guitar solos where less is more

There's a couple of approaches that could satisfy the "less is more" description. Here are a few guitar solos that are short (less) and that don't feature rapid playing (less, again), but really serve the song (more):

Todd Rundgren - "I Saw The Light"
Terry Kath (Chicago) - "25 or 6 to 4"
Dave Davies (Kinks) - "I'm Not Like Everybody Else"

There are also longer solos that boil along at a slower tempo which could be nominated - but many of those end up at speed. It would probably require a little thought to identify those that never accelerate.

Marty

Yikes! - I forgot to mention a couple of top line choices here:

George Harrison - "Something". Simple, elegant, and purely in service to the song.

The other side of that coin might feature Chuck Berry's solo on "Johnny B Goode". Short, simple and PERFECT in a way that is 180 degrees different from "Something".

I usually think of George as a songwriter first and a guitar player as a distant second (and this one is very easy to play), but this is a really wonderful solo. Berry just about invented the rock n roll guitar solo and "Johnny B Goode" is my pick of his litter.

Marty

To fully appreciate Onhyway 61's response:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X9E1by7PocE

Forward to the 1:43 mark

This nomination will not be beaten!

Marty

Dracule,

Thanks for the links - really, really great. You included a couple of players I love (Roth and Emmanuel), a couple I hugely admire but don't love (Bream and Vai), and one that I've never heard of (Matt Rach). I thought that every choice you made was a great example of the player at the top of his respective form and - in particular - I thought that the Vai and Emmanuel clips may have been the best I've seen from either.

OTOH, it is vaguely depressing. If I live to be 100 and practice 24/7 between now and then, I'll never touch any of these guys.

Marty

Ghost,

Good calls, all. In particular, the end of "The Chain" (breakdown/outro) is among my favorite 2 minutes of rock n roll. There's that iconic bass guitar figure to kick it off, Mick Fleetwood going batsh*t on his drums, and Buckingham's repetitive solo, replete with accompanying chant. My favorite Buckingham solos are usually not of the "less is more" variety, but the last 30 seconds of this song probably qualify:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7TV6BEwJEKI

Marty

Ghost.

Burnt Weenie is still my favorite FZ record. I guess our taste does overlap a fair bit.

Rok,

Kinda curious how you reached this conclusion ("no one in rock"). Was this via a comprehensive survey of rock guitar solos, or is it something inherent in rock music that prevents rock guitar players from producing "less is more" solos of the type that players in jazz and blues are able to produce?

Marty

Ah, got it!
I suspect that there's more than one exception, but I got it.