SelfDevouringSnake Posted July 7, 2010 Share Posted July 7, 2010 What are your favorite wah songs? I've been thinking about this a lot recently, and figured I'd write about it after I saw a thread in the Musician's Corner called "Wah Wars" (about Vox vs. Cry Baby). The wah is a really cool effects pedal. It modifies the tone of a signal to sound like a human when he/she is saying "wah". That's my understanding of it - I'm not an electrician. It emerged in the mid '60s as a tool for the psychedelic guitarist being popularized by the some of the innovators of the day like Hendrix and Clapton. My favorite wah songs: 1. "Voodoo Child (Slight Return)" - The Jimi Hendrix Experience. Just mind-blowing. It transcends the label of psychedelic. Uses the Vox. 2. "White Room" - Cream. With "Voodoo Child (Slight Return)", the two classic wah songs. Uses the Cry Baby. 3. "Dazed and Confused" - Led Zeppelin. The wah work here isn't as substantial as the first two, but it's still worthy. Page gets a sharper tone with the wah than Hendrix or Clapton. 4. "Bulls on Parade" - Rage Against the Machine. Morello uses the wah in a supporting riff. 5. "25 or 6 to 4" - Chicago. Only started listening to Chicago recently, but as somebody in my "Rank of Electric Guitarists" thread said, Terry Kath was a master of the wah. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Poindexter Posted July 7, 2010 Share Posted July 7, 2010 Some of the best wah I like is by Supertramp. Bloody Well Right-the intro Goodbye Stranger-the outake. Brilliant solo althought the effects maybe be more than wah. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rock N' Rollin' Man Posted July 7, 2010 Share Posted July 7, 2010 "Algo ha cambiado" and "Adonde esta la libertad" - Pappo's Blues "Automatic Fantastic" - Brant Bjork "Tales of Brave Ulysses" and "White Room" - Cream "Split Part 1 and 2" - Groundhogs "Voodoo Chile (Slight Return)" - The Jimi Hendrix Experience "Introduction" and "I Just Don't Know" - Radio Moscow Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wolfman Posted July 8, 2010 Share Posted July 8, 2010 The ultimate Wah song....No Quarter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snapper Posted July 8, 2010 Share Posted July 8, 2010 Steve Miller Band - The Joker Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tom kid Posted July 8, 2010 Share Posted July 8, 2010 The ultimate Wah song....No Quarter. This. Especially live versions from '75, '77 or '79. The Wah solos at the end of the song are awesome! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ally Posted July 8, 2010 Share Posted July 8, 2010 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NgzblqNeOOw Hendrix : Still Raining .. Still Dreaming Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swede Posted July 8, 2010 Share Posted July 8, 2010 Voodoo Child (Slight Return) is hard to beat. But I like The Needle And The Spoon with Lynyrd Skynyrd too, Allen Collins does a great job on that tune. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bFPaxK-q5gI Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greenman Posted July 8, 2010 Share Posted July 8, 2010 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dh3bleXWaCk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xtazy Posted July 8, 2010 Share Posted July 8, 2010 Sweet Child o' Mine - Guns N' Roses. Probably the best wah solo you'll ever hear. Also, Civil War, another great song. Slash rips on both of them and on Slither too, by Velvet Revolver. Virtuosos like Steve Vai and Joe Satriani create masterpieces with a wah pedal: see Bad Horsie by Vai and Summer Song or Surfing with the Alien by Joe. Not to mention Jimi... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swede Posted July 8, 2010 Share Posted July 8, 2010 Sweet Child o' Mine - Guns N' Roses. That's true, it's one hell of a solo indeed. With or without wah wah. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EzyEric Posted July 8, 2010 Share Posted July 8, 2010 Agree about Voodoo Chile. Gov't Mule - Inside Outside Woman Blues [best version: 2010-02-06] (PM Me if you need this) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MMAharaja Posted July 8, 2010 Share Posted July 8, 2010 Pretty much anything by Satriani. Electric Funeral is probably my favorite song that relies heavily on the wah pedal though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rock N' Rollin' Man Posted July 8, 2010 Share Posted July 8, 2010 Here's the Groundhogs with "Split Part 1 and 2" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xtazy Posted July 8, 2010 Share Posted July 8, 2010 Pretty much anything by Satriani. He doesn't use the wah pedal that often... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MMAharaja Posted July 8, 2010 Share Posted July 8, 2010 He doesn't use the wah pedal that often... Since this thread is about songs that feature the wah pedal, I'm obviously talking about the ones that do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xtazy Posted July 8, 2010 Share Posted July 8, 2010 Since this thread is about songs that feature the wah pedal, I'm obviously talking about the ones that do. Yeah but when you say "anything" by Satriani, I tend to think of his whole discography, not only of the songs that feature the wah pedal. That's why I was a bit confused since not more than 15-20 % of his work features that effect. Anyhow, even if you thought about all of his wah songs, I think you should try to somehow rank them, since this is a "best songs" thread, not a "best artist" thread. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rock N' Rollin' Man Posted July 8, 2010 Share Posted July 8, 2010 How could I forget these from Black Sabbath: "Electric Funeral" (Absolutely love it used in this song) "N.I.B." "A National Acrobat" Frank Zappa has a good share of good ones as well for example, "I'm the Slime" and "Willie the Pimp." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kaiser Posted July 9, 2010 Share Posted July 9, 2010 Songs by bands that have not been mentioned yet that I absolutely love that are "wah" heavy: The Stooges - I Wanna Be Your Dog Blind Faith - Presence Of The Lord The Jeff Beck Group - I Ain't Superstitous The Rolling Stones - Doo Doo Doo Doo Doo (Heartbreaker) The Smiths - The Queen Is Dead ...and a special mention to Jimi Hendrix's "The Burning Of The Midnight Lamp", both the studio & BBC versions. And let's not forget "Machine Gun" if just for that one wah wah-ed note alone during the solo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MMAharaja Posted July 9, 2010 Share Posted July 9, 2010 How could I forget these from Black Sabbath: "Electric Funeral" (Absolutely love it used in this song) "N.I.B." "A National Acrobat" Frank Zappa has a good share of good ones as well for example, "I'm the Slime" and "Willie the Pimp." Great, great songs. I can play N.I.B. and sound just like Iommi without a wah, so I don't think he uses one in that song. Geezer does use a wah for the bass intro though, so either I'm playing it wrong or that's what you're talking about. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rock N' Rollin' Man Posted July 9, 2010 Share Posted July 9, 2010 Great, great songs. I can play N.I.B. and sound just like Iommi without a wah, so I don't think he uses one in that song. Geezer does use a wah for the bass intro though, so either I'm playing it wrong or that's what you're talking about. Yeah the bass solo in the beginning is what I meant. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MMAharaja Posted July 9, 2010 Share Posted July 9, 2010 Yeah the bass solo in the beginning is what I meant. Ok, I was worried for a second that I was playing it wrong all this time. You've gotta love that bass intro. It almost motivated me to actually buy a bass so I could learn it. Too bad I was/am broke. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rock N' Rollin' Man Posted July 9, 2010 Share Posted July 9, 2010 ^ It is great as well as the song can't think of any other song with a bass intro that can rival it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swede Posted July 9, 2010 Share Posted July 9, 2010 Songs by bands that have not been mentioned yet that I absolutely love that are "wah" heavy: The Stooges - I Wanna Be Your Dog Blind Faith - Presence Of The Lord The Jeff Beck Group - I Ain't Superstitous The Rolling Stones - Doo Doo Doo Doo Doo (Heartbreaker) The Smiths - The Queen Is Dead ...and a special mention to Jimi Hendrix's "The Burning Of The Midnight Lamp", both the studio & BBC versions. And let's not forget "Machine Gun" if just for that one wah wah-ed note alone during the solo. Some really great wah wah tunes there.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chef free Posted July 10, 2010 Share Posted July 10, 2010 How about Clapton'ss olo turned down way in the back of George Harrison's song Art of Dying? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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