Classic Rock Song Suggestions...........

  • Hi all. Now I know that this isn't necessarily the right sub-forum, but none of the others fitted either :(


    Looking for classic rock song suggestions. I've only been playing the guitar for a little over two years, and am the wrong side of fifty so am never gonna be great, despite all of the practise I put in. I play with a group of lads with a similar level of (in)ability, and we lean towards classic rock. What we are seeking, is a collection of songs that we can play that are relatively simple. But by that, I don't mean I want to play "simplified versions" of songs. We want to play note-for-note renditions. At the moment, we have just a handful of songs that we are playing:


    Wishing Well - Free
    Green River - CCR
    The Last Time - Rolling Stones
    Whiskey in the Jar - Thin Lizzy (Although we are stretching ourselves with this one as I'm charged with the Eric Bell lead work, and there's lots of it)
    Living After Midnight - Judas Priest


    As you can see, that's quite a short set-list so far, that sorely needs expanding. If anyone can think of any songs of a similar ilk that might be achievable by us, I'd love to hear any suggestions. Although please don't take offense if I don't like songs, lol. Taste can be a strange thing ;)


    Many thanks
    Andy :)

  • Here are a few that work well in front of an audience, just off the top of my head:


    All Right Now - Free
    Taking Care of Business - BTO
    Some Kind Of Wonderful - Grand Funk Railroad
    Closer To Home (I'm Your Captain) - Grand Funk Railroad
    Satisfaction - The Rolling Stones
    Back in the USSR - The Beatles
    Get Back - The Beatles
    Just What I Needed - The Cars


    Any other Creedence songs that you like would be a good choice


    These two are considered cliches, but, they are also two of the most iconic songs of the genre:
    Stairway to Heaven
    Freebird

  • Thanks for the suggestions, paults. Most kind. From the list, we are already having a go at Free's All Right Now, but it's very much "work in progress", due to Paul Kossoff being considerably better than me, lol. The BTO song is a good one, but is heavily keyboards based. I should have mentioned that we are 2 guitarists, a bassist and a drummer, and are seeking to get as close as possible to the source material. As regards the others, the only ones that would really fit in are the two latter ones. And they are waay too tricky for us to even think about, lol. Much appreciated though :)

  • We used to do BTO 3 piece without keyboards and the audience loved it. Yea theres piano in TCB but what most remember is that vocal and guitar hook, so I think you will be just fine without it. Other CCR tunes are Fortunate Son and Heard it thru the Grapevine. People go wild over Fogerty and rightly so :thumbup:

    If you use FRFR the benefit of a merged profile is that the cabinet is totally separated in the profile.


    For my edification only... ;) Kemper/Axe-FX III/ Quad Cortex user

  • Like Spikey said, the BTO song works very well without piano. Musicians hear more of the arrangement than non-musicians. Generally speaking, if you play the main parts, and play them well, people will say "you sound just like the record" :)


    Many songs of the classic rock era had keyboard parts (or strings, for that matter) for texture, but there typically were at least two major guitars parts propelling the songs.


    Even if you limit yourself to songs with no keyboards, the guitar-only songs probably have more than two guitar parts.

  • Thanks Spikey. I hear what you are saying about TBO, but my band are quite hardline about authenticity. I tried to get Thin Lizzy's Dancing in the Moonlight past them as I totally love it, but it got thrown out because of the sax in the middle eight. I'll deffo have a bit of a perusing session through CCR's catalogue though. Also quite leaning towards something with a bit of pep with ZZ Top under consideration. Anyone know of any ZZT songs that are not overly tricky?

  • Thanks paults. I realise that many tracks were overdubbed with multiple guitar parts at times, and there's not much we can do on that score. But prominent instruments that we don't have we are seeking to avoid. Also, I should point out that it is unlikely we will ever be playing to an audience. It's just a fun thing whereby we book a hall once a week and get loud. Although the one guy thinks we are gearing up for the Albert Hall. I don't like to dash his hopes though, lol.

  • Thanks all for the suggestions thus far, but please bear in mind that the songs need to be at the "easier" end of the scale. Sweet Child O' Mine, Freebird and Stairway to Heaven, although fantastic songs, will never fall under my sausage-like fingers :0

  • A couple of songs which always work (rock-minded audiences in Europe):


    Centerfold - J Geils Band
    Don’t you forget about me – The Simple Minds
    Should I stay or should I go – The Clash
    Somebody to love - Queen
    Highway to hell - AC/DC
    Walk this way - Aerosmith / Run DMC 
    Sex on fire - Kings of Leon
    Are you gonna go my way - Lenny Kravitz
    Always on the run - Lenny Kravitz 
    Angels - Robbie Williams
    Rock DJ -Robbie Williams
    Proud Mary - Tina Turner
    Play that Funky Music - Wildcherry
    I'm A Believer - Smashmouth version
    Billie Jean - MJ
    Are you gona Be My girl - Jet
    You Shook Me all Night Long - ACDC
    Home For a Rest - Spirit of The West
    Santeria - Sublime

    Keep Rocking !

  • Hey there, I’m in a similar situation. Here are some songs
    from my song list that are dated 1980 or earlier.


    Ain't Talkin' 'bout Love - Van Halen
    Back in Black - AC DC
    Do You Remember Rock n Roll Radio - The Ramones
    Folsom Prison Blues - Jonny Cash
    It's A Long Way To The Top - AC DC
    Johnny B Goode - Chuck Berry
    Wipe Out - The Ventures
    You Really Got Me - Van Halen

  • I really do appreciate the suggestions folks. The only thing is that everyone seems to be side-stepping the word "easy", lol. I cannot stress enough just how shaky my band is. Purple Haze will not be happening. Not even after a few pints :D

  • I really do appreciate the suggestions folks. The only thing is that everyone seems to be side-stepping the word "easy", lol. I cannot stress enough just how shaky my band is. Purple Haze will not be happening. Not even after a few pints :D

    The intro riff is easy ;) I'd just jam the solo Hendrix did most of the time, like I always say if people want to hear it like the record they will stay at home and put the CD on. I'd go for it buddy push yourself and the band you always want to challenge yourself
    :)

  • Thanks. Yes, I tend to use Ultimate Guitar for my tabs, and youtube is my friend :) Also getting quite a bit of mileage out of Lick-Library videos. We used to play the Kinks one, but all agreed to drop it 'cos it wasn't well liked. A good one to play for rapid barre chord movement though.