CLASSIC ROCK TRACKS POLL: THE RESULTS

and speaking of skynyrd and neil young, i cited this wikifact about "sweet home alabama" in the doctor casino listening thread:

There is a semi-hidden vocal line in the second verse after the "Well, I heard Mr. Young sing about her" line. In the left channel, you can hear the phrase "Southern Man" being sung lightly (at approximately 0:55). This was producer Al Kooper doing a Neil Young impression ... According to Leon Wilkeson, it was Kooper's idea to continue and echo the lines from "Southern Man" after each of Van Zant's lines. "Better...keep your head"..."Don't forget what your / good book says", etc. But Van Zant insisted that Kooper remove it, not wanting to plagiarize or upset Young. Kooper left the one line barely audible in the left channel.

what i have discovered since then is that while by all indications the original version of skynyrd didn't do any such young-mocking in their live shows, the current skynyrd lineup has made it a standard part of the song.

johnny van zant: "well i heard mr. young sing about us"
backup singers: "southern man better..."
johnny: "well i heard old neil put her down"
backups: "...keep your head" (one backup singer pats her head)

at 1:08 here, for example:

youtu.be/1h6KLmLSSb8

xpost Great post, fcc. If I wasn't from the south, I think I might be able to hear the song that way and it would have shot up into my top twenty. It really is a hell of a composition/performance/recording. Some things are just hard to disentangle.

(xp) aargh, i mean at 1:08 here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1h6KLmLSSb8

Some things are just hard to disentangle.

totally agreed and totally understood.

it's a song about challenging the outside world's assumptions about who these people are who are waving confederate flags

Yeah, and as such it is not really any more convincing than "Accidental Racist." (Though it is a much better song, obv. -- I'm not disputing its massive hooks.)

Anyway, hooray for Marshall Tucker placing!

I stand with fcc!

in re complexity/simplicity, if this is "just that endless loop of three chords" then I'm sure it's no big deal for Shakey to tell us all what key it's in.

;-)

I like the font.

http://imgick.al.com/home/bama-media/pgmain/img/alphotos/photo/2013/08/-87095eb60b96bfcf.jpg

plate number otm "ooo ooo ooo"

lol

Just grabbed lunch and they're playing "Life's Been Good" in this place

it sure has, Joe, it sure has

That plate was the last generation of Alabama plate to feature the slogan "Heart of Dixie," which was only phased out in January of THIS year.

The other major association I have with the phrase "sweet home" is the bad teenage comedy anime DNA ^2. That doesn't help either.

it's in D

xxp

Robert Plant might not have taken us all the way to the darkest depths of Mordor, but one thing's for sure.... we're not in Kansas anymore

Being from the south and hearing it all the time, I hated Sweet Home Alabama for a long time, but have come to terms with it. I quite enjoy it now, and put it at number 64.

http://i.imgur.com/lAlrMfX.jpg

66. Toto – Hold The Line
944 points, 15 votes

First appearance of the dink-dink-dink piano!

The other major association I have with the phrase "sweet home" is the bad teenage comedy anime DNA ^2. That doesn't help either.

my other major association starts with motley and ends with crue.

Haha I was literally just sitting here wondering if gr80 was going to make the same dad joke I would've

First appearance of the dink-dink-dink piano!

please please please tell me there are more to come.

Dude is totally holding the line in that pic.

xxxxxpost you're sure it's not G?

note: this is an old joke. "sweet home alabama" is in either G or D but it's unresolvable and better theory-heads than myself have gone to war on both sides of the question.

here's a representative thread on the subject. it's currently at 40 pages:
http://www.thegearpage.net/board/showthread.php?t=845618

Hold the Line also on my most-hated list.

better theory-heads than myself have gone to war on both sides of the question

which side is robert e. lee on?

No one in Alabama cares about what some dead old Virginian thinks.

High 5 fcc! Good analysis of the complexities and simplicities of "Sweet Home Alabama," mine was the other #1 vote

LIE YINE! BOW DU DU DU!

Song rules, Toto rules. Took me a long time, and Yacht Rock to come around to these facts. Didn't vote for the Toto IV megahits (which would have sat way at the top of my ballot, but felt way too 80s), but "Hold the Line" is great crunchy melodrama out of the mouths of studio nerds, which is a big part of this format for me.

"I'll Supply The Love" is the other amaaaazing track from this record, those clean bursts of muscley lead guitar announcing the arrival of the song (bit of a lift from "Do Ya" I guess), the beautifully stupid chorus/premise, and then the showoffy workout at the end. BUMP BUH BUM! Love it.

particularly enjoy fez's rendition of 'hold the line' on that 70s show

The thingsthatyousaythatyou do

Hold the line!

I didn't order a lime! No no no.

(xp) thanks brad! (my #1 vote, however, is now contingent on the song being in G. if it's in D, that changes everything.)

lol

"I'll Supply The Love" is the other amaaaazing track from this record, those clean bursts of muscley lead guitar announcing the arrival of the song (bit of a lift from "Do Ya" I guess)

otm

heard it in a love song > can't u see

"hold the line" is the rockinest toto but lol at it placing over AC/DC, Skynyrd and Zep. bodes well for "never been any reason"!

Toto is the worst of all these bands

note: this is an old joke. "sweet home alabama" is in either G or D but it's unresolvable and better theory-heads than myself have gone to war on both sides of the question.

yeah yeah I know this is an old joke but the only reason it's debatable at all is because of the solo. the song is still three chords ad nauseam.

Toto is the worst of all these bands

I actually disagree and think there are a lot of really good Toto songs, even well into the 80s. The most surprising thing is that they weren't dropped immediately in 1978 after someone at CBS heard "Georgy Porgy".

note: this is an old joke. "sweet home alabama" is in either G or D but it's unresolvable and better theory-heads than myself have gone to war on both sides of the question.

here's a representative thread on the subject. it's currently at 40 pages:
http://www.thegearpage.net/board/showthread.php?t=845618

There was some good discussion on the IMM theory thread.

yeah yeah I know this is an old joke but the only reason it's debatable at all is because of the solo. the song is still three chords ad nauseam.

― Οὖτις, Tuesday, 29 July 2014

i had no doubt. just figured i'd share with the studio audience =D

What you say about the Key of G,
Is what you say about the Key of D

http://i.imgur.com/bjb3XWb.jpg

65. Rush – Tom Sawyer
972 points, 12 votes, 1 first place vote

Yessssss voted this high for my family!

Not 1st pl high tho

65??????????????????

Oh Carl is going to be disappointed with this placement.

BOW NOW NOW weeny weeny weeeee

the only Rush I couldn't deny for a classic rock poll

I'm starting to realize that my only real beef with prog bands is that they'll occasionally lock into a real tight groove only to abandon it a minute and a half later for something far less compelling. "Tom Sawyer" is definitely an occasion when they maintain the focus and bring it home, though.

I totally blew out my voice singing "Hold The Line" on SingStar. That should give an indication of my feelings for that song.

My #1! I know it isn't the most CR of CR tunes, but I can't help myself, I love me some Rush.

This is another track where you could poll individual drum fills like "In the Air Tonight," but fuck Neil Peart showing off imo. Phil's fills are tasteful.