Songs out of left field

Greg Ferguson

Greg Ferguson

Legend!
I was just walking through my girlfriend's home office with one of my electric guitars slung over my shoulder, trying to remember a particular song's riffs. Finally, I remembered it was Dwight Yoakum's "Fast As You", and suddenly I was remembering the pattern, and laughed because it's such a fun song. It is obviously country, but it can SO easily swing to rock or whatever else that seems fun.



What other songs have stuck in your minds for years, that were from past bands and were a different style but made you laugh and remember very fondly, and would love to redo and push in some unexpected direction?

And, if any of the recollections spark someone to take on a new-to-them song, tag them in a post here. It'd be interesting to see the song and the intended style.
 
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Greg Ferguson said:
I was just walking through my girlfriend's home office with one of my electric guitars slung over my shoulder, trying to remember a particular song's riffs. Finally, I remembered it was Dwight Yoakum's "Fast As You", and suddenly I was remembering the pattern, and laughed because it's such a fun song. It is obviously country, but it can SO easily swing to rock or whatever else that seems fun.



What other songs have stuck in your minds for years, that were from past bands and were a different style but made you laugh and remember very fondly, and would love to redo and push in some unexpected direction?

And, if any of the recollections spark someone to take on a new-to-them song, tag them in a post here. It'd be interesting to see the song and the intended style.
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Gotta love Dwight!

So here's an oddball song that's been in my head for like 50 years - my 1st girlfriend and I used to blast it when her parents were not home - maybe the only way I'll dislodge it is to learn to play it since I usually end up losing all nostalgia for any older song I spend a lot of time trying to play.

 
"When You Were Mine" by Mitch Ryder is one that always sticks with me. I could see pushing it in multiple different directions as well. I think a truly great hook lends itself to that.

BTW-I've always loved "Fast as You" by Dwight. I frequently bash Country, but I find the Country acts I'm drawn to are really Cooouuuntry (Dwight, George, Willie, Merle, Marty Robbins, etc. :p).


Here's Prince's cover of Mitch to illustrate.
 
Greg Ferguson said:
I was just walking through my girlfriend's home office with one of my electric guitars slung over my shoulder, trying to remember a particular song's riffs. Finally, I remembered it was Dwight Yoakum's "Fast As You", and suddenly I was remembering the pattern, and laughed because it's such a fun song. It is obviously country, but it can SO easily swing to rock or whatever else that seems fun.



What other songs have stuck in your minds for years, that were from past bands and were a different style but made you laugh and remember very fondly, and would love to redo and push in some unexpected direction?

And, if any of the recollections spark someone to take on a new-to-them song, tag them in a post here. It'd be interesting to see the song and the intended style.
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In that style I'd definitely go for Tequila, more of a drinking song though..

​

 
fcs101 said:
"When You Were Mine" by Mitch Ryder is one that always sticks with me. I could see pushing it in multiple different directions as well. I think a truly great hook lends itself to that.

BTW-I've always loved "Fast as You" by Dwight. I frequently bash Country, but I find the Country acts I'm drawn to are really Cooouuuntry (Dwight, George, Willie, Merle, Marty Robbins, etc. :p).


Here's Prince's cover of Mitch to illustrate.
Click to expand...

Ryder’s version sounds very much like something that would have come out of Hollywood back in the Valley Girl era, possibly by Peter Case and the Plimsouls. Who remembers “A Million Miles Away”, another song that is begging for a rerelease or killer cover.

Which spun me to The Refreshments singing “Banditos”.
 
Ah Banditos - what a great guitar sound. So raw!
Studio version rocks

Greg Ferguson said:
Ryder’s version sounds very much like something that would have come out of Hollywood back in the Valley Girl era, possibly by Peter Case and the Plimsouls. Who remembers “A Million Miles Away”, another song that is begging for a rerelease or killer cover.

Which spun me to The Refreshments singing “Banditos”.
Click to expand...
 
pauly said:
Ah Banditos - what a great guitar sound. So raw!
Studio version rocks
Click to expand...

A friend and I used to play Banditos, either as an acoustic duo, or with a band, and either way IT WAS FUN!

The song has a strong pull for us around here as The Refreshments were a local band, and Roger Clyne and The Peacemakers still have a big following when he plays at local festivals. And, oddly, we recently did a two night trip to Puerto Peñasco AKA Rocky Point, which is the local getaway to the ocean when we don’t want to drive to San Diego, and ended up eating at his restaurant “Banditos” for lunch, which has excellent food BTW. :)
 
Greg Ferguson said:
A friend and I used to play Banditos, either as an acoustic duo, or with a band, and either way IT WAS FUN!

The song has a strong pull for us around here as The Refreshments were a local band, and Roger Clyne and The Peacemakers still have a big following when he plays at local festivals. And, oddly, we recently did a two night trip to Puerto Peñasco AKA Rocky Point, which is the local getaway to the ocean when we don’t want to drive to San Diego, and ended up eating at his restaurant “Banditos” for lunch, which has excellent food BTW. :)
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Bumped into them once or twice before they hit it big. They were one of the last bands out of the old Tempe scene to make "the big time". We were a day late and a dollar short, with none of the right friends. We were friends with The Fake McCoys and The Snailranchers, and a couple other bands whose names are lost to my memory 30 years later. From time to time, Jeff would pull me out of the crowd for a solo on the Fake McCoys' blues number. Split a few gigs here and there with the Snailranchers....
 
JoKeR III said:
This song isn't one I've tried to learn but it does creep in every once in awhile when I'm noodling away. Takes me back to trips to Boulder, CO and hearing it on the radio when I was a kid.
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My band plays this song, and it goes over well. We're a classic rock cover band, but we try to cover tunes than none of the other local bands are doing. We also like to step outside the "classic rock" boundary from time to time. Guitars and Cadillacs by Dwight Yoakum is one example, and it'll fill the dance floor in a heartbeat.
 
JoKeR III said:
This song isn't one I've tried to learn but it does creep in every once in awhile when I'm noodling away. Takes me back to trips to Boulder, CO and hearing it on the radio when I was a kid.
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A cute little ditty about abandoning your fiancé at the alter.

It unclear if she ended up meeting him in the middle or showing him that she still cared after that.
 
Our bass player had a knack of suggesting odd songs and seeing if we could rock them up
Some actually turned out decently
Like this one below , switch out the keys for harmony leads and a maiden like run to the hills gallop in the verse. Oh and yes we had a female vocalist

 
Giving away my age but...

Walk like a man . Grand funk
I got the fire . Montrose
Why don't we do it in The road. Beatles

Put a little metal in them and they killed
 
TG3K said:
Guitars and Cadillacs by Dwight Yoakum is one example, and it'll fill the dance floor in a heartbeat.
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That'd probably be a "hoofbeat" but, yep, I definitely understand because it's a great song.

It's fun to break up whatever genre we favor with something unexpected. The audience enjoys it and it's a chance to relax.

Some friends I used to play with would launch into songs like "Volver", or some Johnny Cash, though they were an R&B band. And, they did a good job of the songs too. They'd follow up with some Hendrix.
 
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