Five Guitar Solos that everyone should hear

longer days give plenty of opportunities to roll the windows down or fire up the barbecue/slow cooker and hope that others can feel the rush of your favorite 6-string flights of fury.

It will be interesting to see and hear what other HoffmanForumers contribute.

Here are 5 of mine that are particularly mind-blowing, eargasm inducing, goosebump creating:

1: Andy Summers (the Police) - "Driven to Tears"
2: Criss Oliva (Savatage) - "Hounds"
3: Peter Buck (REM) - "The Flowers of Guatemala"
4: Dickey Betts/Duane Allman - "Blue Sky"
5: Uli Jon Roth (Scorpions) - "Sails of Charon"

 

Eric Clapton - In Concert - Why Does Love Have To Be So Sad?
Junior Brown - Surf Medley
Mick Taylor - Rolling Stones - Brussels Afair KBFH version Gimme Shelter
Mick Taylor - Bob Dylan - Real Live - I&I
Lowell George - Waiting For Columbus - Mercenary Territory (especially the sax guitar interplay)

 

URIAH HEEP - THE MAGICIANS BIRTHDAY

anything by Pat Travers

so many more, no time to list all

 

Interesting thread idea. Can Hoffman forum members keep it to just five? We’ll find out.

I need to think about mine a bit, but I’m interested to read others’ selections.

 

Michael Schenker-Rock Bottom (live version)
Steve Hackett- Firth of Fith
Todd Rundgren-Singring and the Glass Guitar
Steve Howe-To be Over
Guthrie Govan(Steven Wilson)-First Regret #9

 

1. Quadrant 4-Tommy Bolin
2. Brighton Rock-Brian May
3. You Fool No One-Ritchie Blackmore (Made In Europe version).
4. What God Wants-Jeff Beck
5. Need Your Love So Bad-Peter Green

 

i can't help but notice that this thread is sorely lacking in the one and only Frank Zappa

Any Kind Of Pain (Broadway The Hard Way)
Canarsie (Shut Up...)
Pygmy Twylyte (You Can't Do That On Stage Anymore Vol. 2)
The Illinois Enema Bandit (Zappa In New York)
The Torture Never Stops (You Can't Do That On Stage Anymore Vol. 1)

and a bonus non-Frank pick:

The Gates Of Delirium - Yes

 

Eric Clapton - "Steppin' Out" from the Bluesbreakers record
Marc Ford - "My Morning Song" from the Black Crowes Southern Harmony album
Jeff Beck - "Cause We've Ended As Lovers"
Robben Ford - "The Brother"
Jimmy Page - "Ten Years Gone" (and I have a very difficult time adding him to any of these lists as he's kinda lost favor with me over the years but I was working on this with some folks last night and it's really beautiful and a real testament to his production ability).

 

Off the top of my head...

Vinnie Vincent Invasion - Animal
Westworld - I Can't Run
Black Sabbath - Voodoo
Heart - Magic Man
Judas Priest - Victim of Changes (Unleashed/Live)

 

Frank Zappa - Watermelon in Easter Hay

 

1. UFO- Love to Love (preferably the live version on Strangers in the Night...but the studio version is great too. Either way, it's one of Schenker's finest moments.)
2. Mountain-Travelin' in the Dark. Crazy good...Leslie hit this one out of the park.
3. The Move- Last Thing on My Mind. Roy Wood gets psychedelic. Raga 12 string through a wah pedal, backwards guitars and a solo that tells an epic story on a completely reimagined Tom Paxton classic? Check, check, and check.
4. Dire Straits-Tunnel of Love from Live Alchemy. Knopfler takes his band's best song and extends it to maximum goose bump inducing effect.
5. Queen-White Queen From Live at the Rainbow. I heard this broadcast in the early 80's on a program called something like "From the Vaults" on WBLM out of Portland, Maine when I was 14 or so. Brian May takes what was a very good acoustic solo on Queen II and plays an incredible solo on his Red Special with his Echoplexes and wall of Vox AC-30s set on stun. The next day, I went and bought my first guitar.

 

Jeff Beck, just about anything.
Terry Kath quite a few.
Santana. Europa.
Mick Taylor. Time waits for no one.

 

I'm only going to mention one and it may not even be considered a guitar solo:

Funkadelic - Maggot Brain

Eddie Hazel

 

Richard Thompson - any/all of 'em.
(Most guitarists could learn a lot from listening to him run scales.)

 

Velvet Underground — “I Heard Her Call My Name” (Lou Reed)

David Bowie — “Moonage Daydream” (Mick Ronson)

 

Neil Young - Cortez
Hendrix - Voodoo Chilie
Television (Verlaine/Lloyd) - Marquee Moon
The Knack(Averre) - My Sharona
Prince - Purple Rain

Honorable mentions:

Nels Cline - Impossible Germany
Jack White - Ball & Biscuit
Santana - Black Magic Woman
Clapton - Layla
Keith - Sympathy for the Devil
David Gilmour - Time
Lou Reed - I Heard her Call My Name

EDIT: Grant Green - Idle Moments !

 

Jimmy Page - Since I’ve Been Loving You x 5

 

I’d say that’s a guitar piece not a guitar solo. That’s just my opinion.

 

Dire Straits - Sultans of Swing (Alchemy Live)
Lynyrd Skynyrd - Free Bird (Pronounced...)
Megadeth - Hangar 18 (Rust in Peace)
Genesis - Ripples (A Trick of the Tail)
Pink Floyd - Time (The Dark Side...)

 

Pink Floyd - Hey You

 

Pink Floyd - Comfortably Numb

 

Metallica - Fade to Black

 

Albert King - I Believe To My Soul (Blues At Sunrise): My all-time favorite solo, chills everytime I hear it
Led Zeppelin - Tangerine (LZIII)
Lynyrd Skynyrd - Call Me The Breeze (Second Helping)
Kiss - 100,000 Years (Alive)
Megadeth - Holy Wars (Rust In Peace): Mustaine magnum opus, there are a lot of metal solos to choose, but this is quite unique and reflects Mustaine character perfectly IMO, what makes him a master metal songwriter

bonus:
*Fleetwood Mac - Come (Say You Will)

 

Ozzy Osbourne - No More Tears

 

Oooo good one...but I like the Double Platinum version best.