Riff driven

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The term Riff-Driven is used to describe a vocal song that, throughout the piece, relies on a repeated instrumental riff as a basis for its forefront melody, cadence, or (in some cases) leitmotif. Riff-driven songs are largely a product of jazz, blues, and post-blues era music (rock and pop),^{[1] (p. 61)} and the term (by definition) applies almost exlusively to music containing vocals. The musical goal of riff-driven songs is akin to the classical continuo effect, but raised to much higher importance (in fact, the repeated riff is used to anchor the song in the ears of the listener). The riff/continuo is brought to the forefront of the musical piece and often is the primary melody that remains in the listener's ears. A call and response often holds the song together, creating a "circular" rather than linear feel.^[2]

Well-known examples of riff-driven songs are "Day Tripper" by The Beatles, and "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" by The Rolling Stones.

Contents 1 List of riff-driven songs 2 A 2.1 AC/DC 2.2 Aerosmith 2.3 Joan Armatrading 3 B 3.1 Tal Bachman 3.2 David Bowie 3.3 Beastie Boys 3.4 The Beatles 3.5 Black Sabbath 3.6 Buffalo Springfield 4 C 4.1 Cake 4.2 The Cars 4.3 Johnny Cash 4.4 Commander Cody 4.5 Alice Cooper 4.6 Crack the Sky 4.7 Cream 5 D 5.1 Deep Purple 5.2 Depeche Mode 5.3 Derek and the Dominos 5.4 Devo 6 E 6.1 Erasure 6.2 Eagles 7 F 7.1 Free 8 G 8.1 Genesis 8.2 Benny Goodman 8.3 Guns N' Roses 9 H 9.1 George Harrison 9.2 John Hiatt 9.3 Buddy Holly 10 I 10.1 Iron Butterfly 11 J 11.1 Jethro Tull 11.2 Joe Jackson 12 K 12.1 The Kinks 12.2 The Knack 13 L 13.1 Led Zeppelin 13.2 Living Color 13.3 Lynyrd Skynyrd 13.4 Lostprophets 14 M 14.1 Manic Street Preachers 14.2 Marilyn Manson 14.3 Monkees 14.4 Motörhead 15 N 15.1 The Nazz 15.2 New Found Glory 16 O 16.1 Roy Orbison 17 P 17.1 Pennywise 17.2 Pink Floyd 17.3 Prince 18 Q 18.1 Queen 19 R 19.1 Paul Revere & the Raiders 19.2 The Rolling Stones 20 S 20.1 Santana 20.2 The Smithereens 20.3 Squeeze 20.4 Styx 20.5 Sugarloaf 21 T 21.1 Third Eye Blind 21.2 Tool 21.3 The Tubes 22 U 23 V 23.1 Vapors 24 W 24.1 The White Stripes 24.2 The Who 24.3 Wishbone Ash 25 X 25.1 XTC 26 Y 26.1 Yaz 26.2 Yes 27 Z 28 References

[edit] List of riff-driven songs

This alphabetical list contains examples of recordings of riff-driven songs.

[edit] A

[edit] AC/DC

• Back in Black
• Sin City
• You Shook Me All Night Long
• Whole Lotta Rosie

[edit] Aerosmith

• Dream On
• Jaded
• Last Child
• Same Old Song and Dance
• Sweet Emotion
• Walk This Way

[edit] Joan Armatrading

• Me Myself I

[edit] B

[edit] Tal Bachman

• She's So High

[edit] David Bowie

• Rebel Rebel

[edit] Beastie Boys

• Girls

[edit] The Beatles

• And Your Bird Can Sing (1966)
• Day Tripper (1965)
• Hey Bulldog (1968)
• I Feel Fine (1964)
• If I Needed Someone (1965)
• Ticket to Ride (1965)

[edit] Black Sabbath

• Iron Man

[edit] Buffalo Springfield

• Rock & Roll Woman

[edit] C

[edit] Cake

• Let Me Go

[edit] The Cars

• My Best Friend's Girl

[edit] Johnny Cash

• Ring of Fire (June Carter/Merle Kilgore) (1963)^[3]

[edit] Commander Cody

• Hot Rod Lincoln (also by Bill Kirchen and others)

[edit] Alice Cooper

• I'm Eighteen (1970)
• School's Out (1972)

[edit] Crack the Sky

• Lighten Up McGraw (1978)

[edit] Cream

• Sunshine of Your Love (1967)

[edit] D

[edit] Deep Purple

• Smoke on the Water

[edit] Depeche Mode

• Just Can't Get Enough
• Personal Jesus
• Shame

[edit] Derek and the Dominos

• Layla

[edit] Devo

• Girl U Want
• Jerkin' Back 'N' Forth
• Jocko Homo
• Mongoloid
• Through Being Cool
• Uncontrollable Urge
• Whip It

[edit] E

[edit] Erasure

• Who Needs Love Like That (Vince Clarke) (1985)

[edit] Eagles

• Life In The Fast Lane

[edit] F

[edit] Free

• All Right Now
• The Stealer

[edit] G

[edit] Genesis

• The Return of the Giant Hogweed

[edit] Benny Goodman

• Flying Home (Lionel Hampton) (1939)^{[1] (p. 13)}

[edit] Guns N' Roses

• Sweet Child o' Mine

[edit] H

[edit] George Harrison

• Wah-Wah
• What Is Life

[edit] John Hiatt

• Paper Thin

[edit] Buddy Holly

• Heartbeat (1959)

[edit] I

[edit] Iron Butterfly

• In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida (1968)

[edit] J

[edit] Jethro Tull

• A New Day Yesterday
• Aqualung
• Cross-Eyed Mary
• To Cry You A Song

[edit] Joe Jackson

• Sunday Papers

[edit] K

[edit] The Kinks

• All Day and All of the Night
• You Really Got Me

[edit] The Knack

• My Sharona

[edit] L

[edit] Led Zeppelin

• Dancing Days
• Heartbreaker
• Whole Lotta Love
• Immigrant Song
• Black Dog

[edit] Living Color

• Cult of Personality

[edit] Lynyrd Skynyrd

• Sweet Home Alabama

[edit] Lostprophets

• Burn, Burn

[edit] M

[edit] Manic Street Preachers

• Motorcycle Emptiness

[edit] Marilyn Manson

• The Beautiful People

[edit] Monkees

• Last Train to Clarksville (Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart, 1966)
• Satuday's Child

[edit] Motörhead

• Ace of Spades

[edit] N

[edit] The Nazz

• Open My Eyes

[edit] New Found Glory

• This Disaster

[edit] O

[edit] Roy Orbison

• Oh, Pretty Woman (1964)

[edit] P

[edit] Pennywise

• Bro Hymn

[edit] Pink Floyd

• Money (1973)
• In The Flesh (1979)

[edit] Prince

• Controversy
• 1999

[edit] Q

[edit] Queen

• Another One Bites the Dust

[edit] R

[edit] Paul Revere & the Raiders

• Hungry (1966)

[edit] The Rolling Stones

• Brown Sugar (1970)
• Satisfaction (1965)
• Jumpin' Jack Flash (1968)
• Under My Thumb (1966)
• The Last Time (1965)

[edit] S

[edit] Santana

• Oye Como Va

[edit] The Smithereens

• A Girl Like You

[edit] Squeeze

• Black Coffee In Bed

[edit] Styx

• You Need Love

[edit] Sugarloaf

• Don't Call Us, We'll Call You

[edit] T

[edit] Third Eye Blind

• Never Let You Go

[edit] Tool

• Schism (bass guitar riff-driven)

[edit] The Tubes

• White Punks On Dope

[edit] U

[edit] V

[edit] Vapors

• Turning Japanese

[edit] W

[edit] The White Stripes

• Hardest Button to Button
• Icky Thump
• Seven Nation Army
• Blue Orchid

[edit] The Who

• The Seeker
• Naked Eye

[edit] Wishbone Ash

• Blowin' Free
• The King Will Come

[edit] X

[edit] XTC

• Life Begins at the Hop (Colin Moulding) (1979)

[edit] Y

[edit] Yaz

• Situation (1982)

[edit] Yes

• Owner of a Lonely Heart
• South Side of the Sky

[edit] Z

[edit] References

1. ^ ^{a b} Rolling Stone (1992). The Rolling Stone Illustrated History of Rock and Roll, 3 Sub edition, Random House, p. 61. ISBN 978-0679737285. 
2. ^ Horner, Bruce (Editor), Swiss, Thomas (Editor) (1999). Key Terms in Popular Music and Culture, Paperback, Blackwell Publishing Limited, p. 143. ISBN 978-0631212645. 
3. ^ Horns play the riff in Cash's original recording; other versions (such as Wall of Voodoo) often use guitar for the riff.