Best solos of all time

Eric Clapton - Crossroads (both)
Jimmy Page - Heartbreaker, Since I've Been Lovin You
Richie Blackmore - Highway Star live
Leslie West - Nantucket Sleighride

Santana:heads hands and feets,soulsacrifice
(moonflower,drums)
colosseum :solo colonia (reunion album,drums)
meola:meediterrenean sundance (elegant gipsy)
Jarett:köln concert

jimi Hendrix, Woodstock the little solo he plays after Purple Haze.
Leo Kottke The break in, Morning is the long way home.
Jan Akkerman live version of, Am i losing you.
Tony Rice too many to list.
John Scofield, Call 911.
Van Halen, Beat it.
Jeff Beck, Ambitious.
Not Guitar but, L Shankar, India with Shakti.

[This message was edited by central on Sun 16 May 2004 at 7:56.]

Maggot Brain from Funkadelic's Maggot Brain is an overlooked gem - basically the whole track is a solo.

Pink Fairies - 'Uncle Harry's Last Freakout' from Never Never Land
Hot Rats - 'Willie The Pimp'
Man - 'Spunk Rock' from Greasy Truckers
Grateful Dead - 'Railroad Blues' from Skull & Roses
Grateful Dead - 'The Eleven' from From the Vault II
Grateful Dead - 'China Cat Sunflower' from Europe 72


there is a pattern emerging here...I'd better stop.

quote:

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Maggot Brain from Funkadelic's Maggot Brain is an overlooked gem - basically the whole track is a solo.

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Couldn't agree more. IMO the best guitar solo there is: I've only got the ep version free with One Nation Under a Groove. Is the one on Maggot Brain any different?

Second Place Ira Kaplan on Yo La Tengo's Blue Line Swinger

Some of those in equal third place:
Whoever plays on "Concrete Jungle" by the Wailers
Joe Henderson on Song for my Father by Horace Silver
( Jazz is tricky because there are great solos on so mnay records - Coltrane on um everything he recorded, for example)
Teenage Fanclub - Everything Flows
Television, second solo on Marquee Moon
Marc Ribot's solos on Tom Wait's Rain Dogs
Neil Young "Cinnamon Girl - just one note, but perfect
Hendrix: eithet Machine Gun or the live Little Wind on In The West
Bob Mould on Husker Du's Neverending Summer
Whatever Kevin Shields is doing on Primal Scream's xtrmintr
David Rawlings on Gillian Welch's Time( the revelator)


and 200 more which will come to me the moment I log off!!

Kevin

Shawn Lane on "To the Power of 10 Live". I can't remember the track name, but the solo is unbelievable (in a fretwanky sort of way). It makes Al De Meola's breaks on "Friday Night In San Francisco" sound arthritic.

Santana - Santana III - Taboo - 3mins 58secs.

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Originally posted by BLT:
Al De Meola's breaks on "Friday Night In San Francisco" sound arthritic.

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Al DiMemola always sounds arthritic

It's not a real firebrand "how many notes in 10 seconds" job, but one guitar solo that really just fits the bill perfectly for me is Robby Krieger's on the Doors' "Moonlight Drive".

The acoustic guitar solo on Steve Harleyt's "Come up and see me (make me smile)" is another of those that just fits so well the technicalities become irrelevant. I'm not even sure who plays it :-( Tim Renwick's solo on "Year of the Cat" works like this too.

When it comes to completely ludicrous "How can you do that with a guitar?" then Jeff Beck's work on, well, all sorts of things, but especially "Ambitous". In terms of moving fingers unfeasiby quickly but still with great accuracy and aplomb, Fripp is one of the benchmarks. "FraKctured" particularly mad in this respect.

For straight ahead great rock attack that has me reaching for the nearest tennis racquet, Dave Gilmour on "Money" and Martin Barre on "Jump Start".

That's just guitar. For a great piano solo, how about Keith Jarret's "Koln Concert"? (yes, the whole thing...)

Pete.

Thank goodness we don't have to endure drum solos anymore

And a drum solo, just for Rasher: Joey Baron, 4th track on John Zorn/Masada, live in Sevilla.
Oh, and Max Roach on Sonny Rollin's Blue 7 on Saxophone Collosus

Kevin

Nick. LOL

OK Guitar Solo's.

Got to admit I really like a good guitar solo. long time favourates have been:

Doctor Doctor, from UFO's live Strangers in the night
Micheal Schenker, on top form moving from subtlety to speed whilst maintaining purpose and melody.

Wring that Neck, From Deep Purple's In Concert double LP.
Richie Blackmore's extended Jam of stupendous playing. Jon Lord also chirps in but it's Ritchie that takes the honours.

On a more Subdued note:
Killer Queen - by Queen.
An exquisite Brian May solo, only a few bars long maybe but ful of invention.

Comfortably Numb - from Pink Floyd's The Wall (or Pulse live CD).
It's mainly just the sound of the guitar that Gilmore achieves here, sublime.


There are lots of others, but the above take some beating.

On the other hand Dark Star leaves me completely cold!!!

• Something - The Beatles
• I'm Losing You - The Roches (Fripp's solo)
• Lights Out - UFO from Strangers in the Night (two excellent very bluesy pieces from Michael Schenker)
• I'm Going Mad - The Scorpions (more incredible works from Mr. Schenker on the Scorp's first)
• Reelin' In The Years - Steely Dan
• Achille's Last Stand - Led Zeppelin
• Do You Feel Like We Do - Peter Frampton (live version, after all the vocal crap)
• Dreams I'll Never See - Allman Bros
• Firth of Fifth - Genesis (lovely notes from Steve Hackett)
• Voodoo Child (Slight Return) - Jimi
• The Understander - Greg Kihn band (Kihn's first guitarist Dave Carpender was undeservedly underrated)

Just off the top of my head.

Cheers

Keith.

From the first album I ever bought - Moving Waves by Focus, Jan Akkerman's solo's during 'Eruption', still sounds absolutely amazing today.

Regards
Geoff

So many solos! Like plucking drops of water from a vast ocean ...

Here are a few of the best, according to my ears, for what it's worth:

Jimi Hendrix - Red House from Hendrix in the West

John Coltrane - Giant Steps from Giant Steps

Paul McCartney, George Harrison, John Lennon (round robin solo) - The End from Abbey Road

Miles Davis - So What from Kind of Blue

Mike McCready from Pearl Jam can produce blinding solos when called on to do so.
Neil Young - Cortez from whenever you've seen him with Crazy Horse.

lectric geetar - 'Hard On Me': Richard Thompson from 'Mock Tudor'; Folk ROCKS!!

Hammond B3 - 'Highway Star': Jon Lord from 'Machine Head'; Ivory Tickling Speedster
Hammond B3 - 'Cryin' To Be Heard': Steve Winwood from 'Traffic'; Favourite Player
Hammond B3 - 'Smiles And Grins': Jack Bruce from 'Harmony Row'; Leslie Bins SING!!

Denis

But Tom, although you're quite right to point out "of all time" is a ridiculous qualification (a bit like "to die for"...), "solos" in this context generally means execution by an instrumentalist. Get me to play Mozart's 4th Horn Concerto and it'll be rubbish, so wouldn't make the grade.

Pete.

This has got to be just a taster; there are simply too many to list. But for starters how about....

"Cause We've Ended as Lovers" - Jeff Beck - Blow by Blow. An utterly gorgeous tribute to Roy Buchanan and a track that might just draw a tear from the most cynical eye.

"Riviera Paradise" - Stevie Ray Vaughan - In Step. I love his playing and there are almost too many tracks that could be listed here but this 9 minute instrumental track shows him at his most soulful - nice organ solo too.

"East Wes" - Eric Johnson - Ah Via Musicom. Great octave playing in a funked up Wes Montgomery way.

"Bliss" - Paul Gilbert - Burning Organ. Despite the album name, this guitar solo is f*%cking mindbending.

"Krea Kata" - Johnny A. - Get Inside. If you haven't bought this yet you are missing the best album of the year. The solo on this track is magnificent. Wonderful, wonderful album.

"Magic Sam" - Robben Ford - Inside Story. The whole album is packed with hugely tasty solo's but this is probably the best.

"Stripped Me Naked" - John Lee Hooker - Mr Lucky. The lead on this track is by Carlos Santana who can be a frantic little sod at times, but this fits right in.

"Red House" - Jimi Hendrix - Various. Oh yes!

"Überjam" - Jon Scofield - Überjam. Very funky, nothing forced, the epitome of groovy. Regrettably he didn't play this track on his recent visit to London.

"Room 335" - Larry Carlton & Steve Lukather - No Substitutions: Live in Osaka. Marvellous interplay between 'disciple' and 'master'.

"Moon Song" - Pat Metheny & Charlie Haden - Beyond Missouri Sky. It's so difficult to single out just one Pat Metheny solo but this is one of my favourites.

"Phonecall from Levenworth" - Chris Whitley - Living With the Law. Strangely, very little seems to appear on the forum about this excellent singer/guitarist who plays a stonking Dobro with the most bizarre tunings.

"Wingless" or "Eddy"- Focus/Eef Albers - Focus Con Proby. A strange album, Focus without Jan Akkerman but with PJ Proby (!) and guitar whizz-kid, Eef Albers. Can't remember which track is "the one" but it's one of these two.

I'd better stop there, I've got work to do....


Dave

Or Bachs Well Tempered Clavier? Spine tingling
Simon

Just a few of my favourite guitar solos, off the top of my head:

Jan Akkerman/Focus - 'Hamburger Concerto' from Hamburger Concerto

Jeff Beck - 'Goodbye Pork Pie Hat' from Wired

Pat Metheny - 'Pat's Solo' from Shadows and light (following 'Amelia')

Jimmy Page/Led Zep - 'No Quater' live from The Song Remains The Same (and the buggers slashed it to bits in the film!)

Fripp/Belew/Crimson - 'FraKctured' live from Heavy ConstrucKtion (original on The ConstruKction of Light) .

Will.

Drum solos are obviously out of favour,but Philly Joe Jones on Tin Tin Deo from "Art Pepper Meets The Rhythm Section" sounds pretty outstanding to me.
Simon

As Knopfler hasn’t had a mention yet then what about the solo at the end of the Sultans of Swing on the live Alchemy album – fantastic finger work and a lot more in it than on the studio version.

Also a quick mention of Clapton’s solo on the track Sexual Revolution on Roger Waters’ Pro’s and Con’s of Hitchhiking album.

Matt.

So glad to see Mr Page getting a few mentions in this thread. My all time number one desert island guitar solo has to be the maestro himself playing the long (continuous) solo in "Dazed and Confused" AFTER the violin bowed section on side two of "The Song Remains the Same". I must have listened to that solo more frequently than any other. And I still haven't been able to work it all out!

That said, I just adore the solo played in the blues medley from "Whole Lotta Love" on the same album, from the bit where Robert Plant sings "Play it one time for Elvis".

And the Wah-Wah solo in "No Quarter" from the same album again...Definitely a number one desert island disc this one.

And the studio version of "Since I've Been Loving You" is pretty hot too.

And what about "The Stumble" by Peter Green?
Or even "Greeny" by same?

And someone mentioned Pat Metheny's solo on "Shadow's and Light", but what about "Are You Going With Me?" from "Offramp"?

Decisions, decisions...

Regards, CB