Oh man. My old band Harpswell Sound played a show with Chaz & the Motorbikes, and Andy is a real monster guitarist. I think a Mustang straight into an old ampeg reverberocket II that had a belt wrapped around it to hold it together. Unbelievable sounds! I grilled him and found out he had a mosfet boost built into the guitar that he could switch on & off, but even without it, you can tell it's all in his fingers.pwrb wrote: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
Here's my list of favorite guitar solos, from a year end list in 2004:
Dean Wareham "When will you come home?"
Galaxie 500, Blue Thunder lp
I read somewhere that he was never able to reproduce some of the overtones he got on this recording. Close seconds would be "Don't let our youth go to waste", or "King of spain, pt2".
Neil Young "Down by the river"
Neil Young & Crazy Horse, Everybody knows this is nowhere lp
My favorite 1-note guitar solo. Trey pointed out a close runner-up, "Vampire Blues" from On the beach.
Andy Gill "Anthrax"
Gang of Four, Entertainment! lp
This entire album contains some of my favorite recorded guitar sounds. Raw and trebly.
Jimmy Page "Fool in the rain"
Led Zepplin, In through the out door lp
MXR blue box if I'm not mistaken.
Mark Farner "Inside looking out"
Grand Funk Railroad, Grand Funk lp
This is dating both me and my dad, but I'd sometimes hear him playing this record from down the block on my way home from school, shaking the walls of our house. Excessive but enjoyable!
Jeff Tweedy "More like the moon"
Wilco, YHF bonus ep (mp3)
Beautiful nylon string lead, like a cross between Django Reinhardt and Willie Nelson.
Joe Walsh "Tend my Garden"
James Gang, James Gang rides again lp
Another favorite album of my dad's back in the day. I used to listen to the crazy stereo panning by laying on the floor in between the speakers. Some more of my favorite guitar sounds are on this album.
Graeme Downes "Joed Out"
Verlaines, Ten o'clock in the afternoon ep. Also on Juvenilia compilation cd/lp.
I don't think there's any other Verlaines recording with such a spontaneous sounding, out of time guitar break. One of the most popular of their tunes, for good reason. I could listen to the Verlaines all day.
Buddy Holly "Wishing"
Buddy Holly and the Crickets, S/T single, 1964. Also available on "The Buddy Holly Collection" and other cd comps.
Originally recorded as a demo for the Everly Brothers. Buddy played most of his own leads, and helped popularize the Fender Strat.
James Griffin "Baby I'm-a want you"
Bread, Baby I'm-a want you lp
I've always assumed this was James Griffin on the guitar break, which is tasteful and lovely like all of their hits. Sometimes that's enough.
