Jerry on 'simple twist of fate' from Jerry Garcia Band, absolutely sublime....
Guitar Solos
As a serious music listener and a musician,(although I am a drummer) nothing makes me shiver like a good guitar solo. It's seems to be a dying art,at least in popular music. Still lots of good guitar in blues and jazz. Some of my favs : Dear John by Jack Semple ,La Grange By Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top, Aqualung By Martin Barre with Jethro Tull and Bluest Blues by Alvin Lee. I'd love to check out some other peoples favs, a couple old and maybe a couple new??
114 responses Add your response
| Post removed |
Good thread, solos are much harder to come by these days. I agree with the EVH, Vai, and Satriani comments above. They have so many great ones that it would be hard to pick a favorite. One of my favorite albums for rock guitar solos is by (yes, a hair band)Dokken on Back for the Attack. George Lynch has an incredible guitar tone on this album and the album contains his sig. piece, "Mr Scary", an instrumental. |
TVAD, No heat at all. I like the "beat it" solo from EVH also. I think the 80's had the best guitar solos. The 90's got a little out of control with virtuosity (if that's a word?). I prefer music for music's sake rather than hearing "look how fast I can play this practice etude" in the middle of a song. As talented as SRV was and I think he was amazing. His solos just sounded redundant to me after awhile. Rob |
Eric Gale's solo on Grover Washington Jr.'s "Mr, Magic" George Benson's solo on "Take Five" from "Bad Benson". Stevie Ray Vaughn's solo on "Tight Rope" from "In Step" Carlos Santana's solo on "Oye Como Va" from "Abraxas" Grant Green's solo on "Idle Moments" from "Idle Moments" Johnny Winter's solo on "Mojo Boogie" from "Third Degree" ...where to stop??? |
There are so many fantastic solos out there that I tend to slowly cycle thru a list of (I think) hundreds. Of late, these have been the "Go To" electric guitar solos for me: George Harrison - "Something" Billy Gibbons - "Sharp Dressed Man " SRV - "Pride and Joy" Todd Rundgren - "Unloved Children" (also possible that it's Jesse Gress who takes the solo on recent versions. Both are great.) Richard Thompson - "Calvary Cross" David Hidalgo (Los Lobos) - "Bertha" Peter Green (Fleetwood Mac) - "Man of the World" Lindsey Buckingham (Fleetwood Mac) - "Come" Rusty Anderson (Paul MacCartney's lead guitarist, in this case performing on a record by P. Hux) - "Mile High Fan" All of the above players have numerous other solos that I love - I just picked the one that I seem to be going back to most often these days. Many of the above solos are available in multiple live variations. A few probably make the list because I'm learning to play them at the moment. |
Jay Farrar on Chickamauga - the mountain crumbling, earth shattering solo starts at 02:05 The greatest singer/songwriter/guitar "strangler" to ever live |
A recent addition for blues-rock types is the CD called "Todd Rundgren's Johnson". It's a disc of Robert Johnson covers and Todd simply smokes on this one. He hasn't been doing this kind of stuff since The Nazz and the long lay off seems to have really stoked the intensity. He plays it reasonably straight (other than a very modern lead tone) but makes the familiar material entirely his own. Marty |
Mick Box on "Salisbury" - simply the best wah-wah sound Buck Dharma on "Then Came the Last Days of May" both studio and live ´cos the sounds are way different, both brilliant anyway Mick Box on "The Magician´s Birthday" terrific wah-wah and so many Buck Dharma on "Dominance and Submission" the best clean and "The Reaper" and so many Clem Clempson on "Skelington" live terrific wah-wah work Jimi Hendrix on "All Along the Watchtower" his finest David Gilmour on "One of the Days" Martin Barre on "Aqualung" Steve Hackett on "Firth of Fifth" + all early Genesis all sublime work really, and he´s still performing old Genesis stuff (have seen and heard) Steve Howe on "America" Jimmy Page on "Since I've Been Loving You" and "Stairway to Heaven" Leslie West especially when with other guitarist as heard on "Twin Peaks" Carlos Santana so many say "Europa" Ritchie Blackmore on "Made in Japan" Frank Marino on "It´s Begun to Rain" Albert Järvinen on "Roadrunner" and "High" Bill Nelson of Be-Bop Deluxe so many just sublime work Alex Lifeson on "La Villa Strangiato" Michael Schenker on "Into the Arena" Andrew Latimer on "Ice" Joe Satriani on "Surfing with Alien" + so many Django Reinhardt Bela Fleck (actually his playing mandolin ; ) Al di Meola, John McLaughlin & Paco de Lucia on "Friday Night in San Francisco" the Masters at work Rodolfo Maltese on "Moby Dick live " RIP |
Apron Strings - John Entwistle, Whistle Rhymes: solo by Peter Frampton Musical Box - Genesis, Nursery Cryme: solo by Steve Hackett Dazed and Confused - Led Zeppelin I: solo by Jimmy Page Nevermore - UK: solo by Allan Holdsworth Aqualung - Jethro Tull, Aqualung: solo by Martin Barre While My Guitar Gently Weeps - Beatles, White Album: solo by Eric Clapton Crossroads - Cream, Wheels of Fire: solo by Eric Clapton Something - Beatles, Abbey Road: solo by George Harrison Dogs - Pink Floyd, Animals: solo by David Gilmour Money - Pink Floyd, The Dark Side of the Moon: solo by David Gilmour |
John Williams playing the second movement of Joaquín Rodrigo's Concierto de Aranjuez: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ekznnxaGzNU |
Ry Cooder's little solo on John Hiatt's "Lipstick Sunset". I am fortunate enough to have heard him perform it live (as a member of Little Village, same lineup as on the recording: John Hiatt, Ry Cooder, Nick Lowe, Kim Keltner), and though I have seen and heard a lot of greats live (Albert King, Mike Bloomfield, Clapton, Jeff Beck, Hendrix, Robben Ford, hundreds of others), Ry is in a class of his own. |
Absolutely love a great shredding guitar solo! Malmsteen has some, but they are too short. Gary Moore has a lot! Live “we want Moore” has some very good solos! Flying high again (ozzy) randy Rhodes solo. It should be 3 minutes longer! Paul Gilbert solos are amazing. This is a good read....... list more rock, metal solos! OOOHHH!,! Uriah heep, the magicians birthday I love! great solo! List more rock and metal solos! Modelo in the brain, can’t think now..... |
Many Steely Dan records have a lot of hidden gems in terms of guitar solos. I say hidden, because when you think of Steely Dan, you don't typically think of them as a guitar band and the guitar solos are usually a little further back in the mix, but listen to Rikki Don't Lose That Number or Night by Night on Pretzel Logic. The solo from Reelin' In the Years is one of my favorites ever. |
I usually don’t bump old threads, but since it’s guitar solos’s I couldn’t resist. bdp24 always has great nominees. "Many Steely Dan records have a lot of hidden gems in terms of guitar solos." big_greg- As a fan of SD up to maybe Aja- ALL the guitar solos are fantastic! The great Denny Dias does most, but SD always had epic session players including Jeff(Skunk) Baxter-Doobie Brothers who did "Rikki" An EPIC SD solo by Denny Dias is -Bohdisattva(Countdown to Ecstacy) Classic call and response between guitar and the other musicians. A truly good guitar solo or on any instrument is the musician telling a story. There are a many "shred" nomineess listed here, but many of them are just noodling away with technique and no substance-IMO. A solo is like an essay-intro, body and close. Most shredders are guilty of too much technical flash-boring. The great Larry Carlton is another SD session player who did Josie. |
