Twangin'

In several late-Sixties hits, such as the Box Tops "Cry Like a Baby" and B.J. Thomas' "Hooked on a Feeling," there's a deep, twangy sound running through the song. At first I thought this was simply a regular electric bass played way down at the end of the neck, but there's a distinctly separate bass line on "Hooked on a Feeling," so I figured that wasn't it. I was planning to ask if anyone knew what that instrument was, but but a few seconds on the Internet reveals that it's really an electric sitar, and leaves us with nothing to talk about. Google is ruining this blog.

You don't really hear much electric sitar anymore, do you? It's on Lenny Kravitz' "It Ain't Over Till It's Over," which I had completely forgotten about: The sitar fills come in about two-thirds of the way through the song. Wikipedia also claims it's on Van Halen's "Ain't Talkin' Bout Love," which I assume is a joke.

I also see that it was featured on MGMT's career-killing album Congratulations. I wouldn't know about that.