Books, Movies, Music & Entertainment - 101 Greatest Guitar Solos

Guitar One Magazine is releasing their list of the top 101 guitar solos of all time. These things come out all the time but I think they did a pretty good job.

Their top 5 is:
1. Hendrix - Machine Gun
2. Gilmour - Comfortably Numb
3. Knopfler - Sultan's of Swing
4. Page - Stairway to Heaven
5. Hendrix - All Along the Watchtower

I'm not sure how they compiled, but clearly they took into account the classicness of the song too (both Gilmour and Page have many better solos than those, IM). Mericifully, they spared us from "guitar hero" type pyrotechnics solos but I'm sure there are a few of those in the list.

It made me think of what other great guitar solos from lesser known songs or just underappreciated guitar solos that may have been overlooked

Personal favorites that came to mind

Zappa - Willie the Pimp
Anastasio - Rift
Gibbons - Cheap Sunglasses (That one has a possibility of making the list)
Winwood - The Low Spark Of High-Heeled Boys

Personal favorites that might be on the list

Neil Young - Cortez the Killer (tied with maybe Down By the River)
Baxter(?) - My Old School
Alman/Betts - Memory of Elizabeth Reed
Santana - Oye Como Va
Clapton - While my Guitar Gently Weeps (and I'm generally not a Clapton fan)

Any other suggestions/personal faves?

Steve Howe on Starship Trooper

Steve Howe on Starship Trooper

I actually had that in my list and then deleted it. Steve Howe is one of those guitarists that I love (similar to Gilmour), but more for his great guitarwork as part of the band than for his solos per se.

I can't pick my favorite solos. I have thousands of hours of music on my computer, so I can't pick a top 5. Its not possible.

I don't understand all the love for Stairway to Heaven. Better songs than that are on that album.

Anastasio - Rift

Great.... now that solo's stuck in my head. :D

I'd add for Trey virtually any live version of "Reba."

Wow....no one picked the opening to Lou Reeds, 'Sweet Jane' live ??
C'mon people....!?!?!?! :eek: :eek: :eek:

Almost any Mick Taylor '69 era solo's... ie: Midnite Rambler, Sympathy for the Devil, etc.
:D

Wow....no one picked the opening to Lou Reeds, 'Sweet Jane' live ??
C'mon people....!?!?!?! :eek: :eek: :eek:

Almost any Mick Taylor '69 era solo's... ie: Midnite Rambler, Sympathy for the Devil, etc.
:D

I'm guessing Sympathy for the Devil is in the list, that's definitely a classic solo.

I'm also a fan of the Can't You Hear Me Knockin solo. (Who is that?)

Keef did the solo in the studio SFTD but Mick Taylor does it live....
Mick T. did the solo in Cant You Here Me Knocking which was initially just goofing around
after the song was over but the producer (Andy Johns ???) said "LEAVE IT IN !!"
I have all these wack bootlegs on color vinyl that I got in a head shop on the
Wildwood boardwalk in '74 and Mick Taylors solos are beyond belief.....
They were a great Yin to the rest of the Stones raucus Yang. Get Yer Ya Ya's out
is still a great representation of his mad frettin' skeelz tho' .

There is sooo much great guitar stuff out there it is hard to pick 'the best', but is it me
or guitar players just dont 'have it' anymore ?? I dont hear any Jimmy Pages, Zappas
Taylors etc in the millions of Nicklbacks, KorNs and Nirvanabes that plague the radio today..
:cry: Can I sound any more like my parents ?? :roflmao:

My 5 all time would include
Tony Rice, Goldrush.....on Church Sreet Blues
SRV,Texas Flood
Santana,Black Magic Woman
Brian Sutton, Get Up John
Allman Bros,Ramblin Man
I love classic and southern rock but there's a lot more to guitar playing than rock music.

Dave Mason, Dear Mr. Fantasy (or whoever played guitar on the original studio release, I lean towards Hendrix doing it uncredited)

Dave Mason, Dear Mr. Fantasy (or whoever played guitar on the original studio release, I lean towards Hendrix doing it uncredited)

Or was it Winwood?

And now I'm wondering if that's what i was thinking of when I put in Low Spark. I'm tired and confused, I need to review my classic rock.

Pink Floyd, Shine on you crazy diamond
Black Crowes, She talks to angels

My two favorites.

Jeff Beck--What God Wants, Part III (from Roger Waters' Amused to Death)...this solo gives me chills every time I hear it.

Clapton - While my Guitar Gently Weeps (and I'm generally not a Clapton fan)Jeff Healey's version is better.

Peter Green's work on Fleetwood Mac's "Then Play On" is good.

Harvey Mandel "Righteous"

Jose Neto "Sylvia" on Steve Winwood's "About Time"

Peter Frampton "Winds of Change"

Herman Li/Sam Totman - Through The Fire And The Flames
Kirk Hammett(/James Hetfield) - Master Of Puppets (both solos)
Joe Satriani - Friends
Dave Mustaine (*Spit*)/Marty Friedman - Victory
Richie Sambora - Dry County

Another that just floors me is the two successive solos in the song "Rebubula" by moe. Al Shiener and Chuck Garvey rip it up in that song.

If you're wondering where the great guitarists have gone, give a listen to moe. (www.moe.org)

John McLaughlin - "You Know, You Know" from Inner Mounting Flame

Frank Zappa - "Stink Foot" from Apostrophe'

I *** a little bit every time I hear John Frusciante's solo in Dani California, I know there are tons others, but this is one of his better ones.

It's nice to see John's remembered how to shred.

Didn't one of the music mags or big radio stations in the 'States vote the solo from 'Hotel California' the best ever recently?

You lot rock. There are some absolute rippers listed here. 'Sweet Jane' Live. Haven't heard that in ages. 'Midnight Rambler' live. Early ZZ Top - heaps of top solos. SRV. Early Santana. Hendrix. 'My Old School' isn't an obvious choice but is great. Even Mark Knofler and Dire Straits, who are normally lame-o, nailed it on Sultans of Swing. Might be time to crank up the stereo.

One you Seppos may not know much about. Aussie band 'The Angels' had a great guitarist. The solo on the song 'She Keeps No Secrets' is excellent. Don't forget some of Angus Youngs stuff with Acca Dacca either.

I'll have to think of some more recent solos! I think the most recent one listed here is the Black Crows 'talks to Angels', and thats what, 12-13 years old. Probably the only post 1990 solo noted so far.

One you Seppos may not know much about. Aussie band 'The Angels' had a great guitarist. The solo on the song 'She Keeps No Secrets' is excellent. Don't forget some of Angus Youngs stuff with Acca Dacca either.



I think I asked you in a thread eons ago about the ANGELs !! ......Some of the most flat out, @$$kicking r0Ck + RoLL I have ever heard !! When I first heard Marsaille I flipped out !! :eek:
AC/DC on Steriods !! Over here, they get called Angel City due to some lamo, 70's AOR crappo band called ANGEL instituting a lawsuit against them for name infringement. I can play thier first three albums over and over and never get tired of it !!

Cinnimon Girl - Neil Young

I think I asked you in a thread eons ago about the ANGELs !! ......Some of the most flat out, @$$kicking r0Ck + RoLL I have ever heard !!

Probably their most famous song is 'Am I Ever Going to See Your Face Again?' The classic Aussie response is 'No way, Get F***ed, F*** Off':D

Manfred Mann - "Blinded by the Light" - Dave Flett

Ozzie Ozbourne - "Mr. Crowley" - Randy Rhodes - Most persons prefer the "Crazy Train" solo

Joe Walsh - "The Confessor" - Joe Walsh

Stevie Ray Vaugh "Texas Flood" - Stevie Ray Vaughn

Jimmy Hendricks - "Little Wing" - Jimmy Hendricks

The Allman Brothers - "Blue Sky" - Duane Allman

Probably their most famous song is 'Am I Ever Going to See Your Face Again?' The classic Aussie response is 'No way, Get F***ed, F*** Off':D

"Went down to Sante Fe where Renoir paints the walls........."

YEAH !!!! Too Right !! http://deephousepage.com/smilies/music049.gif

Cinnimon Girl - Neil Young

The one note guitar solo in Cinnamon Girl? Or the riff that the song is based on?

Didn't one of the music mags or big radio stations in the 'States vote the solo from 'Hotel California' the best ever recently?

You lot rock. There are some absolute rippers listed here. 'Sweet Jane' Live. Haven't heard that in ages. 'Midnight Rambler' live. Early ZZ Top - heaps of top solos. SRV. Early Santana. Hendrix. 'My Old School' isn't an obvious choice but is great. Even Mark Knofler and Dire Straits, who are normally lame-o, nailed it on Sultans of Swing. Might be time to crank up the stereo.

One you Seppos may not know much about. Aussie band 'The Angels' had a great guitarist. The solo on the song 'She Keeps No Secrets' is excellent. Don't forget some of Angus Youngs stuff with Acca Dacca either.

I'll have to think of some more recent solos! I think the most recent one listed here is the Black Crows 'talks to Angels', and thats what, 12-13 years old. Probably the only post 1990 solo noted so far.

Whatever happend to Silverchair?

The irritating noise known as 'silverchair' broke up, God be praised

Baxter(?) - My Old School

That is Walter Becker of Steely Dan.

I nominate Evening Song, Fripp/Eno, if your intersted in guitar
work that is original in conception as well as execution.

post 1990 - the solo out of Pearl Jams 'Alive' is a ripper. The fuzzed out solo in Nirvanas 'Come as you are' also kicks arse.

The fuzzed out solo in Nirvanas 'Come as you are' also kicks arse.

"Breed" from Nirvana is an amazing solo, especially with headphones, as it goes from one ear to the other.

Stevie Ray Vaughn - Little Wing love the way you can hear the amps cookin on this.
I was listening to Cream Wheels of Fire and there are some killer riffs on it, back
when Clapton was rightfully a guitar god.
David Gilmour is the king of one note solo's and the art of the space between
notes, and no that isn't sarcastic. He doesn't need guitar pyrotechniques to acheive greatness.
That said I'd nominate Al Di Meola almost anything on the Elegant Gypsy album. . .

marty

That is Walter Becker of Steely Dan.


I'm pretty sure he didn't play the solo on that one. Becker sat out most of the good solos.

I'm pretty sure he didn't play the solo on that one. Becker sat out most of the good solos.
You may be right. They were always cycling through different
studio musicians.

I wanna say Skunk Baxter.

On a more controversial note...I think Nirvana fans wrecked guitar music.
Nirvana was the Alpha of the Funeral-Dirge-Through-A-Marshall sound.
Too much fuzz, too much heroin when it shoulda been Prozzak...faux-lo's...
We've never recovered..Its only gotten worse. Seven string guitars, Pro-Tools
instead of amps :cry: :cry: :cry: Wheres my copy of Metal Machine Music ???

You can listen to about 20 seconds each of various instrumental cuts for free at
http://www.guitar9.com/listeningroom.html

No one's mentioned Cub Koda, Link Wray, Danny Gatton, or Roy Buchanan yet.

I wanna say Skunk Baxter.

On a more controversial note...I think Nirvana fans wrecked guitar music.
Nirvana was the Alpha of the Funeral-Dirge-Through-A-Marshall sound.
Too much fuzz, too much heroin when it shoulda been Prozzak...faux-lo's...
We've never recovered..Its only gotten worse. Seven string guitars, Pro-Tools
instead of amps :cry: :cry: :cry: Wheres my copy of Metal Machine Music ???

Well, I like Nirvana music a lot but I agree about his guitar tone. It was essentially a fuzz box through a Marshall. Snooze

It's a shame, but as far as guitar tone goes in heavy metal, it peaked right when it started. That crunchy, overdriven power amp sound of Tony Iommi was everything a heavy guitar should be. It seemed to all change with Eddie Van Halen into that sappy, preamp distortion, overly compressed, overly creamed up, mushy sound that every heavy metal/hard rock/guitar god guitarist uses today. I hate it.

The one note guitar solo in Cinnamon Girl? Or the riff that the song is based on?

I just wanted to see who would mention the one note! Rockin song tho

Okay, here's an eclectic sample:

Allan Holdsworth - "The Things You See...When You Haven't Got Your Gun" - from All Night Wrong
Gary Moore - "Still Got the Blues" - from the album of the same name
Larry Carlton - "Kid Charlemagne" - from Steely Dan's The Royal Scam
Robert Fripp - "Fracture" - from King Crimson's Starless and Bible Black
Pat Metheny - "April Wind / April Joy" from The Pat Metheny Group
Mark Knopfler - "Romeo and Juliet" from Dire Straits' Making Movies
Eric Johnson - "Columbia" from Bloom
Scott Henderson - "What I Know Now" from Jeff Berlin's Crossroads
Tuck Andress - "Over the Rainbow / If I Only Had a Brain" - from Reckless Precision
Steve Vai - "Hand on Heart" from Fire Garden
Steve Hackett - "Ace of Wands" from Voyage of the Acolyte

Great list so far.
How about Donald "Buck Dharma" Roeser of Blue Oyster Cult. I never was a fan of BOC until I saw them a few years ago. I spent the whole time watching him play.

Larry Carlton for Steely Dan on Kid Charlemagne.... but I'm biased

I can't believe I forgot to mention Richard Thompson. <slapping self on forehead>

"Can't Win" - live version from RT's Watching the Dark box set. Solo sounds like it's going to careen off the edge of the CD before he reels it back in.

"Why Must I Plead" - short, but highly emotional solo near the end of the song from his Rumour and Sigh album

"Shoot Out The Lights" - pretty much any version. It's Thompson's signature tune, if there is one. Studio, acoustic live, electric live. Special mention to the mandolin solo versions by Pete Zorn from the '94 live tour. Smokin' hot stuff.

Great list so far.
How about Donald "Buck Dharma" Roeser of Blue Oyster Cult. I never was a fan of BOC until I saw them a few years ago. I spent the whole time watching him play.

I saw BOC in the mid 80's some time. I can't really say I listen to them that much anymore but I'm still a closet fan, pull out a couple songs from time to time. Some great songs on Tyranny and Mutation :)

No one's mentioned Cub Koda, Link Wray, Danny Gatton, or Roy Buchanan yet.

Roy Buchanan - "Livestock" LP

Best. LP. EVER.

Next up: Otis Rush, "Lost In The Blues"

Robert Fripp on the Eno song "Baby's on Fire"

Kansas - Livgren/Williams - "The Wall"
Led Zeppelin - Page - "Ten Years Gone"
Ten Years After - Lee - "I'd Love To Change The World"
Jimi Hendrix - "The Wind Cries Mary"
Steely Dan - Denny Diaz (?) - "Reeling in the Years"
Deep Purple - Blackmore - "Highway Star" (Jon Lord had a smoking organ solo on this one too)
Cream - Clapton - "Sunshine of Your Love"
I could go on and on............

Ten Years After - Lee - "I'd Love To Change The World"


Great one, I forgot about that one.

Richard Lloyd and Tom Verlaine on Television's "Marquee Moon"
Gives me chills just thinking about it.