Guitar World Top 100 guitar solos

[slimjw]

Also, they left off the solo from Steely Dan's "Rikki don't lose that number" by Jeff "Skunk" Baxter? I read somewhere that Jimmy Page thought that was the best solo of all time.

Elliott Randall played the Rikki solo. He also played the one on "Kings" from the same album. Skunk and Denny Dias played the others.

There was a time not long ago when I would've been embarassed to know this, but something happened two years ago and I suddenly "got" Steely Dan. Still don't like Aja though. And of course that is everyone's favorite SD record...

[lyman]

Or the end of Abbey Road with John, Paul, and George taking turns?

while we're talking about George and lead playing, I was hanging out the other night with some people and the topic of the beatles and their place in rock greatness came up. this one guy was saying that they are overrated as a band, for example (and I quote) "george harrison couldn't even improvise over a blues progression."



i'm not saying he's god's gift to guitar or anything, but that was the stupidest thing i've heard anybody say in a while. like it's so freakin hard to jam on top of a I-IV-V progression, even I can do it. harrison probably learned to play by jamming along with blues based early rock n' roll (chuck berry et. al.) records.

anyway, this guy used to play jazz sax and obviously has some strange ideas about improvisation. he went on to say that most rock bands/musicians can't improvise and "write out" their solos in advance.

Many rock musicians do compose their solos. What's the big deal? Not every solo has to be a top-of-head flash of in-the-moment invention. Some of them can merely be fantastic melodies that are written, rehearsed and then performed...like, um, any other part of a piece of music.

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yup. if it sounds good, it sounds good. and besides, just because somebody chooses to work that way doesn't mean that they are incapable of improvising.

[mjau]

Wonder what that guy thinks of Neil Young then?

[snuffinthepunk]

that list doesn't seem biased, not at all =)

(what I mean is that most of all that is either really old or really metal)

I personally would love to see 311 - use of time (Tim Mahoney) in there for the way the solo acts with the song...quite possibly the most perfectly matched solo (for feel) in any song i've ever heard (of course, my opinion could be a little biased as well!)

at least they creditted dickey betts!

[mertmo]

One of my favorites ever is Elliot Easton's solo in the Cars' "Shake It Up".
Damn, that solo smokes! Kills me every time I hear it.

[myphx]

You'd think a jazz guy would have the open mind to think beyond "head/solo/solo/head" structure, but maybe not.

Actually it's head/solo/solo - then before they do the head again at the end, the bass player takes a solo in which he ends it by twiddling around and the audience chuckles like they "get it".

[syrupcore]

I gotta admit, I always liked the solo in tears for fears' "Shout".

[darkhorseporter]

You'd think a jazz guy would have the open mind to think beyond "head/solo/solo/head" structure, but maybe not.

Actually it's head/solo/solo - then before they do the head again at the end, the bass player takes a solo in which he ends it by twiddling around and the audience chuckles like they "get it".[/quote]

as a jazz player myself, I agree that most jazz musicians NEED to try to think of some other ways to present melodies and improvisation.

Also, the sax player that said rock guys all write out their solos is not far off, but there is nothing at all wrong with that. What he omitted is that every jazz player has a repetior of licks, ii-V patterns, turnarounds, quotes, etc... that they practice and use in thier improv. VERY RARELY does a 100% improvised solo of new metial and ideas come out. Scratch that. NEVER is a solo 100% improvised.

That said, the solo missing from the list is Wes Montgomery's solo on "west coast blues". if we're only talking rock, then page hamiton's solo at the end of "Unsung" on Meantime should be on there. or billy corgans solo on Soma, but he got on there a couple times already from solos on siamese dream.

[supertzar]

I would put some Tony Iommi in there. War Pigs/Luke's Wall would be a good one.

Ah! It's #56. My bad, homie.

[myphx]

as a jazz player myself, I agree that most jazz musicians NEED to try to think of some other ways to present melodies and improvisation.

Also, the sax player that said rock guys all write out their solos is not far off, but there is nothing at all wrong with that. What he omitted is that every jazz player has a repetoire of licks, ii-V patterns, turnarounds, quotes, etc... that they practice and use in their improv. VERY RARELY does a 100% improvised solo of new material and ideas come out. Scratch that. NEVER is a solo 100% improvised.

What was that story about Miles Davis catching one of his sax players practicing in his hotel room and yelling at him to knock it off: "I don't pay you to practice!"

[coniferouspine]

Do my eyes deceive me or did they totally diss Mick Taylor in there? No "Can't You Hear Me Knockin'," no "Love In Vain," no "Sway?" I dunno. I guess I am a weirdo or something. Seems like he should have made the cut.

[JGriffin]

Do my eyes deceive me or did they totally diss Mick Taylor in there? No "Can't You Hear Me Knockin'," no "Love In Vain," no "Sway?" I dunno. I guess I am a weirdo or something. Seems like he should have made the cut.

reminds me of a DJ I heard on the radio once after "Can't You Hear Me Knockin'" was over, he said: 'and there's Mick Taylor, demonstrating the guitar chops that got him...fired from the Rolling Stones.'