Gems from the Rock 'n' Roll Vault

The band shares some of their all-time favorites

Pirate Magazine - Volume 3, Issue 13 (July 15, 1984)

Dear Pirate fans,

We’re introducing a new regular feature in our fan club magazine. The guys in the band each share one of their all-time favorite songs and tell you why it’s great in their own unique way.

We’ve arranged the songs from oldest to newest, and also provided videotapes of recorded performances for your listening pleasure. Enjoy!

-Doris Lesko, Fan Club President and Editor

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“Feeling Alright” by Joe Cocker (1969)

Course I’m first here with one of the best covers in rock ‘n’ roll history. Guitarist Dave Mason wrote this tune when he was in Traffic, another great group, but Joe took it and made it his own.

I play it when I’m not feeling alright, along with some shots of Macallan. Before ya know it, my foot’s gone crazy tapping and I’m feeling much better. (I don’t dance. So don’t ever ask me.)

But let me just say that I don’t appreciate being called Joe Cockstar, even if I do look like him. (And even if you are three sheets to the wind at your best friend’s wedding. You know who you are.) Have some respect for the man. He’s a bona fide genius.

—Dunk MacGregor, Band Manager

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“Black Magic Woman” by Santana (1970)

This song is true. Women are magic, sometimes black magic, sometimes other kinds. But always magic and mysterious.

Besides the words, what makes this song great is Chepito Areas and Michael Carabello on the timbales and congas, and the brilliant Michael Shrieve on drums. I’m telling you, this song is made by the percussion.

Well, yes, Carlos Santana does amazing guitar work, as usual, and Gregg Rolie was great on vocals and keyboard (before he left to co-found another supergroup, Journey). And we have to give credit to the songwriter, Peter Green, of yet another supergroup, Fleetwood Mac. (As if getting along with people in one supergroup isn’t enough, these guys keep moving around. Are they gluttons for punishment or what?)

Anyway, when you listen to this song, listen to the percussion. That’s what makes it great.

—George Farraday, Drummer

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“25 or 6 to 4” by Chicago (1970)

Written by Chicago’s keyboardist Robert Lamm (yes, keyboardists can compose too!), this tune shows how a rock song can be about absolutely anything, including struggling to write a rock song in the middle of the night!

There are a bunch of wow factors here—Peter Cetera singing lead with his jaw wired shut (from getting beaten up at a baseball game, so I heard, which is so, so wrong), the speed of Terry Kath and Danny Seraphine on guitar and drums (like whoa, man, my eyes and ears can’t keep up!), and the horn work that always make Chicago stand out (the super trio of Jimmy Pankow on trombone, Lee Loughnane on trumpet and Walt Parazaider on tenor sax).

Listening to this song always inspires me to want to become a better musician, and this group always gets me excited about being alive.

It’s not good for romancing your lady, though. Too fast. I recommend “Beginnings” from their first album for that, which is also fast but describes exactly how we blokes feel when we’re with a very special lady. Right on, we feel chills, man! Check it out.

—Randy Rickman, Keyboardist

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“It’s Too Late” by Carole King (1971)

The gods must have been distracted by drunkenness when this song was written. They no doubt roared and lobbed lightning bolts in their extreme envy once they sobered up and happened upon it. How dare a human being create something of such godly perfection, and tell a story of such divine complexity and richness through music?

The song lures you in with a relaxed and sultry tone, like a lazy Sunday, only to whip you from one complex emotion to another as you find yourself the recipient of a sudden and unexpected breakup.

Maybe we’re eating breakfast in bed surrounded by newspapers when she looks at me with a bittersweet smile and tells me she regrets having to end things. I jolt at this news, but then think maybe there’s still hope for us—after all, she sees that I’ve been miserable lately too.

No, no—she wants to be clear that it’s too late. But, hold on, she’s calling me baby and saying how good it was. No, no—even if I apologized and tried to save the relationship, there’s no going back now. Her love has died. Don’t I see that too?

If ever a song captured the irrevocable and tragic loss of love, this one is it. A song that flays my heart every single time. A song for the ages. A classic.   

—Jack St James, Lead Singer and Songwriter

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“Stairway to Heaven” by Led Zeppelin (1971)

Far as I’m concerned, Zep can do no wrong. But on “Stairway to Heaven” they did everything right far as everyone’s concerned. By everyone, I mean both dudes and chicks. You never know what the chicks will go for, but they pant for this like they do for our songs “Your Eyes” and “Jungle Girl.”

Now how did Zep and us get it right when so many bands never do? One word. Libido. You tap into that, you tap into a goldmine.

But the key is in knowing that the dude libido is much stronger than the chick libido, so you have to tone it down for the chicks, pull ‘em into the song without ‘em seeing what you’re tapping into. Elsewise you scare ‘em away. Like starting slow and speeding up, starting soft and going hard, and starting low and moving high.

One of them master rules of the universe, init? Applies to everything. Except when it doesn’t. Like with your mum.  

—Keith Aldcroft, Lead and Rhythm Guitarist

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“You Shook Me All Night Long” by AC/DC (1980)

Hands down, this is the best love song ever. Cause it’s so true. If she can’t shake you all night long, she’s got no chance whatsoever of being your special lady, does she?

[Section on American thighs deleted for overly explicit content.]

So, in conclusion, the blokes in AC/DC know what they’re talking about.

And I want to single out the performance of my fellow bassist Cliff Williams, who shows without a shadow of a doubt that the very foundation of a band upon which everything else is erected is the bassline. We’re the strong, silent types that save the day, right, Cliff?

But listen, man, you can’t help being from Merseyside. No hard feelings. Glory glory Man United! Red devils rule!   

—Rob Rickman, Bass Guitarist

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“Let’s Groove” by Earth, Wind & Fire (1981)

This is Sam’s theme song, sung by my eminent R&B and funk brothers Earth, Wind & Fire, led by my man Maurice White. (Co-written by Wanda Vaughn of girl group The Emotions and her husband Wayne Vaughan with Maurice. The Emotions did Boogie Wonderland with EW&F—another of my favorite tunes!)

Maurice and the EW&F dudes have it all—the tunes, the groove, the costumery, the stagecraft, the magic, and, of course, the ladies. (They used magicians Doug Henning and David Copperfield for their stage show—did you know that?!)

Not to mention they always make you feel good, and feeling good is what Sam is all about. You wanna get down, you put on an EW&F long-playing record, crack open the Dom, invite a beautiful lady, and show her your best moves (on the dance floor and then off). You’ll have one of the best nights of your life. Guaranteed.  

—Sam Wilson, Lead and Rhythm Guitarist