Wah-Wah Tribute List

Another useless few minutes clicking idly and I found this...I'm posting it here for the musicophiles here to comment. I think it's pretty funny and mostly right on. At least, in terms of the songs of the list which I recognize...

From Splendid Magazine

Cry, Cry, Cry: A 25-Song Tribute to the Wah-Wah Pedal

Invented in 1967 by two engineers working for a division of Whirlpool (yes, the dishwasher manufacturer, but they also owned Vox at the time), the wah-wah pedal was designed to mimic the voice-like sound of muted brass. Frank Zappa, an early adopter, was reportedly turned on to the wah-wah by the guitarist from the Monks, but it was after Cream's Disraeli Gears ("Tales of Ulysses" was one of the first big hits to use the wah-wah) that the effect really took off. In the late 1960s, a succession of guitar gods put the pedal to work -- Hendrix, Clapton, Blackmore, Stills, Barrett -- and it became the signature sound of psychedelic excess. Sly and the Family Stone were one of the first soul bands to make use of the wah-wah pedal, and the sound spread quickly to every corner of soul, gospel, funk and (later) disco. The wah fell out of fashion in the late 1970s, because, as Fiery Furnaces' Matt Friedberger told us, "it's hard to imagine a less punk sound than the wah-wah", and today can mostly be heard on classic rock stations and in newer bands heavily indebted to the 1970s. Here are 25 (mostly) great songs that make use the wah-wah, from its late 1960s debut to the present.

Thanks for advice and suggestions from Christian Carey, Ron Davies, Dave Madden, Matt Friedberger and Steve Wynn.

Jimi Hendrix's "Voodoo Child (Slight Return)"
The quarter-hour "Voodoo Chile", fueled by Steve Winwood's incendiary Hammond and Jimi's mind-altering guitar, stands among the best blues jams ever. Hendrix reprises its themes in this stark, rock-oriented follow-up, which starts with one of his (or anyone's) greatest wah solos.

Cream's "White Room"
This track is psychedelic rock at its apex, with Jack Bruce's ethereal vocals anchored by Clapton's mind-changing, sexually-charged wah-wah. Clapton as god was a few years away, but he was already gaining on the Holy Ghost.

Deep Purple's "Bird Has Flown"
Here's where hard rock started to slip free of its blues-centric roots and nudge toward classics-nodding prog. Blackmore's wah slices and dices Lord's excess-flirting organ and keeps "Bird Has Flown" on the right side of the genius/wanker continuum.

Sly and the Family Stone's "Africa Talks To You/The Asphalt Jungle/There's A Riot Going On"
Freddie Stone's laid-back wah interlaces with the bone-shaking Larry Graham bass line in a track that tells you everything you need to know about funk wah for the next 20 years. There's some great wah work on "Love 'N Haight", too.

The Temptations' "Cloud Nine"
Wah-wah Watson transformed the Temptations' sound with his twitchy, hazy, psychedelic guitar work, underscoring the band's shift from gospel-flavored love songs to darker social commentary. Definitely not your father's Motown.

Isaac Hayes' "The Theme from Shaft"
Wah-wah guitar is a staple of '70s cop show themes and porno soundtracks, so it makes sense that Shaft, partaking of a little of both, would have a theme that damn near defines the genre. A generation of funk wannabes learned the wah-wah from this song (while still more drummers were turned on to the possibilities of the hi-hat by it).

Miles Davis' Jack Johnson
On this 1970 documentary soundtrack, Davis took his first steps into fusion, melding his extraordinary sound with John McLaughlin's funk-flavored, wah-laced guitar. You can buy the complete sessions of this long-overlooked classic now, or you can wait for the Ken Burns-sanctioned, Marsalis-led new version, but I'm sticking with the Columbia Jazz original.

Pink Floyd's "Lucifer Sam"
Contemporaries say that Barrett was a master of the wah-wah live, but toned his act way the hell down for recording sessions. Still, the great Piper is littered with wah artifacts, including the nervous, stabbing guitar work on this cat-themed track.

Edie Brickell and the New Bohemians' "What I Am"Sure, a year after this came out, no one would admit to liking it, and Edie's voice still grates on me like lemon juice on a paper cut. But "What I Am"'s wah-drenched guitar solo was the primo air guitar material for 1989. (CC)

Dead Meadow's "The Whirlings"
Who says dinosaurs no longer walk the earth? This DC-based trio revives the power sludge of '70s psych, not to mention the lumbering muscle of amped-up, tripped-out wah.

J.J. Cale's "Ride Me High"
A cult figure who influenced guitar heavyweights like Clapton and Knopfler gets the prize for subtle, restrained use of wah in this whispery country-funk classic. Check the rubbery, ominous runs that creep in toward the end.

The Stooges' "1969"
Ron Asheton gets at least three different sounds out of each note in the twanging, wailing, standard setting first seconds of the Stooges' first album. Jungle-primitive and emotive as a raw nerve, his wah-filtered style puts the exclamation point under Iggy's fevered howl.

Fiery Furnaces' "Two Fat Feet"
These days, fashionable rockers emulate Gang of Four, who were not exactly known for their use of the Cry Baby. Think about it -- when was the last time you got a new album with wah-wah all over it? If you answered Gallowsbird Bark, you get the prize. Matt Friedberger swims against the tide with dizzy, everything-but-the-kitchen-sink arrangements that rely heavily on the bluesy, psychedelic wah.

Delta 72's "Are You Ready?"
Soul punk revivalists splice a gorgeously dirty, sludgy wah-wah into the opening track from OOO. Well, are you ready?

Chicago's "25 or 6 to 4"
Okay, admittedly they sucked ass after II, but for one brief, early-'70s moment it looked like Chicago was going to connect the dots between hard rock and jazz. Their finest moment was the ferocious riff under this song and the wildly wahed-out solo mid-track. And now that I've blown whatever cred I've ever had, how about...

Peter Frampton's "Baby I Love Your Way"
Another talking guitar song from the wildly popular, soft-porn decorated Frampton Comes Alive. Okay, I thought I could be all ironic and post-modern about this CD, but let's just admit it -- great guitarists occasionally (hell, frequently) make truly god-awful albums.

Primal Scream's "If They Move, Kill 'Em" from Vanishing PointThat scratchy chick-a-chick-a sound you've heard over a hundred car chase soundtracks forms the neu-funk backbone of this trippy, '70s-influenced dance track. Freeze, muthafucka!

Tindersticks' "Can Our Love"
To me the wah always sounds like some variety of sex -- dirty, kinky, dreamy, goofy or, in this case, impossibly slow and sensual. The notes bubble up out of the void, just brushing the vocals, and it could go on forever, as far as I'm concerned.

Tortoise's "Eros"
The wah goes post-rock in this *****ic duel between marimba and electronically-altered growl. You can almost hear the guitar talk on this track, though it sounds a bit like the teachers in Charlie Brown TV specials.

Steve Wynn's "Here Come the Miracles"
It's Wurlitzer piano coming through the wah here, not guitar, but it's still psychedelic magic. (And it's got a pedigree. Pink Floyd used wah-wah keyboards on "Money" and other tracks, too.)

Ween's "Voodoo Lady"
Although Dean Ween uses his wah to give the studio version of this song a touch of sleaze, in the live setting he pours it on until it becomes the sonic equivalent of Hustler magazine. While this may not be the most artful use of the effect, it creates a stunningly heady, sexy, and sweaty vibe. (RD)

Jane's Addiction's "Mountain Song"
There isn't too much in terms of hot wah-wah action on this track, but when pre-sexy-man/pre-rehab Dave Navarro lays it down, consider it laid. There are a few measures during the guitar solo when you understand why this song includes "Mountain" in the title, as the sounds of an earth-shaking event slowly creep in and are wahed (coupled with lovely echoplex) to hell and back. (DM)

Red Hot Chili Peppers' "Sir Psycho Sexy"
Of course, they're ripping off P-Funk, but when the Peppers want to make porno music, they do it right. John Frusciante (back before the drugs took his fingernails, teeth and most of the skin on his upper torso) lays in a groove, barely heeling the pedal on the low frequency side as Anthony Kiedis sings some of the crassest lyrics in his repertoire ("Deep inside the Garden of Eden / standing there with my hard-on bleedin' / there's a devil in my dick and some demons in my semen"). (DM)

Love and Rockets' "Deep Deep Down"
One of the most underrated guitarists in history, Daniel Ash demonstrates his three-chord style (all of them interesting) at its finest before launching into what he does best, a one-note solo. Full of fire and emotion, the formula is simple: blinding pick-work, alternating one measure of "pedal down" with one measure of "pedal up". He does this for eight measures before this basically trip-hop track spaces out over a groove of arpeggiated synths and loops, with Ash picking out the occasional note, creating textures. (DM)

Rage Against the Machine's "Bulls on Parade"
My brother bought a wah-wah and formed a band to go along with it after hearing this song. Yes, it is the most commercial track on an album by one of the most pretentious "political" bands of the '90s, but I'm positive Jim Dunlop's sales went through the roof once this track dropped. The whole thing is based around that little pre-chorus of "wow-wow chicka wow-wow chicka, chicka, chicka chicka", but the subtle colors of wah-wah wixed with whammy-pedal (down a dirty octave) is what makes this track worthy of mention -- even if the weak "scratching" solo fucks it all up. (DM)

-- Jennifer Kelly and staff