Hotel California guitar solo

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by sekaer, Jul 13, 2018.

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  1. sekaer

    sekaer Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    United States
    I was reading tweets about this yesterday and was struck by how many young people are attached to it. I admit while not being an Eagles lover that it has a kind of indestructible greatness to it, I often listen to it multiple times. What is it about this solo? Is it greater than Stairway's, assuming that's the other canonical solo of classic rock?
     
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  2. savemenow

    savemenow Forum Resident

    Location:
    SE Pa
    Always loved the solo. Used to get pissed when DJ's on the (old) radio would cut it off or talk over it.

    Yeah...I'm showing my (old) age.:D
     
    Last edited: Jul 13, 2018
  3. Bill Hart

    Bill Hart Forum Resident

    Location:
    Austin
    I watched Joe Walsh play it at their induction into the R&R Hall of Fame. He looked like he was on autopilot. And it was note for note perfect. That guy is a hell of a guitarist.
     
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  4. A Saucerful of Scarlets

    A Saucerful of Scarlets Commenter Turned Viewer

    I can't even remember it and I've heard the song a thousand times.
     
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  5. princesskiki

    princesskiki Kiki's Mom

    NOT a solo. It is a guitar duet, both Walsh AND Felder. My all time favorite guitar duet in Rock history.
     
  6. MikeVielhaber

    MikeVielhaber Forum Resident

    Location:
    Memphis, TN
    Love the solo and the trading off from Don to Joe.
     
  7. Michael

    Michael I LOVE WIDE S-T-E-R-E-O!

    one of the best that has to be played ((((((((((LOUD))))))))))
     
  8. Michael

    Michael I LOVE WIDE S-T-E-R-E-O!

    he's had enough practice! his solo is like breathing...
     
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  9. sekaer

    sekaer Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    United States
    god, you know what I meant...of course I know it's a duet. but thanks for the pedantry
     
  10. mark winstanley

    mark winstanley Certified dinosaur, who likes physical product

    it's beautifully constructed and played by two great rock guitarists. it has good feel and melody, i mean i can whistle it pretty much. I haven't heard it for over a year at least and i can probably still get close to whistling humming the whole thing.

    there is no best anything
     
  11. sekaer

    sekaer Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    United States
    It's so much better than the damn song--Felder at least should have a co-write unless he co-wrote the whole thing, idk
     
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  12. mark winstanley

    mark winstanley Certified dinosaur, who likes physical product

    idk it's a great song, its been overplayed, but its still a great song. the guitar outro is just the icing on the cake
     
  13. thxphotog

    thxphotog Camera Nerd Cycling Nerd Guitar Nerd Dietary Nerd

    Location:
    Los Angeles, CA
    Like others have said, such a great 'duet'. A song within a song.

    I also prefer the slightly 'rockier' live version, which among other nuances includes the twin pick-slides, which aren't in the studio version. Also as a novice guitar player, it seems like fairly simple solo to play because it's somewhat laid-back, but it's not.
     
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  14. adad

    adad Forum Resident

    Location:
    San Diego
    The Eagles really seem on top of it live around this time.
     
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  15. Mook

    Mook Forum Resident

    I can't stand it, Joe Walsh is one of my favourite guitarists but it's up there with Free Bird & Beat It as the most overrated guitar 'solo' of all time.

    This is much more my kind of Joe Walsh solo...

     
  16. Terrapin Station

    Terrapin Station Master Guns

    Location:
    NYC Man/Joy-Z City
    A lot of it is precomposed rather than being a solo. I'm not trying to be pedantic there. Big sections are a carefully precomposed, catchy melody that guitars just happen to be playing--it could have been done by a horn section or something instead. There are parts that seem improvised, too, but smartly, they still pay a lot of attention to melody and catchiness/singability even with those parts. Most folks don't care how fast/how acrobatically guitarists can go weedly weedly weedly. They want something that works for the song, something that's memorable and even singable. The "Hotel California" "solo" meets all of those goals.
     
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  17. MikeVielhaber

    MikeVielhaber Forum Resident

    Location:
    Memphis, TN
    He did co-write the whole thing. He basically wrote the music for the track. Henley and Frey added the lyrics and vocal Melody.
     
  18. thxphotog

    thxphotog Camera Nerd Cycling Nerd Guitar Nerd Dietary Nerd

    Location:
    Los Angeles, CA
    Yes, which is what I described above as a 'song within a song'. You also just described perfectly the coda solo to Boston's Hitch a Ride, which I also love dearly. Even more so than HC.
     
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  19. veon

    veon Forum Resident

    Location:
    United States
    I remember in an interview (either on the Eagles XM channel or in the ‘History of the Eagles’, I forget which) Walsh had said the solo for HC was Frankensteined together by Henley from several different takes by he and Felder and it didn’t really resemble what they were playing during the sessions. He went on to say that he and Felder were both pretty shocked when they first heard the final version- not in a bad way, but more in a surprised way. Does anybody else remember this story? Hopefully I’m not hallucinating...
     
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  20. MikeVielhaber

    MikeVielhaber Forum Resident

    Location:
    Memphis, TN
    They didn't improvise it, no, but solos often aren't improvised. Don and Joe worked on it together throwing out ideas to each other until they got it exactly how they wanted it.
     
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  21. savemenow

    savemenow Forum Resident

    Location:
    SE Pa
    Some famous songwriters never gave co-writing credits to guitarists, such as Bob Dylan, Ian Anderson, and Ray Davies. Heck, Dylan often doesn't give credit to musicians who play on his recordings.
     
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  22. winker12

    winker12 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Plainfield, In.
    I remember Joe Walsh saying that Frey was a perfectionists and after working on it for a while they played it for him. Frey told them to work on it some more and left. When he came back they played the exact same cut which they previously played for him he told him that's what he was looking for!
     
  23. johnny q

    johnny q Forum Resident

    Location:
    Bergen County, NJ
    I am not an Eagles fan either, but will acknowledge their immense talent at any time.

    This solo is popular because of its melody, phrasing and harmonies. There are no wasted notes and no wanking. The notes follow the chord changes and if that does not tug at ones heartstrings, perhaps the heart is not beating in the first place! Great guitar tone as well.

    I don't think it surpasses or is inferior to the iconic Stairway solo. Two different things. The Stairway solo is shorter, contains no harmony guitars and is played by only one guitar player. Page would improvise this in live versions, often stretching it way out. I believe the Eagles recreated the "Hotel California" solo note for note in live settings.

    JQ
     
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  24. Scott S.

    Scott S. lead singer for the best indie band on earth

    Location:
    Walmartville PA
    That song used to be a favorite but it crossed over into the overexposed zone for me.
     
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  25. savemenow

    savemenow Forum Resident

    Location:
    SE Pa
    I'll go out on a limb here and say anyone who LIKES the solo, KNOWS and can hear it is 2 guitarists...ergo a duet. Not sure why someone felt the need to point this out. Kinda like the grammar police, lol.
     
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