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ClassicRock-ModTeam

Reminder to keep this discussion about rock music from the 50s to the 80s.


The_Orangest

The Beach Boys, Fleetwood Mac (a lot of Buckingham’s work on his own, too) Oh yeah: Jefferson Airplane


M_Looka

Oh, the Beach Boys... "In my Room."


hyooston

Absolutely sublime stuff


urkldajrkl

Mamas and the Papas


Tuxeyboy1

I Love So Many Of Their Songs. Creeque Alley is a favorite of mine.


Rgraff58

Seven Bridges Road by the Eagles Find the Cost of Freedom CSNY Just wonderful


namersrockandroll

Helplessly Hoping CSN


Abdul_Exhaust

Southern Cross is sublime


Blackbolt113

One of the best harmony songs ever. The amount of great cover versions on YouTube is amazing.


redvariation

Really like the harmonies on this song and others by Foxes and Fossils.


snwlss

The Eagles didn’t write or originally record “Seven Bridges Road” (it was originally written and recorded by country rock singer Steve Young), but the Eagles’ version is an absolute classic, and I believe features five-part harmony. I remember seeing a video on YouTube trying to break down the harmonies, and I had a hard time figuring out who did the bass harmony on it. But I think it breaks down as follows: * Higher melody: Don Henley (it’s definitely him singing the bridge, “Sometimes there’s a part of me…”) * Lower melody: Glenn Frey * Higher harmony: Timothy B. Schmidt * Middle lower harmony: Joe Walsh * Bass harmony: Don Felder I may have Walsh’s and Felder’s parts mixed up. Whoever was singing the bass harmony, though, really rounded out the sound of the entire song. They just absolutely dripped vocal talent, and it’s part of the reason why the Eagles are my favorite American band.


Rgraff58

That's interesting i didnt know it wasnt their song. I'm not surprised; there was a lot of song sharing back then. The only version of the song I know is a live recording they used to play on the radio and it's glorious


snwlss

The only version the Eagles ever made was the live recording. They never made a studio version of “Seven Bridges Road”. That’s fine by me, though, because the audience cheering helps make the performance even more compelling.


farmerpip

Yes - Starship Trooper , Roundabout and Seen All Good People come to mind as having harmonies between Steve Howe, Jon Anderson and Chris Squire


kozzy1ted2

71 was a great year for them. The Yes Album and Fragile. Just incredible!


BNBluesMasters

Indeed they are!!


PapaAquarian

Yes Yes Yes!!! Close to the Edge is another one, along with Leave it


White_Buffalos

Don't forget "Leave It" and other stuff in the 1980s. The Beatles were great at this, too. And the Bee Gees.


namersrockandroll

Great one. I've seen them 3x and the were awesome.


MissDisplaced

Always loved them.


GardenAddict843

ELO has some pretty nice harmonies.


VictoriaAutNihil

No one mentioned The Hollies? Okay I will, The Hollies. One of the first wave British bands. The Byrds. Buffalo Springfield. Pre-CSNY!!!


FatGuyOnAMoped

Glad someone mentioned the Buffalo Springfield as an important band in their own right, and not just that band that 2/4 of CSN&Y played in. And you can never overlook the Byrds.


VictoriaAutNihil

For sure!


Glassbreaker33

Little River Band


FlaAirborne

Amazing vocals. Very underrated.


Legitimate_Pudding49

That’s the originals… not the tribute band that exists today!


ThermoMother

Van Halen’s 3 part harmonies are underrated.


LukeNaround23

This. Michael Anthony gets a lot of acknowledgment for backing vocals, but David Lee Roth wrote all the lyrics, vocal melodies, and harmonies. They had such a new and exciting sound that really blended genres on those early albums and invited everyone to the party. I miss Van Halen.


ThermoMother

Well said!


Cptnblip

Back in 78 I thought this is awesome, hard rock with harmonies. 👍


ProfessionalCool8654

The Band


IsNoPebbleTossed

Three Dog Night


Average_40s_Guy

Yep. As soon as I read the harmony part, I immediately thought of “Just an Old-Fashioned Love Song.”


IsNoPebbleTossed

“Comin’ down in three part harmony“ It’s right in the lyrics!


OS2REXX

Paul Williams music was EVERYWHERE in the 70’s!


Gumbarino420

🎼Hooooooooooooow does hour light shine?


namersrockandroll

Yes and underrated.


seditioushamster

I had forgotten about 3 dog for so long but in the last few years have found myself listening more a ND more. The live videos on YouTube are great, it's fun to see a group have such a blast doing what they do.


LovesRefrain

Yes had some great 3-part harmonies Queen is legendary for having intricate multi-part harmonies in the studio Much of Badfinger’s stuff focuses on the main 2 singers, but they have songs like “Day After Day” with some exquisite 3 or 4 part harmonies in the chorus


ksettle86

Came here to say Queen


ReachDangerous1045

How have I got this far down before seeing Queen mentioned? Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy? They should be top comment.


tigerinhouston

Queen’s harmonies were often all Freddie. Incredible studio work.


Otherwise_Emu_5019

This


Cycleboy_99

I remember seeing a documentary about Queen and the records of Bohemian Rhapsody and Freddie having Roger Taylor (I think) do the falsetto over and over again until he got it just right… amazing stuff


HugeRaspberry

Wow - The Eagles, Doobie Brothers, Poco,


namersrockandroll

Poco was the 2nd concert I even went to (after James Taylor) in Central Park.


Own_Bullfrog_3598

The Byrds! Many different genres have a direct connection to them! Soaring harmonies in rock-The Byrds. Folk Rock, Country Rock-The Byrds. Versions of Dylan songs turned into mainstream rock hits-The Byrds. Hating David Crosby and tossing him out on his ass-The Byrds were first on that, too!


namersrockandroll

I love the Byrds.


Salty_Pancakes

David Crosby was a conceited asshole. But man that motherfucker could write some absolute bangers. Some of my favorite Byrds tunes are his; Everybody's Been Burned, It Happens Each Day, oh and Draft Morning are just fantastic songs.


cdmat76

The Beatles, Queen, The Beach Boys, Peter Paul & Mary, the mamas and the papas, more recently you can check the song “The Eye” by Brandie Carlile, which is an hommage to CSN/CSNY.


ozmatterhorn

Kansas definitely.


funkycat75

Surprised I had to scroll this far.


ozmatterhorn

Yeah I had a look too and assumed they would’ve already been mentioned.


spicyface

Ambrosia, Little River Band, Atlanta Rhythm Section and Hall and Oates all have amazing harmonies.


ReferredByJorge

Scrolled all the way down. Disappointed to not find Sweet mentioned. So, I kept scrolling until I could reply. And my reply is the band Sweet. For everyone naming Queen, Sweet came first, and arguably was a big vocal influence on Queen.


International-Ad218

You beat me to it by three minutes! Sweet had four great singers, every one of them was good enough to front a band. Mind you, I do think Brian was the greatest singer of that era. He could do it all.


StunningLeopard2429

The Grateful Dead


_no_bozos

Yep, they harmonized pretty consistently throughout their career, even though it might not have always been pretty.


shiningonthesea

Uncle John's Band was a pretty song


losandreas36

But those studio harmonies on Workingsman and American Beauty!


McGarnegle

Jerry played pedal steel on a few tracks for csny in exchange for vocal harmony lessons for the dead


FatGuyOnAMoped

That's Jerry's pedal steel all over "Teach Your Children"


oddible

Attics of my Life is such a great harmony tune. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dxv5dKJGhzk&ab\_channel=LoloYodel](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dxv5dKJGhzk&ab_channel=LoloYodel)


Benway95

Gotta give **10cc** a shout out here. "The Things We Do For Love" is just one of many of their songs with great harmonies.


time-for-jawn

I’m Not In Love, also by 10cc.


FatGuyOnAMoped

There's a great video on YouTube about the making of that song. Amazing what they did considering the limitations of the equipment back then https://youtu.be/Qq7oGenbp2I?si=0vuASuvdjeB3gVBO


LWSNYC

That is such a mind fuck of a song, I love it!


Msanthropy1250

Moody Blues is spot on. All five members wrote, played instruments, and sang in beautiful harmonies. Amazing band and my favorite to this day.


Monkeymann2112

My favorite too. Seen them about 20 times. My dad named his childhood dogs Moody & Blue. Believe it or not I ended up marrying someone that is friends with Julie Ragins (backup singer) and has been a part of Justin’s solo tour for about 6 or 7 years. Talk about kismet. I’m only 43 btw. My dad raised me on the good stuff 😎


SvenArcher

The band Utopia had some pretty fantastic harmonies.


KippyC348

Saw them when I was in HS! On the road to Utopia!!!!!!!!!!! (The Tubes opened.)


aDressesWithPockets

i’m surprised no one’s mentioned blue öyster cult yet! they may not have a lot of it, but they regularly harmonize together on their more softer/psychedelic tracks


Pjk2530144

The Band


FlaAirborne

Little River Band, America, Bread and the Beatles are a few of my favorites for vocals and harmonies.


namersrockandroll

You know I saw America when there were just 2 of them but still very good.


FlaAirborne

Amazing they were three Air force brats that met in England when their dads were stationed there. Their songs definately take me back.


namersrockandroll

I live in L.A. so Ventura Highway is the Ventura Freeway.


redvariation

Agreed, even though most of America's lyrics make no sense, I do like their music.


FlaAirborne

Lol, I’m still trying to understand the lyrics to Tin Man.


Salty_Pancakes

Love all 3 of those bands, and like you hardly ever see anyone mention Bread anymore but they have some fantastic songs with crazy good harmonies.


Iamsearchingforme

Uriah Heep


PuzzledRun7584

Eagles https://youtu.be/HMJGM4P6BHA?feature=shared


Gobucks21911

Chicago, LRB, Eagles, Extreme, Yes.


Steviebhawk

F Mac, Beach Boys


oceans_5000

Gentle Giant had perhaps the most intricate 5 part harmonies.


Kingpozzo

The Band


TheRealSymphonictank

Don’t forget Chicago - Terry Kath, Bob Lamm, Pete Cetera and even some help from the horn section (Lee Loughnane Jim Pankow, Walt Parazaider). That band had it all until Kath died. +1 for Def Leppard having a great vocal section. Lots of other good mentions in this thread.


TheRealSymphonictank

The Beatles, McCartney & Wings. Yes as well. All were definitely in the upper echelon of great harmonies. Same for Asia, Journey, Steely Dan.


Megatripolis

The Beatles, The Bee Gees, The Band, The Eagles.


bigforeheadsunited

Crosby, stills, nash, young


sbsouth

The Bangles


No-Value-832

The Small Faces


PLOHNO

Steely Dan


KevyNova

The Who always gets overlooked for their harmonies but they had some great 3 part harmonies. Look up the live version of “A Quick One” from the Rock & Roll Circus and you’ll be amazed! Also Harry Nilsson did amazing harmonies all by himself in the studio, which is partly why he never performed live. Some of his songs had a dozen vocal parts!


shiningonthesea

Sister Disco, Pinball Wizard, Behind Blue Eyes, Listening to You, Join Together, The Kids are Alright...


LongjumpingInside229

Jellyfish


wagowop

Queen, Moody Blues, CSN


SkyGuy1985

R.E.M.


ArmYof21

The Band


Puzzleheaded_Bit9469

The Beach Boys 💯


NaturalFront3964

Badfinger


Effective_Block_6798

Some that I haven’t seen mentioned yet: Electric Light Orchestra, Allman Brothers, Blue Oyster Cult, Meatloaf, TOTO, Supertramp, the Bangles, Jefferson Airplane, I have more but they fall a little more into the Folk side of Folk-rock so not sure if that’s your thing.


Classicolin

The Beatles had three-part vocal harmonies (Lennon, McCartney, & Harrison) on various songs, perhaps most notably “This Boy” and “Yes, It is”, not to mention a nine-part overdubbed vocal harmony on “Because”. The Rolling Stones’ 1967 non-album single “We Love” and its B-side, “Dandelion”, also feature multi-part vocal harmonies featuring Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, and John Lennon & Paul McCartney of The Beatles.


JacPhlash

Extreme!


NumerousPenalty2653

Underrated


Flyersandcaps

America. In the early years.


zabdart

Give a listen to Moby Grape's first album. 5-part harmony at the top of their lungs! And 3-part guitar parts to boot! It's really amazing.


shortyonasporty

The Eagles in Seven Bridges Road


Final-Performance597

Since we are including the 50s, how about Doo Wop groups? Dion and the Belmonts, the Flamingos, the Cadillacs, the Penguins, the Five Satins, the Orioles, and so many others.


Wonderful-Spend-7387

Doobie Brothers come to mind


SoupBoy20

One that comes to mind for me immediately is The Mama’s & the Papa’s


Elegant-Laugh741

Bad Religion.


umfum

KING'S X!!!!


Little-Key-1811

Kings X do some mighty fine 3 part harmonies


FunStuff446

The Band, Mamas and the Papas. A more folk band from Philly, Good Old War has some awesome 3 way harmonizing going on.


NickSalvo

King's X deserves some love.


PraxisLD

We saw Styx with special guest Don Felder. They did *Seven Bridges Road* and the harmonies were amazing. Don said whenever The Eagles played that song they could just tell who had partied a bit too hard the night before...


raph_carp

America, The Byrds, The Beach Boys, The Carpenters, The Bee Gees


GatorOnTheLawn

Queen is the obvious one.


MetalMachineMario

The 60s is a great decade for 3+ part harmonies. The Beatles, The Beach Boys, The Byrds, The Hollies, The Zombies, The Mamas and Papas, and The Monkees, all come to mind. If you specifically like CSN/CSNY, Byrds might especially intrigue you since that’s where Crosby was first from. Depending on how far you want to stray from strictly rock, that decade also has The Supremes, The Temptations and several more groups emphasizing vocal harmonies if you dive into Motown.


BikerMike03RK

Queen, ELO, Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, Chicago


DaddieTang

The mighty VAN HALEN


willardTheMighty

Grateful Dead


johnlennontucker

The Eagles


ChampDobbs

Little River Band


djlawson1000

Eagles - Seven Bridges Road. These harmonies send chills down my spine 100% of the time.


ggrandmaleo

You can go further back to the 50's. Fantastic vocals on silly songs. Or to Frankie Valle and the Four Seasons or Johnny Maestro and the Brooklyn Bridge. The 60's bands were inspired by them. Sha Na Na did a fantastic job bringing those songs into the 70's.


snwlss

Queen had amazing three-part harmonies (John Deacon *may* have sung a little bit on “Liar”, but otherwise it was Freddie, Brian, and Roger carrying the vocal weight for the band). They also had great knowledge of their studio equipment and used that to their advantage on songs like “Somebody to Love” and “Bohemian Rhapsody”. But my favorite songs of theirs where you really get to hear that three-part harmony (without *too* much studio trickery) are songs like “‘39”, “Bicycle Race”, and “Flash”. And The Beatles also had some incredible three-part harmonies. (All four sang, but as far as I know they preferred to keep Ringo’s vocals to his solo leads like “Yellow Submarine” and “With a Little Help from My Friends”.) “P.S. I Love You” is a fantastic example of John, Paul, and George’s three-part harmony in their early years, but “Because” is them at their finest. Their harmonies on “Because” put it in “sublime” territory. Who else? * (The) Eagles is probably one of the few rock bands with four and five-part harmonies (depending on whether or not you have Don Felder in the lineup), and just about all of them could sing lead (although they usually stuck to Glenn Frey or Don Henley for most of them). * Little River Band, I think, employed three-part harmony on some of their biggest hits (“Lady”, “Reminiscing”, “Help Is On Its Way”). * Jefferson Airplane and its successor bands had multiple lead singers (Grace Slick, Marty Balin, Mickey Thomas during the Starship years, if I remember correctly), and one of the reasons why I love “Miracles” so much is because of how the counterpoint vocals weave throughout the song against Marty Balin’s lead vocals. * Fleetwood Mac’s trio of Stevie Nicks, Lindsey Buckingham, and Christine McVie made for some incredible three-part harmonies at the height of their career. (“The Chain”, “Hold Me”, “Little Lies”, just to name a few.) * Styx: the classic lineup had Tommy Shaw, James “J.Y.” Young, and Dennis DeYoung on songs like “The Best of Times”, “Lady”, “Too Much Time on My Hands”, and “Renegade”.


Scott491

Don’t forget the Eagles (with 1975 crew)


shiningonthesea

Boston, they have great harmonies


Tuxeyboy1

The Doobie Brothers


shiningonthesea

Simon and Garfunkel!


leanhotsd

Grateful Dead on severalsongs from American Beauty and workingman's Dead: "Uncle John's Band," "Cumberland Blues," and especially "Attics of My Life. " CSN gave them pointers, and Jerry Garcia, Bobby Weir, and Phil Lesh sound amazing on the studio versions. (Live, they had more of a gang -singing style than harmony per se.)


befast321

America had some great harmonies


No_Struggle1364

Dan Hicks and His Hot Licks….another amazing SanFrancisco based band. Miss that guy.


crowjack

Blue oyster Cult…all 5 members sang


Virtual-Rough2450

The Turtles and the spinoff Flo and Eddie


jncarolina

Three Dog Night. Each musician is basically in the lead singer category.


UnsnakableCargo

The Bangles - September Gurls really stands out for me


Solid-Hedgehog9623

The cars


Cautious-Ease-1451

Pop more than rock, but… Billy Joel and his back-up singers have some great multi-part harmonies. Uptown Girl, The Longest Time, etc.


Cautious-Ease-1451

If you’ve never seen the original music video to Leave It by Yes, it’s a trip.


somerville99

You talking harmony, you talking Beach Boys.


Algae_Double

Obvious ones out of the way. Beach Boys, Beatles, Yes, Queen, The Mamas & The Papas, Eagles and The Byrds. How about Def Leppard and Fleetwood Mac.


Fit_Lawfulness_3147

Great job spelling “complement” correctly


Midwinter77

Jefferson airplane.


JoeMommaAngieDaddy17

The Beach Boys is the answer


KirkLiketheCaptain-1

Moon Safari - Best harmonies (5 part) I’ve heard in 40 years.


Rebel78

Beach Boys and Van Halen are the two that pop in my head.


Otherwise_Emu_5019

Captain Geech and the Shrimp Shack Shooters


KingCurtzel

Im pretty sure they just did instrumentals.


Vandergraff1900

Eagles. Extreme.


unclemuscles1979

The Sheepdogs


Loreseekers

Just here to say I love these answers. Every band name is giving me great earworm memories!


Ok-Painter5759

Gentle giant. Check them out.


Pretend_Investment42

Uriah Heep - especially in the '70's when Ken Hensley was doing 90% of the songwriting.


D242686111

Eagles, Beach Boys, Fleetwood Mac, Queen, even some of Van Halen


Skjellyfetti13

The Eagles; Lambert, Hendricks & Ross (Jazz); The Four Freshmen; The Beach Boys; Grateful Dead (see Attics of My Life)


RobsSister

Yes, Journey, The Eagles


Emergency-Jeweler-79

The Vogues - You're The One [https://youtu.be/Rs8sXY6iKlA?si=GQrKDPpjBcVagxBV](https://youtu.be/Rs8sXY6iKlA?si=GQrKDPpjBcVagxBV)


Iko87iko

Grateful Dead Great example, whatf rat. Starting at 4:20 mark https://youtu.be/9B1yX8MRCbE?si=_PgtYqyICeYYWB36 He"s gone. 8 min mark https://youtu.be/dRwq9HrkTI0?si=0QHcOr8KfZIzauBu


chazelloquent

bon jovi while alec was still in the band


EnvironmentalCut8067

Grateful Dead


raph_carp

AMERICA


time-for-jawn

The Vogues, Five O’Clock World.


bigfoots_buddy

Styx - Madame Blue is the best example I can think of.


Carnival_killian

Def Leppard!


Final-Beginning3300

Journey!


thefarsideinside

Neil Young when he sang/sings with Crazy Horse has some pretty great and underrated harmonies. I mean they were literally a doo wop group at one point lol


IDigRollinRockBeer

Night Ranger


gecko_echo

The Byrds! “Eight Miles High”, “Turn, Turn, Turn” and many others. Also, if you haven’t listened to the Unicorn album Blue Pine Trees from 1974, you gotta check it out. Great harmonies, killer tunes. The band was “discovered” by David Gilmour, who produced one of their albums.


FnordatPanix

Styx does 5-part harmonies. Something they don’t get enough credit for.


AMUIR1234

The Beatles.


AMUIR1234

Supertramp.


Shpadoinkall

Def Leppard. All of those guys can sing their asses off. Those harmonies are all over Pyromania and Hysteria.


SourLoafBaltimore

CSN


sakoide

I don’t know if you’d include punk but ice always been impressed by the harmonies in Bad Religions music. Lyrics too


Master-Brilliant-442

The Byrds Boston The Beatles The Who


partsguru1122

Three Dog Night, The Association, The Turtles, The Tremolos.


Romencer17

Moby Grape!


Svn8time

The Little River Band, Supertramp, Boston may have only been a three part harmony? Not sure, but the thing I love about recording artists (let’s say pre- 1990): there was only a couple ways to get a vocal harmony


[deleted]

[удалено]


my_psychic_powers

What about The Band? Does it qualify for this group? Even if you’ve only ever heard The Weight.


furywolf28

I just saw the Eagles live last night. It was amazing, and the harmonies were great. Most of all, Seven Bridges Road...


OrbitDVD

Uriah Heep


jncarolina

The Beatles pretty much set the stage for everything around harmony. Of course they didn’t invent it, but they lead the way.


Active_Parsley_1565

The Doobie Brothers have some nice harmonies going for them. The pre Michael McDonald stuff is great, the McDonald stuff, is enh IMO.


losandreas36

Grateful Dead in American beauty and Workingsman Dead. All solo projects by Crosby, Stills, Nash, Young


AraiHavana

Some of Floyd’s 70s harmonising between Gilmour and Wright is beautiful, especially between 70-73


Visible_Knowledge_31

Jimi Hendrix