13 Great Rock Flute Solos

Where did the flute go in Rock music? In the Sixties and Seventies, Rock was awash in flutes, including the ones made from silver and brass. I can’t tell you exactly why the flute went out of fashion as a Rock instrument, but I suspect the general decline in the quality of musicianship between the 60s/70s and today is the main culprit. If virtuosity on guitars is no longer considered to be a significant asset, then I suppose the ability to play the flute would be of even less value.

I think this is a great loss. The light, breathy tones of the flute could provide a perfect textural counterpoint to power chords. But the flute can also swing, and deliver a lively, jazzy spring to any song. For this list, I looked at all flute parts, not just solos, and I looked desperately for songs post-1980, and I found very few. And as always, the list is completely subjective, do let me know what your fave Rock flute songs are in the comments.

13. Beastie Boys – Sure Shot

Leave it to the Beasties to buck the trend of their contemporaries. Included here only because it’s one of the few post-80s tracks with any flute at all.

12. The Association – Along Comes Mary

A very flute-friendly band, their #1 hit “Windy” was flute-full. Included here only because I think it’s one of the greatest songs ever written, seriously.

11. Focus – Hocus Pocus

Forget about the flute, let’s just be thankful yodelling never really caught on in Rock. Included here because it’s just so seventilicious.

10. Traffic – John Barleycorn Must Die

The flute was often used by 60s/70s bands as a way to support their baffling preoccupation with medieval themes. See “Stairway To Heaven”.

9. Guess Who – Undun

You just knew something special was happening when the lead singer pulled a flute out of his jeans and started playing it in earnest.

8. Rare Earth – Born To Wander

Back in the day, people didn’t recoil or make strange faces when they heard the flute intro to this song, because to them, it actually made a groovy riff that much groovier.

7. Donovan – There Is a Mountain

First it had a meaning, then it had no meaning, then it did.

6. Boz Scaggs – Lowdown

A transition song for the transition year 1976. Check it out now, funk soul-brother, disco was knocking on the door.

5. Eric Burdon and War – Spill The Wine

Here the flute provides a counter melody that brilliantly helps describe the scene on that crazy field of tall grass as if it were another voice.

4. The Mamas and the Papas – California Dreamin’

The perfect wedding of form and content, no matter how many times I hear it, the flute sends me into a reverie, although not necessarily about California.

3. Beatles – You’ve Got to Hide Your Love Away

Maybe the Beatles’ first “grown-up” song, the flute signaled that these lads were about to take this rock & roll thing to some new places.

2. Canned Heat – Going Up The Country

Forget the dreary medievalism or contemplative thoughtfulness. Here the flute stands for pure, unfettered freedom and joy.

1. Anything By Jethro Tull

I know it’s cheating, but come on, they were a flute-rock band. Ian Anderson is now generally acknowledged as being one of the best flutists on the planet, be it classical or jazz or the rare rock species.

Honorable Mentions:

Moody Blues Nights in White Satin, Beatles Fool On The Hill, King Crimson I Talk To The Wind, Cardigans Sick and Tired, Marvin Gaye Stubborn Kind of Fellow, Marshall Tucker Heard It In A Love Song, Oasis Gas Panic, Rolling Stones Ruby Tuesday, The Style Council How She Threw It All Away, Manfred Mann The Mighty Quinn, Men at Work Down Under, St. Etienne Nothing Can Stop Us, Beach Boys Feel Flows, David Bowie Moonage Daydream, Chicago Color My World, Donovan Sunny Goodge Street, Nicolette Larson Lotta Love, The National So Far Around The Bend, Van Morrison Moondance, Grand Funk Railroad I’m Your Captain, Van McCoy Do The Hustle, Carl Douglas Kung Fu Fighting, Heart Love Alive, Genesis Firth of Fifth, Emerson Lake and Palmer C’est La Vie, Albert Hammond It Never Rains In Southern California.

Which ones did I miss?

Photo (Jethro Tull) Credit: Sdo216 at en.wikipedia [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html), CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/) or CC BY-SA 2.5-2.0-1.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.5-2.0-1.0)], from Wikimedia Commons