List of rock instrumentals

The following is a list of rock instrumentals. Only instrumentals that are notable are included.

This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by expanding it with reliably sourced entries.

Instrumentals which have charted

Instrumental rock is rock music that emphasizes musical instruments and features very little or no singing. An instrumental is a musical composition or recording without lyrics, or singing, although it might include some inarticulate vocals, such as shouted backup vocals in a big band setting.[1][2][3]

1950s and 1960s chartings
Artist Song title Date Highest position
on US charts		 Highest position
on UK charts		 Highest position
on R&B charts		 Miscellaneous
Bill Justis "Raunchy" 1957 #3[4] #24[5] #1[6]
Ernie Freeman "Raunchy" 1957 #4[7] #1 <R&B charts> Joel Whitburn Top R&B Singles 1942-1999>
The Champs "Tequila" 1958 #1[8] #5[9] #1 [10]
Duane Eddy "Moovin' N' Groovin'" 1958 #72
The Champs "El Rancho Rock" 1958 #30
Link Wray & His Ray Men "Rumble" 1958 #16[11] #11[12]
Duane Eddy "Rebel Rouser" 1958 #6[13] #8[14] #19 [15]
Duane Eddy "Ramrod" 1958 #28
The Champs "Chariot Rock" 1958 #59
Duane Eddy "Cannonball" 1958 #15 #2 #22
Link Wray & His Ray Men "Raw-Hide" 1959 #23
The Rockin' R's "The Beat" 1959 #57
Duane Eddy "Yep!" 1959 #30 #17
The Virtues "Guitar Boogie Shuffle" 1959 #5[16] #27[17]
Dave "Baby" Cortez "The Happy Organ" 1959 #1[18] #5[19]
Johnny and the Hurricanes "Crossfire" 1959 #23
The Wailers "Tall Cool One" 1959 #36[20] #24[21]
Preston Epps "Bongo Rock" 1959 #14[22]
Duane Eddy "Forty Miles of Bad Road" 1959 #9 #17
Johnny and the Hurricanes "Red River Rock" 1959 #5[23] #3[24] #5[25]
The Wailers "Mau-Mau" 1959 #68
Sandy Nelson "Teen Beat" 1959 #4[26] #9[27] #17[28] The piano on the recording is by Bruce Johnston.[27]
Santo & Johnny "Sleep Walk" 1959 #1[29] #22[30] #4[31]
Santo & Johnny "Tear Drop" 1959 #23[29] #50[30] #17[31]
Duane Eddy "Some Kind-A Earthquake" 1959 #37 #12
Johnny And The Hurricanes "Reveille Rock 1959 #25 #17
The Fireballs "Bulldog" 1960 #24
The Champs "Too Much Tequila" 1960 #30
Johnny and the Hurricanes "Beatnik Fly" 1960 #15 #8
Bill Black's Combo "White Silver Sands" 1960 #9[32] #33[33] #1[34]
Bill Black's Combo "Don't Be Cruel" 1960 #11[32] #32[33] #1[34]
Duane Eddy "Shazam" 1960 #45 #4
Duane Eddy "Because They're Young" 1960 #4 #2 #17
Johnny and the Hurricanes "Rocking Goose" 1960 #60 #3
Duane Eddy "Peter Gunn" 1960 #8[35] #6[14] This was the second charting of the song in 1959.
Floyd Cramer "Last Date" 1960 #2[36] #32[33]
The Shadows "Apache" 1960 #1[37]
The Ventures "Walk, Don't Run" 1960 #1[38] #8[39] #13[40]
Duane Eddy "Pepe" 1961 #18 #2
B. Bumble and the Stingers "Bumble Boogie" 1961 #21[41]
The Fireballs "Quite a Party" 1961 #27[42] #29[43]
Kokomo "Asia Minor" 1961 #8[44] #35[39] Adopted from the Edvard Grieg, Piano Concerto in A minor[44]
and sub sequentially banned by the BBC.[45]
The Mar-Keys "Last Night" 1961 #3[46] #2[47]
Sandy Nelson "Let There Be Drums" 1961 #7[26] #3[27]
The String-A-Longs "Wheels" 1961 #3[48] #8[30] #19[49]
Billy Joe and the Checkmates "Percolator (Twist)" 1962 #10[50]
The Champs "Limbo Rock" 1962 #40[8]
Jet Harris "Besame Mucho" 1962 #22[51]
King Curtis "Soul Twist" 1962 #17[52] #1[53]
Sandy Nelson "Drums Are My Beat" 1962 #29[26] #30[27]
The Tornados "Telstar" 1962 #1[54] #1[55] #5[56]
The Busters "Bust Out" 1963 #25[57]
The Dakotas "The Cruel Sea" 1963 #18[58]
Jet Harris and Tony Meehan "Scarlett O'Hara" 1963 #2[51]
Lonnie Mack "Memphis" 1963 #5[59] #4[60]
Lonnie Mack Wham! 1963 #24[59] From the album The Wham of that Memphis Man
The Marketts "Out of Limits" 1963 #3[46]
Link Wray & His Ray Men "Jack The Ripper" 1963 #64 Released in 1961, but didn't chart until 1963.
Jack Nitzsche "The Lonely Surfer" 1963 #39[61]
The Rockin’ Rebels
aka The Rebels		 "Wild Weekend" 1963 #8[62] #3[24] #28[63]
The Surfaris "Wipe Out" 1963 #2[64] #5[65] #10[66]
The Pyramids "Penetration" 1964 #18[67] Adapted from Edvard Grieg's Piano Concerto in A minor.[44]
The T-Bones "No Matter What Shape (Your Stomach's In)" 1965 #3[68]
The Viscounts "Harlem Nocturne" 1966 #39 #17 Originally released in 1960, peaking at #52 on Billboard and #28 on CashBox. A 1965 re-release resulted in the record topping its previous peak, reaching #39.
The Bar-Kays "Soul Finger" 1967 #17[69] #33[70] #3[71]
Cliff Nobles & Co. "The Horse" 1968 #2[72] #2[73]
Fleetwood Mac "Albatross" 1968 #1[74] Charted again (#2) in Britain in 1972.
Hugh Masekela "Grazing in the Grass" 1968 #1[75] #1[76]
Mason Williams "Classical Gas" 1968 #2[77] #9[78] "orchestrated rock and roll" backed by the Wrecking Crew[79]
Booker T. & the M.G.'s "Time Is Tight" 1969 #6[44] #7[80] from the film Uptight[44]
The Ventures "Hawaii Five-O" 1969 #4[81]

1970s and 1980s chartings
Artist Song title Date Highest position
on US charts		 Highest position
on UK charts		 Highest position
on R&B charts		 Miscellaneous
Dennis Coffey ‘'Scorpio’’ 1971 #6[82] #7[83] #9[84]
Hot Butter ‘'Popcorn’’ 1972 #9[85] #5[86]
Billy Preston Outa-Space 1972 #2[87] #44[88] #1[89]
Deodato ‘'Also Sprach Zarathustra (2001)’’ 1973 #2[90] #7[83] based on Richard Strauss’s Also sprach Zarathustra
Edgar Winter Group ‘'Frankenstein’’ 1973 #1[91] #18[92]
The Love Unlimited Orchestra Love's Theme 1973 #1[93] #10[94] #10[95] orchestra formed and song written by Barry White
Billy Preston Space Race 1973 #4[87] #1[96]
Average White Band Pick Up the Pieces 1974 #1[97] #6[98] #5[99]
B. T. Express Express 1974 #2[100] #34[101] #1[102]
The Commodores Machine Gun 1974 #22[103] #20[104] #7[105]
Focus Hocus Pocus 1974 #9[106] #20[104]
MFSB ‘'TSOP (The Sound of Philadelphia)’’ 1974 #1[107] #22[108] #1[109]
Silver Convention Fly, Robin, Fly 1975 #1[110] #28[111] #1[112]
Van McCoy The Hustle 1975 #1[97] #3[113] #1[71]
Mike Post The Rockford Files (Theme) 1975 #10
Walter Murphy A Fifth Of Beethoven 1976 #1[114] #28[115] #10[116] based on the first movement of Ludwig van Beethoven's Fifth Symphony
Rhythm Heritage Theme from S.W.A.T. 1976 #1[117] #11[118]
Chuck Mangione Feels So Good 1977 #4
Herb Alpert ‘'Rise’’ 1979 #1[119] #13[120] #4[121]


gollark: Looks like palaiologos is capable of inference. HOW SURPRISING.
gollark: Unfortunately, this might be one of the temporary universes created while we converge on an optimum one.
gollark: This can be prevented via closed timelike curves.
gollark: Anyway, the general strategy is to induce moderately high turnover in esolangs staff/ownership in order to increase my eventual chances of becoming owner.
gollark: SERIOUSLY? You rescheduled that from 2026?

See also

References
  1. Whitburn, Joel, The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits, Billboard Books, New York, 1992
  2. Whitburn, Joel, The Billboard Book of TOP 40 R&B and Hip Hop Hits, Billboard Books, New York 2006
  3. Brown, Tony, Jon Kutner & Neil Warwick, The Complete Book of the British Charts: Singles and Albums, Omnibus Press, London, 2002
  4. Whitburn 1992, p. 254.
  5. Brown 2002, p. 538.
  6. Whitburn 2006, p. 306.
  7. Joel Whitburns Top Pop 1955 - 1982
  8. Whitburn 1992, p. 88.
  9. Brown 2002, p. 201.
  10. Whitburn 2006, p. 94.
  11. Whitburn 1992, p. 502.
  12. Whitburn 2006, p. 639.
  13. Whitburn 1992, p. 156.
  14. Brown 2002, p. 335.
  15. Whitburn 2006, p. 169.
  16. Whitburn 1992, p. 480.
  17. Whitburn 2006, p. 602.
  18. Whitburn 1992, p. 115.
  19. Whitburn 2006, p. 123.
  20. Whitburn 1992, p. 482.
  21. Whitburn 2006, p. 603.
  22. Whitburn 1992, p. 161.
  23. Whitburn 1992, p. 249.
  24. Brown 2002, p. 524.
  25. Whitburn 2006, p. 294.
  26. Whitburn 1992, p. 329.
  27. Brown 2002, p. 712.
  28. Whitburn 2006, p. 420.
  29. Whitburn 1992, p. 405.
  30. Brown 2002, p. 977.
  31. Whitburn 2006, p. 508.
  32. Whitburn 1992, p. 53.
  33. Brown 2002, p. 128.
  34. Whitburn 2006, p. 43.
  35. Whitburn 1992, p. 30.
  36. Whitburn 1992, p. 116.
  37. Brown 2002, p. 894.
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  39. Brown 2002, p. 560.
  40. Whitburn 2006, p. 599.
  41. Whitburn 1992, p. 41.
  42. Whitburn 1992, p. 171.
  43. Brown 2002, p. 375.
  44. Whitburn 1992, p. 264.
  45. "Records Banned By The BBC - 45cat". www.45cat.com.
  46. Whitburn 1992, p. 295.
  47. Whitburn 2006, p. 371.
  48. Whitburn 1992, p. 444.
  49. Whitburn 2006, p. 548.
  50. Whitburn 1992, p. 52.
  51. Brown 2002, p. 451.
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  53. Whitburn 2006, p. 321.
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  55. Brown 2002, p. 1023.
  56. Whitburn 2006, p. 581.
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  58. Brown 2002, p. 266.
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  60. Whitburn 2006, p. 364.
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  65. Brown 2002, p. 987.
  66. Whitburn 2006, p. 554.
  67. Whitburn 1992, p. 373.
  68. Whitburn 1992, p. 454.
  69. Whitburn 1992, p. 39.
  70. Brown 2002, p. 96.
  71. Whitburn 2006, p. 29.
  72. Whitburn 1992, p. 326.
  73. Brown 2002, p. 426.
  74. Brown 2002, p. 380.
  75. Whitburn 1992, p. 300.
  76. Whitburn 2006, p. 375.
  77. Whitburn 1992, p. 495.
  78. Brown 2002, p. 1099.
  79. Hartman, Kent, The Wrecking Crew: The Inside Story of Rock and Roll’s Best-Kept Secret, Thomas Dunne Books, St. Martin’s Press, New York, 2012 p.191-195
  80. Whitburn 2006, p. 55.
  81. "Hawaii Five-O Chart History". Billboard magazine.
  82. Whitburn 1992, p. 105.
  83. Brown 2002, p. 291.
  84. Whitburn 2006, p. 112.
  85. Whitburn 1992, p. 226.
  86. Brown 2002, p. 477.
  87. Whitburn 1992, p. 369.
  88. Whitburn 2006, p. 794.
  89. Brown 2002, p. 464.
  90. Whitburn 1992, p. 135.
  91. Whitburn 1992, p. 499.
  92. Brown 2002, p. 1103.
  93. Whitburn 1992, p. 285.
  94. Brown 2002, p. 605.
  95. Whitburn 2006, p. 357.
  96. Brown 2002, p. 465.
  97. Whitburn 1992, p. 34.
  98. Brown 2002, p. 80.
  99. Brown 2002, p. 21.
  100. Whitburn 1992, p. 72.
  101. Whitburn 2006, p. 85.
  102. Brown 2002, p. 75.
  103. Whitburn 1992, p. 109.
  104. Brown 2002, p. 235.
  105. Whitburn 2006, p. 117.
  106. Whitburn 1992, p. 117.
  107. Whitburn 1992, p. 311.
  108. Brown 2002, p. 664.
  109. Whitburn 2006, p. 392.
  110. Whitburn 1992, p. 416.
  111. Brown 2002, p. 908.
  112. Whitburn 2006, p. 522.
  113. Brown 2002, p. 617.
  114. Whitburn 1992, p. 325.
  115. Brown 2002, p. 701.
  116. Brown 2002, p. 413.
  117. Whitburn 1992, p. 383.
  118. Brown 2002, p. 487.
  119. Whitburn 1992, p. 25.
  120. Brown 2002, p. 56.
  121. Whitburn 2006, p. 13.
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