Well, the Gibson company has compiled a couple of new lists to discuss. In a lot of ways, rock and roll is like sports -- there's a lot argument about how to rank things. Unfortunately, the primary way is either by voting or by consensus. It's possible to compile the stats making the greatest quarterback or greatest clutch hitter, for example...so long as you can agree on the stats that are relevant. If you can't well, apples, oranges, and hand grenades are all round but...
The two new lists of interest are the Gibson selections for 50 top cover songs and just a list of great songs about Rock and Roll. I'll probably do some bitching about the top 50 thing, but the list of the Rock and Roll songs irked me.
Boston and Kiss got mentions. Seriously, that's deranged. Boston is one of those bands like ELO that probably should be classified as some sub-genre of Rock music, but isn't the real thing, not completely. Kiss is a marketing plan, and the less said about them the better. If one of the things that detracts from the electability of Paul Revere and the Raiders to the Hall of Fame is the costumes, Kiss's only claim to fame is their gimmick. In addition, the list includes the Stones "I know it's only rock 'n roll" which isn't a particularly great Stones number or a particularly great song about Rock 'n Roll It was better than most of the other crap released that year as guitar based rock, but it's not one of those that makes you jump up and dance. A great Rock and Roll song about rock and roll should make you get up and dance.
So, here are a couple of thoughts of songs that probably should have made the list by Gibson. I'm kind of amazed at the amount of time that Rock Critics or Rock and fans forget about Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. Come on, people...I guess that since the Heartbreakers are identified with largely with Rickenbacker, it might make sense for Gibson to forget about them. But, they're easily in the same class with the Stones, Fleetwood Mac and other veterans that are still touring, still producing and have produced great songs. So, from their debut album, I recommend the classic, "Anything That's Rock "n Roll (Is Fine.)
Any discussion of cover groups has to include the Byrds. Seriously, they did tons of original stuff, but they became the Byrds because of Robert Zimmerman. The story goes that the group core was really a Beatles cover band, since McGuinn had fallen under the spell of the Rickenbacker 12 weilded so effectively by George Harrison. Columbia got them into the studio to try and cover some Dylan stuff, and Bob came by...he knew that his money was going to come from residuals as a songwriter, and there really wasn't that much from the folkies except Blowin' In the Wind. They tried a number of his tracks, and when they did "Mr. Tambourine Man," Dylan said a la the teen judges on American Bandstand that "You can dance to it." History transpired. Given the iconic nature of their cover band status, I thought to use a cover version for this, but seriously, that's too cerebral, even for someone struggling with Dylan fever. So, the Byrds "So You Wannabe a Rock and Roll Star" gets it's own play. (Although Petty and the Heartbreakers do a bitchin' version of this number..."
Finally, since I thought three of Gibson's choices were weak, I thought of this one. Buffalo Springfield was a seminal group, and influenced tons of musicians while at the same time imploding from lack of recognition and too many out-sized talents powered by ego, sex and drugs. Still, there are few bands that meant more to American Rock and Roll as a touchstone since...I was tempted to toss up their acoustic set from the Bridge School Benefit but while interesting, it's not the same. This is Rock 'N Roll, not Kum By Ya...
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