Posted on 08/28/2006 4:17:31 AM PDT by InvisibleChurch
PINK Floyd's Comfortably Numb has the best guitar solo of all time, according to a new poll.
It was chosen ahead of the opening riff from Sweet Child O' Mine by Guns N' Roses.
Third was Freebird by Lynyrd Skynyrd, while Eruption by Van Halen was fourth and Guns N' Roses' November Rain fifth.
Led Zeppelin classic Stairway to Heaven was in sixth place.
British radio station Planet Rock asked listeners to come up with a top 40.
The rest of the top 10 featured Sultans of Swing by Dire Straits, Aqualung by Jethro Tull, Hotel California by The Eagles and Child In Time by Deep Purple.
Top 20
1 Pink Floyd - Comfortably Numb
2 Guns N' Roses - Sweet Child O' Mine
3 Lynyrd Skynyrd - Freebird
4 Van Halen - Eruption
5 Guns N' Roses - November Rain
6 Led Zeppelin - Stairway to Heaven
7 Dire Straits - Sultans of Swing
8 Jethro Tull - Aqualung
9 The Eagles - Hotel California
10 Deep Purple - Child In Time
11 Queen - Brighton Rock
12 Jimi Hendrix - All Along The Watchtower
13 Deep Purple - Highway Star
14 Wishbone Ash - Throw Down The Sword
15 Ozzy Osbourne - No More Tears
16 Cream - Crossroads
17 Guns N' Roses - Paradise City
18 Led Zeppelin - Since I've Been Loving You
19 Ten Years After - I'm Going Home (Woodstock)
20 Jimi Hendrix - Voodoo Chile
Saw 'em only once, in '79. ...with Wakeman. ....in the round. Tremendous show. They opened with "Siberian Khatru" and "Heart of the Sunrise."
Very nice.
Although Hendrix' solo on "Hear My Train a Comin" (Berkeley Community Theatre, May 30, 1970) is the most blistering, amazing, ridiculous solo in the history of RocknRoll.
No kidding. this list is so top -40 and post-80s it's embarrassing.
the list of great guitarists--let alone individual solos--that the poll responders apparently never heaard of would itself make a better poll
Herb Ellis
Charlie Byrd
Pat Metheny
JOE SATRIANI, for goodness sake. Probably the best around today. so good you actually have to listen a few times and actually pay attention to get him.
Derek Trucks
jonny Lang
Mike Stern
Just a start
Django Reinhardt.
Joe Pass.
I hear ya, that one's right up there. Jimi had a few of 'em -- the "Red House" from the Isle of Wight is a personal favorite, and fairly unique in that it was played on a Gibson (a Flying V). Hendrix on humbuckers is a whole different sound than Hendrix on single coils.
Joe Pass could've been the best ever.
Let's not forget Gary Hoey.
I'd be happy NEVER to hear "Freebird" or "Stairway to Heaven" EVER again!
Good point. And in my humble opinion, while I can understand none of their songs being on the "solo" list, I feel that a riff/hook list would have to have more than a few songs from AC/DC.
blump to the top
I can agree with Comfortably Numb but to have Sweet Child O' Mine as #2 is a disgrace. It is a very good song but the guitar is nowhere near the technical nor musical difficulty as others on the list not to mention the myriad others left off the list and mentioned by others in this thread.
George Thorogood
Ozzie did, but not for the one with Randy Rhoads most amazing work.
#16 Cream - Crossroads
______________
Live version played fast. From "Wheels of Fire"...This is number one for me.
-Robbie Kreiger's guitar on "Light My Fire" is up there for me too
Who is he?
"King Crimson - "21st Century Schizoid Man""
I'll second that along with Johnny Winter's version of Rock and Roll Hootchie Coo.
Let's not forget Foxy Lady.
"blump to the top"
You misspelled "tlop"
You're right, that's a brilliant solo. Not a single cliched lick in the whole thing. Just pure invention. If he improvised it on the spot, then I'm totally jealous. Gotta love his raggedy fuzz tone too.
When I think of the Reelin solo, I also think think of the Do It Again solo. It's another one that's about a hundred times smarter than the average rock guitar solo.
I'm pleasantly knocked out to see all the Steely Dan references.
And not to get too far OT, but has anyone caught them on their current tour?
I saw their show and they gave probably the best concert I ever saw--rock, jazz, bluegrass, blues, country, name it. An amazing band playing amazing music. See it if it's still there.
And we ought to distinguish between guitarists who improvise their solos in the jazz fashion, and those who play the same one each time. Gotta say I was disappointed when I got both LynyrdSkynyrd and Eagles DVDs and saw that the solos were all note for note from the records. Beautiful solos, but a different beast from the improvised brilliance of the Allmans, any jazz player, Page, Joe or Jeff Beck, clapton, Jimi, etc.
My guitar-playing son sez:
how about Barney Kessel. Possibly the most oiginal player ever. Never played licks or repeated a line. For solos, how about Larry Carlton on Steely Dan's Kid Charlemagne? How about any slide solo of Lowell George? or John Scofield from A go go?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.