My Favorite B-Sides!

Readers of a certain age will have no idea what I'm talking about when I say "B-sides", but we'll dive in anyway - hahaha!

Jimi Hendrix

I live in Lexington, KY, and my buddy "Beerman" (he's a DJ on Classic Rock 92One) has a show called "Beerman's B-sides", which spurred a conversation between me and several others. So, I'm going to keep the list to a mere Baker's Dozen just to make it manageable, but I'd LOVE to hear YOUR favorites in the comment section!

Now, there are some very famous examples of B-sides that became hits and/or fan favorites, like "Beth" by Kiss (flip side of "Detroit Rock City") and "Good Riddance" by Green Day (A-side was "Brain Stew"), "Hound Dog" by Elvis Presley ("Don't be Cruel") and "Revolution" by the Beatles ("Hey Jude"), and many more by CCR, Doobie Brothers, Rolling Stones, Pearl Jam, and on and on....but I'm running with my personal favorites. Usually something that grabbed me in an unexpected way or a song I liked better than the A-side.

In writing this, I did have several surprises....like "Carry On My Wayward Son" was actually the A-side (I always thought it backed "Questions of My Childhood").

I'm going to mostly hit songs from my youth (I'm old, so enjoy the trip to the land of dinosaurs haha!) because that's when I was buying singles, but I'll probably have a few from the last days of the 45rpm!

So.....in chronological order, my baker's dozen (though I could easily list a dozen more):

1)  "Stone Free" by Jimi Hendrix (1966)

This is an odd inclusion, as I heard the song long before I even knew it was a single. But a friend (years after the release, probably in the early 1980s) played the original single "Hey Joe" and then flipped the 45, and "Stone Free" came crashing out of the speakers. Jimi at his funky finest!

2)  "Only Living Boy in New York" by Simon & Garfunkel (1970)

Another odd entry, as (just like the Hendrix song above) I had heard the song long before hearing it on the single...but just like the Hendrix, as much as I like "Cecilia", the song "Only Living Boy in New York" really hit me....and its still in my live set to this day.

Carly Simon 1973

3) "Grownup" by Carly Simon (1973)

One of my favorite songs ever written, it is a mostly forgotten composition that was the flip-side to the hit "Mokingbird", a cover of the soul song by Inez & Charlie Foxx (1963). Carly had performed "Mockingbird" with her then-husband James Taylor, and the song was all the rage. But the other side of the 45 was an absolute gem written and performed by Carly that someone should revive today. Among the most beautiful songs ever recorded.

4)  "Round & Round" by Aerosmith (1975)

Hard to imagine a song would grab me or anyone else even more than "Walk This Way", but the B-side "Round & Round" (the re-release a year later had "Uncle Salty" as the B-side, another fabulous song) is an incredible display of sonic fury! 

Honorable mention goes to he B-side of "Walk This Way" remake by Aerosmith with Run DMC - an instrumental version of "Walk This Way" that has an extended guitar solo, record scratches, sound effects, breakdown sections, and more.

5) "We Will Rock You" by Queen (1977)

As most of you probably know, "We Are the Champions" was the A-side, and I probably shouldn't put this on the list because its really more of a part one/part two scenario....but its such a classic! Honorable mention to other Queen A-side/B-side releases "Bicycle Race"/"Fat Bottom Girls" as well as others like "Spread Your Wings" (the live version backed the song "Crazy Little Thing Called Love") and "I'm In Love With My Car" (the flip side of "Bohemian Rhapsody").

6)  "Queen of Spades" by Styx (1978)

This rockin' track was the flip side to "Sing For the Day" from the album "Pieces of Eight", and was written by guitarist James Young and keyboardist Dennis DeYoung. Beautiful acoustic guitar opening that last 2 verses and lulls the listener into "ballad mode", then explodes into classic riff rock, complete with Styx vocal harmonies and a shredding guitar solo.  Blistering track!

7)  "Kings and Queens" by Aerosmith (1978)

The B-side to their cover of the Beatles "Come Together" from the film "Stg Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" starring Bee Gees, Steve Martin, and Peter Frampton (with guest appearances by Earth, Winf, & Fire, Alice Cooper, Aerosmith, & more), the song had originally appeared on the 1977 album "Draw the Line". Atypical lyrical approach by Tyler, but full of classic Tyler/Perry harmonies and Perry's badass guitar. Amazing track....

8) "Outta Love Again" by Van Halen (1979)

"Dance The Night Away" (the A-side) is a fabulous song, but I was definitely in a rockin' mood when I first bought this, and the B-side just kicked everything into overdrive! Features classic VH rhythm section, bizarre sci-fi feedback intro, almost funk-punk rock feel with Roth banshee screams, and early - and highly innovative - guitar work from Eddy. 

9) "Murder By Numbers" by The Police" (1983)

George Lynch late 1980s

This amazing song was forgotten by many because the A-side is the "Every Breath You Take", but if you haven't listened to "Murder...", I strongly suggest you check it out NOW. Tight, nasty, and deceptive drum line kicks it off, then Sting's vocal enters, followed by bass & guitar. The rhythm seems to keep changing, like the ground moving under your feet, and Sting's rather sinister lyric. Yeah...go listen now!

10) "Paris Is Burning" by Dokken (1983)

A-side was the song "Breaking the Chains", which was the song that put Dokken on the map. However, the B-side was a monster, especially for guitar fans! Recorded a couple of years earlier at a live concert in Berlin, it opens with a unaccompanied guitar solo by guitar god George Lynch, which covers the first 90 seconds of the song (the vocal doesn't even enter until almost 2 minutes in), and then we're treated to another guitar solo 3 minutes in!

My brother Joshua had walked in and said "You need to hear this...". Thanx, man!

11)  "Pink Cadillac" by Bruce Springsteen (1984)

The song "Dancing in the Dark" is outstanding, but "Pink Cadillac" is an absolute hidden treasure that ended up getting a lot of air play and hitting the charts. Total rockabilly feel, cynical yet funny lyric, full of attitude and swagger. If you can listen and not want to dance, I don't know you!

12)  "Hot Thing" by Prince (1987)

The mighty Prince

The flip-side of "I Could Never Take the place of Your Man" from the incredible album "Sign o' the Times", where every song could have been an A-side....and every song could have been a B-side! Keyboard, effects, and drum intro leads into classic steamy Prince, including trademark Bizarro Land vocal harmonies, layered talk/sing voices, horn solo, bass break....ALL the things!

13)  "Smells Like Teen Spirit" by Tori Amos (1991)

Yes, a 1991 cover of the Nirvana classic....and, in fact, Nirvana released the song as a single in September of 1991, while Tori put it as a B-side to "Silent All These Years" (from her debut solo album "Little Earthquakes") just two months later. As bold a move as we've seen in the music industry - up there with Jimi Hendrix performing "Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band" only three days after its release in London at the Seville Theater...with Paul McCartney and George Harrison in the audience.

And that little Hendrix trivia brings us full circle, but also brings us largely to the end of the age of the standard single. Extended singles, digital singles, and more followed, often without a specific B-side (sometimes several, sometimes, medleys for promo, sometimes remixes, etc.), vinyl had been replaced by not only cassette but by CDs, and the internet was already emerging with the first web browser, HTML, and the WWW protocol established by the early 1990s, which was the final nail in the coffin of traditional 45s.

But the ride was damn fun while it lasted!

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