"157 Riverside Avenue" is a song by REO Speedwagon

REO Speedwagon

REO Speedwagon is an American rock band. Formed in 1967, the band grew in popularity during the 1970s and peaked in the early 1980s. Hi Infidelity is the group's most commercially successful album, selling over ten million copies and charting four Top 40 hits in the US...

 from their first album, REO Speedwagon

REO Speedwagon (album)

REO Speedwagon was the debut album by American rock band REO Speedwagon. Released in 1971, it was the only album recorded with singer Terry Luttrell until Kevin Cronin joined the band for R.E.O./T.W.O. The album sold well and produced the fan favorites "157 Riverside Avenue," "Sophisticated Lady"...

, released in 1971. It was written by all five band members at the time, Terry Luttrell

Terry Luttrell

Terry Luttrell is an American rock singer/musician who was the original lead vocalist for the band REO Speedwagon. He had played guitar with a local Champaign band, Terry Cook and the Majestics in the early to mid-sixties. In 1968, Terry joined REO Replacing Mike Blair on Vocals, at the...

, Gary Richrath

Gary Richrath

Gary Richrath is an American guitarist, best known as a member of the band REO Speedwagon from 1970 until 1989...

, Gregg Philbin, Neal Doughty

Neal Doughty

Neal Doughty is an American keyboardist and the sole remaining founding member of REO Speedwagon.Doughty wrote "Sky Blues" from 1973, "One Lonely Night" from 1984 and "Variety Tonight" from 1987...

, and Alan Gratzer. The title refers to the Westport, Connecticut

Westport, Connecticut

-Neighborhoods:* Saugatuck – around the Westport railroad station near the southwestern corner of the town – a built-up area with some restaurants, stores and offices....

 address where the band stayed while recording that album.

The song is a standard at the band's live performances, as it has been for many years. Where the original studio version clocked in at only 3:57, live performances include a bass solo in addition to the song's piano and guitar solos, and an extended interlude where lead vocalist Kevin Cronin

Kevin Cronin

Kevin Cronin is the lead vocalist/ rhythm guitarist/ occasional pianist for the American rock band, REO Speedwagon. REO Speedwagon had two #1 hits on the Billboard Hot 100 written by Cronin, "Keep on Loving You" and "Can't Fight This Feeling" .- Early life and career :Cronin was born in Evanston,...

 tells a story that leads up to a "conversation" between him and lead guitar

Lead guitar

Lead guitar is a guitar part which plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs within a song structure...

ist Gary Richrath (later Dave Amato

Dave Amato

Dave Amato is an American musician, best known as the lead guitarist of the rock band REO Speedwagon.He was born and raised near Framingham, Massachusetts...

) where the guitarist's side consists of guitar solo

Guitar solo

In popular music, a guitar solo is a melodic passage, section, or entire piece of music written for an electric guitar or an acoustic guitar. Guitar solos, which often contain varying degrees of improvisation, are used in many styles of popular music such as blues, jazz, rock and metal styles such...

s while Kevin's side was scat vocals

Non-lexical vocables in music

Non-lexical vocables, which may be mixed with meaningful text, are a form of nonsense syllable used in a wide variety of music. A common English example would be "la la la".-Traditional music:...

. The version of the song on Live: You Get What You Play For

Live: You Get What You Play For

Live: You Get What You Play For is a live album by rock band REO Speedwagon, which was released as a double-LP in 1977...

is 7:38 in length and is the one most often played on classic rock radio. An even longer version (12:22) was released on the compilation album A Decade of Rock and Roll: 1970-1980, while a third live version appears on Arch Allies: Live at Riverport

Arch Allies: Live at Riverport

Arch Allies is a live album recorded by REO Speedwagon and Styx at Riverport Amphitheatre in Maryland Heights, Missouri, a suburb of St. Louis....

.