Favourite guitar solos...and why

[Derrick]

How can you all not mention Hendrix yet?

Anyhow, I agree with some of the above but must add:

The solo for Dazed and Confused (after the violin bow solo) as performed on Supershow in 1969. Zeppelin was young and on fire. Anyhow, the solo seems to get blerty and start to break up at the end as the equipment was puched past it's limits. Hail tubes and germanium transistors. Talk about tone and a fire breathing leat all in one! Check it out on the "How The Wes Was Wone" DVD... it's the performance on Supershow

http://www.dailymotion.com/zombho/++196 ... 1969_music

[centurymantra]

My favorite solos tend to be of the psychedelic variety. One of my fav solos ever is in the Country Joe & the Fish tune 'Eastern Jam'. So cool. Also, for you Krautrock fans out there...not quite a solo, but the moment when that searing guitar just KICKS in near the beginning of the epic Amon Duul II piece 'Yeti' still gives me chills.

A friend and I used to wax on about how the Rain Parade song 'Here Comes Merry' contains the perfect solo guitar. Prob. not really a solo, but it is the most beautifully minimal tremoled string of 7 notes. I still love it.

The Meat Puppets II record is filled with magical guitar breaks...even if they may not be considered solos.

[swelle]

Ugh, guitar solos.

Not a fan of solos - I'm more into the Cropper/Mayfield rhythm/little licks - but a couple that shine for their taste & restraint:

Lyndsey Buckingham on that "Thunder always happens when it's... " song - not sure the title.

Elvis Costello on "what's so funny 'bout peace, love & understanding"

Los Lobos "Will the Wolf Survive"

"The Wind Cries Mary"

And for long guitar jerkoff, Television's "See No Evil"

[Shields]

Sterling Morrison's solo on "What Goes On" from the Velvet Underground's s/t album.

The sound, the performance, the goosebumps.

[swelle]

Ah, good call... and even with minimum track count, they still made sure they doubled the f*ck out of that one... I love that solo, it goes on and on.

I recalled another: "Unfaithful Servant" from the Brown Album. Robbie R. was not a solo guy, really, but that one is lovely.

[TheForgotten]

For some reason, whenever someone asks about guitar solos, a bunch of songs off of "Brothers at Arms" come to mind.
Whatever.

[A.David.MacKinnon]

Sterling Morrison's solo on "What Goes On" from the Velvet Underground's s/t album.

The sound, the performance, the goosebumps.

+1000
There's also a great one on VU or Another View - can't remember the song or the album - anyway the solo falls apart in a big way and then someone says "What? That was a pretty good solo."

[Electro-Voice 664]

Cinnamon Girl...the only guitar solo I can play note for note. I'll put Neil Young's guitar work on Ohio and Like a Hurricane right up there, too.

Jonny Greenwood does some amazing stuff on Paranoid Android. George Harrison on Real Love kills me. Pretty much any early Jane's Addiction / Dave Navarro thing is amazing. Same goes for anything J. Mascis has ever done on a guitar, solo or otherwise.

Oh, and the solo on Cherub Rock is pretty much it.

I was gonna say Mascis on 'Forget the Swan' because it seems so innocent and simple. I also love all the guitar solos on 'Bug' and 'Your Living all Over me' because they are so terribly noisy and wonderful. Green Mind and later are all great, but a little less raw, so to me they lose some points.

Rein Sanction's 'Brock's Cabin' has great Hendrixy goodness.

I also have a soft spot for Steve Jones and Johnny Thunders because I learned to play guitar while learning their riffs.

[jammybastard]

I generally hate guitar solos as well. My favorite players have been the type of people who played a "melody" solo that complimented the song as opposed to sounding like everyone said, "Well we just have to have a guitar solo!"

People like Peter Buck, Johnny Marr, Gregg Ginn, Bob Mould, and the Edge (to name the well known players) started out as "anti-soloists" in contrast to the previous generation, and their style was very refreshing at the time.
Nothing wrong with Skydog and Clapton trading licks on "Layla", but that level of playing was the exception to the rule of the day.

That said there is only one guitar player who's solos I really love:
Richard Thompson.
You can quote Page, Clapton, Knopfler, Garcia, etc...but the one guy who does everything they do and more is RT and he doesn't waste his notes.
Forget about Trey or Satch, they are amateur wankers compared to RT.
Check him out if you haven't heard him.
Any song will do, but check out this clip for a taste:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vgzstk2Ya38

[lg]

billy zoom: johny hit and run pauline (economical, good finish, winning smile).

robert fripp: i'll come running (lyrical, evocative, bittersweet).

richard thompson: killing jar (stormy, brooding, foreboding).

[centurymantra]

Great call on Richard Thompson....!! Too many great ones to even start naming them. He is a master.

Also, +1001 on the VU 'What Goes On' solo...and Foggy Notion too for that matter.

[pwrb]

I used to hate guitar solos. But something happened to my musical psyche a few years ago, and now I love 'em...

+1 on Sympathy For the Devil.

Some of Glenn Tilbrook's solos during Squeeze's heyday were pretty amazing, in the economical, hummable school. In Quintessence, Another Nail In My Heart, Black Coffee In Bed all come to mind.

Rikki Don't Lose That Number (I don't even know who played it... Jeff Baxter? Denny Dias?) Ever since I was a kid and that was all over AM radio I just loved that solo. While we're on the topic of Steely Dan (I can sense Larry Crane's ire rising...) the electric sitar solo on Do It Again is pretty great.

Obvious, garage-y faves: Louie, Louie by the Kingsmen, You Really Got Me by the Kinks.

The solo on Charlie Chesterman's "Question Mark", played by Andy Pastore, always slays me. And I was there. The band had never played the song before (Charlie showed it to them in the studio) and the take that got used was the first one (later ones were more accurate but didn't have the manic energy), with Andy whipping this solo off live, as part of basic tracks. It's here:
http://www.charliechesterman.com/mp3/questionmark.mp3

While we're on the topic of extemporaneous solos, I always dug David Gilmore's on "Another Brick In The Wall", apparently played as a level check.

Wichita Lineman. Communication Breakdown. Mama Tried. Peaches En Regalia. The Paul/George/John hoo-ha on The End. Especially the John stuff.

And finally I must recommend Neil Innes' solo on The Rutles' Hold My Hand. One of only a small number of guitar solos that are capable of actually making me laugh out loud.

-Pete

www.weissy.com
www.weisstronauts.com
www.verdantstudio.com

[oceanic]

Cupids Trick from either/or, and Goin Against Your Mind from you in reverse...anything from Doug Martsch really.

[fossiltooth]

Marc Ribot's solo on the Tom Waits tune "Jockey Full of Bourbon."

+1,000,0000

Actually, the guitar is consistently amazing throughout the entire song.

Wait...... Actually, his guitar is consistently amazing throughout all of Rain Dogs and Frank's Wild Years.

"Badge" middle part is a guitar playing solo, and it's the most amazing thing ever

Also, the guitar solo on "Cinnamon Girl" is near perfect.

I hope you guys weren't being sarcastic about about this one.

I feel a need to add another tasty, simple, oddball guitar solo: "In Bloom".

Or, any solo on Bleach.

Or anything Django Reinhardt ever played.

Or anything off of Frank's Wild Years or Rain Dogs.

Did I mention that already?

[lg]

marc ribot's great. i've enjoyed his work with waits & zorn and the jarmusch film soundtracks. too cool.