Green Grass and High Tides
Encyclopedia
"Green Grass and High Tides" is a song by the southern rock
band Outlaws. It is the tenth and final track on the band's debut album, Outlaws. The song is one of their best known, and has received extensive play on album-oriented radio stations, although it was never released as a single
. The song is notable for having two extended guitar solos that stretch the song to nearly 10 minutes.
A cover version
of the song is playable in the music video game
Rock Band, acting as the final song for the guitar's solo career. It is considered the most difficult guitar song on the main setlist of the game.
Outlaws founding member Henry Paul
told Songfacts that this song is not about marijuana, but about deceased rock and roll luminaries, and the title, he says, was taken from the 1966 "Best Of" collection by the Rolling Stones called Big Hits (High Tide and Green Grass)
:
"Green Grass and High Tides" was the usual show closer for the Outlaws and the 20 minute+ version can be found on the concert album Bring It Back Alive
(1978). The song is mentioned in Molly Hatchet
's song "Gator Country" and was featured on the "Harley Davidson Road Songs" album in 1995.
Southern rock
Southern rock is a subgenre of rock music, and genre of Americana. It developed in the Southern United States from rock and roll, country music, and blues, and is focused generally on electric guitar and vocals...
band Outlaws. It is the tenth and final track on the band's debut album, Outlaws. The song is one of their best known, and has received extensive play on album-oriented radio stations, although it was never released as a single
Single (music)
In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...
. The song is notable for having two extended guitar solos that stretch the song to nearly 10 minutes.
A cover version
Cover version
In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
of the song is playable in the music video game
Music video game
A music video game, also commonly known as a music game, is a video game where the gameplay is meaningfully and often almost entirely oriented around the player's interactions with a musical score or individual songs...
Rock Band, acting as the final song for the guitar's solo career. It is considered the most difficult guitar song on the main setlist of the game.
Outlaws founding member Henry Paul
Henry Paul (musician)
Henry Paul is an American southern rock and country singer/songwriter who was a founding member of the Southern rock band Outlaws, the front man and founder of the Henry Paul Band and the lead singer for the country band BlackHawk.-Early life:Henry was born in Kingston, New York and lived on a...
told Songfacts that this song is not about marijuana, but about deceased rock and roll luminaries, and the title, he says, was taken from the 1966 "Best Of" collection by the Rolling Stones called Big Hits (High Tide and Green Grass)
Big Hits (High Tide and Green Grass)
Big Hits is the first official compilation album by The Rolling Stones, released on 28 March 1966, on London Records in the US and on 4 November 1966, by Decca Records in the UK. The two releases featured different cover art and track listing...
:
"From what I gather, there was an album out, the best of The Rolling StonesThe Rolling StonesThe Rolling Stones are an English rock band, formed in London in April 1962 by Brian Jones , Ian Stewart , Mick Jagger , and Keith Richards . Bassist Bill Wyman and drummer Charlie Watts completed the early line-up...
, called High Tides and Green Grass.' That was the name of the Rolling Stones' greatest hits - this is like 1966 - and I think it was a manifestation of that title turned in reverse, 'Green Grass and High Tides.' I know that much. And I know that it was a song written for rock and roll illuminaries, from Janis JoplinJanis JoplinJanis Lyn Joplin was an American singer, songwriter, painter, dancer and music arranger. She rose to prominence in the late 1960s as the lead singer of Big Brother and the Holding Company and later as a solo artist with her backing groups, The Kozmic Blues Band and The Full Tilt Boogie Band...
to Jimi HendrixJimi HendrixJames Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix was an American guitarist and singer-songwriter...
, and it had nothing to do with marijuana. But it had to do with, I think, a specific person's [Thomasson's] lyrical look at rock and roll legends. 'As kings and queens bow and play for you.' It's about Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin. 'Castles of stone, soul and glory.' A lot of it is just sort of a collage of words that really don't have all that much to do with anything, they just fit and sounded right. But I have to say it's one of my favorite lyrics. My songwriting is more Steinbeck, really rooted in accuracy and reality; this is definitely Alice In Wonderland. It's the whole 'White Rabbit.' It's sort of like one of those magic lyrical moments that will forever be mysteriously, unclearly conceived."
"Green Grass and High Tides" was the usual show closer for the Outlaws and the 20 minute+ version can be found on the concert album Bring It Back Alive
Bring It Back Alive
Bring It Back Alive is a live album by American southern rock band Outlaws, released in 1978. It was released as a double album, and later re-released as a single CD....
(1978). The song is mentioned in Molly Hatchet
Molly Hatchet
Molly Hatchet is an American southern rock band formed in Jacksonville, Florida, in 1975. They are widely known for their hit song "Flirtin' with Disaster" from the album of the same title. The band, founded by Dave Hlubek and Steve Holland, took its name from a prostitute who allegedly mutilated...
's song "Gator Country" and was featured on the "Harley Davidson Road Songs" album in 1995.