Sometimes it’s the things that take the most effort that are most worth doing. Take songwriting for example. Everyone has heard the tales of hit songs that only took 10 minutes to write. While that is certainly a feat in itself, it’s not always the case. Find three songs below that were a real struggle for musicians to record, but turned out to be more than worth the toil.
Videos by American Songwriter
1. “Bohemian Rhapsody”
Creating “Bohemian Rhapsody” by today’s recording standards wouldn’t be an easy feat, let alone the technology Queen had at their disposal in the ’70s. Analog tape recording was a fickle process–particularly so when attempting to overdub about a gazillion different vocal and instrument lines.
Freddie Mercury had a distinct vision for “Bohemian Rhapsody.” In the end, his epic vision came to life, but not before running into some technical difficulties. As seen in the biopic of the same name, the tape they used to record this rock hit was almost clear by the time Mercury laid down his final note.
2. “Never Going Back Again” (Fleetwood Mac)
Rumours was a volatile era for Fleetwood Mac. We’d have to think any studio time with those waring bandmates would’ve been a struggle. However, “Never Going Back Again” was a particularly troublesome session.
Lindsey Buckingham was putting the final touches on his intricate guitar riff only to discover that it wasn’t low enough for his vocal range. Buckingham didn’t take the easy road though. He instead decided to start the whole song over. We can only imagine how an already annoyed Stevie Nicks reacted to that decision…
3. “The Long Run” (Eagles)
Similar to the recording sessions for Rumours, the Eagles found themselves wrought with tension while trying to record The Long Run. Drug-induced writer’s block was mostly to blame for the back and forth, but the band struggled to see anything through.
Eventually, they found their way to this stellar title track. You’d find it hard to believe they fussed about this song for how easy-breezy it is.
(Photo by Express Newspapers/Getty Images)
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