20 Greatest Guitar Solos

[El Picador]

Little Wing - Stevie or Jimi

[jimmyjimmy]

why is there no steve morse on this list?

I doubt whomever compiled this list ever even heard of Steve or the Dixie Dregs

 

 

I'll second that. I love Tom Verlaine on that solo. Its killer.

 

But that whole list is crapt, the only thing good in the top twenty is Chuck Berry and Layla solo, but only because Duane Allman is in the solo.

 

I mean Eddie Van Halen is crapt, he needs to learn the meaning of less is more.

 

What about Neil Young's solo on "Powderfinger" or something by Lee Ranalado and Thurston Moore. or what I think is greatly underated is Ira Kaplan's solo on "I Heard You Looking" from Yo La Tengo's "Painful." Every time I hear him insert chaos and noise into his solo, it sends shivers down my spine. Finally, add in Sterling Morrison and Lou Reed's solos on "Sister Ray".

 

Clapton's work on "Crossroads" has to be considered some of his best work ever.

One really can't take anything away from Eddie VH. The guy was a phenom when he burst onto the scene.

And I'd have to agree with the your point on omitting Neil Young. I guess it comes down to the criteria of those that composed the list.... "virtuosity" isn't everything in my book. Chops are great but there's a great deal to be said for a segment of music where a musician takes a solo and simply evokes feelings and emotions regardless of their technical prowess.

 

I only glanced at the list and then disregarded it. How many great jazz soloists did they miss......how many other great guitarists....Danny Gatton anyone...hello!

[markosis]

You can't take that crap seriously. Please don't.

[jahilia]

... "virtuosity" isn't everything in my book. Chops are great but there's a great deal to be said for a segment of music where a musician takes a solo and simply evokes feelings and emotions regardless of their technical prowess.

 

 

One of my favorite solos is Robbie Robertson on King Harvest - even though he's an amazing guitarist, he's so subtle on that song, and the solo is so short, you almost miss it.

 

Nick Hornby on Paul Westerberg's (three note) piano solo in Born For Me:

"A better pianist would have wrecked the moment, filled in the gaps, failed to recognize how the tune has exerted a spell over the right listener; somebody with little talent and absolutely no ear would simply have chosen the wrong three notes. Just as you know intuitively when the simplest and crudest brush strokes have been made by a proper artist, I can never listen to the solo without thinking that it's played by a born musician - not a virtuoso, not even someone who could make a living as a pianist in a cocktail lounge, just a man who thinks and feels and loves and speaks in music."

[John Smith]

Any mentionns of Metal Machine Music? It's pretty much a 60 minute solo

[WaronWar]

Any mentionns of Metal Machine Music? It's pretty much a 60 minute solo

 

Its 62 minutes, but I like the way you think.

 

Also, for Jazz guitarists, I have to go with Derek Bailey for the more liberal side of jazz. I also enjoy Joe Pass (be-bop) and Bucky Pizzarelli (hot jazz), and of course I have to go with Nels Cline because his solos on his records are amazing.

[Sir Stewart]

Any mentionns of Metal Machine Music? It's pretty much a 60 minute solo

I like the way you think.

Me too!

[mountain bed]

If neither Black Napkins or Watermelon in Easter Hay by Zappa make a list of guitar solos, I disregard it immediately

I completely forgot about these (just heard them again at work tonight): either " Filthy Habits" or " The Ocean is the Ultimate Solution" by FZ off of "Sleep Dirt".