Is “Godzilla” by Blue Öyster Cult one of the Greatest Hits of Classic Rock? Is “Jane” by Jefferson Starship even the best Jefferson Starship song? (I would vote for “Miracles”) Despite the dubious adjective of “Greatest” there were enough recognizable and listenable songs on this 2008 Rhino Records collection for me to spend a buck to buy it at a garage sale. There seems to be no order to these songs, not chronological, not by genre. And a lack of women artists and top tier groups. This 3-CD set is a real grab bag of random songs.
Do you remember any of these “hits”? Any favorites here? GRADE: B
TRACK LIST:
Disc: 1
1. You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet – Bachman-Turner Overdrive
2. Blinded By The Light – Manfred Mann’s Earth Band
3. Slow Ride – Foghat
4. All Right Now – Free
5. Dirty White Boy – Foreigner
6. Highway Star – Deep Purple
7. Bad Motor Scooter – Montrose
8. Stay With Me – Faces
9. Lonely Boy – Andrew Gold
10. Jesus Is Just Alright – The Doobie Brothers
11. Ride Captain Ride – Blues Image
12. No More Mr. Nice Guy – Alice Cooper
13. Smokin’ In The Boy’s Room – Brownsville Station
Disc: 2
1. Smoke On The Water – Deep Purple
2. Bang A Gong (Get It On) – T. Rex
3. Hot Blooded – Foreigner
4. We’re An American Band – Grand Funk Railroad
5. What’s Your Name – Lynyrd Skynyrd
6. Fool For The City – Foghat
7. Long Train Runnin – The Doobie Brothers
8. Long Distance Runaround – Yes
9. Love Is Alive – Gary Wright
10. Rock Candy – Montrose
11. Must Of Got Lost – J. Geils Band
12. Double Vision – Foreigner
13. In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida – Iron Butterfly
Disc: 3
1. Free Ride – The Edgar Winter Group
2. The Boys Are Back In Town – Thin Lizzy
3. Carry On Wayward Son – Kansas
4. (Don t Fear) The Reaper – Blue Öyster Cult
5. American Woman – The Guess Who
6. Peace Of Mind – Boston
7. Hold Your Head Up – Argent
8. All The Young Dudes – Mott the Hoople
9. Mississippi Queen – Mountain
10. Raise A Little Hell – Trooper
11. Jane – Jefferson Starship
12. Two Tickets To Paradise – Eddie Money
13. Godzilla – Blue Öyster Cult
14. Rock And Roll All Nite – Kiss
I dislike far more songs on here than I like. Andrew Gold? Trooper? Eddie Money? I assume a lot of these bands rights come cheap. To me classic rock is The Beatles, Stones, Who, Velvet Underground, Hendrix, The Kinks, Animals, Springsteen, Clash, Ramones, Bowie, Joplin, Tom Petty. Faces, etc. Not most of these lightweights which is why I never listen to so called “classic” rock stations.
Steve, I’m glad you agree with me on the “The Greatest Hits of Classic Rock” misnomer. Plenty of key groups and artists and songs are missing in action here.
Have to agree with Steve – a strange selection of groups and their records, not something that I would want to listen to more than once.
Though a few names I’ve enjoyed.
A bit OT – one of my fondest memories (probably have written about this before)
When I read Edgar Winter I remember :our visit to “swinging London” in the early 70s which was really fantastic. One evening we (my first wife and me) went to the Roundhouse and enjoyed Johnny and Edgar Winter – with a lot of psychedelic light shows …
Unbelievable!
And the smell of Cannabis everwhere … 🙂
Wolf, marijuana, legalized in Canada now, causes many returning Americans to be stopped at the International Bridges and fined for the weed they have in their cars, vans, and trucks. New York State inches ever closer to legalization of marijuana, but we’re not there yet.
Such a mish-mash and nothing that I want that I don’t already have. I’m sure I’m not alone in my initial response of, “Who the f*ck were Montrose?”
Deb, you’re right about a lot of “One-Hit Wonders” being included on these three CDs.
Just because you can buy something for a buck doesn’t mean it’s worth having. It’s just more junk to take up space.
Michael, at the time, 3 CDs of “The Greatest Hits of Classic Rock” for a dollar sounded like a bargain. Clearly, I should have studied the track lists more closely.
I must be really out of it because I only a remember a couple.
Patti, there are a lot a obscure songs on these CDs. And some of them should stay obscure.
While I agree with all previous comments, I have to say: hey, for a buck, hell yes, it’s worth it. We’ve bought CDs to get one song we liked that we didn’t have on another collection. For instance, a favorite of Jackie’s (and yes, this dates us) was the original “See You in September” by The Tempos, rather than the ubiquitous, fast cover by The Happenings. After checking all the collections we had to no avail, I found it on the AMERICAN GRAFFITI soundtrack, along with a lot of other great stuff from the ’50s and early ’60s. I also bought a 3 CD “Lost Hits” collection, mainly for “Let Me In” by The Sensations, a favorite of my childhood.
As for this, no standouts, but I like several of the songs: Mississippi Queen (I liked Mountain) and Smokin’ in the Boys Room to name two. And we’ve seen the Doobie Brothers in concert lately. I like their songs.
The best bargain we’ve had lately wasn’t a buck, it was FREE! I’ve mentioned the basement laundry room in our building that doubles as a defacto free library, where you can leave finished or otherwise unwanted books and pick up others (I got the whole Gray Man series by Mark Greaney). Some people leave CDs too, and even though I hated the movie, I was happy to have the 2 CD collection of FORREST GUMP. Check it out.
Disc One:
Elvis Presley, Hound Dog
Duane Eddy, Rebel Rouser
Clarence “Frogman” Henry, (I Don’t Know Why) But I Do
The Rooftop Singers, Walk Right In
Wilson Pickett, Land of 1000 Dancers
Joan Baez, Blowin’ in the Wind
Creedence Clearwater Revival, Fortunate Son
The Four Tops, I Can’t Help Myself (Sugar Pie Honey Bunch)
Aretha Franklin, Respect
Bob Dylan, Rainy Day Women #12 & 35
The Beach Boys, Sloop John B
The Mamas and the Papas, California Dreamin’
Buffalo Springfield, For What It’s Worth
Jackie DeShannon, What the World Needs Now Is Love
The Doors, Break on Through (To the Other Side)’
Simon & Garfunkel, Mrs. Robinson
Disc Two:
Jefferson Airplane, Volunteers
The Youngbloods, Get Together
Scott McKenzie, San Francisco (Be Sure to Wear Some Flowers in Your Hair)
The Byrds, Turn! Turn! Turn! (To Everything There is a Season)
The Fifth Dimension, Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In
Nillson, Everybody’s Talkin’
Three Dog Night, Joy to the World
The Supremes, Stoned Love
B. J. Thomas, Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head
Randy Newman, Mr. President (Have Pity on the Working Man)
Lynyrd Skynyrd, Sweet Home Alabama
The Doobie Brothers, It Keeps You Runnin’
Gladys Knight & the Pips, I’ve Got to Use My Imagination
Willie Nelson, On the Road Again
Bob Seger, Against the Wind
Alan Silvestri, Forrest Gump Suite
Jeff, you mentioned the soundtrack to FORREST GUMP on this blog about a year ago. I found a copy at a Library Book Sale and bought it at a pittance. Marvelous music for pennies!
Wow!
That’s alist of relly great songs – by great performers!
I cou. :)ld listen to this all day – or at least during a long trip in my car
Wolf, same here. What a great track list of songs from that era!
A much better collection although I could do without the BJ Thomas and The Fifth Dimension.
Steve, I’m sure BJ Thomas and The Fifth Dimension were included to “balance” the CDs.
Dances, not Dancers
Wolf your mention of Edgar Winter reminds me. We saw George Thorogood & the Destroyers perform last night, and the opening act was Damon Fowler, a blues singer from North Florida. He said he was lucky enough to open for Johnny Winter “18-20 times” and did a little imitation of him. I’d never heard of Fowler before, but he was pretty good.
Of course I remember Johnny Winter and my fondest memory (probably written about this before):
A few years ago, maybe a month before he was found dead in a hotel room in Switzerland he had a concert in a small venue in my hometown Tübinge300, less than 300 places, standing room only.
When it was announced I couldn’t believe it at first …
But i got tickets for my partner and me and we moved almost up to the stage – when Johnny was transported there by 2 strong men sitting on a chair!
Seems he already was to weak to stand for a longer time.
But his voice and his playing were still fantastic!
I like quite a few, but certainly not all, of the songs here. I’d have paid the buck, downloaded the songs I like to a playlist, and turned the CD over to the library secondhand sales store.
LIKES:
You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet – Bachman-Turner Overdrive
Slow Ride – Foghat
All Right Now – Free
Ride Captain Ride – Blues Image
Smoke On The Water – Deep Purple
Hot Blooded – Foreigner
We’re An American Band – Grand Funk Railroad
Double Vision – Foreigner
In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida – Iron Butterfly
Free Ride – The Edgar Winter Group
The Boys Are Back In Town – Thin Lizzy
(Don t Fear) The Reaper – Blue Öyster Cult
Hold Your Head Up – Argent
Mississippi Queen – Mountain (an especial favorite)
Rick, nice list! Some of these songs are hard to find on other compilation music CDs.