“Keyboards” covers everything from pianos and synthesizers to harpsichords and organs. Modern popular recorded music has utilized all of these sounds, and keys have particularly enhanced the pull of classic rock. Here are five songs that feature some fleet-fingered keyboard solos performed on some iconic instruments that stand out in the classic rock pantheon.
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1. “Light My Fire” by The Doors, featuring Ray Manzarek on Vox Continental Combo Organ
Doors guitarist Robby Krieger was looking for a new song idea. He thought about the concept of the shelf life of a song—he was worried about songs becoming irrelevant over time. Krieger started concentrating on the four elements of matter: Earth, Water, Air, and Fire. These topics would be timeless.
Krieger brought the song to the band in a fairly completed version. The lyrics and melody were in place, even if the song was in a more folky vein. Keyboardist Ray Manzarek played the bass line with his left hand and then came up with the intro riff with his right hand. As the band added the song to its live shows, “Light My Fire” expanded and evolved with each performance. The extended keyboard solo that appears on the debut album is a masterpiece. The album version was edited down from 7:06 to 2:52 to fit the pop radio format, but some deejays preferred the more extended cut of the song and played that version anyway.
2. “Get Back” by The Beatles, featuring Billy Preston on Fender Rhodes
2021’s Get Back: The Beatles film documents the rehearsals and recordings of songs that would end up on Let It Be. As you watch the Fab Four interact, there’s no real thought as to how keys genius Billy Preston was contributing to the band a lot during this era—until he shows up on screen.
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The first half of the documentary is the four Beatles throwing stuff against the wall to see what sticks. Shown are snippets of old rock ‘n’ roll songs, brand new originals that were fully formed, and future songs that weren’t quite realized yet. But one of the most exciting moments occurs when Paul McCartney pulls “Get Back” out of the air. We see the song come together right in front of us.
It starts out simple enough, but it doesn’t go how we all know it ultimately will. McCartney is willing it into existence. It’s such a classic song that we all know where it needs to go, and almost on cue, it goes there in the next few seconds. When Preston shows up in an attempt to bring some cohesion back to the group, he adds the missing ingredient that completes the song. His Fender Rhodes electric piano solo is short but oh-so-sweet—perfect, in fact. It would still be The Beatles without it, but it wouldn’t be “Get Back.”
3. “Layla” by Derek and the Dominos, featuring Jim Gordon on piano
Derek and the Dominos came out of Delaney & Bonnie’s backup band. Clapton scooped up Bobby Whitlock, Carl Radle, and Jim Gordon, and they backed up George Harrison on his first solo album, the divine All Things Must Pass. Duane Allman joined this new group, and they made their own album, Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs.
The song “Layla” was credited to Clapton and drummer Gordon. The title was inspired by the 7th-century Arab poem called “Layla and Majnun.” The story centers around a moon princess suffering through an arranged marriage to a man she does not love. The song is made up of two distinctive parts. The first began as a ballad. Allman added the signature guitar riff, and it soon transformed into an urgent rocker.
At one point, Clapton returned to the studio to find drummer Jim Gordon playing a piano. He convinced Gordon to add the keyboard part to the song, and the classic outro to the existing recording was born. Allman and Clapton then added guitar parts over the repeated piano part.
4. “Frankenstein” by Edgar Winter Group, featuring Edgar Winter on ARP 2600 Synthesizer
This one stretches out. It’s not a particularly long song, but it goes way out into the stratosphere during the break. Edgar Winter played synthesizer, electric piano, alto saxophone, and timbales on the Rick Derringer-produced track.
“Frankenstein” wasn’t even going to be included on the album They Only Come Out at Night, but it was added at the last minute. The song was released as a B-side to “Hangin’ Around,” but the order was reversed when disc jockeys started getting calls to play “Frankenstein.” Which makes sense—given some momentum, the song reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100.
5. “Jump” by Van Halen, featuring Edward Van Halen on Oberheim OB-Xa synthesizer
The biggest hit of Van Halen’s career, “Jump,” was a departure for the guitar-driven, hard-rockin’ party band. Edward Van Halen had taken piano lessons as a child, but of course, he was destined to switch to electric guitar and revolutionize that instrument.
So he was met with some resistance when he presented the idea for the song “Jump” to his bandmates. Nonetheless, Van Halen recorded the song in Edward’s newly-built home studio. Singer David Lee Roth added the cock-sure lyrics, and it became the band’s biggest hit and the radio smash of the summer of 1984 on its way to becoming the only VH song to reach the top spot on Billboard’s Hot 100.
The synth solo was recorded on the Oberheim OB-Xa. The Police, Queen, Rush, Prince, and Gary Numan, amongst many others (especially after “Jump” came out), used that same model on their own hit recordings.
Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images
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