5 of the Greatest Keyboard Openings In Rock

This past Sunday on All Mixed Up I played the audio from one of YouTube music personality Rick Beato's videos that led me to thinking about five of the greatest keyboard openings in rock.

First, here's Rick's video, which contains a GREAT story about the 1967 hit "A Whiter Shade of Pale" by Procol Harum.

Although best known for his incredible guitar playing, Eddie Van Halen brought a whole new dimension to Van Halen when he introduced keyboards on 1984's "Jump."

He continued that trend with this song from the Sammy Hagar era of the band.

It was really hard to pick just one song from Genesis, but this one jumped out pretty quickly.

Turnstiles is probably my favorite Billy Joel album, and this song has long been a concert favorite among fans.

Styx is another band that I found hard to pick just one song. Truthfully, it wouldn't be a stretch to put 5 songs from them in here and just leave it at that.

Though written by guitarist Tommy Shaw, Dennis DeYoung's keyboards put the song over the top.

And the multiple time signature changes are among the most unusual in rock.

The amazing Bruce Hornsby co-wrote this song with Don Henley.

I've seen Henley perform this song a few times, both solo and with the Eagles, and no one has been able to duplicate what Hornsby did on this recording.

Oh sure, the other guys play all the same notes, but Hornby's feel is what makes this one stand out for me.