# Best solos by someone not in the group **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 21, 2018, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-solos-by-someone-not-in-the-group/816494 "2018-06-21T05:22:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2018, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-solos-by-someone-not-in-the-group/816494/21 "2018-06-21T18:14:11Z")
George Martin’s piano solo in the Beatles In My Life. It absolutely makes the song a classic along with Lennon’s excellent lyrics. ---
**Author:** ![Aji\_de\_Gallina](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aji_de_gallina/32/260_2.png) [@Aji\_de\_Gallina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aji_de_Gallina)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2018, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-solos-by-someone-not-in-the-group/816494/22 "2018-06-21T18:17:10Z")
Tony Peluso’s fuzz guitar on Carpenter’s Goodbye to love ---
**Author:** ![Dallas\_Jones](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dallas_jones/32/3277_2.png) [@Dallas\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dallas_Jones)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2018, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-solos-by-someone-not-in-the-group/816494/23 "2018-06-21T18:21:04Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > Al Kooper’s organ on Dylan’s “Like a Rolling Stone.” Dylan was not using an actual band, but Kooper was only in the studio to observe. He managed to sneak in and sit at the organ and made up his part as he went along. Al Kooper is an amazing music producer. In case you have not heard it, pick up a copy of _Super Session_, Al Kooper, Steven Stills, and Mike Bloomfield One of my favorites. > **[Super Session](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super_Session)** > > Super Session is an album by singer and multi-instrumentalist Al Kooper, with guitarists Mike Bloomfield on the first half and Stephen Stills on the second half. Released by Columbia Records in 1968, it peaked at No. 12 on the Billboard 200 during a 37-week chart stay and was certified gold by RIAA. > Al Kooper and Mike Bloomfield had worked together on the sessions for Bob Dylan's ground-breaking classic Highway 61 Revisited, and played in the backing band for his controversial performance with e... ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2018, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-solos-by-someone-not-in-the-group/816494/24 "2018-06-21T18:23:07Z")
Clare Torry’s vocals on Pink Floyd’s _The Great Gig in the Sky_ ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim_r.mortiss/32/142_2.png) [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_R.Mortiss)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2018, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-solos-by-someone-not-in-the-group/816494/25 "2018-06-21T18:58:00Z")
Toots Thielemans’ haunting harmonica solo in Billy Joel’s “Leave a Tender Moment Alone” can give you chills. Likewise, Sugar Blue’s harmonica work on the Rolling Stones’ “Miss You.” ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2018, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-solos-by-someone-not-in-the-group/816494/26 "2018-06-21T19:29:12Z")
> [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](#): > > Toots Thielemans’ haunting harmonica solo in Billy Joel’s “Leave a Tender Moment Alone” can give you chills. Likewise, Sugar Blue’s harmonica work on the Rolling Stones’ “Miss You.” Love these. Also, props for the Junior Walker nod, **ChockFull**. … Another one: Chaka Khan driving the bus home during the vocal bridge in Steve Winwood’s “Higher Love”. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2018, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-solos-by-someone-not-in-the-group/816494/27 "2018-06-21T19:31:01Z")
> [@Doug\_K](#): > > Donovan on “Billion Dollar Babies.” Speaking of Donvan, Jeff Beck’s opening riff on Barabajagal makes the song for me. (Donovan used the whole Jeff Beck Group to back him on the song, so I guess you could say _ **he** _ was the guest vocalist) > [@bordelond](#): > > David Gilmour’s two guest solos on Paul McCartney’s “[No More Lonely Nights](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uyrrzJTbB5o)” Dave also did a fine job on Pete Townshend’s [Give Blood](https://youtu.be/LeXf90OGTHE?t=5s). ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2018, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-solos-by-someone-not-in-the-group/816494/28 "2018-06-22T00:24:11Z")
> [@Quercus](#): > > Maybe Honorable Mention to Duane Allman on the _Layla_ album, I think. Even if there’s no single ‘solo’ of his to point to. Ahem- **Key To The Highway** ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2018, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-solos-by-someone-not-in-the-group/816494/29 "2018-06-22T01:13:31Z")
Stevie Ray Vaughan on David Bowie’s “Let’s Dance” is pretty sweet. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2018, 12:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-solos-by-someone-not-in-the-group/816494/30 "2018-06-22T12:18:41Z")
> [@JKellyMap](#): > > Stevie Ray Vaughan on David Bowie’s “Let’s Dance” is pretty sweet. And on [“First We Take Manhattan”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W0rZ2CPCYBQ) (Jennifer Warnes did a whole album of Leonard Cohen). SRV’s guitar gives it a raw edge. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2018, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-solos-by-someone-not-in-the-group/816494/31 "2018-06-22T13:47:29Z")
> [@Quercus](#): > > Maybe Honorable Mention to Duane Allman on the _Layla_ album, I think. Even if there’s no single ‘solo’ of his to point to. Layla was recorded by Derek and the Dominoes, of which Allman was definitely a member. ---
**Author:** ![P-man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/p-man/32/3606_2.png) [@P-man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/P-man)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2018, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-solos-by-someone-not-in-the-group/816494/32 "2018-06-22T14:56:43Z")
Frank Zappa on Grand Funk Railroad’s “Out to Get You.” Frank produced the album, which I always saw as an odd pairing. ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2018, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-solos-by-someone-not-in-the-group/816494/33 "2018-06-22T15:51:55Z")
> [@JKellyMap](#): > > Stevie Ray Vaughan on David Bowie’s “Let’s Dance” is pretty sweet. Agreed. I did always think, though, that Vaughan was well underutilized on that album. I understand that Bowie probably wanted Vaughan for “flavor” more than anything else, and that SRV wasn’t yet a legend, but still. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2018, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-solos-by-someone-not-in-the-group/816494/34 "2018-06-22T23:56:04Z")
My example is kinda obscure, but it’s one of my favorite outtakes ever to be released much later. It’s the Who’s [Love Ain’t For Keeping](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CN5JsTxA9_M) with Leslie West on guitar, with an extended killer guitar coda from Leslie. I think it was first released in the late 90’s on the reissued and extended _Odds And Sods_ rarities sampler. I’ve always thought if one guitarist can kill any track all by himself, it’s Pete, but this shows that even the Who could use a sidekick now and then. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2018, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-solos-by-someone-not-in-the-group/816494/35 "2018-06-23T00:58:02Z")
> [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > My example is kinda obscure, but it’s one of my favorite outtakes ever to be released much later. It’s the Who’s [Love Ain’t For Keeping](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CN5JsTxA9_M) with Leslie West on guitar… West guest-starred on another track from that session, an incendiary cover of [Baby Don’t You Do It](https://youtu.be/YbnbBavZy-M). ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2018, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-solos-by-someone-not-in-the-group/816494/36 "2018-06-23T01:08:40Z")
> [@blondebear](#): > > West guest-starred on another track from that session, an incendiary cover of [Baby Don’t You Do It](https://youtu.be/YbnbBavZy-M). Yeah, I saw the link to it when searching for “Love Ain’t for Keeping” as well as a version of “Won’t Get Fooled Again”. I just read Pete’s autobiography and remember from it that they recorded much for the album that became “Who’s Next” in New York with the help of West, only to dismiss these recordings later and rerecord them in London. But anyway, didn’t they record “Baby Don’t You Do It” on EVERY session from about 1965 to 1972 :D? ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2018, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-solos-by-someone-not-in-the-group/816494/37 "2018-06-23T18:16:30Z")
Joe Walsh on Michael Stanley Band’s “Rosewood Bitters”. ---
**Author:** ![Club\_33](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df705f/32.png) [@Club\_33](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Club_33)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2018, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-solos-by-someone-not-in-the-group/816494/38 "2018-06-23T19:54:16Z")
Tom Scott’s first take sax solo on Wings “Listen to What the Man Said.” He had just arrived and was warming up, but they were rolling tape. He told them he was ready to start, and they replied “I think we’re done.” The sax makes that whole tune. ---
**Author:** ![LLCoolL](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/llcooll/32/3596_2.png) [@LLCoolL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LLCoolL)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2018, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-solos-by-someone-not-in-the-group/816494/39 "2018-06-23T20:33:55Z")
Junior Walker’s sax solo on “Urgent” by Foreigner. Apologies if someone already mentioned it. Edit: ChockFullofHeadyGoodness beat me to it. Darnit… ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2018, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-solos-by-someone-not-in-the-group/816494/40 "2018-06-23T20:55:51Z")
John Popper on Dave Matthews Band What Would you Say. One of my favorite songs by Triumph is not that well known. Headed for Nowhere has a guest shot where Steve Morse trades lead lines with Rik Emmett. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/20KHrPs5Uiw/maxresdefault.jpg "Headed For Nowhere - Triumph") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=20KHrPs5Uiw) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-solos-by-someone-not-in-the-group/816494.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-solos-by-someone-not-in-the-group/816494.md?page=3)