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Post by Sheriff John Stone on Mar 28, 2020 16:09:19 GMT
How about Brian's "Rio Grande"? Some of the parts I don't particularly care for (especially the Indians' rain dance chants ), but I do like the "River take me home" and "night-blooming jasmine" parts. It is ambitious I'll give him that.
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Post by Kapitan on Mar 28, 2020 16:23:28 GMT
Barking up the wrong tree with me on that one! I'm not much of a fan of "Rio Grande" ... but I'll admit it's not the length that bothers me. And like "A Day in the Life," its structure makes the length not a real problem, as the sections keep things interesting. (I'm just not a fan of the instrumentation/production, or frankly of the song overall.)
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Post by Sheriff John Stone on Mar 28, 2020 16:29:25 GMT
Barking up the wrong tree with me on that one! I'm not much of a fan of "Rio Grande" ... but I'll admit it's not the length that bothers me. And like "A Day in the Life," its structure makes the length not a real problem, as the sections keep things interesting. (I'm just not a fan of the instrumentation/production, or frankly of the song overall.) Overall, I'm not a big fan of "Rio Grande" either. I wish I didn't know the backstory behind the song; I would've preferred it "just came to Brian" as his inspiration and wasn't manufactured (though Brian has done some great suggested and "manufactured" songs). Anyway, "Rio Grande" epitomizes the BW1988 album with the shouty vocals which grate on me. Like I posted above, the song does get going, starting with thunder, and gets pretty good actually. Unfortunately, it ends with more shouting and I'm just about ready for it - and the album - to end.
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Post by jk on Mar 28, 2020 23:02:45 GMT
and you know I have to include The Doors' long classics: "Light My Fire", "The End", "The Soft Parade", "L.A. Woman", and "Riders On The Storm"
I seem to remember "Back Door Man" being exactly five minutes long! Captain Beefheart's "Kandy Korn" in the Bob Krasnow version is not much longer. The thundering instrumental second half blows me away every time. Talk about a wall of sound!
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Post by Kapitan on Mar 28, 2020 23:08:44 GMT
OK, I love the Cap'n (obviously), but "Kandy Korn" could be about 2 minutes shorter.
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Post by Sheriff John Stone on Mar 29, 2020 0:06:06 GMT
and you know I have to include The Doors' long classics: "Light My Fire", "The End", "The Soft Parade", "L.A. Woman", and "Riders On The Storm"
I seem to remember "Back Door Man" being exactly five minutes long! "Back Door Man" clocks in at 3:34, but some live versions like the Aquarius live version breaks the 5:00 mark. You could include "The Celebration Of The Lizard", but that's strictly a live recording which comes in at around 15:00. We'll be getting to those.
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Post by kds on Mar 29, 2020 0:35:35 GMT
I was just reminded of Bruce Springsteen's epic Jungleland, featuring IMO the greatest sax solo in history.
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Post by Sheriff John Stone on Mar 29, 2020 0:47:41 GMT
The Moody Blues had a few of them, and good ones at that:
- "Nights In White Satin" (album version)
- "Legend Of A Mind" - "Question" - "Isn't Life Strange" - "The Voice" - "I Know Your Out There Somewhere" - "December Snow" (one of my favorite Christmas/winter songs from the Moodies' last album released in 2003)
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Post by kds on Mar 29, 2020 3:59:09 GMT
The Who had a couple too
Won't Get Fooled Again Dr. Jimmy
Rainbow - Stargazer - Light in the Black - Gates of Babylon
And, if I get into prog and metal, the list gets really long.
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Post by jk on Mar 29, 2020 10:24:10 GMT
I seem to remember "Back Door Man" being exactly five minutes long! "Back Door Man" clocks in at 3:34, but some live versions like the Aquarius live version breaks the 5:00 mark. You could include "The Celebration Of The Lizard", but that's strictly a live recording which comes in at around 15:00. We'll be getting to those. Eek. My mind was playing tricks on me! I was confusing it with another side two opener: "Morning Dew" on the Dead's 1967 debut album, which I bought at the time. Thanks for setting me straight, Sheriff. While I'm here... Clocking in at 5:25, "Are 'Friends' Electric?", the first 45 by Tubeway Army (the brainchild of Gary Numan) was a most unlikely UK #1 due to its length and its bleak minimalism (to say nothing of the inverted commas in the title): en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Are_%22Friends%22_Electric%3F
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Post by Sheriff John Stone on Mar 29, 2020 13:35:31 GMT
It was not uncommon for Chicago to take long songs such as "Beginnings", "I'm A Man", and "Dialogue Parts 1 & 2", all three clocking in at over 7:00, and then edit them into single versions.
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Post by B.E. on Mar 29, 2020 19:48:44 GMT
I'm still thinking about "I Want You (She's So Heavy)" and "Rio Grande". I'm on the fence with the former. I like it how it is, and I think if you cut it too much it would seriously undermine the song, but could it have been 60-90 seconds shorter without losing its appeal/effectiveness? I think so. I'm sure I would have listened to it more throughout the years if it were shorter. That's nothing against the song, it's just a matter of time constraint. With the latter, I agree that the varied sections and song structure warrant its length. I don't even really think of it as a song, but a suite or medley of sorts. If you break it down, the sections are only about 45 seconds each. The only overlong section is the "river take me home" section which is over 2 minutes long. It was wise to place it where they did, structurally. Also, the only section to repeat is the "great big river" section, and to great effect at the very end. Listening to this song again reminds me that I'm a big, big fan of it. If not a big, big, big fan of it!
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Post by jk on Mar 30, 2020 10:02:09 GMT
Then there's "Layla", which needs no introduction. To me it's as if the second, piano-heavy instrumental section represents the fantasy paradise the protagonist has conjured up for himself and his Layla.
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Post by Sheriff John Stone on Mar 30, 2020 14:50:10 GMT
Then there's "Layla", which needs no introduction. To me it's as if the second, piano-heavy instrumental section represents the fantasy paradise the protagonist has conjured up for himself and his Layla. How could we forget this classic? I was recently reading about "Layla", and discovered that the second half of the song, the piano-driven part, was written by drummer Jim Gordon, who of course drummed on many of The Beach Boys' recordings including "Mrs. O'Leary's Cow".
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Post by jk on Mar 30, 2020 22:38:01 GMT
"Inca Roads" has it all! It's the longest track on One Size Fit All--another four from that album could make it into this topic. Spiffing solos from Frank and George (and Ruth): en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inca_Roads_(song)
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