Any Major Flute Vol. 1
A reader asked nicely whether I might re-up the Any Major Flute series. Over the next couple of months, I will do just that, leaving the format unchanged from when I first posted it seven years ago. But now I’m including home-blown covers. Like this one:
I may have mentioned once or twice that if a song features a bit of flute, I’ll like it. So it seems to me that mix celebrating the flute in pop is necessary and desirable. I know that some people hate the idea of flute in rock — perhaps this mix will disabuse them of such odd notions. Should one or the song feature a piccolo or recorder instead of the flute, please enjoy the respite and don’t shout at me. If this mix is popular enough, I’ll put together a second mix of songs I’ve held back. And, look Ma, no Jethro Tull!
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1. Gil Scott-Heron & Brian Jackson – Winter in America (1974)
Flute Moment: 3:57 – Gil goes “stick”, and Brian lets rip with his flute.
2. Baby Huey – California Dreamin’ (1971)
Flute Moment: 2:10 – After the flute does it alone for the long intro, the instrumental party kicks off.
3. Josh Rouse – James (2003)
Flute Moment: 2:47 – Rouse captures the sound of 1972, as the album title promises, when the flute goes into a conversation with the guitar.
4. Bobby Bland – Ain’t No Love In the Heart Of The City (1974)
Flute Moment: 2:06 & 3:22 – Listen closely or you’ll miss it.
5. Eddie Rabbitt – Suspicions (1979)
Flute Moment: 2:14 – Hail the flute solo
6. Carpenters – Road One (1972)
Flute Moment: 2:14 – Spookily, the flute solo here commences at the same time as that in Suspicion.
7. MJ – I Wanna Be Where You Are (1972)
Flute Moment: 1:47 – The flute backs young Michael funkily, and then gets its solo spot.
8. Blackbyrds – Walking In Rhythm (1974)
Flute Moment: 1:55 – Flute solo in rhythm.
9. The Mamas & the Papas – Creeque Alley (1967)
Flute Moment: 2:23 – Like the Carpenters, The Mamas & The Papas liked a bit of flute.
10. Frank Sinatra with Count Basie – Fly Me To The Moon (1966)
Flute Moment:0:35 – You don’t really expect to hear the flute in Sinatra’s music. In this live recording, Count Basie gives this standard a flute signature.
11. David Bowie – Moonage Daydream (1972)
Flute Moment: 1:54 – Bowie goes all Jethro Tull on us for a minute.
12. Cardigans – Sick & Tired (1994)
Flute Moment: 0:02 – The background flute never leaves us.
13. Van M. – Everyone (1970)
Flute Moment: 1:48 – After being with us throughout, the flute gets a 30-second solo.
14. Traffic – John Barleycorn (1970)
Flute Moment: 1:07 – The prog rock flute classic that’s not by Jethro Tull.
15. Carole King – So Far Away (1971)
Flute Moment: 3:16 – Carole gamely resisted the urge to include the flute for much of the song.
16. Simon & Garfunkel – So Long, Frank Lloyd Wright (1970)
Flute Moment: 1:18 – The flute takes the lead, accompanied by acoustic guitar, strings and percussion.
17. The Beatles – You’ve Got To Hide Your Love Away (1965)
Flute Moment:1:47 – The flute sees out my favourite Beatles song.
18. The Beach Boys – Feel Flows (1971)
Flute Moment: 1:44 – Aah, there’s the flute.
19. Beastie Boys – Sure Shot (1994)
Flute Moment: 0:01 – The cool flute hook, sampled from Jeremy Steig’s Howling For Judy, stays with us through almost all of the song.
PW = amdwhah
A suggestion for the next mix- Carly Simon’s “Spy”. Nice flute solo in that one.
I also kinda have a guilty-pleasure soft spot for that first Fogelberg/Weisberg album too, especially this one instrumental the name of which escapes me.
A post on flutes in pop music ad no mention of the Style Council? My flabber is gasted.
Always did love that Gil Scott-Heron track, btw. With the world economy going tits up his lyrics will never go out of fashion.
I am glad you finally put this together, I’ve been looking forward to it. This is a great mix with quite the diversity of songs. Keep up the great work.
I’m mystified/relieved/astounded/saddened (it’s Saturday, and I never know how I feel) that Chicago’s “Colour My World” didn’t show up here. Nice selection, though.
Oh, that will most certainly feature in volume 2, whiteray.
Darren, please guide me as to which Style Council song you think I should include. They hadn’t even occurred to me.
Will check out Spy, Mr Bacardi.
“Katmandu” by Cat Stevens has a pretty great flute solo, and it’s by Peter Gabriel of all people.
Tull!
Excellent slice of Heron.
There’s a nice flute solo on Mario’s Cafe by St Etienne, although on reflection it’s probably a synth. Still, I’d kill for Ms Cracknell, I sure would.
Like the new site too.
Cheers,
Moq
thanks so much for all the work you do. i love reading your blog. the mere mention of the flute led me to believe i would see at least one classic jethro tull song. i don’t know how this many songs could be here without one. i am sure it was an error.
Oh, the Tull omission was deliberate. Too obvious, I thought. I’ve a Tull one for volume 2 (and the response suggests that the concept is popular enough to warramt a follow-up).
Just a couple suggestions for Vol. 2.
“Call Me Al”- Paul Simon
“I Love NYE”-Badly Drawn Boy
I know the BDB track is instrumental, but I still love it. I look forward to the next installment.
Hey how about Will Farrell’s hilarious flute number from “Anchorman”?
“This is baby-makin’ music!!”
I think you could have started something here.
How about Manfred Mann – Mighty Quinn ?? THe first thing that cem into my mind when I started reading the article (apart rom Tull !)
http://echoesinthewind.blogspot.com/2009/02/and-lamp-posts-call-your-name.html
A touch of flute on the Blood Sweat And Tears tune, but I suspect if you don’t know it already you’ll like the song. It seems right up your street.
Please consider including something flutish from the underappreciated Stackridge (http://www.stackridge.net) on Volume 2 — perhaps the jaunty “Lummy Days”?
seek ye ‘Ashley’s Roachclip’ by the Soul Searchers
FYI, the Canned Heat song was originally recorded in the late 1920’s by Texas singer Henry Thomas, who played the flute riff on cane pan pipes.
Finally got to check this mix out. Nice work! I’ve always dug flute solos, so thank you.
Was just listening to my iPod and “suspicion” came on and had to thank you again for adding to this mix. I have to admit I was really only interested in Eddie Rabbit as a Greatest Hits “the single” (albeit with a b-side) I hadn’t listened to more of his and after this mix went out and got the greatest hits and am thankful I have. Funny story though, I actually saw him at the Arizona State Fair as a kid, but don’t remember much of the concert.
have you heard of herbie mann?
loads of style council stuff has flutes on it… i really like the cafe bleu album personally….
good call on gil scot heron….
check out “the fife piper” by the dynatones for a 60s soul/mod flute thing!
im also a big fan of mandrill, they use some funky shit on their tunes….
Great list.
I’m putting a list together of flutes in soul music: http://soulmusicsongs.tumblr.com/tagged/flute
On of my favorites is “Take Some, Leave Some” by James Brown.
Thanks for this list!!
I greatly enjoyed this mix. One of my favorites songs featuring flute is “Another Star” by Stevie Wonder featuring Bobbi Humphrey on flute. The song clocks in at over 8 minutes on the Songs in the Key of Life album, so it might be too long for you to feature on one of your mixes, but it would certainly fit right in. Humphrey’s has been quoted as saying she did her bit on the song in one take. Any track by Humphrey’s on one of these mixes would be welcomed.
Thanks again for the great music shares!
Well, there’s always “Flute Thing,” by the Blues Project.
An interesting, and somewhat obscure, flute song is Manfred Mann’s “A ‘B’ Side,” which was the B-side to “Ragamuffin Man.” It starts off with the flute being played in what I can only describe as a percussive manner, and as a rhythm instrument. Once the other instruments kick in, the flute is part of the melody.
This is nice.
Here’s my two cents : Undun by The Guess Who, House On The Hill or It Brings A Tear by Audience, With Everything To Lose by The Style Council.
The sound of a flure is pure magical. Hamelin and the rats knows it! :-) Seriously now, nice selection! Brian Jackson’s flute is also sublime in “The Bottle” (I have the studio and the live version on the 2 x LP “It’s Your World”). Many other sublime flute solos and flute short parts in so many tracks come to my mind, on the latin-jazz field. I think on Mongo Santamaria “Cookie” intro, spanish bag-piper player and songwriter Carlos Núñez have many tracks with very mellow flute solos. A track by Cleveland Eaton, “Daydream” (from the Gamble album “Half & Half) captivated ne nany years ago. Or another magical flute on Ju-Par Universal Orchestra “Flute Salade”; or the intro of MFSB “South Philly” by Jack Faith, or also by MFSB “Thank You, Miss Scott” (perhaps the most mellow flute of my particular collection)… Or when I take my CD’s by Thys Van Leer (“Introspections”) and the flute is the main ingredient of the musical menu…
Cheers to all and many thanks!
I thought I had an entirely private obsession with flutes in pop, so I’m loving your compilation. I’d be over the moon if you can upload further flute compilations!
Thanks for everything
Yes, there’ll be more over the next few months.
Hi. Two songs with flute I thought of:
“Lotta Love” by Nicolette Larson
“Tragedy” by The Fleetwoods
Although it is a very soft song, “Tragedy” may appeal to you. The original version by Thomas Wayne is also very nice.
Unfortunately, the solo in “Wild Thing” by the Troggs uses an ocarina, an eastern European instrument.
Great call on “Winter In America”. That may be my favorite use of flute among the songs listed.
Nice blog!
Wooooow! After hi have heard it, is the only word I can say. Many thanks. You make me search my copy of “Three” album by Bob James, that contains a cover of the popular song “Woman Of Ireland” with a mellow solo flute by Freddie Hubbard that deserves to appears in any Flute Magical Selection. Thanks again and cheers to all from a “symphonic rock / soul / jazz” fanatic from Tarragona (Spain).
Track Goes By by High Llamas from Gideon Gaye for the next volume!
14 minute song and last 8 or so are locked into one groove, with freelancing flute atop
John Mayall’s “Turning Point” has a nice couple of songs with flute, I like Sleeping by Her Side. The Man Who Sailed Around His Soul by XTC. Aaron Neville’s cover of Be My Baby on “My True Story” has a little flute solo at the 2 minute mark. I appreciate the fine work you do.
So many great ideas. I’ll collate what I can and what I like into a mix, once I’ve posted the other two.
Just saying thanks for the comp – and don’t hold back on the Tull………..