Originally posted by Curval
At first I thought so too...but then I saw the references to when the levee breaks and Kashmir and thought...nah.
You're right - the ultimate pop song award goes to the Beach Boys for "Good Vibrations", which was considered a dud when the Boys were recording it. They thought Brian Wilson was insane (and he probably was) when he came up with the chord changes. You can't dance to it, it has no continuous beat, but the spirit is rock solid.
Ultimate Rock n Roll tune - "Kashmir" by Led Zeppelin. That song is so immortal its even been soundbit'd for rap songs (which may or may not be a good thing).
Gordon Lightfoot may have been a 1 or 2-hit wonder balladeer, but he did manage to get a song right and do it so that nobody else could copy it with the same feel. Its like the national anthem by Jimi Hendrix - you can try, but you'll never be better than the original. Jimi hit the highwater mark for guitar solos with that one and nobody is going to be able to recapture that soul.
{edit: I gotta include the ultimate ballad in this post: "Ghostriders In The Sky", one of the best American folk songs turned into pop recording ever put on a 45}
