Steve Vai, Malmsteen, BB King etc all good, but my fave guitar solo is the one at the end of "Brothers in Arms" by Dire Straits...

Dylan rocks :winkwink:

his songs are great for newbie guitar players
you learn C, F and G chord and you can play all the songs LOL

...

actually, he's great

There are so many greats listed here. However, I am with ElvisManson.
The "Comfortably numb" solo sends chills down my spine as does the solo in "Hitch a Ride" by Boston.

Also.... Vai rules!

Mitch

A few more greats came to mind, the more I thought about it....

Sandy Bull - totally unappreciated. This guy was incorporating eastern tonalities and middle eastern modal elements in the early 60's - before the Beatles, even. A great oud player, too.

Danny Gatton - I know I've posted his name on other guitar-related threads around here, but he's worth mentioning again. (and on the subject of great solos, check out his version of "Harlem Nocturne"...)

David Fiuczynski - you can check his stuff out at <a href="http://www.torsos.com/">Torsos.com</a>

Charlie Hunter - 8 string guitar/bass player... un-freaking-believable, this guy. Plays walking bass lines, comps chords and improvises leads all at the same time. His site <a href="http://www.charliehunter.com/">CharlieHunter.com</a> has some mp3's and video clips. If he's coming to your town, go see him - even if you don't like his music, he's pretty mindblowing to watch.

I love it. Always reminds me of scenes from the most popular Scoresse films - Casino, Goodfellas, etc.


ADGREED. That solo is absolutely awesome. First few times I heard it, it knocked my socks off. It still does.

Amazing.

Thanks for reminding me of Statosphere Boogie! I'm digging out old recordings of those country guitar pickin' geniuses of the late 40's and 50's. A lot of those guys could pick rings around most of the country guitarists today.

And here's one a lot of you may never have heard of: Danny Gatton (buy Redneck Jazz, if you buy anything). He hung himself, probably because he never really found a substantial audience for his eclecticism. They say he confused audiences by switching between idiomatically correct rock, jazz, pop, and country. Some considered him the greatest living guitar player until his suicide in November, 1995.

From that same general period of time, another guitarist who bears repeated listening: Stephen Stills. Actually, I think he was technically the first to "play an electric guitar like an electronic guitar and not an electrically-amplified guitar" (a distinction that may might also be applied to The Ventures with their song, 2000 lb Bee).

Stills' technique is exemplified in his stint with Buffalo Springfield, which carried over stylistically intol CSN and then CSNY (Dave Crosby, Stephen Stills, and Graham Nash, and later, CSN+Neil Young). Yeah, THAT Neil Young (who continues to be an inspiration to current generations of progressive degenerates).

Still, Jimi was much more extreme and revolutionary and really blew the world away in a fashion nobody else had done before. Music took a 90-degree turn when we musicians heard Foxy Lady and Purple Haze for the first time. The Beatles may have sole more albums, but only musicians really know to what extent Jimi rocked the musical world to its very foundations. Modern rock and roll dates back to Jimi, and it's rare to hear a guitar solo by any contemporary player without hearing something that dates back to Jimi.

actually Santana didn't appear after Hendrix.

unseenworld, may I quote you at the guitar site I?m working on?
and if you're allowing me to do that, please let me know if you run a music site so I can put the link to it

Stevie ray Little wing

"FADE to black" :Graucho

cool.

very good responses. i will freely admit i don't know thw first thing about instruments or music theory. i just know what i like to hear.

i discovered stevie ray at a dallas night club once. i was at the back, flapping my gums and being social, when this guitar spoke to me. i sked my friend "who is that"? she said, "he's a texas boy. his name is stevie ray vaughn". sigh

got to see BB in person. that man literally made love to his guitar. steve howe from Yes made the coolest faces when he played. carlos santana is positively hypnotic. I always thought Jose Feliciano was pretty good on acoustic.

i didn't include my other fave guitar thing cause it was really two solos, but i always dug on john and george trading riffs at the end of Abbey Road. pristine moment in time caught on vinyl.

well, this was fun :karaoke

Thank you. I would now like to add Alvin Lee to my list.

A lot of the late 60s are a bit misted up in the memory banks. wonder why?:stoned :smokin

Sure, what part do you want to quote. And, no, I don't have a music site. I just used to be in a local band in Cleveland, OH (home of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum). Now, I'm a photographer and don't even currently own a guitar. However, I follow guitar pickin' pretty closely. My ICQ is 48201505, if you want to talk in private.

kirk hammet rulez!

Thanks for reminding me of this player, whose vinyl LP got worn out from repeated playing. An eclectic and innovator, some of his material (e.g., his cover of Luis Bonfa's Manha de Carnaval) was "ambient music" before the term was even invented.

I think he may have meant "follow" in terms of "following others in style" and not have been asserting a temporal order. Jimi was certainly a leader in terms of (a) inventiveness and (b) inspiring followers. Many admire but few follow Santana, possibly because his style is very much a personal thing. Santana literally makes love to life through his guitar. Jimi jacked off, let's face it. (A few exceptions exist, of course: Little Wing and All Along The Watchtower, to name two.) And this is in no way meant to minimize Jimi's importance.

Almost everything :thumbsup

I like the way you explained things
It's easy for everyone to understand

Will let you know when it's about to go live :)

You got some pretty good fucking taste there, I like Supertramp alot, they are one of my favorites.

Now here's one of me. Just close your eyes or turn off your lights and listen to this. It's an unplugged live version of
"Hotel California" by The Eagles...

http://www.digitalevolution.nl/eagle..._unplugged.mp3

Enjoy....... SWEET! :thumbsup

Seb.

This guy most likely influenced almost all of the ones mention here.

John Lee Hooker

I really like Boom Boom not a solo though

I know I've already contributed far more than my :2 cents: on this thread, but...

How could I forget Charlie Christian's solo on "7 Come 11" - talk about a classic.

Anyone who likes incendiary straightahead jazz guitar should check out Jimmy Bruno; this guy whips out Coltrane and Bird riffs like he was born playing them.

Of course, this thread could go on forever with names of great players. Here are a few more definitely deserving of mention that I didn't see above; Django Reinhardt, Lenny Breau, Hank Garland, Joe Pass, Mike Stern, John Scofield, Howard Alden, Les Paul, George Van Epps, Barney Kessel, Laurence Almeida. Al DiMeola, Larry Coryell, Segovia, John Williams (no, not the Star Wars John Williams, the other one...), Christopher Parkening, Pepe Romero, Paco De Lucia, The Assad Brothers etc. etc. etc.

OK, that's it from me on this thread... I think.

You guys are touching on my favorite subject.

Its so hard cause there are so many different styles.
I like Stevie Ray Vaughn on his version of Voodoo Chile
Satch on Surfin with the Alien
Jeff Healy on Blue Jean Blues...I fuckin love that solo
Anything Buckethead
I could go on and on

Im not necessarily a fan, but who can argue with Hendrix. Personal favorite, a couple different banjo solo's by Marshall Tucker Band.

I cant believe nobody mentioned Jerry Garcia..

He wasnt the best guitar player by any means,but certainly one who had you on an emotional roller coaster.

Or maybe that was the acid.

Let's not forget Lonnie Mack, a great inspiration (more than an influence) on Stevie Ray Vaughan. Mack's style is so personal and eccentric that nobody really copies it. In my own case, after The Ventures got me interested in guitar, it was Lonnie who introduced me to rock tinged with blues, R&B, and gospel. He really widened my own horizons and those of a lot of other guitar pickers during the late 60's.

From King Crimson, those diametrical opposites Adrian Belew and Robert Fripp. Belew's guitar seems to be made out of electrified rubber while Fripps seems made of super-taught steel and glass. Belew's solos are wild and almost out-of-control, Fripp seems to have no idea at all how to improvise, so he lays down riffs with variations while Belew does all the wandering.

Dickie Betts. Anybody mention him yet? Another one with a style all his own, and while his "solos" seem pretty much composed, you just gotta love his style of guitar. Real toe-tappin music (Ramblin' Man is one of his most often played tunes).

I know John McLaughlin has been mentioned. If you love guitar, and enjoy fresh approaches, listen to his The Mahavishnu Orchestra's Inner Mounting Flame album. I heard Michael Tilson Thomas interviewed on PBS once, talking about a brief stint he did as pianist in a jazz band with John McLaughlin. He said something I can only paraphrase (having no source to refer to other than my memory) along the lines of "I was in a band with John, and you have to understand that the guitar is probably the fastest musical instrument, and John McLaughlin is probably the fastest guitarist on earth, so you can imagine what a chore it was to keep up with him." Actually, I can't, but the thought of it...

Petrucci's Fatal Tragedy solo in SFAM (I can't believe no one else mentioned this one) and his Under a Glass Moon solo in I&W are two of my favorites.

It is AWESOME to see that there are other Dream Theater and prog fans on this board!!! Who else is going to the DT/Satriani/King's X show this fall on DT's next US tour leg? I'll be there!!!! Did anyone else go to their 6DOIT tour earlier this year? They played 2 FULL SETS of music and 6DOIT in its entirety! FUCKING AWESOME!

Ok, if you don't know who Dream Theater is, go to cdnow RIGHT NOW and buy Images and Words! It's a masterpiece.

Cassie

Just about anything on that live album 'Friday Night in San Francisco' with John McLaughlin, Paco de Lucia and Al Dimeola. solid...

cheers

Hide's guitar solo from X-Japan's theme song, 'X'. It seriouslly doesn't get any better than that.

Aside from names of guitar players, I have a few specific solos/riffs that I'd like to mention....

= Nazareth's "This flight tonight" has one of the most haunting solos I've ever heard.

- Aussie classic rockers Angel City's "Take me away to Marsielle".... amazing, high-punch power riff there to close out the tune.

- Early Jouney, whomever played for them back in the day... Greg Rollie? Ross Vallory? I forget, but in songs like "Wheel in the sky" and "Feelin' that way" there are riffs that are mind-blowing.

- The band Great White.... some of the hot-damned best guitarwork I've ever heard. Grab the CD called "Hooked" and listen to a tune called "Congo Square" sometime, you guitar buffs will love it. Another tune on that album I get into is "South bay cities", it makes me think of a bunch of guys just jammin around a campfire.... some damn talented dudes that is.

I have more favs like this, but I'll let someone else have a turn.

Has anyone mentioned Francis Dunnery of It Bites? He's an astonishingly accomplished rock guitarist. Check out the album It Bites Around The World, which has one fantastic guitar solo after another. Most of them sound written rather than extemporaneous, but who knows? Even so, each is a gem. And the band? Wow! Tight, instrumentally accomplished, and the vocals don't take a second place at all. Very tight harmonies. One of my favorite albums of all time.

Just finished listening to an old Frank Zappa tune...stinkfoot..
he does things with the waa-waa pedal like no one..and right behind that Steve Vai.. For the love of God..has to be one of his very best..

No players list could be complete without mentioning Nancy Wilson of Heart. Some of her work is utterly intense, and she's one of the few guitarists mentioned that I'd actually like to fuck :D

So?

Yeah, Slash all the way! :thumbsup His solo in November Rain is best of the best. p e r i o d .

1. Slash
2. Saul Hudson :Graucho

You really dont know what you are talking about... Yngwie's solos are all based on the same scale using sweep technic every time...

--------------------------------------

Which of these scales that Yngwie uses are you referring to? Minor, harmonic minor, melodic minor, pentatonic, chromatic, or the diminished scale? You hear occasional pentatonic phrases in Yngwie's playing, but his main guitar influences were Hendrix and Richie Blackmore so that is really not surprising. Yngwie also uses Phrygian mode a lot.

Yeah, Yngwie tends to stay away from major keys but that is what he like the sound of, nothing deeper than that. Malmsteen popularized the grand arpeggio sweep and the extensive use of harmonic minor. He also picks every note in some very long runs displaying amazing picking speed.

That's HIS style. Everything is always dark, hence the minor keys. He certainly deserves credit for bringing all these elements together.
Certainly the guitarist Al Dimeola was a real speed picker before Malmsteen and other guitar players had classical influences but Yngwie really brought all these things together.

These arguments have been going on for 10 years now. "That's not music. That's noise." Everyone brands someone else's music as noise.
You parents thought your music was noise and you'll think your kids music is noise.

"A Minor" has the same notes as "C Major", for example but in a different order. It really matters what chords are played underneath them that determines whether

A minor: a b c d e f g q
C major: c d e f g a b c

There's no deep reason why any one kind of
music might be superior, better, or even more popular than any other; other than the shifting sands of the desert known as time and where that desert lies. Eastern music sounds decidely not like music to most of us in the West and vice versa. What is popular in one generation is not in the next. How many of you have bought a Glen Miller album in the past year?

It's no surprise that we have different opinions about these things but once we get to "my music is better than your music because ..." it gets kinda comical.

"Friday Night in San Francisco"

-------------------

One of my favorites. Amazing.

Frank Zappa. Yes, it's easy to forget, given the monstrous size of his genius (and ego), that he was a killer guitarist.

Killer guitarist=Peter Frampton

Very true. Charlie Hunter, who is a mighty fine musician "technically", had a great comment about these kinds of discussions; "It's not a race, or an athletic competition. Music is a form of expression. Playing fast doesn't make you a great guitar player any more than typing fast makes you a great writer."

For my part, I don't think playing fast automatically makes you a "bad" player, either. I guess it comes down to what turns you on musically. The way I see it, it's all about what you like to hear, and from the perspective of the musician, it should be all about what they want to play. I don't personally dig what Yngwie does, but I sure respect his abilities, and the time he must have put in to develop them.

Did I miss Tony MacAlpine?

Bill Steer (CARCASS), song "Exhume To Consume" solo "Morbid Melody For The Deceased With Salt To Taste"

:1orglaugh

Michel,

Yup. Had MacAlpine in my list.

I forgot Greg Howe. If you like Satriani, check out Howe's first (instrumental) CD. Howe was part of the Shrapnel Records stable of shredders.

Don't like Greg much. And what's the name of Pantera's guitarplayer? He kicks ass too!