best instrumentals

[Denmeister99]

okay, for all the instrumental fans out there (like me)

the best instrumental for the pre-rumours era,
no, that's too easy, try the best five

1. full length Madge Sessions #1
Peter is awesome, the all time best jam, also shows why
Danny played rhythm and Pete took lead,
Mick and John drive the song along at breakneck speed

2. easy - Albatross
beautiful song, wonderfully done, ala Shadows
their first #1

3. October Jam #2, a short song with a great heavy sound
just a catchy beat, can't help it if I like it

4. Earl Grey - Danny doing his thing, must be Chris on piano

5. World in Harmony - last song with Pete (in studio)
b side of Green Manalishi - a foreshadowing of the next
album, sadly never to be

well anyway, that's my top five,
what's yours?

:wavey:

[Hawkeye]

Sunny Side of Heaven is my favorite.

[macfan 57]

1)Albatross
2)Sunny Side Of Heaven
3)Earl Gray
4)Caught In The Rain(Bob Weston)
5)My Dream(another Danny Kirwan instrumental)

There are 3 Danny Kirwan songs on my list, he must be the king of the instrumentals. :)

[wetcamelfood]

Just some off the top of my head:

Underway (full version from "The vaudeville years")
October jam 1 (love the "news bulletin" riff)
Before the beginning (from "...Vaudelville..." AKA "Blues in B flat minor" on TVY)
Coming your way (from "Live in Boston - Remastered Vol. 3")
Book of miracles (the BN (& other "newer"...) lineup(s) should do more instrumentals but probably never will)

There aren't many of their instrumentals I DON'T like, I love all the ones you guys mentined too. :)

John

[Cristian]

"Caught In The Rain" is my favorite for the reason that it gets you... with that feeling. I love "Jigsaw Puzzle Blues", "Albatross", "Oh Well (Part 2)" and "Sunny Side Of Heaven", too.

When they did instrumentals, they never got them wrong. :)


Song of the moment - Freedom

[wondergirl9847]

Well, I haven't heard some of the ones listed, but my faves are:

1. Sunny Side of Heaven
2. Albatross
3. Oh Well Part 2
4. World in Harmony
5. My Dream

Danny just rocks at instrumentals!!! I love Book of Miracles too, but ya'll just wanted pre-Rumours...so, there ya have it. :D

[chiliD]

Not really in any particular order, even though they're numbered (all are familiar titles in this thread)


1) Madge Sessions #1 (I'll have to listen again, but I could swear that it is both Danny AND Peter having a "gunslinger" battle throughout.)

2) Albatross

3) Sunny Side Of Heaven

4) World In Harmony

5) Underway (the full-length version)

6) Oh Well, Part 2

7) Jigsaw Puzzle Blues

8) My Dream

9) Caught In The Rain

10) Book Of Miracles

[becca]

I like My Dream best right now. I just heard World In Harmony for the first time and it is great too!

[chiliD]

Madge Sessions #1:

Danny takes lead @ 3:57

Peter starts riff @ 4:39 which goes into his solo

Danny comes in again with his solo @ 5:48

Both play identical riff @ 6:08

Peter strays to another riff @ 6:15 leading to a solo

@ 6:30 both tear into solos

@ 6:49 Peter takes off

@ 8:15 Danny starts interweaving riffs

@9:31 Danny takes off

@10:00 things settle down

Peter then starts into the familiar riff, then takes off once again until big crash @ 15:15, then Danny & Peter interweave solos to the end.

[Mac Fan]

I've only heard (and like):
Jigsaw Puzzle Blues
Oh Well Part 2
Albatross

[wetcamelfood]

Originally posted by chiliD
Madge Sessions #1:

Danny takes lead @ 3:57

Peter starts riff @ 4:39 which goes into his solo

Danny comes in again with his solo @ 5:48

Both play identical riff @ 6:08

Peter strays to another riff @ 6:15 leading to a solo

@ 6:30 both tear into solos

@ 6:49 Peter takes off

@ 8:15 Danny starts interweaving riffs

@9:31 Danny takes off

@10:00 things settle down

Peter then starts into the familiar riff, then takes off once again until big crash @ 15:15, then Danny & Peter interweave solos to the end.

Great "play by play" (so to speak) on this! :)

I was thinking, and anyone here can answer this that has heard both the TPO Madges and the full Vaudeville Madge stuff but I only direct this to ChiliD since he's painstakingly gone through it all here for us:

Even though I personally am not much of a "remix" kind of guy, I had noticed they seem to have taken out the "panning" on the solos that existed in the mix on the TPO Madge stuff so I was curious, do you (or anyone else) think it was for the best they took out the panning on the full "Vaudeville" Madge 1 cut or do you think it would have been better with the panning all the way through it like it was on the TPO Madges? (and I only say "full" Madge Vaudeville stuff just because it's more complete that the TPO stuff but I do realize that there are still some bits on the TPO Madges that aren't in Madge 1 etc. so just for the sake of the question, I've asked it "that way" here) I'll be interested to hear some thoughts on this. :)

John

[FuzzyPlum]

1) Sunny Side of Heaven
2) Albatross
3) World in Harmony
4) Earl Gray
5) My Dream
6) Jigsaw Puzzle Blues

I've decided Sunny Side of Heaven is absolutely, completely and utterly, bl**dy brilliant. It takes some doing to make an instrumental that beats Albatross but I think Danny just about achieved it. I know it might sound strange but even though there aren't any words I still find myself 'singing' along to it- it's like as if I know what he means without the need for words.

[aleuzzi]

1. Underway

2. Madge Songs

(Technically both one and two belong to the same jam sessions, but I'll go by the TPO editing of them.)

3. Albatross

4. Sunny Side of Heaven

5. Jig Saw Puzzle Blues

6. Caught in the Rain

I suppose Welch's Coming Home isn't strictly an instrumental, but the written tune has so much potential to be reconceptualized by some instrumental or electronica band.

[On Ice]

Sunny Side of Heaven

Coming Your Way (live)

Albatross

Oh Well Pt 2

Book of Miracles

Earl Grey

Madge Jams 1 & 2

What a Shame

[On Ice]

I've decided Sunny Side of Heaven is absolutely, completely and utterly, bl**dy brilliant. It takes some doing to make an instrumental that beats Albatross but I think Danny just about achieved it. I know it might sound strange but even though there aren't any words I still find myself 'singing' along to it- it's like as if I know what he means without the need for words.

Sunny Side of Heaven indeed takes you to a different place; like the best vacation, the best sex, the best meal, whatever this song does it. This tune alone should have Mr Kirwan with a well-deserved "sir" in front of his name. Few songs have been written that are this good.

[Rubber Duck]

Oh Well, pt 2

the long Madge jam

Underway

Albatross

World In Harmony

(Studio recordings)

[jpaflas]

It doesn't start life as an instrumental, but Rattlesnake Shake on Live at the Boston Tea Party is a brilliant instrumental from about 2:30 on. Fierce jamming and interwoven guit work from Greeny and Danny... then a smooth transition into a beautiful and elegant Underway, until gradually morphing back into fierce jamming around the 17:30 mark. The lads must have been sweating profusely when they crash it all to a big end at 24:37. An astounding musical journey everytime I listen to it.

[LesPaul7]

Madge Sessions #1:

Danny takes lead @ 3:57

Peter starts riff @ 4:39 which goes into his solo

Danny comes in again with his solo @ 5:48

Both play identical riff @ 6:08

Peter strays to another riff @ 6:15 leading to a solo

@ 6:30 both tear into solos

@ 6:49 Peter takes off

@ 8:15 Danny starts interweaving riffs

@9:31 Danny takes off

@10:00 things settle down

Peter then starts into the familiar riff, then takes off once again until big crash @ 15:15, then Danny & Peter interweave solos to the end.

I think this is somewhat inaccurate. To me, it is very easy to tell who is who in this Madge jam. Peter Green is panned to the right and Danny Kirwan is more in the center/left. Green dominates this jam. I don't hear Kirwan really take any lead until around 5:48 with some dramatic bending into his familiar riff that Green picks up on and takes lead, so Kirwan goes back into rhythm stabs. 9:31 is also Green, listen to where the guitar is, they don't change the whole time, he's just switching pick-ups. One of the best moments is when Green pauses for a few seconds and comes back in at 10:15 with one of my favorite riffs of all time.

Final thought: Green played fast lead guitar very fluidly, almost like a bass player on this jam at times by going down into the lower register and rising back up. I've only heard Kirwan played extremely fast on some live bootlegs during the Welch era, I don't think that was his style.

The panning on Then Play On causes confusion to who is who, but once I saw the live video of Rattlesnake Shake/Madge that's on YouTube in black and white, I knew Green could play fast and clean!

[moon]

In order:

1) Sunny Side of Heaven
2) Caught in the Rain
3) Albatross

Regards!

[Patrick]

All great instrumentals to be sure! And I agree that Sunny Side of HEaven is absolutely brilliant! Safe Harbour is another great instrumental, similar in feel to Albatross in a way.