Mr. Tambourine Man (Bob Dylan)
1964 · From Bringing It All Back Home
Bruce Langhorne's giant Turkish frame drum gave Dylan the image, and the Byrds' cover turned it into folk rock.
★ 8.4
The Songs canon
Sourced and sung.
Every song chosen by hand, with the recording to play it.
Browse all 2,393 songs or filter by genre, subject, artist, and year.
Browse all 2,393 songs or filter by genre, subject, artist, and year.
Mr. Tambourine Man (The Byrds)
1965 · From Mr. Tambourine Man
Session men cut the track and McGuinn's twelve-string Rickenbacker rang over one Dylan verse; folk rock started there.
★ 8.3
Smoke on the WaterDeep Purple
Smoke on the Water
1972 · From Machine Head
Blackmore's four notes in parallel fourths, written after a flare gun burned the Montreux Casino down during a Zappa show.
★ 7.8
Killing Me Softly With His Song (Roberta Flack)
1973
Flack heard Lori Lieberman's version on a plane's in-flight audio, rewrote the chords, and took Record of the Year.
★ 7.8
Roll Over Beethoven
1956 · From Chuck Berry Is on Top
His sister Lucy monopolized the family piano for classical, so Berry wrote his rebuttal, with Johnnie Johnson answering back.
★ 7.7
Sir Duke
1977 · From Songs in the Key of Life
Wonder built it for Ellington after his death in 1974, then handed the melody to horns playing in unison.
★ 7.7
Bring the Noise
1987 · From It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back
First released on the Less Than Zero soundtrack, it opens with Malcolm X and never stops arguing rap's case.
★ 7.6
Check the Rhime
1990 · From The Low End Theory
An Average White Band loop, Q-Tip and Phife trading lines, and a Queens rooftop that Linden Boulevard still remembers.
★ 7.6
I Love Rock 'N Roll
1982
The Runaways passed, so Jett recorded it twice herself; the second version spent seven weeks at number one.
★ 7.5
Killing Me Softly With His Song (Fugees)Fugees
Killing Me Softly With His Song (Fugees)
1996 · From The Score
Pras suggested the cover, the beat lifts Tribe's Bonita Applebum, and Hill sings it like she wrote it herself.
★ 7.5
Dance to the Music
1968 · From Dance to the Music
Clive Davis wanted a hit, so Sly wrote a roll call: each player steps forward, Cynthia Robinson shouting the title.
★ 7.4
My My, Hey Hey
1979 · From Rust Never Sleeps
Recorded live at San Francisco's Boarding House in 1978, and Devo's Mothersbaugh handed Young the phrase that titled the album.
★ 7.4
Rock the Casbah
1982 · From Combat Rock
Topper Headon cut the drums, piano and bass himself, and Strummer finished the lyrics in the studio bathroom.
★ 7.4
I Used to Love H.E.R.
1994 · From Resurrection
No I.D. looped George Benson, Common told hip hop's story as one woman, and Ice Cube took it personally.
★ 7.4
The Adventures of Grandmaster Flash on the Wheels of Steel
1981
Three turntables, two mixers, ten to fifteen takes, and a record built entirely out of ten other records.
★ 7.4
More Than a FeelingBoston
More Than a Feeling
1976 · From Boston
Five years in Scholz's basement, a hundred-dollar Yamaha twelve-string on the intro, and Delp stacking harmonies over the top.
★ 7.3
Eric B. is President
1986 · From Paid in Full
By Eric B.'s account he paid Marley Marl to engineer it in Queensbridge; Rakim arrived rapping like nobody before.
★ 7.3
Can I Kick It?
1991 · From People's Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm
A borrowed Lou Reed bassline that reportedly took all the royalties, and a call-and-response hook the crowd finishes.
★ 7.3
White Man in Hammersmith Palais
1978
Strummer expected roots rebellion at an all-night Palais reggae bill, got showbiz, and slipped reggae bass into punk.
★ 7.2
Oye Como Va
1970
Tito Puente wrote it as a 1962 cha-cha-cha; Gregg Rolie's Hammond organ replaced the horn section.
★ 7.2