Famous Riffs

[AndyR]

Apologies to Ted Nugent - just found a live version of Just What The Doctor Ordered, it appears to be his riff, and Derek St Holmes does NOT play it while doing the vocal (but he does play it better than Ted later in the song , and on the studio version it sounds more like St Holmes's guitar sound).

[Greeny]

^^^ knocking on your back door. Is that a euphemism for what I think it is???!!!!

[Mike_S]

Ha ha... not sure... wouldn't like to say!!

[Oldrottenhead]

oh i shoulda picked "life of a bubble" by henwrench

[bazz-t-bass]

Back to the topic............................................

Here's another three..........

1..............honky tonk women (Keef)
2 .............I want my MTV (Knopfler)
3............. Peter Gunn (Duane Eddy???)

Bazz

[fenderbender]

1-Smokestack Lightning
2 -Johnny B Goode
3--Now that's a hard one -cos it depends on whatever age group you are in
also on what side of the Atlantic you live

so I will leave it open for the moment

[AndyR]

Ah, another Smokestack Lightning

I recommend that all guitarists get at least vaguely familiar with this riff - it is one of the Grand-Daddies of guitar riffs. When I learnt it years ago, it opened up all sorts of new possibilities - it explained lots of other riffs, it was almost like taking the hand-cuffs off my guitar playing.


On an aside, we mostly seem to be thinking "guitar riffs" ... there's some FAB riffs from other instruments. Bass immediately springs to mind for me:

- John Deacon, Another One Bites The Dust and Under Pressure
- Paul McCartney, Come Together

[Greeny]

What about everyone's favourite riffs to PLAY rather than listen to?

My favourite (by far) is ZZ Tops 'La Grange'  (and yes, I know it's a pure John Lee Hooker knock off) :-)

[Mike_S]

Favourite to play and not listen to... I think "back in black" AC/DC. Like playing it but really had enough of hearing it!

[AndyR]

It's weird, my "favourite to listen to" riffs are the same as my "favourite to play riffs"...

Always assuming, that is, that I can actually play the thing

(eg Life in the Fast Lane - can't play that one... never tried that seriously to figure it out with the record, though... I've seen it done, and know it's quite simple when you've got it... ah bit like "Oh Well" ... a bit of a stunner when you see someone do it... but it doesn't stick in my mind as "ooh, that's a fave" ... so I suppose I've never put any effort in...)(it's a great riff, just not that interested in playing it myself)