Reader here! I’ve got a question for you.
What makes a great guitar solo?
There are lots of factors that contribute, and it’s usually a combo of things that create the effect you want. Technical skill is a factor, but it’s not the only one. The guitarist’s ability to convey emotion through the music is also important, as is the ability to create a groove.
In my opinion, emotion and groove are the two most important factors. You can play a umpteen dozen notes in all kinds of weird rhythms and time signatures, using obscure chords, but if it doesn’t fit the song and make you feel something, it’s all show, with no substance.
I asked on our socials, what our listeners’ favourite guitar solos are.
A few folks chimed in with their choices. Queen’s Brian May was noted a couple of times, for his solos in “Bohemian Rhapsody,” (which I think we’ve all air-guitared to at some point) and his solo in “Queen Rocks Montreal” from 1981. Rush’s legendary Alex Lifeson got some love for his work in “Limelight.” The iconic solo by the Eagles’ Don Felder in “Hotel California” was cited.
Others included the solos in Quiet Riot’s cover of Slade’s”Cum on Feel the Noize,” Pat Benatar’s “Heartbreaker,” Billy Idol’s “Rebel Yell,” “Red Hot & Blue Love” by Rick Springfield, “Beat’s So Lonely” by Charlie Sexton, and “Keep On Loving Me Baby,” by Regina’s own Colin James.
As for me? There are certainly a few favourites.
Of course, pretty much anything by Eddie Van Halen could qualify, but growing up a Michael Jackson fan, EVH’s solo in “Beat It,” with all his fast-tapping glory, remains to this day, one of my air guitar faves.
I’m also a huge Queen fan. Brian May played so many iconic solos, from “Crazy Little Thing Called Love,” to “Don’t Stop Me Now,” “Killer Queen,” “Somebody To Love,” and of course, “Bo Rhap.” But one of my favourites is from 1977’s “News of the World” album, in the underrated track “Spread Your Wings.”
Another classic appears on the Beatles’ “White Album,” in “While Many Guitar Gently Weeps.” Most die-hards already know this, but it wasn’t any of the Beatles that played that solo. At the time they recorded the track, they weren’t getting along, and George Harrison, who wrote the song, thought bringing in someone from outside the group might get everyone to behave. So he called his pal, Eric Clapton. Clappy played the solo, and though it didn’t sound quite “Beatley” enough, so they put a wobble on it, and the rest is history. Here’s the rendition played at the “Concert for George,” held a year to the day after Harrison’s passing.
One of my favourite artists is the late, great Stevie Ray Vaughan. He was a devotee of Jimi Hendrix, blues legends Freddie, Albert and B.B. King, and Buddy Guy, not to mention his big brother Jimmie, of the Fabulous Thunderbirds. He melded all of those influences into his own playing, but infused it all into his own style, which could be powerful, yet gentle, raucous yet mellow. The saddest thing about losing SRV in a helicopter crash in 1990, was that he had conquered drugs and alcohol, and been clean for about four years, and he came to realized the talent he had within him was all his own, not created by artificial substances. He went through hell, and came out the other side, only to be cruelly taken in his prime. This is one of my favourite SRV solos, from a song about that rebirth, “Tightrope.”
And a great slide guitar solo can be a thing of beauty.
Here’s one by Derek Trucks, of Tedeschi Trucks Band, from “Until You Remember.” It builds slowly, and grows into something fierce!
And you didn’t think I’d leave my all-time faves, the Roling Stones out of this list?
In 1972, they came out with their classic double album “Exile on Main St.,” and toward the end of the album, the Stones hit us with “All Down the Line,”with Mick Taylor sneaking in with a side solo that creeps in so suddenly that you don’t realize he’s soloing until he’s right in the middle of it!
Ultimately, it’s a matter of taste, and what moves one person may not have the same effect on someone else.
I’m not one to argue and say one’s better than another. I say enjoy every guitar solo as they come, no two are exactly alike, and are unique in their own ways!
