Best narration over music.

[the captain]

Anybody else like this sort of thing? I love things like Captain Beefheart's "Pachuco Cadaver" (especially, although he has plenty of other examples), the bulk of Fiery Furnaces' Rehearsing My Choir, Tom Waits' "Frank's Wild Years," among others, the BW Fairy Tale on Holland, etc.

What are your favorites? What makes them cool?

[Jason]

Anyone remember Jeff Wayne's "The War Of The Worlds" with Richard Burton doing the narration? Album's mainly notable for Justin Hayward's track, Forever Autumn.

[mark goddard]

Vincent Price on Thriller .....

[Don't Back Down]

Prokofiev's "Peter and the Wolf"

[I. Spaceman]

The little girl on Have You Seen Jackie by The Dukes Of Stratosphear.

[Chance]

The Alan Parsons Project used Orson Welles on "Tales Of Mystery And Imagination."

The Clash used Alan Ginsburg on one of the "Combat Rock" tracks.

"Days Of Future Passed"

"The Gift" - VU

[sugarandspice]

 The  second half of  Ogden`s Nut Gone flake by the small faces....after about 15 listens the guy acutually makes sense...
The Irony of It All : the streets... thecnically not narration but it freaking rocks my world.....

[SurferGirl7]

Dude on "Ou Est Le Soleil"
Mike Love 

[trumpet sounds]

The Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band  "The Intro and the Outro"

...Big hello to big John Wayne, xylophone
Looking very relaxed Adolf Hitler on vibes
Eric Clapton on ukulele
Yeah! Digging General de Gaulle on accordion
Really wild, General! Thank you, sir
Roy Rogers on Trigger...

[jdavolt]

I have to second "The Gift", and add the little kid on Traffic's "Hole In My Shoe".

[I. Spaceman]

I have to second "The Gift", and add the little kid on Traffic's "Hole In My Shoe".

Brilliant, as the Traffic was my second choice, and I believe the inspiration for my choice.

[dude ll doo]

Beaks Of Eagles

[pavlos brenos]

Jimi Hendrix: "If 6 Was 9".

[b.dfzo]

William Shatner, 'You'll Have Time': "You're gonna die!  YOU'RE...GONNA...DIE!"

[Chris D.]

Crass -- "Reality Asylum"

[Evenreven]

Does "Convoy" count?

[Mitchell]

The Gift
Dead Man's Curve
A Beginning from and End (I find this one really funny because it's so over the top)

[Lester Byrd]

Too obvious maybe, but I still think Elvis's narration on "Are You Lonesome Tonight?" is brilliant.

"Big Joe and Phantom 309"--Tom Waits' cover of the Red Sovine tune.

"Diamonds are a Girl's Best Friend"--T Bone Burnett

[Fantastico!]

Give Him A Great Big Kiss

The Shangri-Las

[Smilin Ed H]

Somewhere Down the Crazy River
Beaks of Eagles
Does Lou Reed count? 

[cabinessence]

On The Move's remake-'Revisited' version of their own Cherry Blossom Clinic as featured on SHAZAM!, lead singer Carl Wayne (?I think it's him) reinterprets the originally sung first verse as spoken narration instead, sounding deceptively like it's a spontaneous oral testimony not part of a song at all. The trick comes off because the LP has on-the-street interviews with average Londoners (old pensioners, a Jamaican)  as link-concept . A sort of silly Richard Lester like device maybe, but it sets up the intro to this song brilliantly. The narration is so offhand and mumbled, though undeniably odd and attention getting (

It was one morning when I woke up, and then I found out that they'd
signed some papers, and that I was gonna be kept in a bed owing to my
state of mind. And then I found out that the authorities had said, um,
that I'd gotta have special food fed to me for me thoughts, um,

) that it totally disarms one and what follows is like being thrown into a cold stream while in a deep sleep as Carl continues mumbling:

and I
think it's because, oh because I was going off my...

and suddenly the whole band smashes through from their camouflage location bayonets and Duane Eddy guitars blazing as Carl screams as a banshee (off my) HEEEEAAAADDD!!!

My favorite 'narration', but, if you want something more conventionally following thread rules,  I also like Diana Ross's spoken bits in old Supremes songs (very Shangrilas), and, of course, Lorne Green doing his great dust bowl ballad (and multi million seller: I owned a copy as my first forty five) Ringo

[I. Spaceman]

Give Him A Great Big Kiss

The Shangri-Las

Aww man, that's the one with the least narration.
Ever hear Past, Present And Future?

[Fantastico!]

Give Him A Great Big Kiss

The Shangri-Las

Aww man, that's the one with the least narration.
Ever hear Past, Present And Future?

Nope, I am a new fan.  I have about 6 tracks.  They are ALL AMAZING.

[I. Spaceman]

3 words:
Myrmidons Of Melodrama. One of the greatest compilations ever.
I'll send it to you with the Tommy stuff.

[Fantastico!]

3 words:
Myrmidons Of Melodrama. One of the greatest compilations ever.
I'll send it to you with the Tommy stuff.

Awesome.  My IPOD is going to melt when I load that Shangri-Las stuff in, it's so hot.