SYMRUN CHATHA
In the meantime I will post about great guitar songs here for you to listen to:
Here's seperate category lists by decade; I'm aiming to have 100 songs in each.
1960s / 1970s / 1980s / 1990s / 2000s / 2010s/ 2020s
Operator - Jim Croce (1972)
Earnest and heartbreaking, a classical-guitar-inspired folk song, not uncommon for the 1970s, where the singer spills his feelings to the operator before he makes the call he needs to make. Jim unfortunately passed the year later in 1973 at the age of 30.
Bell Bottom Blues - Derek & The Dominos (1970)
The mournful arpeggios in the verses are so haunted and beautiful that you'd expect it to have been sampled by RZA. The verse drum beat also has a snare on the 1 and 3 and a kick on 2 and 4 - creating a particular off-kilter and exciting ambience. The rasp of Clapton's voice is captured so well here, apparently he was in love with George Harrisons' wife - who he later married in 1977.
Fly Like an Eagle - Steve Miller Band (1976)
The first time I heard this song was Seal's cover on the Space Jam soundtrack. It's an excellent dreamy and easy listening style cover, but I think the original version contains a rough and rustic feel that feels more vital. Funny that it has the Space Jam affiliation and the bassist on the recording is called 'Lonnie Tuner.' The riff played spreads your fingers accross 5 frets which isn't ideal to sing and play simultaneously - but it's not quite as painful to play as 'Message in a Bottle,' by The Police. I think the hihat rythms in the verse fill a lot of space in this minimal composition and shouldn't be overlooked when it comes to overall feel of the song. The 'doo-doos,' vocal interludes are whimsical in a way that it's hard to imagine a rock guitarist to commit to now. The utopian lyrics are unavoidable and are a factor in the listenability of the song for me - interesting to see motifs about 'feeding the babies,' and 'the revoloution,' continuing into the 1970s. But the “revolution” Miller alludes to here is spiritual, cultural, and humanitarian—distinct from orthodox Marxist ideals, even though it shares an emphasis on improving the human condition. It's the kind of revolution that artists, thinkers, and activists of that era often envisioned: one where freedom and self-discovery could uplift society as a whole. We got freedom and self-discovery - the uplift remains to be seen.
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