Most underappreciated song by ...

Hey, Hey What Can I Do for both Zeppelin and Hootie.

 

CCR: Penthouse Pauper

 

Truth be told, the differences are negligible. I only picked 2 because of the version on the Live Anthology. (God DAMN, I am so fucking cool.)

Also, I did a double take at "first dance at our wedding reception," but then realized you're exactly right. I've always referred to it as at the wedding, but that would be incredibly weird.

 

The Beatles: Glass Onion
The Rolling Stones: Child of the Moon
Bruce Springsteen: Fade Away
U2: All I Want Is You
REM: Begin the Begin
Elton John: Your Sister Can't Twist (But She Can Rock And Roll)
Pearl Jam: Satan's Bed
Fleetwood Mac: Eyes of the World

 

Springsteen--The Promise

 

The Beatles: "Across the Universe"
The Beatles' solo work: George Harrison, "The Ballad of Sir Frankie Crisp"
The Rolling Stones: "She's a Rainbow"
Led Zeppelin: "Fool in the Rain"*
The Who: "Tattoo"
Bruce Springsteen: "Be True"
Bob Dylan: "Sweetheart Like You"**
Simon and/or Garfunkel: "Only Living Boy in New York"
Pearl Jam: "Yellow Ledbetter"
Nirvana: "Man Who Sold the World" cover
Elvis Costello: "Riot Act"
U2: "The Electric Co."
The Kinks: "Better Things"
REM - "Find the River"
Cheap Trick - "Oh Candy"

* Technically "Fool in the Rain" was a single, but c'mon, it was from "In Through the Out Door." No one gives a shit about that album. If it's ruled in violation, I switch my vote to "Carouselambra."

** Again, technically a single, but I think anything after Dylan found Jesus should be fair game. Backup choice: "Can You Please Crawl Out Your Window," which was a throwaway single and not on an album.

 

I was going to say Funeral For a Friend/Love Lies Bleeding for Elton John, but Wikipedia says it got a lot of radio play when it came out and I guess Goodbye Yellow Brick Road might be one of those disqualified albums.

Black Keys: I'll Be Your Man. It's somewhat well known for playing over the opening credits on Hung, but otherwise its just a deep cut on their very first album.

 

Some very good choices there.

Simon & Garfunkel -- Agree on For Emily, Wherever I May Find Her
Gordon Lightfoot -- Fine as Fine Can Be
Dr. Hook & the Medicine Show -- Sing Me a Rainbow
Little River Band -- I Dream Alone
Bob Seger -- Sunspot Baby
Sister Hazel -- This Kind of Love
Billy Joel -- C'Etait Toi
Bee Gees -- The Way it Was
BoDeans -- Far, Far Away From My Heart
Rickie Lee Jones -- Stewart's Coat
Queen -- '39
Plain White T's -- Write You a Song
Elton John -- One More Arrow
Dan Fogelberg -- Sweet Magnolia and the Traveling Salesman *** Beggar's Game and Tucson, Arizona (Gazette) are also great album cuts of his.
Joe Jackson -- The Man Who Wrote Danny Boy


Blondie -- Faces ... this was a very jazzy song that was pretty out of character for them and it was on their biggest album.

 

The Beatles: "Cry Baby Cry"
The Beatles' solo work: Paul: "Mrs. Vandebilt"
John: "Hold On"
The Rolling Stones: "The Singer Not The Song"
Led Zeppelin: "Tangerine"
The Who: "So Sad About Us"
Bob Dylan: "Oh, Sister"
Simon and/or Garfunkel: "April Come She Will"
Nirvana: "Lounge Act"
Pink Floyd: "Lucifer Sam"

 

Hell yeah, great Syd song.

"That cat's something I can't explain ..."

 

The Beatles:
Rain -- Brilliant jangle-pop. Gets some radio play (what Beatles song doesn't?), but not as much as it should. If it doesn't fit the criteria, I'll pick something else.

The Beatles' solo work:
Paul ... Give Ireland Back To The Irish -- Rare political stuff from solo Paul. Banned in England. Still hard to find, unless you want to buy the shit Wild Life album. Been pining for the mp3 for a while. It was a single, and it did chart in America (barely), so maybe it doesn't count, but it's so rarely heard these days I think it fits.

George ... Faster -- This is the auto racing fan in me coming through. Good tribute song about 70s Formula One of which Harrison was a big fan. Jackie Stewart's in the video.

The Rolling Stones:
Winter -- Given Versatile's criteria, I challenged myself and stayed away from the Stones' classic foursome of albums starting with Beggars Banquet and ending with Exile On Main Street. Winter is a slow song, but it's a great example of how well Mick Jagger and Mick Taylor worked together. Keith Richards doesn't even play on it. Guitar playing is fantastic and the solo is beautiful. I still think Pearl Jam ripped this off big-time for Black. Goats Head Soup is the Stones' most underappreciated album.

Led Zeppelin:
Carouselambra -- I have always loved, loved, loved this song when most Zep fans hate, hate, hate it because of the synth. I think the synth adds to the drive of a song that really rocks, especially in its first third.

The Who:
Circles (Instant Party) -- My brother took So Sad About Us already, so I'll go with this bit of awesomeness from The Who's first album. Shel Talmy-fired, mid-60s pop guitar crunch at its finest. Talmy (the producer) always did a great job throwing an extra accent in his songs, in this case, a french horn.

Bob Dylan:
Changing Of The Guards -- Been mentioned by Dick Whitman already, but what a brilliant song. Crossed off any Blood On The Tracks cuts given Versatile's criteria, but this hangs with the best of those anyway.

Nirvana:
Son Of A Gun -- A Vaseline's cover, but I don't care. I've heard the original and this is better. Rocks.

Queen:
Get Down, Make Love -- Perhaps one of the most overt homosexual songs ever written. Perhaps one of the best "quiet-to-loud" rock songs too. Ungodly stuff from Brian May. Even the stupid Queen "experimentalism" in the middle can't ruin it.

Pink Floyd:
Pigs (Three Different Ones) -- Animals is a cool album. Love this track the most.

Tom Petty:
Change Of Heart -- I'm going to violate Versatile's rules this one time. This was a single, a successful one in its day, but you never hear it anymore, so I'm going to list it. Not sure why this one has been lost to time, I think it rocks. Apparently, Tom Petty hates it. Again I have no idea why.

Others ...

David Bowie:
Oh! You Pretty Things -- I could have picked any number of songs off Hunky Dory -- Life On Mars is too well-known now for this list -- so I'll take this one. Encapsulates a great album perfectly.

The Clash:
Jail Guitar Doors -- Stayed away from London Calling and picked this. Nothing fancy ... just a cool rock song.

Aerosmith:
Sick As A Dog -- Aerosmith gets played to death on classic rock stations and its an indictment of the medium that Aerosmith's one truly great album -- Rocks -- is almost entirely overlooked, besides the great Back In The Saddle. Could have picked any number of tracks, but this one captures its spirit best.

AC/DC
Rock 'n Roll Damnation -- AC/DC was far better with Bon Scott and it was far better in the pre-Mutt Lange days too when its goal was to be raw as shit. Powerage was the last album before that period began and this song is a mind-blower from it. Get up off your bended knees ...

Marvin Gaye:
Please Stay (Once You Go Away) -- Marvin Gaye was a weirdo's weirdo. Made great soul and pop songs, but in the 70s, he was more like a rock album artist. This song is perfect in damn near every way and captures his essence perfectly.

Sly & Family Stone:
Runnin' Away -- I love this song. It's from There's A Riot Goin' On and it sounds like a Beatles song from its middle period (think the horn in Cry For No One) as filtered through the streets of the early 70s. It's sounds hopeful and is depressing all the same, just like most of the Riot album.

Funkadelic:
Red Hot Mama -- Eddie Hazel is himself one of the most underappreciated guitar players of all-time. Best known for Maggot Brain, which just as easily could have been my choice, this one is even less heard from the awesome Standing On The Verge Of Getting It On album and is propulsive.

Rod Stewart
Los Paraguayos -- There's a ton of unknown Rod Stewart gems, both from his early acoustic days, to his peak-period Faces-esque rockers and even into his late 70s malaise. This song is good mix of his first two eras. Great self-effacing lyrics and uptempo build. Never A Dull Moment is a great album.

The Kinks
Days -- I really wanted to pick something off the Arthur album, but couldn't narrow it down. This was a single in the U.K. when the Kinks weren't allowed to tour in the U.S. Fell between the Village Preservation Society and Arthur albums. Beautiful song.

Velvet Underground
I Found A Reason -- Could have picked any number of songs from Loaded, but went with the ballad. The early template for Lou Reed's later similar-sounding solo songs.

Humble Pie
I Wonder -- I think this out-Zeps a lot of Zeppelin's blues dirges. Stunning guitar from Steve Marriott, et al.

The Raspberries
Tonight -- The perfect power pop song. My second favorite song of all-time behind Tumbling Dice. The Raspberries' Side 3 album is pretty amazing.

Flamin' Groovies
Shake Some Action -- With both the Raspberries and the Flamin' Groovies, I'm probably bending the conventions of Versatile's idea as neither were popular for more than a fleeting moment. I just think these are underappreciated songs that demand to be heard. No matter how popular the artist was. Still in the power pop realm, this is one of its best.

Big Star
Daisy Glaze -- As a underrated cult band, I could have picked anything, but this song has always hit me from Radio City. Alex Chilton is a god.

Mott The Hoople
Rest In Peace -- Mott has long been my band to champion, so I might as well end with this ballad, which is one of the best ever recorded. Ian Hunter is a god.

There ... you just took a trip on my iTunes.

 

Billy Joel -- "Until the Night"
Bruce -- "Long Time Coming"