For no other reason than I wanted to listen to a song that sounded like the New York Dolls, but wasn’t actually performed by the New York Dolls, I put on R.E.M.’s “Crush with Eyeliner” this morning. That, in and of itself, isn’t particularly interesting; neither is the fact that I went to the song’s Wikipedia page the second “King of Comedy” came on. Where it does get interesting, though, is that Thurston Moore, of Sonic Youth fame, plays guitar and provides background vocals on “Crush,” something I never realized before. (Thanks, Wikipedia!)
That got me thinking: what other well-known songs include subtle guest appearances from other extremely famous musicians? Here are 15 other instances.
Song: "Sing This All Together (See What Happens)" by the Rolling Stones
Guest Appearance: John Lennon and Paul McCartney, backing vocals
Song: "Out to Get You" by Grand Funk Railroad
Guest Appearance: Frank Zappa, guitar
Song: "Your Sweet And Shiny Eyes" by Bonnie Raitt
Guest Appearance: Tom Waits, piano and backing vocals
Song: "Midnight Special" by Harry Belafonte
Guest Appearance: Bob Dylan, harmonica
Song: "To Know You Is to Love You" by B.B. King
Guest Appearance: Stevie Wonder, keyboard
Song: "I'm a Lover Not a Fighter" by the Kinks
Guest Appearance: Jimmy Page, acoustic guitar
Song: "Bust a Move" by Young MC
Guest Appearance: Flea, bass
Song: "Ball and Chain" by Elton John
Guest Appearance: Pete Townshend, acoustic guitar
Song: "Letterbomb" by Green Day
Guest Appearance: Kathleen Hanna, as the taunter at the beginning
Song: "You Nearly Did Me In" by Ian Hunter
Guest Appearance: Freddie Mercury, Brian May, and Roger Taylor, backing vocals
Song: "Faster and Louder" by the Dictators
Guest Appearance: Bruce Springsteen, counting down "1-2-3-4" at the beginning
Song: "Twist of Cain" by Danzig
Guest Appearance: James Hetfield, backing vocals
Song: "Province" by TV on the Radio
Guest Appearance: David Bowie, backing vocals
Song(s): "Are You Hung Up?" and "Nasal Retentive Calliope Music" by Mothers of Invention
Guest Appearance: Eric Clapton, "male speaking part"
Song: "It's All About the Benjamins (Rock Remix)" by Puff Diddy, Lil Kim, the LOX, and the Notorious B.I.G.
Guest Appearance: Tommy Stinson, Fuzzbubble, Rob Zombie, and Dave Grohl
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Travis Barker is a big proponent of this (ie “Dope Boys” by The Game and “I Am Not A Human Being” by Lil Wayne). Also another very underrated and so impossibly subtle collaboration is Lenny Kravitz on the guitar on N.E.R.D.’s track “Maybe.” The track also includes Questlove on the drums per yesterday’s post.
Good call. And to combine them, Barker plays drums on N.E.R.D.’s “Provider.”
Weird Al Yankovic did backing vocals on the Ben Folds song “Time”. Ben Folds did the piano part on Weird Al’s “Why Does This Always Happen to Me?”
The Obvious Ones:
“While My Guitar Gently Weeps” – Eric Clapton (guitar solo)
“Money For Nothing” – Sting (background vocals)
“Heart of Gold” – Linda Ronstandt & James Taylor (background vocals)
Alanis Morissette’s first and biggest release, “You Oughta Know”, featured a background band of the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ Flea and Dave Navarro (also of Jane’s Addiction), who both also composed the song. She wrote the lyrics, but they wrote the music.
NIN – Even Deeper (feat. Beats by See)
pics, because it still doesn’t make sense – [www.ninwiki.com]
Springsteen’s spoken part on Lou Reed’s Street Hassle.
Stevie Nicks, Kenny Loggins, and Michael MacDonald were all over the place during the 70′s.
Brian Jones played saxophone on the Beatles’ “You Know My Name, Look Up the Number.”
Harrison Ford did whip cracks on a Jimmy Buffett song.
Eddie Van Halen on Beat It.
Jack White on Danger! High Voltage
(admittedly, not that subtle. but I’m stupid and didn’t notice that was him for years)
What about Mick Jagger singing on Carly Simon’s “You’re so vain?”
How can you miss Bryan Adams on “Don’t Forget Me When I’m Gone” by Glass Tiger?
I know I’m late to the game, but what about Trent Reznor singing backing vocals on Tori Amos’ Past The Mission?