Daily Dirt: ‘Whole Lotta Love’ guitar riff considered best ever … is Hendrix ranked too low?

Daily Dirt for Thursday, Sept. 5, 2024

“Smoke on the Water” also appears to have goten short-changed … Welcome to today’s three thoughts that make up Vol. 1,050 of The Daily Dirt

1. Guitar World magazine named its top guitar riffs of all time and, for the most part, did a credible job. But …

“In 1969, the year Neil Armstrong first set foot on the moon, Jimmy Page launched his own giant leap for mankind,” Amit Sharmab writes. “Whole Lotta Love‘s guitar figure took just 2.7 seconds to play, but it immediately projected music into another decade. While everyone else was still playing the ’60s, Zeppelin was now playing the ’70s. 

“Any guitar list – greatest riffs, solos, albums – is guaranteed to start fights, but it’s a brave soul who challenges Whole Lotta Love’s claim to riff supremacy. It wasn’t the first great riff, but it is the defining one. It’s why riffs became central to guitar music, the reason bands search for the guitar hook that can propel a whole song – or even a whole career.” 

The Top 10

• 1. “Whole Lotta Love,” by Led Zeppelin. (It’s hard to argue with this being No. 1. This also was No. 1 according to Total Guitar magazine.)
• 2. “Crazy Train,” by Ozzy Osbourne.
• 3. “Back in Black,” by AC/DC.
• 4. “Smoke on the Water,” by Deep Purple. (This, however, should have been No. 2 hands down.)
• 5. “Ain’t Talkin’ About Love,” by Van Halen.
• 6. “Enter Sandman,” by Metallica.
• 7. “Iron Man,” by Black Sabbath
• 8. “Walk,” by Pantera
• 9. “La Grange,” by ZZ Top.
• 10. “Purple Haze,” by Jimi Hendrix. (And this, should have been No. 3. Hendrix behind these others? C’mon, man!)

2. Did you know (Part 113):

• Games Caitlin Clark has played in have accounted for 33.5 percent of the WNBA’s total attendance.
• Clark’s road-game appearances have spiked the host teams’ attendance by an average of 87 percent.
• The top five college football players with the highest NIL values this season are: 1. Colorado quarterback Sheduer Sanders, $4.7 million; 2. Texas quarterback Arch Manning, $3.1 million; 3. Colorado wide receiver/cornerback Travis Hunter, $2.7 million; 4. Alabama quarterback Jalen Milroe, $1.7 million; 5. Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers, $1.7 million.
• Chuck Norris uses pepper spray to season his steaks.
• Chuck Norris has a diary. It’s called the Guinness Book of World Records.
• When Chuck Norris gives you the finger, he’s telling you how many seconds you have left to live.
• If you spell “Chuck Norris” in Scrabble you win. Forever. 
• That Jack was nimble, Jack was quick, but Jack still couldn’t dodge Chuck Norris’s roundhouse kick.

3. Any idea what the top five countries outside the U.S. in producing MLB players have been? Here you go …

• 1. Dominican Republic, 910
• 2. Venezuela, 492
• 3. Cuba, 391
• 4. Puerto Rico, 307
• 5. Canada, 265.

Steve Thought O’ The Day
Hardcore baseball fans reading today’s Daily Dirt probably had their memories jogged by the Metallica reference. When former Yankees reliever Mariano Rivera entered a game, he walked to the mound to the tune of “Enter Sandman” by Metallica.

Steve Eighinger writes daily for Muddy River News.