Question of the Week: What’s the best guitar riff of all-time? The one that gets stuck in your head?

Local Spins’ Question of the Week (Sept. 21, 2023)

What’s the best guitar riff of all-time? The one that gets stuck in your head?

Last week’s winner from email subscribers who responded to the Question of the Week was Jon Miner. To be placed in drawings for a Local Spins gift pack or concert tickets, sign up for email updates and the weekly newsletter here: https://localspins.com/subscribe-local-spins-mailing-list/

THE READER RESPONSES:

Alex Austin – My favorite is probably “The Ocean” by Led Zeppelin.

Chad Michael Wedeven – From Kalamazoo’s finest codgers – “Frodo’s Pony” by The Lower Leisure Class

Mark DeWitt – “Smoke on the Water,” Deep Purple.

Olivia Lentner – “Carry On My Wayward Son,” Kansas

Don Clapham – Jethro Tull’s “Locomotive Breath”

Michael Kroll – I’ve always liked John Fogerty’s recurring riff on “Up Around the Bend.”

Tom Morefield – The beginning riff from the Animals, ‘House of the Rising Sun.’ Next, a similar riff is from the Hollies, ‘Long cool Woman in a Black Dress.’

Paul Wyatt – Stones, ‘Live With Me.’

Myrna Jacobs – Black Dog by Led Zeppelin

Bruce Vanderkooi – Elvis Costello – Pump It Up

Darlene Cooper – Crosstown Traffic

Steve Goeddeke – Bob Weir’s riff in China Cat Sunflower

Mark Clay – Hair of the Dog will kinda stick with ya….

Kevin Riley – Status Quo – Don’t Think it Matters.
John Nowak – Paperback Writer. Short and sweet!

Nicholas Van Gunter – Dire Straits, Money for Nothing

Jon Miner – Secret Agent Man

Dale J Dreyer – Song: Dr. Tarr and Professor Feather; From Tales of Mystery and Imagination by Alan Parsons! I use the intro as my ring tone on my cell phone!

Patrick McDonnell – Day Tripper was the first riff to start cracking the guitar code for me

Lin Otherlyn – Randy California’s hauntingly beautiful sustained solos in the middle and at the end of Spirit’s “Mechanical World.”

Chuk Light – Paranoid android

Thom Postema – China Grove and Cult of Personality. Hold the line

A.p. Van Portfliet – George Lynch’s solo on KXM’s “Breakout” has such a great uplifting feel to it. And, now it’s running through my head……

Rick Powell – Scatterbrain – Jeff Beck

Rick Powell – Boddhisattva Steely Dan

Gary Warning – I’m partial to Layla

Devin Weber – Aqualung

Diane Yob – Keith Richards “Start Me Up”, but with him there are so many that hook you

Jeff Martin – Robert Fripp’s riff in King Crimson’s instrumental “Red” is up there.

Michael Trenshaw – Sweet Home Alabama

Scott Benting – Photogragh by Def Leppard

Kevin Langeland – Without thinking too hard, the intro to Workin’ For MCA by Skynyrd is up there

Tom Bryant – Funk 49

Mark Vandenberge – Nugent Stranglehold; Winwood can’t find my way home; Foghat, Slow Ride; Boston, Peace of Mind

Jere Sorger – The Kinks – pick one: “All Day and All of the Night” or “You Really Got Me”. Frampton’s “Do You Feel…” The Tubes “She’s a Beauty”.

Carol Cornett – Anything by B B King.

Al Haaksma – Smoke on the Water

Steve Middendorp – Voodoo Child or Back in Black

Scott Veenstra – I mean . . . “Walk This Way” has got to be up at the top of the list!

Brian Haik – Jumpin’ Jack Flash

Justin Wierenga – Black Sabbath- Into The Void
Dave DeHaan – Hocus Pocus

Scott VanderSchel – Long Cool Woman (in a Black Dress) – The Hollies

John Connors – Due to it being mandatory for I’d say all beginner guitarists, Smoke On The Water. It’s iconic albeit overplayed.

Greg S. Lewis – Can’t You Hear Me Knockin’

Mckinnon Thomas Elkins – Me and My Guitar Tony rice. His whole break after first verse. But whole song is amazing.

Chuck Whiting – Richard III by Supergrass

David Garland – Limelight

Thomas Fouts – Ram Jam – Black Betty.

Will Jurkiewicz – The intro to Think by Curtis Mayfield.

Michael Miller – Thats easy: Alice Cooper, “I’m Eighteen”

Kevin Hole – Crazy Train

J Oscar Bittinger – An interlocking set of riffs the entire band can play “My Sharona” by The Knack; Curtis Mayfield, “Move On Up”; and one of the great acoustic riffs of all time: Peter Gabriel, “Solsbury Hill”; of course, Dire Straits, “Sultans of Swing”; The Romantics, “What I Like About You”; Sly & The Family Stone Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)

Rick Wylie – Soul Sacrifice, Carlos Santana.

Carrie McFerrin – Aerosmith “Sweet Emotion”

Josh Giebel – TV Eye. The Stooges

Chris Carr – Voodoo Child (slight return) by Jimi Hendrix

Glenn House – “Don’t Take Me Alive,” Steely Dan

Craig Carrick – Lazy by Deep Purple

Kristi Bast – VanHalen gets me every time!

Ned Rouse – Jaco P’s bass lead on Ian Hunter’s All American Alien Boy.

Michael Hempstead – Randy Rhoads in Crazy Train

Joel Miller – Hot Chocolate – Every 1’s A Winner

Mike Skory – My soul says My Girl but my grit says Won’t Get Fooled Again

Roger Pam Kintner – The Rolling Stones “Sympathy for the Devil”

Tommy Erickson – Metallica “Master of Puppets”

Doug A Burkholder – Wishbone Ash. Handy

Eric Kincaid – Life in the Fast Lane

Dan Wall – Cliff of Dover, Eric Johnson

Denny Larsen – Johnny Winter, Be Careful with a Fool

Scott Steiner – I Will Dare – Replacements

Lee Chase – Brown Sugar. Keith rules!

Ken Bierschbach – Life In The Fast Lane…I even made it my default message notification sound a couple of years ago.

Peter Slack – In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida by Iron Butterfly

Dave Adams – Reeling in the Years intro. – Steely Dan, Elliott Randall

John Olszewski – Beck’s Bolero

Jennifer Alexander – The Dirty Nil has the best riff ever with the song, “Celebration” off their latest album.

Mike Dodge – Black Sabbath – Black Sabbath, Hocus Pocus – Focus, Dance of the Maya – John McLaughlin, Guardian Angel – John McLaughlin, Scuttle Buttin’ – SVR, Drop Dead Legs – EVH, Jean Genie or Panic in Detroit – Bowie, The Kids Are Alright (that one chord!), My Generation, I Can’t Explain, Substitute, I’m the One – The Who (to list a few)

Rich Emerson – Beat It.

Charlie Walmsley – Steve Earle, Guitar Town

Buck McDougall – Dire Straits- Money for Nothing
Terry J DeBoer – Petra – “Beyond Belief”

Daniel P Hudelson – No Time – The Guess Who

Jeffrey Kaczmarczyk – A lot of good ones so far! A couple I haven’t seen mentioned yet: Rolling Stones’ “Can’t Get No Satisfaction” and Santana’s “Black Magic Woman.”

Daniel P Hudelson – Day After Day, Baby Blue – Badfinger

Andrew Ogrodzinski – Mannish Boy – Muddy Waters, Hoochie Coochie Man – Willie Dixon, Why I Sing The Blues – BB King, Black Napkins -Zappa, Europa – Santana, Johnny B. Goode – Chuck Berry

Eric Brown – Jeff Beck “Constipated Duck”.

Larry N Lisa Bush – Kid Charlemagne from Steely Dan should be way up there

Jon Koeze – Rebel Rebel – David Bowie

Cyndi Stebbins – Screwdriver – The White Stripes

AJ Paschka – The entire Siamese Dream album from Smashing Pumpkins is Riff-tastic.

Ed Vander Ploeg – Reelin’ in the Years – Elliott Randall/Steely Dan.

Brian Kelly Rampenthal – Prince – While my Guitar Gently Weeps

James R. Murphy Jr. – Sidebar: You mentioned “Black Dog” and I’ve always thought someone should do a mash-up of “Black Dog” and “Oh Well”. They’re both riff based/stop time songs, so you could interchange the vocal parts, eg “Hey mama, said the way you move, gonna make you sweat, gonna make you groove” riff, stop time. “Can’t help it ’bout the shape I’m in, I can sing, I ain’t pretty and my legs are thin/Don’t ask me what I think of you, I might not give the answer that you want me to” that riff “oh well” riff continues to stop time. “Ah, child, when you shake that thing, gonna make you burn, gonna make you sting . . . ” You get the idea. They’re both great riffs, too. Sidebar to sidebar: Is Plant promising to deliver an STD in that latter couplet?

Barry Bazza Crawford – In from Japan – Madison Cunningham – Check that tuning!

Don Small – I just want to make love to you.. Foghat; Go All the Way, Raspberries

DeAnna Owen Harvey – Smoke on the Water gets stuck in your head for hours

Mike Pawloski – Opening toFfunk 49. Especially with headphones on when it jumps from one ear to the other.

Dave Adams = Carry on Wayward Son, Day Tripper, My Sharona, Hair of the Dog, Some other classics

Steve Secor – Post-70’s (because so many are from earlier than ‘79) but I’ll say Steve Stevena’ “Rebel Yell”

Serita Crowley – Jimi Hendrix Voodoo Chile!!!!

Rodger Van Wyk – Intro Sweet Jane

Michael Robertson – Nearly every song on Van Halen’s first album

Nic Stubbs – Non Brewed Condiment – Allan Holdsworth.

Scott Veenstra – Wang Dang Doodle!

Bruce Ling – All the harmonies between Duane Allman and Dickie Betts on Blue Sky!

Rodger Van Wyk – Intro All Along the Watchtower, Vic Amato & Co.

Mike Dodge – Little Wing – Hendrix, Atomic Punk – VH

John Crissman – J. Geils Musta Got Lost!

Lee Middleman – The Fool – Cippolina -Quicksilver MS, Sloth- Richard Thompson- Fairport Convention. My husband David’s track on Love of Jah. From local songwriter Mike Key on his compilation disc “It’s About Time” brings me tears.

Holly Sillman Martin – Listen to almost anything live that the Allman Brothers did. Duane Allman had so many magical riffs who could pinpoint just one?

Bill Groot – Smoke on the Water

Terri Grannis – Allman Brothers Band “Jessica”

Kyle Rasche – Sultans of Swing, Don’t Let Me Down and Fortunate Son

Steve Talaga – The start of “Reelin’ in the Years.” Or, “Do You Feel Like We Do.” Or, “Wish You Were Here.”

Fred De Vries – Steve Howe, Roundabout.

Jess William Mac AnTòisich – David Bowie ,Rebel,Rebel.

Bryce Driesenga – Sleep Now In The Fire – Rage Against The Machine; The Distance – CAKE

Brian Oberlin – Tony Rice’s intro to Old Train

Scott Stefanski – Riffs? I think Highway To Hell, Balls to the Wall, Layla, Outshined, Paranoid, and my favorite, Symptom of the Universe (Sabbath)
Jackie Sirianni – Hotel California

Phil Tower – Eruption/You Really Got Me-VH

Dansir McCullough – Just Got Paid …..ZZ Top.

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