Beatles guitar solos by John Lennon

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by tagomago, Mar 6, 2011.

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  1. tagomago

    tagomago Original Wrapper Thread Starter

    Do you guys know which Beatles songs have a guitar solo played by John Lennon?
    I just know of "Get Back". Any others?
     
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  2. Arnold Grove

    Arnold Grove Senior Member

    Location:
    NYC
    Honey Pie. Arnie
     
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  3. goldenoldie

    goldenoldie Forum Resident

    Location:
    SoCal USA
    You Can't Do That
    Honey Pie
    Yer Blues
     
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  4. celtic1

    celtic1 New Member

    Location:
    United States
    He wrote the Day Tripper riff but not sure if played it or not on the released cut.
     
  5. Radiotron

    Radiotron Tube Designer

    Location:
    Montreal, Canada
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  6. halfjapanese

    halfjapanese Gifs moider!

    Long Tall Sally (first solo) [echo!]
     
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  7. hishou

    hishou Forum Resident

    Location:
    Berlin, Germany
    For You Blue
     
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  8. Stateless

    Stateless New Member

    Location:
    USA
    I Want You

    1/3rd of The End
     
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  9. pmc7070

    pmc7070 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Nottingham, uk
    The end section of The Ballad Of John & Yoko
     
  10. Actually he plays all the guitars on that one.
    Here's an on line list...
    http://www.nk.rim.or.jp/~tadatk/fab4/solo.html
    John Lennon on Lead

    * Across The Universe (intro)
    * Every Little Thing
    * For You Blue (slide)
    * Get Back
    * Honey Pie
    * I Want You
    * Julia
    * Nowhere Man (Unison)
    * Revolution
    * The Ballad of John And Yoko
    * The End (Paul, George, John in turn)
    * Yer Blues
    * You Can't Do That

    I thought "Come Together" was Lennon as well...

    And from...
    http://www.thecanteen.com/lennon1.html
    Despite his status as master songwriter and cultural icon, John Lennon (1940-1980) was, first, a guitar player.

    Lennon, founding member of The Beatles, played rhythm formidably, as evidenced by rock-steady chording, deft figures ("I Feel Fine"), rapid-fire triplets ("All My Loving"), delicate jazz fingerings ("Til There Was You"), and fine fingerpicking ("Julia," "Look at Me").

    Although he had played some Chuck Berry-type leads in the band's early days, Lennon gladly turned over those duties to George Harrison. In the studio, however, he did like to keep his hand in. Lennon's first lead on record occured on 25 February 1964, on his composition "You Can't Do That," followed a few days later by a solo on "Long Tall Sally" (a song the boys nailed in one take). There followed solos on, among other songs, "Every Little Thing," "Get Back," "I Want You (She's So Heavy)," "Happiness Is a Warm Gun," "Yer Blues," "Honey Pie," "Ballad of John and Yoko," a slide solo on "For You Blue," and, alternating with Harrison and Paul McCartney, "The End."
     
  11. halfjapanese

    halfjapanese Gifs moider!

    Okay, to make up for being a minute late there, here's something that surprised me although it's not exactly a solo.

    Speaking of Every Little Thing in November of 1964, Paul McCartney said, "John does the guitar riff for this one and George is on acoustic."
     
  12. brainwashed

    brainwashed Forum Hall Of Fame

    Location:
    Boston, MA
    It's a relatively short list:

    Long Tall Sally (First solo)
    You Can't Do That
    Honey Pie
    Get Back
    For You Blue (lap steel)
    I Want You (He and George both played lead)
    Yer Blues (He and George both played lead, John the riff, George the stinging lead parts)
    The End (John, Paul and George alternate solos)

    Of course he played electric lead riffs and such, especially in the later years, but very few proper solos. On a related note, Paul also played relatively few solos; Another Girl, Ticket To Ride, Taxman, Drive My Car (slide), Getting Better and a few others, but he also played a lot more electric guitar on Sgt. Pepper and Abbey Road, not lots of solos, but more prominent electric guitar parts. He also tended to accompany himself much more on acoustic guitar during the White Album era, often relegating John and/or George to the sidelines. Ron
     
  13. brainwashed

    brainwashed Forum Hall Of Fame

    Location:
    Boston, MA
    I think John played the electric part during the rehearsals (George was late for the session) and perhaps on the early studio takes, but I believe George plays on the released take...12-string Rick I think. Ron
     
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  14. brainwashed

    brainwashed Forum Hall Of Fame

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    Boston, MA
    Some of this is incorrect. I don't think the opening of Across The Universe is considered "lead" guitar. Just a sequence of chords leading into the verse. Additionally, he plays rhythm only on Till There Was You, all the "delicate jazz fingering" is done by George. George plays the fuzz solo on Happiness Is A Warm Gun, not John. There's no guitar solo per se on Ballad Of John and Yoko, just the chord progression from an old Johnny Burnette song tagged on the end. I suppose those little reverbed trills is a touch of lead, but very primtive. The fingerpicking on Julia is not lead guitar either. One thing is true, John WAS a guitarist. He was an excellent rhythm player, especially early on, but he was very limited as a soloist. This doesn't mean he couldn't add, write or play riffs and such...that is what ALL guitarists strive to do. Ron
     
  15. Skip Reynolds

    Skip Reynolds Legend In His Own Mind

    Location:
    Moscow, Idaho

    Thank you. I'm no expert, but all of what you say here rings true for me.

    How come nobody has mentioned "Hey Bulldog"? Is that still an unresolved issue?

    And what about "And Your Bird Can Sing?"

    "I Feel Fine"


    ....
     
  16. mbleicher1

    mbleicher1 Tube Amp Curmudgeon

    Location:
    Washington, D.C.
    Where is there a guitar solo on Getting Better?
     
  17. mbleicher1

    mbleicher1 Tube Amp Curmudgeon

    Location:
    Washington, D.C.
    There was a pretty exhaustive thread here a few years ago that determined George played lead on Hey Bulldog. I'm pretty sure it's George and Paul on the released take of AYBCS. John plays the riff with George on I Feel Fine, but George plays the solo (not that the solo is beyond John's ability level).
     
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  18. JLGB

    JLGB Senior Member

    Location:
    D.R.
    Great thread for me. I did not think before that JL could do a lead guitar solo.
     
  19. brainwashed

    brainwashed Forum Hall Of Fame

    Location:
    Boston, MA
    I meant Good Morning, Good Morning. Sorry :shake:
     
  20. brainwashed

    brainwashed Forum Hall Of Fame

    Location:
    Boston, MA
    Hey Bulldog is definitely George, double-tracked. John plays piano on the track. And Your Bird Can Sing is Paul and George, eventhough George H. told our host it wasn't him. I've heard the studio chat that prefaces the final take and it's Paul and George. Ron

    PS As mentioned, I Feel Fine has John and George playing the riff (John on the opening riff using an amplified acoustic). George plays the solo.
     
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  21. Skip Reynolds

    Skip Reynolds Legend In His Own Mind

    Location:
    Moscow, Idaho
    10-Q veddy much. I couldn't remember how that Bulldog thread had been resolved, and technical difficulties* prevented me from searching.


    (* Laziness)

    .
     
  22. misterdecibel

    misterdecibel Bulbous Also Tapered

    John owned a 12-string Ric too, dunno if he ever recorded with it but if he did, this would be the most likely candidate.
     
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  23. tagomago

    tagomago Original Wrapper Thread Starter

    Thank you for the answers, the biggest revelation to me is that John played slide on For You Blue and Paul on Drive My Car. I always thought slide guitar was Georges department only.
     
  24. Skip Reynolds

    Skip Reynolds Legend In His Own Mind

    Location:
    Moscow, Idaho
    Don't we see John playing that slide part in the film Let It Be? Or have I manufactured another memory?

    .
     
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  25. couchdave

    couchdave Founding member of Mystik Spiral

    Location:
    Boston, MA, USA
    Yes! Lennon's playing a lap steel, not a standard guitar, on "For You Blue," as you can see in this excerpt from Let It Be. As George says, "Elmore James got nothin' on this baby."
     
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