Top 10 Cowbell Songs: The Ultimate Rankings

I got a fever… and the only prescription is advanced analytics!

Everyone loves the cowbell and has lists of their all-time favorites, but nobody explains their methodology.

Being a fan of the new analytics used in sports, I thought it was time to establish a more robust rating system for cowbell-infused music. This list is based on the following four criteria (A-D), with ratings from 1–4 for each category.

A. Who used the unusual instrument first? (got to give props to the Beatles and Stones)

From Beyond the Fold:

On a wider scale, the cowbell found much favor with the world’s greatest band, and was used in everything from rockers to novelty tunes… As trendsetters in everything musical, the Beatles made it cool to use what, typically, wasn’t considered a cool instrument. Soon, more bands — from soul groups to dinosaur rockers — jumped on the cowbell wagon.

Without the Fab Four, would we even have cowbells in modern music?

B. How big a hit was the song? (that’s why I marked down traditional favorites like “Don’t Fear the Reaper” and “Hair of the Dog.”)