songâ€) as performed by Harper’s Bazaar. Those four-note licks are absolutely perfect.
Best Recorder: This is another very small category. In fact, the only tune I know of that uses a recorder is the Rolling Stones’ “Ruby Tuesdayâ€. I believe the now-dead Brian Jones played it. No, it is not a flute; it is a recorder.
Best Theremin: This a microscopic category. However, you can hear it played well by Rob Schwimmer in Simon and Garfunkel’s recent live concert recording. of “The Boxerâ€.
Best Kazoo: No question about it. It’s Denny, the Grouchy Old Cripple’s live version of “Rocky Raccoonâ€. This has never been recorded, but it damned well should be.
outstanding bass solo: probably the best is the bass in Led Zep’s Good Times Bad Times. I love it!
But I am always partial to Phil’s bass that opens Dark Star.
Comment by Bob — March 16, 2006 @ 10:30 pm
gonna have to disagree with your choice of greatest guitar lick that runs through the whole song.
my vote goes to “jumpin jack flash” which, incidentally, inspired “money for nothing” and a bunch of other songs…
drums: one word: aqualung
Comment by mr. helpful — March 16, 2006 @ 11:48 pm
oh yeah, almost forgot–
Ass-Kicking Song Beginning: School’s Out
Comment by mr. helpful — March 16, 2006 @ 11:52 pm
Harmonica lick: take your pick from Blues Traveler, but my pick is The Hook
Comment by Sluggo — March 17, 2006 @ 12:05 am
Kicking Song Beginning – Aldo Nova’s “Fantasy”!
Comment by bogie — March 17, 2006 @ 4:11 am
As always, Mr. Helpful has been, well, helpful. “Jumpin’ Jack Flash” … good one. The Stones were great at finding the “hook”.
Comment by Jim - Parkway Rest Stop — March 17, 2006 @ 5:21 am
Best guitar lick that’s buried behind a verse: “Bitch” by the Stones, from “Sticky Fingers.” Listen to what’s going on on lead guitar behind the “Yeah, when you call my name” part (both times). Keith (or is that Mick Taylor?) really gives you your money’s worth.
Comment by Cousin Jack — March 17, 2006 @ 5:22 am
… good choices… and Denny can play the hell out of that kazoo…
Comment by Eric — March 17, 2006 @ 7:11 am
I concur on every one of those Jimbo. ESPECIALLY the Kazoo category. Denny flat out ROCKS!!!!
Comment by Tammi — March 17, 2006 @ 8:46 am
A cool “lick” story …
Last month, I dropped a lick from “Get Down On It” into a solo I was playing over “Papa Was a Rolling Stone” … the sax player used the same lick in the next tune.
So … being the crazy creative bastards that we are, we found a way to put that lick into EVERY SONG for the rest of the night.
Quite memorable and maybe even a little funny, if you understand it.
RWR
ww.rightwingrocker.com
Comment by RightwingRocker — March 17, 2006 @ 10:51 am
Yo Jim,
I gotta disagree about the theremin. It is used to absolutely wonderful effect in “Slime Creatures from Outer Space” by “Weird Al” Yankovic. I can rip you an mp3 if you should want to take a listen.
Have you ever heard of the evangelist Hall Webb? He would come to my church for a week every other year or so while I was growing up, and he played the theremin every day for special music. It was quite impressive.
Comment by Auskunft — March 17, 2006 @ 12:19 pm
Jimbo – Awww. I’m blushing here. I just bought a new guitar from Willie. He didn’t have the one you bought, but he gave me a good deal on another one. He’s shipping it up on Monday. I’ll take it to Austin.
Have you ever heard Johnny Winter’s cover of Jumping Jack Flash? Freakin’ awesome. For best guitar lick at the start of a song I like G & R’s start to Welcome to the Jungle.
Comment by Denny — March 17, 2006 @ 1:06 pm
I’ll third the motion on Denny’s kazoo.
Comment by Dash — March 17, 2006 @ 11:18 pm
Good list, Jim. “Can’t Ya Hear Me Knockin'” is one of my all-time faves. Almost anything by David Gilmour. Piano: Joe Sample’s “Carmel” CD (OK, it’s jazz, but I can’t think of anything that blows me away more).
Comment by dogette — March 18, 2006 @ 8:11 am
Best bass solo is quite simply anyhting done by Jaco Pastorius. Nobody on God’s Green Earth will ever play electric bass like him. Not to mention he’s the father of the fretless bass.
Comment by Justin — March 18, 2006 @ 3:11 pm
Want bass work?
“The Real Me” from the Who’s ‘Quadrophenia’.
Comment by Harvey — March 18, 2006 @ 9:05 pm
I’m a Rogers Guy from waaaaayyy back. Remember the blue and black “wavy gravy” patterns on the late 60s kits? Oh, and I’m almost famous- I’ve hung out at the farmhouse where Brian J kacked it. Ain’t that spay-shul?
Comment by nesselrode5 — March 20, 2006 @ 4:45 pm