Staff Picks: Rock Instrumentals

A great instrumental doesn’t need words to tell a story or communicate a feeling. Our picks for favorite rock instrumentals run the gammut from dreamy dirges to adrenaline-pumping surf. Each one is different than the last, and no two are alike, but they all conjure up wild imagery, dramatic tales, and hypnotic melodies.

1) “Ride Into The Sun (Instrumental),” The Velvet Underground (1967)

Picked by: Lindsay Stamhuis

This is one of the songs recorded but never released by MGM Records before the Velvet Underground was released from their contract. The songs languished in relative obscurity until the 1980s when they finally saw the light of day. I knew the version that Lou Reed released on his 1972 self-titled album, but hadn’t heard this before until my recent trip to LA. I had loaded up my iPhone with a number of “cruising the PCH” tracks for a jaunt I was taking out to Santa Monica late one afternoon, and this song came up in my search. Of course it made so much sense to put this on as I literally drove into the sun that was setting into the Pacific. I think it will forever be etched into my mind, alongside Broken Social Scene’s “Pacific Theme” as the definitive track for that seaside drive. Not just because the lyrics speak of getting away from the city, but because the music kind of says that for you anyway.

2) “Trombone Dixie,” The Beach Boys (1966)

Picked by: Carey Farrell

The trombone was my first instrument. I took it up in fifth grade for the simple reason that I could get a decent sound out of it, but I quickly grew to appreciate its versatility — playing trombone is a musical party trick that gives you access to the classical, jazz, and rock worlds. That being said, there aren’t too many rock songs where the trombone gets to be the star of the show, and that’s why I fell for “Trombone Dixie,” an outtake from the Pet Sounds sessions. It may just be a footnote in the making of one of the greatest albums of all time, and even Brian Wilson has said that he and the studio musicians were just screwing around when they were recording it, but the recording is full of joy — and, more importantly, full of trombone.

3) “Miserlou,” Dick Dale and the Del Tones (1962)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-y3h9p_c5-M

Picked by: Rick Simmons

When I think about the best, most purposeful instrumental music, I think about surf rock, a genre which was a fertile breeding ground for the raw guitar-driven garage and surf bands of the ’60s. True to form, in “Miserlou” Dick Dale really rips, more than earning his moniker “King of the Surf Guitar.” On a personal level, as a young man who used to surf in the 1970s (though not all that well, I’ll admit), I became familiar with this song about 15 years after it was first popular, but still long before Quentin Tarantino brought it to the world’s attention in 1994’s Pulp Fiction. It has a driving, pulsating rhythm, a frenetic energy not unlike the adrenaline rush one must feel when surfing the pipeline or “shooting the curl” (to use the surfing parlance of the ’60s and ’70s). Though as a surfer this author was not skilled enough to actually experience those things myself, listening to this song certainly made me feel as if I could have.

4) “Green Onions,” Booker T. & the M.G.’s (1962)

Picked by: Pam Sosnowski

“Green Onions” isn’t my favorite groove by Booker T & the M.G.s — that would be “Time Is Tight” — but it is undoubtedly one of the greatest instrumentals of the 1960s. I probably couldn’t count on both hands the number of times the song has been heard in a movie, TV series, or promotional spot, and I’d even go so far as to say the hypnotic organ rift defines the era and was ahead of its time considering that it was released years before anyone had ever heard of the term psychedelic. Georgie Fame credits its popularity for the reason he gave up the piano in favor of the Hammond organ. There’s various accounts of how the hit came to be, but as a cat lover I like guitarist Steve Cooper’s explanation best that it was the funky strut of a feline (named Green Onions) that inspired the song and its title. And just try to keep yourself from bopping about when you hear it.

5) “Sleepwalk,” Santo & Johnny (1959)

Picked by: Sharon Lacey

I’m going to be cheeky and choose two instrumentals, but it’s not a random pairing — one directly inspired the other. The first is the 1959 hit by New York brothers Santo and Johnny Farina. I first heard “Sleep Walk” in the moving funeral scene in the Ritchie Valens biopic La Bamba and it’s been used in countless movies, adverts, and TV shows since. It’s not surprising, really, given how haunting that Hawaiian-flavored steel guitar is but impressive considering that the Farina brothers wrote it late at night after playing a dance while they were both still teenagers. Their first single, the song only took off when legendary DJ Alan Freed heard it and was rightly convinced it would be a huge hit. It went on to be #1 on the US charts and was the last instrumental of the 1950s to hit the top spot. It still sounds as beautiful today — I get chills every time I hear it — and has proved particularly influential to other musicians. Which brings us to my second pick…

6) “Albatross,” Fleetwood Mac (1968)

Picked by: Sharon Lacey

After starting off as a pure blues band, Peter Green wanted to evolve Fleetwood Mac’s style and was inspired by “Sleep Walk” to create the group’s first (and only) British #1, “Albatross.” I don’t know how well-known this song is in the States, but in the UK it’s certainly one of the most famous and best-loved instrumentals of all time. Although in my teen years I discovered the Buckingham-Nicks version of the band, which became a huge obsession for me, “Albatross” was my first exposure to Fleetwood Mac, and even as a snotty kid it was hard to deny the dreamy, swaying feel of Green’s classic. It was the first song the Mac recorded with the hugely talented guitarist Danny Kirwan (incredibly just 18 at the time). The twin guitars of Kirwan and Green, as well as Jeremy Spencer’s evocative slide guitar, is a massive part of what makes “Albatross” so special. And that’s not even mentioning the genius rhythm section of Mick Fleetwood and John McVie, who give the band its name, with Fleetwood’s cymbals shimmering like a gently rocking sea.

This song put the Mac in the big leagues in the late ’60s and for a time they garnered as much space in the music press as either the Beatles or the Stones. And if you hear a similarity between “Albatross” and the intro of the Beatles’ “Sun King”, that’s because it inspired that, too. In 1987 George Harrison explained, “At the time, ‘Albatross’ was out, with all the reverb on guitar. So we said, ‘Let’s be Fleetwood Mac doing “Albatross,” just to get going.’ It never really sounded like Fleetwood Mac…but that was the point of origin.” Not many bands can say they inspired the Beatles. For me, “Albatross” is easily the greatest instrumental of all time.

7) “Cry for a Shadow,” The Beatles (1961)

Picked by: Erika Abrams

Originally known as “Beatle Bop,” this is one of few instrumentals in the Beatles’ catalog and the only song credited solely to Lennon/Harrison. “Cry for a Shadow” was a staple in the Beatles’ 1961 Hamburg shows and was recorded during their first professional session, backing British singer Tony Sheridan for an album produced by the German branch of Polydor. In addition to “Cry,” the Beatles recorded a second solo number in this session — a cover of “Ain’t She Sweet” — but neither were included on the album. Adding insult to injury, the songs they did play on were credited to “Tony Sheridan and the Beat Brothers,” causing much confusion when Liverpool teens tried to locate this German import. “Cry for a Shadow” wasn’t released commercially until 1964, as the B-side to Sheridan’s “Why,” and did not appear on an official Beatles album until the 1995 Anthology project.

Though the song all but disappeared from their set lists after their 1961 Hamburg days, this is a fun and catchy tune that captures the early Beatles’ songwriting style as the ’50s turned to the ’60s, and is one of few recordings that features Pete Best on the drums.

8) “Space Invader,” The Pretenders (1979)

Picked by: Emma Sedam

Apart from being one of my favorite instrumental tracks, “Space Invader” proves that there was more to early Pretenders than the sultry voice of Chrissie Hynde. While it isn’t one of the most well-known instrumental pieces, this track has a lot of personality. The song is credited to the two deceased original members of the band and features a terrific build and release. The action of the sound seems to borrow from Mason Williams’ “Classical Gas,” but with a more concise story. Mostly just utilizing guitars and drums to create a science fiction feel (with a few bits of synthesizer thrown in for good measure), I think “Space Invader” is most notable for the way it tells a story without words rather than just being playful.

Did we forget your favorite? Let us know in the comments!

 

Cover photo pf Booker T. and the M.G.’s via Ace Records.