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Favorite rock&roll opening guitar riff

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  • Chizz
    Chizz Posts: 28,331
    Oakster said:

    Chizz said:

    Great thread!

    Johnny B Goode is, of course, the best opening riff. But many of the ones already mentioned are making me itch to plug my guitar in.

    Ha! Have been working on this riff for the last week - it’s not an easy one at full speed (at least for me) - but I’m getting there
    Me too!
  • [Deleted User]
    [Deleted User] Posts: 0
    Red House - Jimi Hendrix
  • NapaAddick
    NapaAddick Posts: 4,657
    Downbound Train - Springsteen
  • PopIcon
    PopIcon Posts: 5,970
    I wanna be adored - The Stone Roses
  • Alex Wright
    Alex Wright Posts: 8,214
    illichassavedit said:

    If bass riffs are allowed, then it’s Ace of Spades ♠️ for me!

    If Bass riffs are allowed - School Days by Stanley Clarke

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oFKlezPu3xg


  • LennyLowrent
    LennyLowrent Posts: 2,705
    Alex Wright said:

    illichassavedit said:

    If bass riffs are allowed, then it’s Ace of Spades ♠️ for me!

    If Bass riffs are allowed - School Days by Stanley Clarke

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oFKlezPu3xg


    Bass riffs are welcome.
    Papa was a rolling stone - Temptations
    Too High - Stevie Wonder
  • Addickted2U
    Addickted2U Posts: 3,080
    Love me two times - The Doors.
    One of the few riffs I can play and do quite well.

    Local hero - Dire Straits.
    Mark Knopfler is a genius.
  • man_at_milletts
    man_at_milletts Posts: 5,620
    I came across one a few months ago, Killing Floor by Howling Wolf.

    It's relatively easy (for some) but I'm struggling with it. Time and patience will tell.

  • DA9
    DA9 Posts: 11,091
    Johnny B Goode
  • Lazy_eye_metaphor
    Lazy_eye_metaphor Posts: 1,959
    All the young dudes - Bowie/Mott the Hoople. The first record I loved and that intro has never been bettered.
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  • AddicksAddict
    AddicksAddict Posts: 15,783
    White Rabbit - Jefferson Airplane.
  • AddicksAddict
    AddicksAddict Posts: 15,783
    And Alternative Ulster - Stiff Little Fingers.
  • man_at_milletts
    man_at_milletts Posts: 5,620
    Not sure if this one slipped through the net, but it shouldn't have.

    Eddie Grant - Baby Come Back when he was playing with The Equals.
  • falconwood_1
    falconwood_1 Posts: 7,368
    The solo in 'Paint A Vulgar Picture'

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eB8ZwFhqxco
  • Oliver Street
    Oliver Street Posts: 5,132
    Lesser known but great riffs:
    Northern Hemisphere by East of Eden
    Hazard Profile by Soft Machine
    Brainticket Parts 1-3 by Brainticket... wonderful riff that you want to go on and on... and it does.
  • Saga Lout
    Saga Lout Posts: 6,845
    edited October 2017
    man_at_milletts said:

    I came across one a few months ago, Killing Floor by Howling Wolf.

    It's relatively easy (for some) but I'm struggling with it. Time and patience will tell.

    That's one of my "standard tunes" I play and sing (after a fashion) at jam nights.

    Jimi Hendrix had a go at it too.

    I'll nominate Start Me Up by the Stones.

    Also: Whole Lotta Love, Heartbreaker and Rock and Roll by my favs Led Zep.
  • TEL
    TEL Posts: 10,100
    edited October 2017
    Part three Incantations Mike Oldfield....nothing comes close for me.....goosebumps, and I've heard it literally hundreds of times.

    If you havent heard it before...have a listen.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FQQV3R70l5U
  • YTS1978
    YTS1978 Posts: 1,701
    The Smiths

    What Difference Does It Make
    This Charming Man

    The greatest band of all time, without doubt!
  • StigThundercock
    StigThundercock Posts: 3,722
    Teenage Idol - Gary Moore
    Hells Bells & Thunderstruck - AC/DC
    Whatever You Want, Mystery Song & Down Down (full versions) - Status Quo
  • muppetman
    muppetman Posts: 287
    Some of the best mentioned already, and here are some I like.

    Queen - Tie Your Mother Down
    Ram Jam - Black Betty
    The Who - Can`t Explain, (and almost anything else by them)
    Free - All Right Now
    Steppenwolf - Born to be Wild
    Sweet - Ballroom Blitz
    Rolling Stones - Paint it Black
    Black Sabbath - Paranoid
    Dire Straits - Sultans of Swing
    Stevie Wonder - Superstition
    Wild Cherry - Play That Funky Music
    Robert Palmer - Addicted to Love
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  • Red Swede shoes
    Red Swede shoes Posts: 36
    Gypsy - Uriah Heep
    Windy City - Sweet
    Big Fat Mama - Status Quo
    Only You Can Rock Me - UFO
    Kashmir - Led Zeppelin
  • daveaddick
    daveaddick Posts: 1,926
    OK here we go

    Day of the eagle - Robin Trower
    Chinatown - Thin Lizzy
    Rock and Roll - Zeppelin
    Voodoo Chile - Jimi Hendrix
    Ace of Spades - Motorhead
    Whatever you want (extended intro) - Status Quo
    You better watch yourself - Joe Bonamassa
    The Hunter - Free

    There are a gazillion more but to be going on with I'll settle for this lot
  • Baldybonce
    Baldybonce Posts: 9,640
    As you've mentioned Robin Trower..

    Bridge of sighs
  • TEL
    TEL Posts: 10,100
    Baldybonce said:

    As you've mentioned Robin Trower..

    Bridge of sighs

    Saw him live in his heyday, brilliant.
  • LennyLowrent
    LennyLowrent Posts: 2,705
    muppetman said:

    Some of the best mentioned already, and here are some I like.

    Queen - Tie Your Mother Down
    Ram Jam - Black Betty
    The Who - Can`t Explain, (and almost anything else by them)
    Free - All Right Now
    Steppenwolf - Born to be Wild
    Sweet - Ballroom Blitz
    Rolling Stones - Paint it Black
    Black Sabbath - Paranoid
    Dire Straits - Sultans of Swing
    Stevie Wonder - Superstition
    Wild Cherry - Play That Funky Music
    Robert Palmer - Addicted to Love

    Some great ones here.
    Special mention to the fantastic Stevie Wonder Superstition riff even though it was played on the Clavinet.
  • 1StevieG
    1StevieG Posts: 10,964
    TAD - Jinx.
  • ken from bexley
    ken from bexley Posts: 5,083
    Voodoo Chile, slight return: Hendrix.
    All along the Watchtower: Hendrix\Dylan.
    Fire and Water: Free
    The Stealer: Free
    What' Going on: Rory Gallagher
    Laundromat: Rory Gallagher
    Won't get fooled again:Who
    My Generation: Who
    Smoke on the Water:Deep Purple.
    Tales of Brave Ulysses:Cream
    Spoonfull:Cream
    Head and Heart: John Martyn
    One Day without you: John Martyn

    Tend to prefer the live versions......
  • Alex Wright
    Alex Wright Posts: 8,214
    ken from bexley said:


    ......What' Going on: Rory Gallagher
    Laundromat: Rory Gallagher.......


    Tend to prefer the live versions......

    I love the opening riff on Shadowplay. Class.
  • CharltonMadrid
    CharltonMadrid Posts: 5,091
    Deep Purple - Burn
    Steely Dan - Reelin in the years
    Yes - Siberian Khatru
  • wrighty
    wrighty Posts: 77
    May be unfamilier to most of the younger lifers,but Duane Eddy's Peter Gunn,the original version,not with the Art of Noise must be up there with the best.

    In fact the whole records ex in my opinion.

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