What is the most sampled classic rock song of all time?
It’s difficult to pinpoint the exact moment that sampling entered the mainstream, and it’s now just as difficult to imagine modern music without it. Artists are constantly looking to past recordings for inspiration, pulling elements from old songs, manipulating them, and incorporating them into their own compositions. It has become an essential part of contemporary pop music, and listening to the radio can often feel like playing ‘Guess the Sample’.
Some cite the likes of The Beatles and Pink Floyd as pioneers in the art of sampling, experimenting with the method in the late 1970s. However, sampling really came to the fore a little later with the emergence of hip-hop, which pulled heavily from older instrumentation. Now, sampling can be found across almost every genre, from A Tribe Called Quest’s iconic use of Lou Reed’s ‘Walk on the Wild Side’ to Beyoncé’s use of ‘Maps’ by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs.
Classic rock is no exception. Many musicians have incorporated elements of old guitar tunes into their music, with Queen and Led Zeppelin up there as some of the most sampled artists of all time. Zeppelin’s ‘When the Levee Breaks’ has been sampled by both the Beastie Boys and Beyoncé, and even Death Grips have incorporated a Pink Floyd number into their catalogue.
Filled to the brim with iconic riffs and singalong-worthy choruses, classic rock is ripe for sampling, but there is one tune that has proven particularly appealing to samplers. According to WhoSampled, ‘Long Red’ by Mountain is the most sampled classic rock song of all time, boasting almost 900 uses by other artists.
Released in the summer of 1969, ‘Long Red’ first appeared on Mountain frontman Leslie West’s debut album, Mountain, predating any of his releases with the band. “The long red, flowing through my mind,” West sang in the opening moments, “Dream here, dreaming there, two pieces all the time…” A couple of years later, Mountain played the track at Woodstock, delivering a performance that would earn them hundreds of samples.
The performance featured rocking guitars and a soon-to-be iconic drum part, the latter of which would find its way into hundreds of other songs in the decades that followed. The first sample of the song came in 1986, when Eric B lifted from it for ‘Eric B Is President’. Since then, hundreds of other artists have followed suit, finding something in ‘Long Red’ worth bringing into the modern day.
Some of the most well-known artists who have sampled ‘Long Red’ include pop icon Lana Del Rey, who borrowed from West’s track on her 2011 single ‘Born to Die’, and Jay-Z, who included the drum part on his 2003 track ‘99 Problems’. From mainstream rap to moody pop to modern psych, the track has consistently found its way into modern music for decades now.
‘Long Red’ has amassed an impressive 877 samples since its release in the late 1960s, which, according to WhoSampled, makes it the 11th most sampled track of all time. However, the top ten list is largely made up of old folk and soul songs, leaned on heavily by rap and hip-hop artists. This leaves ‘Long Red’ as the most sampled classic rock song of all time.
Although 877 is already a truly impressive slew of samples, it seems like the number is destined to keep going up. ‘Long Red’ will still be finding its way onto the airwaves for years to come.
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