3 Rock Songs From 1974 That Made You Want To Play Guitar

If you were a child of the 1970s and have spent a lifetime playing guitar, chances are one or more of the rock songs on this list inspired you to pick up the instrument. And if not these exact songs, then most likely one of these bands. But you’re not alone, as these artists have also influenced everyone from Drive-By Truckers to John 5 to Metallica.

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If you already know these tunes, then feel free to play along. If not, consider adding these riffs to your classic rock repertoire.

“Call Me The Breeze” by Lynyrd Skynyrd

Lynyrd Skynyrd’s sophomore LP, Second Helping, opens with “Sweet Home Alabama”, arguably the most popular Southern rock tune this side of “Free Bird”. And while the Alabama anthem may have inspired many to pick up the guitar, I’d, instead, like to highlight “Call Me The Breeze”. Written by J. J. Cale, the blues standard has also been recorded by Eric Clapton. It features a triple guitar assault by Ed King, Gary Rossington, and Allen Collins, and there’s much for any aspiring guitarist to mine from this breezy jam.

“Cold Gin” by KISS

The self-titled debut album by KISS features “Strutter” and “Deuce”, which both contain enough classic rock riffage to possess some kid into a kind of air guitar frenzy in their bedroom. But the Ace Frehley-penned “Cold Gin” might be the tune to send one shopping for platform boots. Its main riff echoes the 70s rock of Free and Bad Company, though played by a band that looks like they’ve arrived from outer space.

Then the arrangement takes an unexpected turn. The middle portion breaks from the laidback, blues-rock groove and transforms into a disjointed ruckus that ends with harmonized blues licks, adding a Southern twang to KISS’s spacey glam rock.

“Stone Cold Crazy” by Queen

It would be hard to find a more accurately-named rock song than “Stone Cold Crazy”. The frenetic tune dates back to Freddie Mercury’s previous band, Wreckage, and appears on Queen’s third LP, Sheer Heart Attack. The album is famous for “Killer Queen”, the kind of cabaret rock anthem that helped define the iconic group. However, “Stone Cold Crazy”, though it’s an earlier tune, has a hyperactive riff foreshadowing the thrash metal of Metallica, who covered the song in 1990. Good luck keeping up with Brian May on this one!

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