Welcome to My Weekly Mixtape, a podcast that
takes the classic mixtape approach to building
a modern playlist. I'm your host, Brian Colburn.
Joining me tonight once again as guest curator
is John Lurie, drummer for both Tantric and Smile
Empty Soul. John, welcome back to the show, my
friend. Oh, very excited to be back. Thanks for
having me, Brian. Well, tonight's topic is one
that has been requested actually multiple times.
And considering it's Saturday Night Live's 50th
anniversary this year, there's been a ton of
replays of Christopher Walken uttering that glorious
line, I've got a fever and the only prescription
is more cowbell. So with that being said, John,
I have brought you on for the tough task of finding
the ultimate cowbell anthems in rock and roll.
Now, as a drummer. I'm sure there's just a little
bit of cliche in that terminology. Yeah, 100%.
This is like if there could be a joke that everybody
beats a dead horse, this is the one. This is
the one that, you know, the minute you even touch
a cowbell or reference a cowbell, this is the
thought that everybody goes to is the Christopher
Walken, Will Ferrell thing. But it's fantastic.
I think it's an underrated instrument, and I'm
glad to be the guy talking about it tonight.
That's for sure. Well, John, as a drummer yourself,
narrowing down songs that include cowbells in
a meaningful way is almost as obnoxious as me
asking you to say, hey, man, tonight we're recording
an episode on rock songs that have a kick drum.
Yeah. But there's something about hearing the
words cowbell anthems that actually narrows the
list down, for me at least, immediately. What
was your mindset with the songs you're going
to bring to the table this evening? I think the
mindset was songs that had a prominent cowbell
part, number one. Something where the cowbell
stands out. And that's not all of them, but it
is a big part of that. Like, what is the cowbell
doing in this song that... adds to the song right
as a musician we want to add to the song we don't
want to take away from it so these songs are
mainly about that prominent cowbell part but
also the party aspect we're talking about anthems
here so songs that by the cowbell part you could
pretty much recognize what the song is or where
it's headed and i think the only thing i'll add
to that is The songs that I've chosen tonight,
if you were to remove the cowbell from the song,
it would make that song a completely different
experience. So I'm not saying that the cowbell
is 100 % essential to the song, but if you remove
it, the song loses a lot of what makes it what
it is. Totally. And there's also, people don't
realize it's not just one cowbell that exists.
There are multiple different styles of even playing
a cowbell that can add or take away from a song.
And these songs that we're picking tonight definitely
add to these tunes. Well, let's get down to business
tonight. As I mentioned at the top of the show,
John and I will be curating the ultimate cowbell
anthems mixtape, and we'll use the old cassette
deck approach. John, as my special guest, will
begin side A with his first song choice, and
then I'll add a song that I feel best follows
up that choice. We'll then flip -flop choosing
songs until we've mapped out 10 songs for side
A. We'll then give our mixtape a proverbial flip.
And we'll map outside. Be only this time, I'll
kick things off with John choosing second. Our
overall goal for the episode is to craft the
best Cowbell Anthems mixtape possible through
only 20 songs. At the end of the show, you can
take our conversation to the next level by visiting
the episode page at myweeklymixtape .com to give
our final mixtape a listen via the embedded playlist.
And if you like what you're hearing on the show,
you can help me out by either telling a friend,
leaving the show a five -star review wherever
you're tuning in, or becoming a part of the Patreon
mixtaper community at patreon .com forward slash
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episodes of the show, gain immediate access to
future My Weekly Mixtape episodes, hear exclusive
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topics, become a future guest, and so much more.
And a few of the Patreon mixtapers chimed in
with the songs they would use to kick things
off tonight. And I want to give a quick shout
out to a few of those. Brandon from Virginia
chimed in with Clutch's DC Sound Attack, saying
this peon to our nation's capital and our homegrown
sound, go -go, needs to be included. Tom Hutchinson
chimed in with Little Sister by Queens of the
Stone Age. Philip Bergman chimed in saying Blue
Oyster Cult's Don't Fear the Reaper is obvious,
then asks if a half -measure cowbell solo counts,
while adding The Turtles' She'd Rather Be With
Me as one of his song choices. Seeker chimed
in with Blame It on the Love of Rock and Roll
by Bon Jovi. Sean Goff said because he, quote,
can never get enough, he would start with Night
Train by Guns N' Roses. And Chad LaMassa chimed
in with Cake's short skirt, long jacket, as it's
the theme song for his all -time favorite show,
Chuck. Once again, if you'd like to chime in
for future My Weekly Mixtape episodes, come join
the mixtaper community at patreon .com forward
slash myweeklymixtape. And now, John, I'm officially
pressing the record button on our Cowbell Anthems
mixtape, and you are officially free to explore
the space. With your first cowbell anthem of
the evening. That's beautiful. That's really
well said. I love that. The first one that I
have to go with is probably my all -time favorite
cowbell groove, honestly, ever. Maybe tied for
first. I'm going with Dance the Night Away by
Van Halen. Alex Van Halen, once again on one
of my mixtapes. But he has to be there, especially
this cowbell part. That kicks off the whole song.
And like we said, it's... It's becoming a party.
The cowbell introduction makes this thing a party.
And so with that starting it, it's like you're
setting the tone for the rest of this song and
the reintroduction of the cowbell that comes
in the very middle of it. From 1979's Van Halen
2, the song reached number 15 on the Billboard
US Hot 100, number 28 on the Canada RPM chart.
Ted Templeman's Wall of Sound production. is
on full display in this monster of a jam. There's
something about Dance the Night Away that David
Lee Roth just brought that party energy to the
sound. And Dance the Night Away really took it
to that next level. If you listen to the songs
on Van Halen 1, you know, Running with the Devil
is not your party anthem. Janie's Crying is not
your party anthem. This was Van Halen realizing
that they could kind of lean into what diamond
Dave brings to the table. I think, I think the
original name of this song was supposed to be
dance Lolita dance, but then Eddie decided that
dance the night away would be a little bit more
accessible. I think he hit the nail right on
the head with that one. Now, if you're a Scott
punk fan, the forces of evil, which is a side
project of real big fishes, Aaron Barrett covers
the song. as a ska punk tune on their Friend
or Foe album, complete with horn section. Highly
recommended, but absolutely love the pick to
start things off for tonight. So following that
up, I like the way that you opened your first
pick of the evening with a song that starts on
Cowbell. So I think I'm going to copy that. Only
Dance the Night Away started off kind of musical.
Like Alex was kind of like getting you into the
groove already. Yeah. But on Mountains Mississippi
Queen, Corky Lang is just counting the band in,
hitting that cowbell seven times so hard that
you would think he was trying to murder it. And
that aggressive opening, the way he's hitting
that cowbell. You know, you're about to get a
monster of a song. And it absolutely was from
1970s climbing. It reached number 21 on the Billboard
U .S. Hot 100, making it the band's highest ever
charting single. Spin magazine has called this
the cowbell jam to end all cowbell jams. And
Spin also ranked it number one on their 2004
list of the 15 greatest cowbell songs of all
time. Then, because we're talking You Know Me
and cover songs, Ozzy Osbourne on his undercover
album did a version that features Leslie West
from Mountain. And then, John, I know you know
this one. Blackstone Cherry on the FYE exclusive
edition of their album Kentucky, they do a massive,
earth -shattering cover of Mississippi Queen.
I almost went with that, but... I have a song
from Blackstone Cherry in my list for tonight.
So I kind of want to leave that door open if
we go down that direction. So following up Dance
the Night Away, Mississippi Queen. That's a great
track. And especially like you said, when we're
talking about the nuance of Cowbell, sure, something
like Dance the Night Away is great because it's
a more musical version of the Cowbell. But Mississippi
Queen as the point of just counting off the band
and being this blistering quarter note Cowbell
part is perfect for what this song then brings
in. And then all those covers that you listed
as well, especially the Blackstone Cherry one
is. fantastic and they stay true to that cowbell
part being in there on that song so great choice
love it so what are you gonna follow that up
with for track three i'd like to go with something
that's more of a buried cowbell part and maybe
not something that starts off with a cowbell
And I always have to throw this band in on pretty
much every list that we've done. But I'm going
to go with Good Times, Bad Times by Led Zeppelin.
Zeppelin One. We've talked so much about Zeppelin
One. I feel like just you and I have talked over
the years about Zeppelin One so much. And not
just that this part is the drum part that turned
heads off of Zeppelin One, because everybody's
like, what's he doing with that bass drum? But
not only that, it's... It's not something that
is on the hi -hat or a cliche drum instrument.
He's playing that part, the verse part, on the
cowbell, a very small little cowbell, and it
works perfectly for the verse of this song. Oh
my God. The opening track to you hit me with
the Led Zeppelin bomb and the opening album track.
I love it. It reached number 80 on the U S billboard,
hot 100 number 64 on the Canada top singles chart
and number 17 on the Netherlands single top 100.
Of course you scooped me. on john bottom i mean
i think we're up to i don't think there's been
an episode that we've done even the eric church
playlist wars episode i think somehow led zeppelin
came up i don't know i don't quite know how but
i had two songs from led zeppelin in my bank
for tonight good times bad times just from the
opening of the do do do do do do do do do because
it's so rhythmic it's John Bonham playing the
drums, but also percussion simultaneously. I'm
not a drummer, but I feel like what he's doing
is incorporating the drum beat and the percussion
together in the opening of the song. Right now.
And I totally maybe I misspoke, but not not being
the thing that necessarily counts off the song
was where I was going with that. It is a musical
part of this, especially that. Bam, bam. And
then he kicks it with the bam, bam. That little
counter rhythm there over top of everything else
is just fantastic. And yeah, that definitely
it's a testament to Bonham's musicality on the
kid. Oh, my God. He's one of the best. I actually
had, like I said, two songs from them. Good Times,
Bad Times from Led Zeppelin one. And I had Moby
Dick from Led Zeppelin two because it's also
used really well throughout that song. It drives
that song's kind of rhythm as well. And I can't
picture, like I said, either one of these Led
Zeppelin songs without the cowbell. It would
certainly take something away from the song not
having them in there. Right. I totally agree.
And just to throw in my covers, Ace Frehley,
Godsmack, Beth Hart, and Cracker have all covered
this song. And they're all actually pretty solid
ones as well. All right. Coming out of Led Zeppelin,
I have to give a hat tip to one of the fellow
mixtapers, and I am going to go with Sean Goff's
pick of the night. From 1987's Appetite for Destruction,
we are going Guns N' Roses' Night Train. Reached
number 93 on the Billboard US Hot 100, number
17 on the UK singles chart, number 61 in Australia,
and number two in Ireland, among some others.
Night Train is not the first song people mention.
When you say, hey, name a song you like off Appetite
for Destruction. However, don't let that fool
you. Because in 2017, Paste ranked Night Train
number three on their list of the 15 greatest
Guns N' Roses songs. And in 2020, Kerrang! ranked
it five on their list of GNR's 20 greatest. So
this is a fan favorite song. It didn't hit the
charts the way Welcome to the Jungle, Sweet Child
of Mine, and Paradise City did. But you cannot
remove Night Train from Appetite for Destruction.
It makes it a lesser album. And you cannot remove
Steven Adler's Cowbell from this song. Again,
I'm using it kind of in a count -off fashion.
But he also uses it in that open rhythm that
kind of drives the song and keeps it going. And
you pull that cowbell out and you do that on
a ride cymbal or a hi -hat. And I think it changes
the groove of the song. And one thing that why
I personally feel that out of all the drummers,
Steven Adler was the perfect fit for Guns N'
Roses was his feel and his swagger. His timing
is like a human metronome and his swing that
he brings to the songs is something that not
a lot of drummers throughout the years of Guns
N' Roses have been able to do. I'm not saying
that they're not hell of... Look, anybody who's
sitting behind the kit for Guns N' Roses is an
incredible drummer. But there was something about
Steven Adler's swing that he brought to the songs
on Appetite for Destruction that I don't think
has ever been replicated. Yeah, I totally agree.
And with this song being that blistering, like
it almost works as an opener. I've never seen
Guns N' Roses live, which I'm very ashamed that
I haven't. But this would work as like the opening
song to kick off a concert for sure. And it is
a fan favorite. I've got cousins that love Night
Train. This is the jam. This is the pump up song.
And that cowbell not being there would make it
a lesser song. I definitely agree with that.
All right, so with that, we are throwing it back
to you for track five. Yeah, if we're on this
80s kick, we might as well stay there for a little
bit because one of the other great cowbell intros
is Twisted Sisters, We're Not Gonna Take It.
That's like when you're a drum student and you
finally get that cowbell, you're like, how do
I figure out how to play that groove? Because
it's not your straight... cowbell groove. It's
not your straight count off. It's got this great
tripleted. It's just a fantastic cowbell part.
Like you said with Night Train, had you put something
like this on a ride cymbal or on the hi -hat,
it would be a lesser song. Something about it
being that beat you over the head with a cowbell
sound is fantastic for a song about not taking
anything from nobody. Oh, the drums are pounded
in that song like they owe rent money like that.
Yeah. From 1984's Stay Hungry, the song reached
number 21 on the Billboard U .S. Hot 100. Twisted
Sister's highest charting song. It also hit number
six in Canada and Australia, number 58 in the
UK, number 10 in Sweden, number two in New Zealand.
In terms of cover songs, I mentioned them once
already. Real Big Fish interpolated the melody
of We're Not Gonna Take It in their song Everybody's
Drunk to We're All Gonna Get Drunk, We're All
Gonna Get Drunk, Oh Wait, We're Already, Long
Pause, Drunk. Anyway, Weird Al also used the
song in his hooked on pokas. Well, polka that
was featured on Dare to be Stupid and Twisted
Sister themselves re -recorded the song as O
Come O Ye Faithful for their A Twisted Christmas
CD, which I love that so much. I mix that right
in with the holiday classics. And every year
when that happens, my wife looks at me and she's
like, really? And I'm like, it's so good. It's
so, so good. Yeah, totally. And all of those
are great covers of them, too. Not to mention,
though, that I do agree with that. That Twisted
Christmas record is fantastic. They were a party
band, not to be taken seriously in their image,
but maybe in their musicianship and how they
played these songs. Fantastic group. Underrated.
All right. Well, I'm going to keep us in this.
80s rock vibe but i'm gonna go with a song that
actually came out in 1991 and the reason i say
80s rock vibe is because in 1988 1989 skid row
exploded so for some reason i always equate them
to that late 80s because in 1991 you had pearl
jams 10 red hot chili peppers blood sugar sex
magic nirvana's never mind even metallica's black
album people tend to forget that the hair bands
and bands that were hair band adjacent still
were releasing music that was still very popular.
And on 1991's Slave to the Grind, Skid Row released,
which is my absolute favorite Skid Row song ever,
Monkey Business, reached number 13 on the US
mainstream rock chart, number 59 on the Canada
top singles chart, number 19 on the UK singles
chart, and number 31 on the Australia ARIA chart.
I mean, When I say it's my favorite Skid Row
track, it's not close. I love Skid Row's catalog,
even outside of the Sebastian Bach years. I have
pretty much everything they've ever released.
And 1991 was a big year for me. It was eighth
grade and freshman year in high school. And Monkey
Business immediately became one of my workout
slash pump up songs. I used it in sports. I used
it. I still use it to this day when I'm on the
treadmill. The song just. frigging drives my
energy. Rob Fuso's drumming on this track is
an absolute masterclass because he uses the cowbell
to count the song in and out and he uses it to
drive the heavier parts. But when the song breaks
down and you have the whole, the Vaseline gypsies
and silicone souls dressed to the society. He
does this rhythmics very similar to what John
Bonham does in Good Times, Bad Times. He does
a kind of a rhythmic play on it where it's no
longer driving the pacing of the song. It's being
used as a fill. And that track is so massive.
It's literally going to be 35 years old in one
year. And I honestly think if you play that song
now, any rock band breaks that song out. It feels
just as modern in 2025. I feel it's timeless.
Yeah, it is very much a timeless track. And I
did happen to see Sebastian Bach last year on
a whim. He was in town in an area that I was
in Illinois. And I was like, I got to go see
him. And we had some friends that wanted to go.
So we went and he pulled out Monkey Business
and it was fantastic. He still sounds fantastic,
which is. A testament to his age and his ability
to just keep the thing going. His son, Paris,
was on drums. Oh, really? Yeah. And believe it
or not, I took drum lessons from Paris years
ago. Wow. I'm saying years. And at that point,
Paris and his dad were not talking. And so you
couldn't talk to Paris about him and his father.
But then we got to this show. in illinois and
i'm looking at the drummer i'm like i know this
guy and i'm like that's paris i can't believe
they worked things out and now he's playing these
parts to all these skid row songs just absolutely
crushing them monkey business being definitely
one of them of course he had the cowbell and
he did all the things but yeah you couldn't do
this song without it but yeah it was a really
great treat to watch both of them play together
all right well now we're throwing it back to
you for track seven fantastic i'm gonna go with
another i feel like we're on the mount rushmore
of cowbell parts and this is one that's not subtle
at all it again opens up a track in a fantastic
way it's such a great groove and one of my favorite
jam bands Pretty much of all time. I'm going
with Grand Funk Railroads. We're an American
band. This intro is so good. This is like I said,
there's between Dance the Night Away and this
song. These are my top two favorite cowbell songs
ever. And this intro is so fantastic, especially
the drum part that then comes after this. All
those foot triplets. It's just a great groove.
That it is from 1973's album of the same name,
produced by Todd Rundgren. The song reached number
one on the Billboard US Hot 100, number four
on the Canada Top Singles Chart, and number one
in Australia, and ranks number 99 on the list
of VH1's 100 Greatest Rock Songs. It's been covered
by Poison, Rob Zombie, Autograph, Fish, Jackal,
Rascal Flats, Kid Rock. garth brooks i mean every
genre you could think of somebody has covered
we're an american band and believe it or not
the only time in my life i've ever heard we're
an american band played without a cowbell a couple
of years ago metallica when kirk and rob do their
little solo section of the night they do their
little doodle they came out and played we're
an american band and james came out and sang
the song, but Lars didn't. Ah! So it was a drumless
version of We're an American Band by Metallica.
Of all the times that you would think Lars would
sit in, not on this one? Ah, that just makes
me mad, because... Whatever. All those other
covers that makes up for it, especially I love
the Rob Zombie one. They do it justice. And you
got to have the cowbell in there. This opening
drum part is the song like everything else that
comes after it is fantastic. It is an American
band rock song. But yeah, this drum part is what
kicks it off. You could play just this and ask
anybody in any crowd what song this is and they
would know it. It's just it is the song. And
I think to follow that up for track eight, I'm
going to go with something that is a song that
when I say the name, a lot of people might raise
an eyebrow because the song name isn't really
synonymous with the track. The original song
charted in Germany. It reached number 44. But
since then, it's been such a hugely influential
hard rock tune, especially to a lot of these
80s bands that we've been talking about. Guns
N' Roses being one of them. As they took this
song, Hair of the Dog, originally by Nazareth,
to number 11 on the US mainstream rock chart
in 1994. And they're not the only band from...
the eighties that covered this song. Brittany
Fox covered it on the boys and heat album and
warrant covered it on the, under the influence
album. This song drove that eighties hair band
sound that eighties metal hard rock sound. And
it was a decade earlier. And I feel like this
is one of those songs that hair of the dog and
people will go, I don't know that now you're
messing with a son of a bitch. Oh, I know the
song you're talking about. Yeah. That is Nazareth's
hair of the dog. And during that riff, you've
got that frigging almost distorted sounding cowbell.
And without it, again, the heft, even if you're
hitting that ride symbol, the bell on the ride
symbol, I feel like you lose a little bit of
the strength of the song. Yeah, there's something
about having that hook. in that song with a cowbell
that just makes the most sense. They did a great
instrumental choice to have that be the hook
of the chorus and then also have a cowbell in
your track. You are setting up the 80s for sure
in that, which is great, but you are totally
right. Nazareth is a very underrated group that
people don't necessarily think of as being as
influential in the 80s. as they were. And great
album art, by the way. Oh, it's incredible. The
album's an absolute masterpiece. Hair of the
Dog, if you haven't heard it, look it up when
you're done listening to this episode, of course.
Yeah. So now we are back to you, John, for track
nine. Yeah, this is, I was thinking about songs
that, and this is actually a very hard thing.
We haven't talked about how difficult it can
be to pick tracks that have influential cowbell
parts in it this one is maybe not on the side
of being an influential cowbell part but had
it not been there i don't think this track would
be the same i'm going with burning love by elvis
presley and you might be going where the heck
is the cowbell in that it's in the second verse
going also into the second chorus when you have
a song that is ramping up Adding in instruments,
things like tambourines or shakers or whatever,
can sometimes take one verse of a song and change
it going into the second verse. You're adding
another instrument to give the thing some life,
so that way you're not hearing the same thing
over and over again. Burning Love does a fantastic
job of that just by keeping time as quarter notes
on that cowbell going from verse to chorus. I
love this song. Oh, the song's incredible. A
single released in 1972, it reached number two
on the US Billboard Hot 100 and Canada Top Singles
chart, number seven in the UK and number 37 in
Australia. I'm going to go back to them again,
John. Blackstone Cherry covered this song on
the Walmart Deluxe Edition of Family Tree, though
ironically, and you might know this more than
me. I'm honestly not sure if John Fred Young
is actually using Cowbell in Blackstone Cherry's
version. No, he's not. And that not that I care.
They can do no wrong, in my opinion. But that's
just me. They don't have the cowbell in that
track. I'll have to listen again. But I was listening
as a precursor to today, and I don't think so.
I might have to go back and just make sure. But
I'm pretty sure it's not there. If it was, it
would have been very, very subtle, if that at
all. But I also want to point out that, again,
random obscure covers. Woody Harrelson. Covered
Burning Love for the Zombieland Double Tap soundtrack.
So I just want to remind everybody of that instance.
Yes. And to close out Side A, I am going to be
Captain Obvious. Let's just get this out of the
way now. So that way Side 2 could be a clean
slate. Blue Oyster Cult, Don't Fear the Reaper.
Like Philip Bergman said, we are going Captain
Obvious to close out Side A. 1976's Agents of
Fortune. reached No. 12 on the U .S. Billboard
Hot 100, No. 7 on the Canada Top Singles Chart,
No. 17 in Ireland, and 16 in the U .K. It was
Rolling Stone's Song of the Year in 1976, and
in 2007, the magazine ranked it No. 405 on their
list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. But
more importantly, it was responsible for the
more cowbell sketch. And may or may not have
served as inspiration for this episode. So as
obvious and on the nose it is, it would be criminal
not to include Christopher Walken would be mad
at us if we did not include it in this. That's
right. I agree. And that's the thing that is
unfortunate. I love the sketch. Don't get me
wrong. One of the best SNL sketches ever. But
I do feel bad that this song has kind of become
a joke in a sense because of the sketch. Instead
of being taken seriously as the song that it
is, the fantastically orchestrated rock song,
especially the middle of this song, the very
creepy time change going into that middle. It's
a fantastic track outside of the joke that it
might be for the cowbell. It's a dark track.
And I think that is what makes the sketch so
funny because the song is so dark. Had they used
mountains, Mississippi queen, it would have just
been Will Ferrell hitting the cowbell as hard
as Corky Lang did on the mountain album. The
humor wasn't there, but in the ethereal nature
of don't fear the Reaper. The overly emotive
Will Ferrell smashing that cowbell adds to the
humor of the bit. But I do applaud the fact that
you're bringing up the song because the song
is brilliant. And I think that is why, I mean,
at the end of the day, I don't think Blue Oyster
Cult's mad about it because I'm sure they got
a lot more streams on Spotify than they would
had that skit had never existed. I totally agree.
And I'm sure they're not upset about it. There's
some essence to being able to laugh at yourself
as a musician a little bit and be able to deal
with a joke like that. And from what I see, they
play into it a little bit and they're totally
cool. So yeah, the track though, by itself, if
you have a chance and you haven't listened to
it in a while. I really suggest you go ahead
and listen to the rest of that track. I'll even
take it one step further and say listen to the
entire Agents of Fortune album because that's
a classic as far as I'm concerned. But that,
mixtapers, concludes side A of the ultimate cowbell
anthems mixtape, which consists of Van Halen's
Dance the Night Away, Mountain's Mississippi
Queen, Led Zeppelin's Good Times, Bad Times,
Guns N' Roses' Night Train, Twisted Sisters'
We're Not Gonna Take It, Skid Row's Monkey Business,
Grand Funk Railroad's We're an American Band,
Nazareth's Hair the Dog, Elvis Presley's Burning
Love, and Blue Oyster Cult's Don't Fear the Reaper.
Head over to myweeklymixtape .com to hear all
the songs we've discussed in this mix through
the playlist embedded on the episode page. Now,
John, you've been pulling double duty with Tantric
and Smile Empty Soul. Can you catch everyone
up on what's been going on in both camps? Yeah,
it's been pretty hectic in my world, which is
definitely a crazier time, but definitely not
something I'm complaining about because, yeah,
the ability to play in Tantric, as I have been
for about five years or closing in on it, and
then also being able to join up with Smile Empty
Soul, who I've been a fan of Smile Empty Soul
when we toured together as Tantric and Smile.
But even further back than that, when I was...
eight years old or so, they had a song on the
Spider -Man 2 soundtrack, which I was and still
am a huge Spider -Man fan. And so when I was
a kid, that was one of the first CDs I ever owned.
The Smile Empty Soul song, Who I Am, on that
album, it was one of my favorite songs ever.
And so being able to then play that live with
the guy that wrote it is really cool. So there's
been a lot going on. We have a couple of tours
coming out, which is both bands at the same time.
So I'll be literally pulling double duty. in
March and in May. And yeah, I'll be doing both
bands at the same time. And it's been a juggling
act for sure, but it's been a lot of fun and
I'm really excited about it. I guess the plus
side is you're making the sound man's life a
little bit easier on that tour, right? Yeah,
I'd say so. And it's great for me because I can
leave the kit set up and I don't need to just
tear it down or move it or whatever. It's fantastic.
And you don't have to deal with any other drummers
as well, right? No, and that's also, I hate to
say it, that's a great thing. Well, with that,
I'm going to kick off Side B. And now we have
a clean slate. The Don't Fear the Reaper elephant
in the room has been addressed. So to kick off
Side B, I'm going to go back to 1969. And I'm
going to go with a song that reached number one
in the U .S., the U .K., Australia, Denmark,
Ireland, and New Zealand. And it ranked number
two in Canada. So I love all my friends up in
the Great White North, but guys... You should
have made this a number one hit as well, so for
shame. Rolling Stones, Honky Tonk Women. Believe
it or not, the cowbell in this song is not played
by Charlie Watts. It's actually Jimmy Miller,
the incredible producer who worked with the Stones
on everything from Beggar's Banquet through Goat's
Head Soup, which just so happens to be my all
-time favorite Stones era. And I got to see the
band for the first time live in 2024. And one
of the highlights of the evening for me was when
they broke out Honky Tonk Women live. I'll throw,
I have a really, really, really high up, almost
airplane level footage of the Rolling Stones
playing that at MetLife Stadium. I'll throw it
up on the episode page at myweeklymixtape .com
if you want to. Hear how the Rolling Stones sound
55 years after the original song was released.
And I'll tell you what, rest in peace, Charlie
Watts. I mean, amazing, influential drummer.
Steve Jordan is an absolute monster, and he has
breathed some real life into the Stones live
show. And I think if there was anybody to carry
the torch for Charlie, Steve Jordan's the man.
What's interesting about some drummers in the
circle, they'll think that Honky Tonk Women is
a Charlie Watts cowbell part and it's not, which
I'm glad that you brought that up. But also the
Rolling Stones sometimes get mislabeled as being
a total rock band and they were kind of going
for country. A lot of their stuff was going for
country. And so this is one of those stereotypical.
Rolling Stones' attempt at a country song, and
it is one of their massive hits. Cowbell part,
though, had it not been there, it's a very musical
cowbell part. It's not just beat you over the
head with a cowbell part. This is a very musical
part, and it's great that it's in there, and
the song definitely wouldn't be the same without
it. All right, so what are you following it up
with for track two? I'll go with something of
a similar nature, then. Also a band that does
have a lot, not to say that the Rolling Stones
have Southern roots, but very Southern inspired.
I'm going to go with CCR, Credence Clearwater
Revivals, Down on the Corner as being another
great cowbell part that sometimes gets overlooked.
Like what we're talking about, the lightheartedness
that a cowbell can bring to a song is the lightheartedness
of the song down on the corner. Lyrically, it's
a song about being in small town America, and
that is what this song does. Had the cowbell
part not been there, I don't think it'd be the
same song. The song that inspired the album name,
Willie and the Poor Boys, same year as Honky
Tonk Women, 1969. I know this is a little tiny
sidebar. Creedence Clearwater Revival put out
three masterpiece albums in 1969. Willie and
the Poor Boys, Green River and Bayou Country.
Holy shit. What a year for Creedence Clearwater
Revival. I mean, that is three massive influential
albums in one year. That's just. unheard of.
But this song down on the corner reached number
three on the U .S. Billboard Hot 100, number
four in Canada, number five in New Zealand and
number two in Germany, among others. Jerry Reed
in 1982, you mentioned the Southern rock thing,
took it all the way to country and did a country
version that reached number 13 on the U .S. country
chart, number 11 on the Canadian country chart.
But Jerry's version is cowbell -less. It's country.
And look, I love Jerry Reed. I mean, come on.
Eastbound and Down, one of the greatest driving
songs ever. Jerry Reed was also incredible in
The Waterboy, but I digress. The original is
the definitive. The Calypso vibe that they bring
out in Credence's version gives you that. I don't
want to say Zydeco, but there's that little bit
of New Orleans swamp kind of coming through the
Calypso. It's all different things. And again,
God. 1969, three albums in one year. Just unbelievable
to me. Yeah, it blows my mind as well. And so
prolific for that time. And to bring stuff that
was already pretty much dated around the late
60s into then the limelight is fantastic. They're
a Southern rock band, probably one of the Mount
Rushmore Southern rock bands. And to have all
that happen within 69 is absolutely nuts. Well,
Honky Tonk Women is 1969. Down on the corner
is 1969, and I'm based out of the U .S. So for
me, the first, well, not for me personally, I
wasn't alive in 1969, but I digress. We're going
to stay in 1969 as the U .S. version of this
song was released on his Smash Hits compilation
in that year. And I'm going to go with Jimi Hendrix,
Stone Free, originally released in 1966 as the
B -side to Hey Joe. It was later included on
the U .S. version of Smash Hits. It fared better
in the U .K. as it reached number six on the
singles chart there, only reached number 130
on the Billboard U .S. Bubbling Under Hot 100
singles chart. But as far as I'm concerned, charts
be damned because it's been pretty much featured
on every Jimi Hendrix compilation since and is
a classic Jimi Hendrix song to me. When my parents
first bought their CD player in 1991, one of
the first CDs my dad grabbed was Smash Hits.
And this was one of the songs that really resonated
with me. And I think that's because of the cowbell.
Mitch Mitchell gets the MVP on this track because,
I mean, look, it's Jimi Hendrix, one of the best
to ever do it. There has to be a level to level
match in skill to order to hang with Jimi. And
Mitch Mitchell in the 1960s hung with Jimmy and
made it just effortless. Like he had the skill
of a jazz drummer that he brought to rock music.
And the way he works the cowbell in this song,
it's heavy as hell, but it's almost jazzy. So
that's why I'm choosing this one. Yeah. Mitch
Mitchell's jazz influence in a lot of this early
rock and roll is what makes him one of the best.
drummers ever. He was totally a jazz drummer.
And being able to throw in another musical cowbell
background instrument to what Jimmy's doing is
fantastic. Stone Free, underrated track when
you're thinking about Jimi Hendrix. But I'm glad
that you chose this one because it definitely
should be in the spotlight for great cowbell
parts. All right, so now I'm throwing it back
to you for track four. Where do we go from a
trio of 1969 songs, if you're in the U .S., of
course? Yeah, if you're in the U .S. This one
is... one that i enjoy because i'm i'm kind of
like a jazz funk nerd too aside from being in
in the rock world i do love a lot of jazz and
i do love a lot of behind the scenes stuff too
that you sometimes don't see or wouldn't know
if you're not like a hardcore fan but i'm going
with grazing in the grass by hugh miskella who
is from south africa who was a part of Paul Simon's
Graceland Band years later. But Grazing in the
Grass is a great track. It's almost a comical
cowbell, the way that it's so... Like almost
16th note -y or really fast eighth notes. And
it's comical. But then what will kick in after
that cowbell part is the great melody that he
brings to the table. well you went back a year
1968 not bad i didn't know that so i'm glad that
you checked me on that one but that yeah whatever
it works we're still in the same vein which is
fantastic And this was a number one on the Billboard
US Hot 100. So as much as it was a jazz tune
like you're talking about, mainstream success.
And a year later, bringing us right back to 1969,
the Friends of Distinction released a vocal version
of this song, which was also a top 10 hit. But
I don't know, maybe it's because there is the
cowbell in the Friends of Distinction version,
but there's something about Hugh's performance.
In that version where you kind of hit the nail
on the head, it's not comedic, but it's almost
to that point of the hell is happening where
you could almost take it as a novelty because
it's really overworked in the song. But if you
take it out of the song, a lot of the swagger
is gone. I totally agree. Totally. This actually
is inspiring me. One, to bring us out of the
1960s here for a minute. I actually have a weird
way to connect the songs here to connect the
dots. I am a big fan of fish. I have seen them
many a times. I love the jam band scene. We have
a fish episode coming up very soon here on my
weekly mixtape. So stay tuned for that. But when
I think of fish grazing in the grass feels like
a song that they would play during a set break.
It's got that jazzy kind of. sound that trey
is a huge fan of and that fish has incorporated
into their music over the years but the way that
grazing in the grass is cowbell is kind of overt
and over the top i'm going to bring us back to
something just a little bit more driving however
still musical and i'm going to go with 46 days
off of 2002's round room I'm going to also go
with the six minute and 14 second studio version
because there are some live versions that they
open it up for 15 and 20 minutes. But I feel
like in this playlist, sticking with the studio,
I mean, going to fish in any playlist is going
to raise some red flags with some people. I understand
that. But if you're a fish fan, you're going
to see the connection going from Hugh Masekela
to 46 Days. It's just perfect as far as I'm concerned.
The jam band thing kind of lends itself to be,
like you said, a little bit jazzier and a little
bit more involved and almost like you do think
about the cowbell being a prominent part of that
track, specifically the studio version, like
you said. I don't think I've listened to any
of the live versions. And so you can correct
me if the cowbell is there or not. Oh, it's definitely
in the song live for sure. OK, good. And there's
something about the cowbell where if he was playing,
if John Fishman was doing it on a ride symbol
where you're doing the do, do, do, do, do, do,
do, do, do. I feel like it's and again, I feel
like this is like a dissing ride symbol episode.
And it's really not because I love the ride symbol
and I love the use of the bells and specific
parts of the ride. But the bell on the ride symbol
and the bell on the cowbell are so far removed
from a musical standpoint as far as I'm concerned.
Yeah, and I think what you do get out of the
difference between a ride bell and your cowbell
is your cowbell has very minimal sustain. So
it's just like articulate. And then when you
get to a ride cymbal, you're still getting the
rest of that cymbal out of that. And even on
a cowbell, you'd be surprised how many different
places you can actually play on a cowbell than
just the edge of it. It's a very musical instrument
when you get down to it. A lot of these jam bands
that we've already mentioned do that super well.
All right, well, we're moving on to the second
half of Side B. What are you going to for track
six? Yeah, we've kind of been on like a jam band
kick for a second, and I don't think they get
enough credit being labeled as a jam band, but
I'm going to go with Red Hot Chili Peppers off
of Stadium Arcadium. I'm going with Chad Smith's
underrated ready -made track. This is a great
tune, great cowbell part just in the pre -chorus
going into the chorus. It's a bold statement
to throw in a cowbell into your song. And even
Chad Smith himself says that if you're throwing
in a cowbell, you're telling people it's time
to party. And Ready Made is kind of one of those
tracks for me. I'm going to say something here
that might ruffle some feathers, but this might
be my favorite song on Stadium Arcadium. How
this wasn't released as a single. I understand
that. The songs that the Chili Peppers in this
era were getting popular were a bit more of the
softer side of the Chili Peppers. And this one
is a heavy ass riff. I mean, this borderline
something that Tom Morello of Rage Against the
Machine would write. And it's done in Chili Peppers
fashion. The cowbell, again, I think brings out
a rawness to the song. Chad Smith is so prolific
as a drummer that he has his own LP. I think
it's called the Red Hot Cowbell. That LP came
out with Latin percussion. So that is like if
you're talking about great cowbell parts, that's
definitely on this track for sure. And you know
what? I actually I wasn't going to go to this
song because every song we've chosen tonight
has been cowbell centric. But because I mentioned
them and I'm thinking about the riff, it's too
perfect to not go with Rage Against the Machine's
Killing in the Name of from their 91 self -titled
album. Now, I'm not lost on the fact that for
the most part, the cowbell is only in the beginning
of the song. That's it. However. That opening,
it's done so musically, getting the two different
pitches. I feel like it's a different way of
utilizing the cowbell. So while it's not a central
part of the song, if you pull it out using the
criteria we've been using the whole night, that
part of the song would just drop. And I can't
picture the opening of Killing in the Name of
without that. You even hear that if any band
covers this song live, you go to the dive bar
on a weekend and you're hearing a band. kick
up this riff for killing in the name of and that
cowbell part isn't there. You're like, wait,
hold on. Something's missing here. Like it needs
to be there as any of these other songs have
shown. And it's not a big part of the song. I
really don't think I listen to it again. Don't
think there's any other cowbell other than that
one part. But what a great addition where most
people would have opted for silence. That he
was able to add in a cowbell part of all things
into this. It's just a fantastic use of the cowbell.
And like you said, differing pitches, which is
a great musical way to use the cowbell. And when
it was originally released, never charted in
the US, but it hit number 25 on the UK singles
chart, number seven in Australia. However. In
2009, a DJ in the UK petitioned listeners to
purchase the track The Week Before Christmas
to prevent the winner of The X Factor from getting
the number one spot on the Christmas UK charts
for the fifth year in a row. And they did it.
Killing In The Name Of in 2009 became a number
one hit in the UK for Rage Against The Machine.
And then a decade later, in 2019. The song reemerged
on the U .S. Hot Rock and Alternative Songs chart
going as high as number 25 because the song started
receiving a lot of airplay based on a lot of
the political situation that was happening in
2019. So this is the song that just keeps on
rising from the dead. And as much as the cowbell's
not prominent throughout the song, you take it
out of the track and it's a different song completely.
I agree 100%. All right. We are getting down
to the final three here. So we're back to you
for track eight. What do we got? I couldn't not
talk about this song. There are a couple on here
that are more of my stretches of, you know, all
right, this is a cowbell song, maybe the Elvis
one or whatever. And that might be my own bias.
But you can't have a playlist about. cowbells
without talking about the opening cowbell part
to low rider by war that bump bump bump bump
bump bump bump bump bump bump bump bump bump
bump not only that it's in between a muted cowbell
and a not -muted cowbell. So it's a very musical,
like we were talking about with Rage Against
the Machine, a very musical way of utilizing
the cowbell. More in the Latin groove of how
you would use a cowbell, how it might just be
one person assigned the cowbell part. This is
what you get out of Low Rider by War. 1975's
Why Can't We Be Friends, it reached number 7
on the US Billboard Hot 100, number 6 on the
Canada Top Singles Chart, and number 12 on the
UK Singles Chart. Yeah, dude, there's no way
we're doing this episode without this song. My
parents had War's Greatest Hits growing up, I
knew this song. And it's one of those songs that
you don't have to know what it's about. As a
kid, when that song came on... I would just want
to grab a pair of sunglasses, put them on, and
just walk around the house feeling cool. Because
that song oozes swagger. It oozes cool. You know
the Snoopy cartoon when he's Joe Cool? This is
the song that's playing in the background. It
has to be. And it's been covered by everyone
from Blues Traveler, which is a jam band, to
Korn, which is metal. And somehow it works in
all those facets because the song just oozes
that confidence. And it's so musical. And it's
just a perfect pick. And for my last song of
the night, I'm going to stay in kind of a similar
vein in this Latin vibe. And I'm going to go
with, because I haven't dropped a cover song
yet. I talked about it on Side A when I wanted
to go with Blackstone Cherry covering Mississippi
Queen. But I'm going to go with a cover now.
This song was originally recorded by Tito Puente
in 1962. But it exploded when it was released
on Santana's 1970 album Abraxas. I'm going with
Oye Como Va, which hit number 13 on the U .S.
Billboard Hot 100 and Australian singles chart,
along with number seven on the Canada top singles
chart. In 2001, it was inducted into the Latin
Grammy Hall of Fame. And one year later, the
Grammy Hall of Fame. And in 2021, it ranked number
479 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of
All Time. Santana's band on Abraxas is just insane.
These players are top notch. And again, to be
able to. fit with a player at the talent level
of Carlos Santana. It's similar to the way Mitch
Mitchell sitting behind Jimi Hendrix. Santana
has such a distinct, unique sound that you immediately
pick up on. If you're not able to fill that musical
backdrop behind him, he's going to outshine everybody
on the stage. And the lineup that he put together
on this album. stays paced with them and that's
why songs like oye como va completely overtook
the original by tito puente it's a totally different
version of the song if you haven't heard tito's
version go back and listen to it it's a eye -opening
listen if you've never heard it before but i
feel like coming out of war this really kind
of is a nice back and forth from the latin side
of the cowbell Yeah, and if we're in that Latin
vein, you wouldn't have a Latin song without
aux percussion. I actually played, we played
the Tito Puente version of this in a jazz band
recital in college years ago, and I was the cowbell
part. And, you know, kind of full circle moment
for me here. But you can't have these Latin...
song without all of the aux percussion just drum
set alone doesn't do it so whether it's claves
or shakers or a cowbell it needs to be there
in order to drive the rest of the percussion
of the song along all right well we are back
to you now to take us home man last pick of the
night we've had 19 classic cowbell jams what's
the cherry on top Oh, man. Well, I guess you
read my mind because as we both are. I didn't
even think of that. That's great. That is good.
That is good. Leave it. Leave it. Oh, what is
the cherry on top? Well, I guess. No, the thing
is, I. And I feel like I've done this before
on this show is I've added in maybe like a last
hit that isn't really something that people would
consider. But I think it's something people should
listen to. One of my favorite bands that also
doesn't get enough credit as a jam band is Blackstone
Cherry and their song off of Magic Mountain.
Me and Mary Jane is a fantastic cowbell song
that drives a chorus. of a song with cowbell.
That doesn't happen a whole heck of a lot. So
John Fred Young utilizing the cowbell in the
best way possible of this blistering stoner rock
track. This song is just fantastic. Considering
how much I've talked about him tonight, I literally,
that was such a moment there because I literally,
I've said, put the cherry on top several episodes
of course, this hundred plus episode run. And
as soon as I said it, I'm like, John's a huge
Blackstone Cherry fan. I wonder if you went to
it. I was like, son of a bitch. Perfect. That's
great. I love it. Hit number 16 on the Billboard
US Mainstream Rock Chart. Probably it's tied.
I honestly, it's tied for my favorite Blackstone
Cherry song. It's either Me and Mary Jane or
Blind Man. Those two songs to me are neck and
neck, depending on the day. This band is so awesome.
How they're not one of the biggest rock bands
on the planet is literally beyond any comprehension
that I could possibly have because they are so
extremely talented, so tight, and just so heavy.
And they bring that blues sound to their music.
They bring that stoner sound to their music.
And they're able to kind of veer from southern
rock to blues to the stoner sound effortlessly.
Totally. They'll even take something like the
very middle of this section in the song and jam
it out in a live show for more than just the
amount of time that's on the recording. So they're
again, one of, like you said, very underrated.
I have no idea why they're not one of the bigger
rock bands out there, but they just. have such
fantastic musicianship and they work so well
outside the box, especially John Fred Young,
the drummer, who just has great drum parts overall,
but stuff that most drummers would just go, I'll
just throw in a regular groove here. He's like,
no, let me think of something different. He's
very much out of the box. And that's what you
get with a cowbell part in a chorus of a song.
And there you have it, mixtapers. Side B of the
ultimate cowbell anthems mixtape, which consists
of the Rolling Stones' Honky Tonk Women, Creedence
Clearwater Revival's Down on the Corner, Jimi
Hendrix's Stone Free, Hugh Mascala's Grazing
in the Grass, Fish's 46 Days, Red Hot Chili Pepper's
Ready Made, Rage Against the Machine's Killing
in the Name of, War's Low Rider, Santana's Oye
Como Va, and Blackstone Cherry's Me and Mary
Jane. Head over to myweeklymixtape .com to hear
all the songs we've discussed in this mix through
the playlist embedded on the episode page. Now,
John, you talked about the March and May tours
for both Tantric and Smile Empty Soul. What does
the rest of the year have in terms for both bands?
New music tours? Yeah, hopefully new music in
the Tantric camp. We've been working on stuff,
so we're hoping that stuff will start to roll
as we go further. Smile Empty Soul has a new
EP that's dropping called the Swan Song EP. Unfortunately,
I wasn't a part of it, but all the tracks on
it are fantastic. So I highly recommend you go
out and listen to it. And then really the rest
of the year, we've got the Creed Cruise, the
Summer of 99 Cruise with Tantric. That's in April.
And then just tour, tour, tour until the new
year. It's just like the year just started. I
already feel like I'm looking towards 2026 already.
That's awesome, man. Well, I am sure we're going
to catch you when you go through New Jersey.
Why don't you remind listeners how to connect
with you on social media if they want to get
in touch? Yeah, John's Drum Studio, J -O -N -S.
Drum Studio. That's my Instagram. You can find
me JohnLoree, J -O -N -L -O -R -E -E on Facebook.
I post a lot of nonsense content on both of those
pages. So if you want to laugh about music with
me, go ahead and give me a follow if you want.
And then johnsdrumstudio .com if you need to
connect with me about drums or just want to chat.
John's Instagram is one of my absolute favorites.
You did a skit recently about a cowbell that
was frigging brilliant. And I was like, what
timing? Thank you so much for being on again,
man. Always a pleasure talking music with you
and look forward to having you back on very soon.
Thanks, Brian. Appreciate it. And to all those
listening, remember, you can find my weekly mixtape
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the tunes.