Weekend Listomania (Special Bend Me Shape Me! Video Edition)

Well, it's Friday and you know what that means. Yes, my Oriental rentboy amanuensis Hop-Sing and I are off for the Republican National Convention, where in a gesture of solidarity with the Republican base, we'll be staying in that parking lot owned by adulterous senile gigolo John McCain's wife. John himself doesn't remember it, but we here it's very tastefully appointed and that the office fridge is well-stocked with six packs of Bud.

In any case, posting by moi will thus be sporadic for a few days.

But in the meantime, here's a fun project to tide us all over:

Best Slide Guitar Work On a Pop, Rock or Blues Song Under 10 Minutes Long!!!

Okay, here's my totally top of my head Top Eight:

8. Canned Heat -- Let's Work Together



The great Alan Wilson.

7. Smashing Pumpkins -- Spaceboy (audio only)



Anybody counting how many consecutive Listomania's I've managed to work Billy Corgan's angst-in-your-pants routine into? Frankly, I've lost track. Worse, I'm not even sure why I bother.

6. The Beatles -- For You Blue



George: "Elmore James' got nothing on this baby!"

5. John Hiatt -- Riding With the King



With the unbelievably amazing Sonny Landreth on slide. Seriously -- I've seen these guys do this live, and it was the closest thing to a psychedelic experience I've ever had without drugs. Those notes seem to literally hang suspended in time and space.

4. Leo Kottke -- Louise



The definitive version of this oft-covered folkie classic, I think. Actually, If the slide solos don't make you cry, I don't want to know you.

3. Mick Jagger -- Memo From Turner



That's the very young Ry Cooder on guitar, absolutely dripping menace and mystery. Incidentally, I recently discovered who the rhythm section is (courtesy of Rhino's 2007 Jagger solo best-of): turns out it's Stevie Winwood and Jim Capaldi. Who knew?

2. Joe Walsh -- Rocky Mountain Way



Walsh may be, in Don Henley's famous phrase, "an interesting couple of guys," but one of them is clearly an absolutely monster slide player.

And the numero uno most concise slide guitar work on a pop record,, hands down it's so totally obvious if you try to argue with me I swear to god I'll harm you so just don't, is ---

1. The Rolling Stones -- I Wanna Be Your Man



There's tons of slide all over the Stones catalogue, obviously, but this cover of the Fabs song was the first use (1964) of slide on a pop hit ever so I think it deserves the top slot.

Awrighty then -- what would your choices be?

[Shameless Blogwhore: My parallel Cinema Listomania (special Blade Runner For Morons Edition) is up at Box Office. As always, if you leave a comment over there, an angel gets its wings.]