A guitarist I used to work with has asked me to start a side-project with him. The idea will be to practise a lot (at HOME) but rehearse little. This is, after all, a side project The genre will be what is captured under the moniker of "classic rock" and I would like some recommendations

Here's what we plan on playing so far:

Thin Lizzy – Cold Sweat
Thin Lizzy – The Boys Are Back In Town
Van Halen – Hot For Teacher
The Who – The Real Me
The Who – Who Are You
AC/DC – Jailbreak
ZZ Top – Doubleback
Ozzy – Bark At The Moon
Deep Purple - Fireball

Some others that would go well
Pink Floyd - Money
Pink Floyd - Have a Cigar
Led Zeppelin - Rock and Roll
Led Zeppelin - The Ocean
The Cars - Bye Bye Love

Here's 500 to get your started.

TOP 500 CLASSIC ROCK SONGS.

Noah

Sounds like you guys are specializing in classic HARD rock, which is cool. How about some "Flight of Icarus" by Maiden, or "Breaking the Law" by Priest?

Hi Jeff, yeah that is the main idea ... BUT although the distinction is a vague one, we classify Maiden & Priest under metal It's not my call, but the guitarist who wants to start this band wanted to keep it more "rock'n'roll". Indicating Thin Lizzy, Zep, ZZ Top and the likes, and not "rock'n'roll" as in my current band (yes, that was a shameless plug right there )

Besides - "Breaking The Law" is like the first song that every 80's kid's first band learned to play, and promptly played it at the HS talent show....

I know to some, those distinctions (metal? hard rock? rock? thrash metal? death metal? thrashcoredeathrockgroovemetal?) are important, so I get where you're coming from.

Noah

If I thought I could sell it, I'd push for some Maiden in our setlist. The lead guitarist, drummer and I once wandered off during practice into "Revelations" - the singer/rhythm player looked at us like we were nuts...

Get a good chunk of Zeppelin and Rush. With the right crowd you can totally sell it.
There was this local band I knew once that played a bar in this real small rural Illinois town. They did their set of Zeppelin's (Dazed and confused, the ocean, Black Dog) and the place went NUTS over these guys. Of course this was back when everybody knew what good rock and roll was. Seems like everybody around where I'm at just wants to do stuff that's "good dance music". I got two words for these types of people. "Prog Rock".

Zep is a good call. Just about anything before In Through the Out Door from '79.

Ozzie is probably pushing your boundary on the metal side, but I understand you don't want to go too far in that direction. Maybe you can get away with some early Black Sabbath? I remember some 30 years ago I learned "Iron Man".

I would definitely put old Aerosmith in that category, too, but I understand not all lead singers can handle Steven Tyler's range. I think everybody's done "Sweet Emotion", "Dream On", "Back in the Saddle", "Draw the Line", "Walk This Way", etc. I think the first song I learned by them was "Train Kept A-Rollin", but some of my favorites from their early days are a little off the beaten path: "Lord of the Thighs" and "Kings and Queens".

Around that same time period Kiss was pretty popular among my circle of friends. At least the albums released from '74-'76 (up to and including Destroyer). Just looking at their singles quickly I see "Deuce", "Strutter", "Rock and Roll All Nite", "Shout It Out Loud", "Detroit Rock City", and if you need a softer ballad, "Beth".

Early Rush would fit, too. "Working Man", "Fly By Night" and "Freewill" come to mind. I'm partial to "The Trees", but it may not fit with what you have. Same goes with later Rush songs that I enjoy playing, including most of the track off of Moving Pictures from '81.

Hendrix. Need I say more?

Other bands I remember on the radio in those days are Journey (in particular "Wheel in the Sky"), REO Speedwagon ("Ridin the Storm Out"), Styx ("Come Sail Away"), Bad Company ("Bad Company"), etc. Even older groups that were still plugging away, like The Beatles and Rolling Stones.

It's up to you if you want to include or exclude the whole southern rock thing: Allman Brothers, Lynyrd Skynyrd, .38 Special, Molly Hatchet, Blackfoot, etc.

There are several other "standards" that are played by many classic rock bands here, such as "We're an American Band" (Grand Funk Railroad), "All Right Now" (Free), "You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet" (BTO), "Born to be Wild" (Steppenwolf), etc.

If you stick to what was popular in the '70s on American rock radio you should do fine. Be careful as you enter the '80s because even the rockers turned to more of a commercial pop sound.

What you have to remember is that in the '70s rock and roll dug its heels into a harder sound to differentiate itself from the lighter pop (Top 40) and disco trends, with IMO Led Zeppelin paving the way. And punk wasn't really a factor yet, although in the '80s it became in a way a backlash against some of the more elaborate rock music of the '70s (including "Stairway"), and paved the way for the less ornate and more raw garage sound of grunge and modern rock. Of course many rockers were accused of "selling out" as they crossed over into more of a mainstream sound, not unlike the punkers and alt rockers that followed them.

I thought this was the somewhat biased list from Rolling Stone magazine, but it's not. It's actually a pretty good reference!

Thanks. I try.

Noah

Well so I quit that particular band before it even got started (one rehearsal with the lead guitarist on drums because the drummer cancelled at the last minute). Guess I'm simply not meant to be in a classic rock band, I've tried a few times now but to no avail. Maybe some day soon ...