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Popular Songs with Odd Time Signatures

#41
JimK said:
"White Room" by Cream has sections in 5. I would say this was a Pop tune back in the day.:)
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I was listening to "White Room" last week. It does alternate between 5/4 and 4/4. Cream might not have been as popular as The Beatles, but I was a huge Cream fan. In fact, that's my favorite part of Eric Clapton's career. Jack Bruce could have something to do with that. What a great tune!
 
#45
LeeNunn said:
I was listening to "White Room" last week. It does alternate between 5/4 and 4/4. Cream might not have been as popular as The Beatles, but I was a huge Cream fan. In fact, that's my favorite part of Eric Clapton's career. Jack Bruce could have something to do with that. What a great tune!
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Never paid much attention to this songs' time signature, until I tried to sing it while playing the bass line. Got totally hosed and had to start over multiple times. Bruce was a genius
 
#49
For those of you who were around when this popular TV show was the rage. A 5/4 masterpiece. Of course the bassist on the session was none other than the incredible Carol Kaye, playing with a pick. The composer, Lalo Schifrin, is no slouch either. Great arranging mixed with great players; what a concept!
 
#50
jmlee said:
From Jesus Christ Superstar: "Try Not To Get Worried" is in an effortless 5/4..
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aka "Everything's Alright"

Yeah, lots of tunes in that show are in odd meters. Musical theater is a treasure trove of odd metered numbers...I suspect sometimes that's a device to allow for better prosody.

"The Impossible Dream" from Man Of La Mancha is in 9/8, though it's treated there as a compound meter rather than an odd meter per se.
 
#51
crewser said:
Theme from Mission: Impossible - For those of you who were around when this popular TV show was the rage. A 5/4 masterpiece. Of course the bassist on the session was none other than the incredible Carol Kaye, playing with a pick. The composer, Lalo Schifrin, is no slouch either. Great arranging mixed with great players; what a concept!
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Additional trivia: The drummer on the original recording was Billy Cobham!
 
#58
...personally, I do not 'feel' Odd times very well...was raised (like most Westerners) on a steady diet of music in 4/4.
I once played with a drummer that ate up Odd/Polyrhythmic stuff; he told me he had never met someone so ingrained in 4/4 than me. Ouch.

Anyway, I need to count these things out, at least initially.
Also, I have played in bands that would name a tune & the leader would say, "...let's do it in 5" or "...let's do this in 7".

You may be lucky in that your ear can handle it. I'm not that fortunate.
 
#59
LeeNunn said:
I have always been intrigued by the fact that Dave Brubeck's Take Five is so popular given that it's in 5/4. Yesterday I realized the Allman Brothers' Whipping Post alternates between 11/8 and 12/8.

What other popular songs come to mind that are in odd time signatures?
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There are maybe one hundred of them. There is a list on Wikipedia. My fave might be Manic Depression, which is in 9/8.

My fave odd time musicians are drummer Senri Kawaguchi of Japan at age 16, who is the only person to equal Billy Cobham of the Mahavishnu Orchestra, which was the best at odd times. If you missed 'em, too bad. A number of soundboard tapes have surfaced that are unbelievable.
 

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