What are your favorite guitar solos?

[craigb]

Inspired by the Rick Beato interview with Steve Vai and Satch that Old Joad posted!

These are the two they chose (I'll have to think about this one for a bit!):

 

Edited April 8, 2024 by craigb

[Rain]

I agree with them.

Actually, I had not heard Machine Gun until these guys mentioned it as the best guitar solo ever in a guitar magazine 30 some years ago. My knowledge of Hendrix was still very superficial at the time. 

But I sure made up for it afterwards. I remember playing that song every chance I got when I was a DJ. And the other DJ (who also happened to be my roommate) was the biggest Hendrix fan I have ever known, so he did the same on his shifts. We'd both do the air guitar thing together when the solo started and go completely nuts...

I'll need to put a bit of thought into a list, though.

[Starship Krupa]

Dennis Dias' solo on Steely Dan's "Your Gold Teeth II." Guitarists (musicians in general I guess) have these moments while soloing where you no longer think about the next note you're going to play, it feels like the instrument is as much a part of you as your voice, you are perfectly in the moment, it feels like you're channeling some other higher intelligence. It is rare.

You can hear him ease into that mode about halfway through the solo. Of course, it helped to have Jeff Porcaro in his prime laying down the rhythm:

Peter Visser of Bettie Serveert laid down a face-melter on their song "Brain Tag." I was in a record store when I heard it for the first time and demanded that the clerk sell me whatever CD was currently playing. There's some slide, some whammy, some double stops, all in service of the melody. If you like Neil Young's playing, you'll probably dig this.

The song actually has two guitar solos. There's one about where you'd think there should be, and it's pretty good, but then at about the song's 5-minute mark it has a false ending, after which Peter drops the napalm:

 

[kennywtelejazz]

40 minutes ago, pwal³ said:

the short ones

?

I like them long and musically tasteful !

From the record The Incredible Jazz Guitar Of Wes Montgomery 1960

Kenny

Edited April 8, 2024 by kennywtelejazz

[Guest]

Firth of Fifth - Steve Hackett.

 

[Rain]

I realized that I had put a list of 10 of my favorite rock/metal solos a while ago.

The guitarists are obvious choices, but I tried to pick solos that were not their most iconic (with an exception or two).

 

I’ll Wait, Eddie Van Halen. So effortless, so loose and yet so tight… His sense of swing is unparalleled.

Tonight, Randy Rhoads. Rhoads going Mick Ronson on us. Emotional commitment.

No Quarter (live), Jimmy Page. Painting a picture, taking you places.

Tooth and Nail, George Lynch. The missing link between EVH and Rhoads. 

The Duellist, Adrian Smith. Smith doing what Smith does best, providing Maiden’s music with an emotional anchor.

Strange Ways, Ace Frehley. Ace spacing out.

Texas Flood (at El Mocambo) Stevie Ray Vaughan. Pulling all the stops…

Comfortably Numb, David Gilmour. Ok, this one is obvious.

Quadrant 4, Tommy Bolin. If anyone came close to EVH in terms of swing, that kid was it.

Moonage Daydream, Mick Ronson. See Tonight and Comfortably Numb...

 

With the exception of Tooth and Nail, these aren't really shredder-type solos.  

I can appreciate the fast stuff and younger players like Tim Henson, or those two kids from Unlucky Morpheus (the whole band is amazing), and I too get tired of hearing the same pentatonic licks over and over.  It's one of the reasons I limit my playing, because I feel I don't have the talent or the imagination to think outside of that box as a guitar player. 

But ironically, most of my favorite solos are rooted in blues. 

But that's just a handful in one genre. I could do a list of Charlie Christian's, Django Reinhardt's, and Wes Montgomery's and all those guys, or actual blues guitar players... 

[Wibbles]

Does an electric rake count?

Eugene Chadbourne & Evan Johns - Achey Rakey Heart

 

[craigb]

8 hours ago, AndyB01 said:

Firth of Fifth - Steve Hackett.

 

Found this live version!  Loved it!

 

[craigb]

7 hours ago, Rain said:

Comfortably Numb, David Gilmour. Ok, this one is obvious.

Yes, but which solo??? ?

 

Although I can appreciate a master-class solo, I'm a big fan of any solo that fits the song perfectly.

[57Gregy]

Jeez louise, what a question.
Blue Sky, Allman Brothers.

[craigb]

1 hour ago, 57Gregy said:

Jeez louise, what a question.

Some solos are simply there to show off, others take a song to the next level.

I'm more interested in the second option! ?

[Tim Smith]

The ones I played correctly? Which amounts to about 1% or less.

[Grem]

OK, I'll do it, Pink Floyd: Time by David Gilmour. 

All Along The Watchtower: Jimi

Sweet Home Alabama: Ed King

That Smell: Steve Gains, Gary Rossington, Allen Collins

Don't Fear The Reaper: Buck Durham

Black Diamond and Strutter (to name a few): Ace

 

[edit] Forgot to add;

Peter Frampton: Do You Fell Like We Do: The whole solo for sure, But especially at 11:45 when he starts playing lead without the talk box. And again at 12:04 with the octave notes (whew!! lots of feeling there) and finishing it up with a Chuck Berry influenced lead. 

 

 

 

Edited April 8, 2024 by Grem

[SteveStrummerUK]

Here's one to kick off with:

Thin Lizzy - Still In Love With You (from Live & Dangerous)

 

[SteveStrummerUK]

Gary Moore - Still Got The Blues

 

[SteveStrummerUK]

Last one for a bit ...

Judas Priest - Painkiller

 

[craigb]

Still need to catch up on a few here!  While doing that, I recalled these two:

(UFO - Love To Love - Live!)

Ozzy - Crazy Train

 

[craigb]

Another ending solo (like UFO's Love To Love Live above):

 

[PhonoBrainer]

MK.

"It Never Rains" (g solo starts about 4 min in, if you are pressed for time and need to skip the excellent song!)

[craigb]

White Snake - Still Of The Night

It's rumored that Jimmy Page fell out of his chair when he saw how the solo starts! ?

RIP Tawny!