Top Thirty 12-String Guitar Songs of All Time

[Ain'tGotNoPokemon]

Tim,

"The Bells of Rhymney" should have been on my list. Not only is it a folk-rock classic, but, as you probably know, it served as a template for George Harrison's "If I Needed Someone."

I agree with Glenn that the Beatles and the Byrds are radically underrepresented on the "Guitar World" list. It's almost as if the editors who put the list together listened exclusively to contemporary FM radio and not at all to the music that defined the electric 12-string sound in the 60's.

Robert

Magazine lists are never to everyone's liking. Most of Guitar World's readers are into modern metal.

[8mileshigher]

Magazine lists are never to everyone's liking. Most of Guitar World's readers are into modern metal.

Gee, from the pages of comments posted here on this thread, you have to wonder if Guitar World gained any new readers from the RRF after their article !!

But I think there sure have been some good suggestions put forward here on the Forum !

[LenMinNJ]

The Rooftop Singers' "Walk Right In"!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XQ2kgV62ivo

[Ain'tGotNoPokemon]

Magazine lists are never to everyone's liking. Most of Guitar World's readers are into modern metal.

Gee, from the pages of comments posted here on this thread, you have to wonder if Guitar World gained any new readers from the RRF after their article !!

But I think there sure have been some good suggestions put forward here on the Forum !

And it used to be THE guitar magazine, but a year or two ago, it dropped in quality when the GW staff brought a new layout and style. Even Guitar Player isn't anything that it once was; it used to be the main alternative.

[david/wales/u.k]

Walk right in..........That's a good one Len...I think there were 2 12string acoustics on that one

[donnellbw]

How could this list miss the seminal:

Dance the Night Away by Cream (Fender 12) or
Blues From an Airplane (Jeffereson Airplane #!)?

Does every time someone in the studio picks up an acoustic 12 make it "special". What about creative context? Oh, Well.

[genomecaster]

I think "The Waiting" is a must. An iconic riff at the heart of a great pop song.

[fireglo67]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bH7QMzClYCY

[Ain'tGotNoPokemon]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bH7QMzClYCY

Nice. It's a shame he never did more official acoustic work.

[LenMinNJ]

I bet no one ever thought of the Beach Boys "Wouldn't It Be Nice" as a 12-string song, but what you hear at the very start of it is *two* twelve strings.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ofByti7A ... r_embedded

It's Barney Kessel and Jerry Cole playing.

And in "Sloop John B" have a look at Al Casey's Rick!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h9iu65so ... er&list=UL

[Ain'tGotNoPokemon]

I bet no one ever thought of the Beach Boys "Wouldn't It Be Nice" as a 12-string song, but what you hear at the very start of it is *two* twelve strings.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ofByti7A ... r_embedded

It's Barney Kessel and Jerry Cole playing.

And in "Sloop John B" have a look at Al Casey's Rick!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h9iu65so ... er&list=UL

Plus Carl played Rics in the very, very early days of the Beach Boys (Back when they were Beach Pre-Pubescents), and after years of Fender (Including an endorsement deal), he got his own and used it for classics like California Girls (Glen Campbell played on a lot of those older songs, too - Another 12 string genius, I mentioned before in this thread).

The ONE song the band played on Petsounds, Carl used his Ric! I think it even lists the brand Rickenbacker in the liner notes for the CD remaster. I believe he used it on the later albums ( Wild Honey, 20/20, Friends, etc), even though his guitar playing became more rhythm based.

[idealassets]

What a contrast in terms. The "Top 30" list takes some imagination to determine if there is even a 12 string at all in the song, i.e. "The Hurricane" by Bob Dylan. On the other hand I never hitherto realized what a magnificent 12 string song "Bus Stop" by the Hollies is, and "Give A Little Bit" by Supertramp.

If nothing else this list put me onto a few new songs that I will definately add to my "12 string repertiore". This, despite the fact that some of the songs took some imagination to conjure into a list "best of all time". So the list was worthwhile after all, some odd choices notwithstanding.

Craig