It's interesting that "The Wind Cries Mary" by Jimi Hendrix has been mentioned in this light. I saw Jimi and still love most of his music. I think of this song as his country style tune, sliding 6th and 9th chords like a steel guitarist, which didn't come across in the version by that English "classical" pianist.
While using an electric guitar as a sound generator and trigger in the studio might not be the wide array of instrumentation that has been available for centuries, I still listen to "1983, A Merman I Would Be... moon, turn the tides away" as the most important recording I've ever owned. More than sentiment, Jimi creates atmospheric soundscapes that lets your mind find a musical journey that evolves every time I listen. And that's lying in the dark with studio headphones on.
My first thought here was Yes, "Relayer", and the song "Gates of Delirium". When the battle between opposing forces fades, and the remaining voice begins "Soon, oh soon the light, ours forever, ours the right", I find more than a simple mood being portrayed. Patrick Moraz, a European keyboardist and producer, was part of the group for just this one album, and I thought his exceptional synth work was responsible for the best part of the instrumental work, but when I saw Yes live the next year it was Steve Howe sitting behind a double steel guitar, playing my favorite parts.
Maybe I didn't totally fit in with the hard rock club and concert scene back then, even if I was a full time player, but I remember the sixties. Even as a missionary, thinking of music, there's one song that stands out like I was invited into someone's residence to hear some heartfelt complaints, and family decisions, and that's "The Thrill is Gone" by B.B. King. "I Will Survive" by Gloria Gaynor also put it out there for all to see, and be inspired by.
John Williams soundtrack to "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" has it all.
I was just listening to some Emerson, Lake and Palmer at a friends house last night, and it reminded me that I figured out "Take a Pebble" on guitar and used to sing that. It also reminded me how much I liked King Crimson, another vote for musical moods.
and... and... maybe I'm a semi-solid-bodied man,
but that one note I hit that one night might be the best musical moment I ever felt.
That's after derailing my own train with Coltrane.
:grin:. ps. I was fortunate enough to have attended the initial American appearance of ELP at Carnegie Hall in 1970, and their performance still leaves me in awe, most especially their doing " Just Take a Pebble".
