Caught in the Carousel

Just for Openers

By Rob Roberge

Ok, this month, I wanted to make a list (I'm obsessed with lists, as are most of my record geek friends...maybe it's something in the DNA of music-obsessed people that causes them to be list people, too.). A list of some of the greatest intros in the history of rock and roll. But there were/are a few qualifiers:

While the intro has to be great, the song has to be great as well. That is, a song with a killer intro that fails to live up to said killer intro, doesn't belong here. (It may belong on a later list of "Songs With Great Intros That Don't Live Up to Their Great Intros."
The intro can't be the main riff of the song, such as in the Kinks' "You Really Got Me." This is, without question, a great intro, but it's also playing during the chorus and throughout the tune, so it more introduced the hook (which it will repeat) than the song itself. This is a somewhat random distinction, and one I blur a bit, but I'm going to try to stay with it.
The intro may be repeated later in the song, but it has to remain a distinct intro. That is, it has to serve as a transition from one section of the song to introducing another (see the Yardbirds, below).

So, here we go (in no particular order):

"Rocks Off" by the Rolling Stones. Though, it's hard to pick one by the Stones, as they could have their OWN list of great intros that lead us into great songs—just think of "Satisfaction" "The Last Time," "Not Fade Away," "Street Fighting Man" and a host of others. This one, though, kicks off not just a great song, but arguably, their greatest record as well. It sets a tone, with the incredible Keith Richards' riff (which is delightfully slightly out of tune), Jagger's snarl, and the stop/start percussion, before settling into the song's main chords after the intro. One of the greats.

"Mr. Tambourine Man" by the Byrds. One of the keys to making great covers is adding your own sound and texture to them. And, of course, The Byrds made a living, for a time, doing Dylan covers. This one, however, may be their best, as they keep the melody, but make it soar quite a bit more elegantly. The downside is they cut a LOT of great lyrics to make it fit into the under three minute radio formula. The up side? McGuinn's classic 12-string intro that is nowhere to be heard in the original. It borrows its sounds from classical music (McGuinn has cited Mozart as a direct influence on that intro) and creates a beautiful tension before the release of the chorus starts the song. A side note—MANY of these great intros are all about creating tension and expectation.

"Voodoo Chile (Slight Return)" by Jimi Hendrix. What do you say? A simple blues pattern, hardly far away from Hubert Sumlin's slinky line on Howlin' Wolf's "Smokestack Lighting," aided by some fuzz and a wah-wah pedal gives this intro some real fire. Hendrix was the best at making his wah sound like a human talking (check out the opening of "Rainy Day, Dream Away") and this low-key intro sets the listener up for the storm about to come—and it does come, after a slight bend an octave up from the first-position intro, the band kicks in at full force. A melodic blues intro that is followed by a hurricane.

"Like A Rolling Stone" by Bob Dylan. OK, I might get some doubters on this one. For starters, I'm arguing for a simple "crack on the four" snare as the "intro" to the song. For closers, I'm violating my rule from above in that this drum pattern does appear throughout the song. But what a crack on four it is. Arguably the most important single note (drums have notes, too) introduction in the history of rock. Critics have, to the point of cliché, called it a warning shot across the bow of popular music, the snare heard round the world, and so on. I'll just say it sets the song up, sounds incredible and there was nothing quite like it, or the song and album that followed, up to that point in R&R. Honorable mention "crack on four" to Denis Duck, from the Dream Syndicate's "Tell Me When It's Over," which opens their classic Days Of Wine And Roses.

"Over, Under, Sideways, Down" by the Yardbirds. This is just, quite simply, one of the greatest riffs in rock history. Jeff Beck's Indian-inspired crazy introduction has the melodic quality of a sitar and the power of a jackhammer. Along with Keith Relf's "2, 3, 4, HEY!" you just know a song is coming when you hear this intro. As stated above, this riff reappears in the song, but it stays a transition—ending one section while introducing the next. And the tone is just gnarly. Sweet stuff.

"Bruises" by Steve Wynn and the Miracle Three. Linda Pitmon sets the tone with one of the greatest drum roll intros ever. Better, even, than the killer intro to Cheap Trick's "Surrender," which this seems to reference a bit, while being wholly original and great. One of the great drum intros.

"Sunday Morning" by the Velvet Underground. This is almost just the chords to the song, done quietly and, as such, shouldn't qualify as an introduction. But a beautiful mistake takes it out of the merely pretty and into the sublime. Notice the way Cale's bass comes in too early and then goes away...it's the musical equivalent of waving at someone and, then, realizing they don't know you, brushing your hair. Slightly embarrassed. Beautifully human. A great intro.

About seven thousand Chuck Berry songs—and, no—the intros are not all the same. They are frequently played the same by bad bar cover bands, but each has its own slight change and turn. For now, though, I'll go with "Carol" for its great and tense down bend that takes it into the IV chord.

"Mississippi Queen" by Mountain. Yes. Really. A song by Mountain (actually, they were pretty damn good-check out "Theme From An Imaginary Western" and tell me it's not a great song). A killer riff. And COWBELL! And into the bone-crushing tone of the power chords on Leslie West's Les Paul Jr. The lyrics are dumb. The singing is a classless howl at times. But, damn, what a riff.

"California" by Bennett & Burch. One of the most beautiful intros of all-time, off of Jay Bennett and Edward Burch's incredible (BUY IT!) The Palace At 4am. The intro of this song could be a song of its own. Sweeping through a ton of chord changes with an aching melody played on acoustic slide, this is more complex, in some ways, than the lovely song that follows it.

That's it for now. Ten great tunes with ten classic intros. Enjoy!