Good Time Piano Songs!

September 8, 2014 8:07 PM

Hi! I'm looking for rock songs that have a distinctive upbeatish piano section or riff in them fir a project I'm working on.

It's a bit hard to describe, but some examples of what I'm looking for are:

Tight Rope by Leon Russell has an ideal segment from 2:10 until fade out

Out the Blue by John Lennon has a great segment from ~2:25 until 2:50

Wild Horses by The Flying Burrito Bros has a decent segment similar from about 5:20 - 5:45 or so.

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What are some other songs that have this sort of feel?

Thanks!

posted by pipian to Media & Arts (16 answers total)

Response by poster: Ah! Almost forgot an example - Cat Stevens' I Think I See the Light from Mona Bone Jakon
posted by pipian at 8:10 PM on September 8, 2014

Best answer: Lots of songs by the Faces have this feel, thanks to the work of the godlike Ian McLagan:

Cindy Incidentally
Ooh La La
Stay with Me
Borstal Boys
Jealous Guy (though more midtempo than uptempo)
posted by scody at 8:27 PM on September 8, 2014

Best answer: A lot of songs by Billy Preston would work. Also Beatles songs he played on.

Specifically thinking of Will it go Round in Circles and Nothing from Nothing.
posted by ecorrocio at 8:40 PM on September 8, 2014 [1 favorite]

Best answer: Those sound like three different things to me, but I kinda get what you want.

1. I'd say that's ragtimey Old West saloon tack piano? There's tons of that in the old-timey stuff, but The Beatles' Rocky Raccoon is a pretty good example from that same era.

2. New York in the '70s. Everything ever by Jobriath.

3. The Weight by The Band?
posted by Sys Rq at 8:41 PM on September 8, 2014

Best answer: Mott the Hoople's All The Way To Memphis, Roger Hodgson's Had A Dream, The The's Uncertain Smile
posted by rfs at 8:43 PM on September 8, 2014

The Beatles' Rocky Raccoon

There's Billy Preston right there.
posted by ecorrocio at 8:53 PM on September 8, 2014

Best answer: I really like the piano beat in Homecoming by Kanye West and Chris Martin
posted by bleep at 9:09 PM on September 8, 2014

Best answer: A few more:

David Bowie, Kooks, Star

The Clash, Rock the Casbah

Elvis Costello, Oliver's Army

The Jam, Beat Surrender

Happy Mondays, Step On

Madness, It Must Be Love

Also, not particularly "good time" in the conventional sense, but still a really powerful piano riff: the live version of Nick Cave and the Bad Seed's Jubilee Street (go to about 5:10)
posted by scody at 9:14 PM on September 8, 2014

Best answer: Wild Horses by The Flying Burrito Bros has a decent segment similar from about 5:20 - 5:45 or so.

I believe you might like Badfinger's Name of The Game ...

you want around the 4:25 point in case my linking is faulty, though the whole song is a keeper.
posted by philip-random at 12:24 AM on September 9, 2014

Best answer: also, the piano at the start of ELO's Woman stomps rather nicely
posted by philip-random at 12:27 AM on September 9, 2014

Best answer: The "Prelude" section of Billy Joel's Prelude/Angry Young Man.
posted by apartment dweller at 6:58 AM on September 9, 2014

Best answer: What you are hearing, is Boogie Woogie. For 70s versions of this classic style, check out Dr. John, Allen Toussaint, and Professor Longhair.
posted by Potomac Avenue at 7:06 AM on September 9, 2014

Best answer: The Beatles' Lovely Rita, Meter Maid has just such a piano break - it's really the best thing about the song. Producer George Martin played it.
posted by Pallas Athena at 6:22 PM on September 9, 2014

Best answer: Honky Cat by Elton trails away kinda like Leon's "Tight Rope."
posted by Rash at 8:15 PM on September 9, 2014

Don't try to lay no boogie woogie on the king of rock and roll
posted by philip-random at 9:11 PM on September 9, 2014

I thought of another you could use: bits of Stilleto by Billy Joel. The intro to about 0:38 and the instrumental bridge starting at 2:06 until about 3:06. And Root Beer Rag is upbeat from beginning to end, but with a ragtime style.
posted by apartment dweller at 6:06 AM on September 24, 2014