Backwards Guitar - only 2 songs are improved by it. Discuss

The Beatles' "I'm Only Sleeping" and Hendrix' "Are You Experienced." In "Sleeping"'s case, it serves a purpose in the song, the non-linear aspect of dreams (I guess). In Hendrix' case, its limited use makes an already freaky song totally way out gonzo wow freaky, and still does.

Every other song employing it says 1967 all over it, and not in a good way. It's especially egregious if it's a straight backwards overdub or SOLO that serves no real purpose; it's just a gimmick. "Mr. Soul" (Buffalo Springfield) and "Thoughts and Words" (The Byrds) are fine songs ruined for me by pointless application of this crime (misdemeanor) against recorded music. I wish I could find straightforward (pun intended) versions of these songs.

Any help here? Single edits? Pre-dubbed versions? Decent live versions?

 

Jimi made really good use of it on "Are You Experienced" and it's always been the best example, imo.

It's hard for me to imagine T.Rex's "Cosmic Dancer" from the Electric Warrior album without it coming in towards the end. Maybe more noodling but it adds something.

I thought Brian May did an impressive job with it on Queen II's "Some Day One Day".

 

The intro to Blackened by Metallica.

/thread

 

Castles Made Of Sand.

 

King Crimson's "Ladies Of The Road" and "Heartbeat" were rather well done, I think.

"Mr. Soul" has backwards guitar?? Guess I haven't heard that one for awhile; I just ran my vivid(?) memory of it through my brain and I hear no backwards guitar. Neil's fuzz solo is very compressed in the mix, that sort of whacks out the pick-attack envelope.

 

I always thought Adrian Below could play guitar backwards. In any case, another fine example.

 

Paul's solo in "Tomorrow Never Knows" is pretty great. Fits the tune to a tee as well.

 

Doesn't Hendrix use backward guitar on May this be Love (Waterfall)? That's one of his best tunes.

 

The Tea Party's "The River"

it probably doesn't qualify as it was recorded less than 40 years ago.

 

The Beatles - I'm Only Sleeping.....makes that song.

 

Steve Hackett's backwards solo on "In That Quiet Earth" is an essential atmospheric to an already beautiful instrumental.

 

British Psych used it quite well.

Tomorrow's "My White Bicycle"

Mike Stuart Span used it very effectively throughout their whole album.

Dantalian's Chariot "Madmen Running Through The Fields"

 

Paul Weller often used it quite effectively, Dreams Of Children is one that comes to mind. But there were many other examples on Jam records.

 

Guitar monster Terry Kath used it effectively in Chicago XI album track "This Time." His guitar solo is very melodic too.

 

The backwards guitar intro to "Just Dropped In..." by The First Edition sets the whole tone of the song for me.

 

The solo on Give It Away by Red Hot Chili Peppers is a fantastic use of reversing.

 

"In the Crowd" from All Mod Cons is the finest of the lot.

 

"Tomorrow Never Knows".

 

Doesn't 'Book Of Saturday' have such backwards playing too? Or does it just sound like that?

I'm a sucker for basically anything that sounds like backwards guitar but especially with Fripp I can never tell whether it was played backwards or not...

 

That was going to be my suggestion.

 

Tomorrow Never Knows. Sounds like Albert Collins on acid.

 

Ridiculous statement. Utterly ridiculous.

Listen to this YouTube clip (with added visuals), of Michael Hedges' 'Spare Change' (from the 1984 album 'Aerial Boundaries'). Prepare to eat your hat.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3-3qn019c-Y

 

That's a great example. Isn't there more of it on that album? And "Blackened" as well. There are A LOT of backwards guitar parts that were used tastefully and artistically. There are actually some talented people out there, but sometimes you have to dig deeper to find them. I wish I could think of some, but I'm drawing a blank right now, because I've been up all night transferring music from my internal drive to my external. But there are definitely a lot more of them. Some of them flow with the music so well that most people don't even realize that they're backwards.

 

I agree the two best examples in the 60's were indeed I'm Only Sleeping and Are You Experienced. I wouldn't say all the others were unnecessary since then, simply not as effective given the surprising sounds we first heard back then are commonplace now.

 

I think the first Blood Sweat and Tears album has a nice backwards guitar on House in the Country, but I could be wrong. that is an overlooked album I think,