# Earliest solos in pop songs? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** music\ **Created:** [March 1, 2023, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earliest-solos-in-pop-songs/980543 "2023-03-01T14:35:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Orville\_mogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/aeb1de/32.png) [@Orville\_mogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Orville_mogul)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2023, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earliest-solos-in-pop-songs/980543/1 "2023-03-01T14:35:12Z")
My daughters recently introduced me to Shut Up and Dance with Me by Walk the Moon. Great song. I thought it was a new song but see it is from 2014. That’s new for me 😊 Anyway, one of the things that I like about it is the synthesizer solo in the middle of the song. I grew up listening to prog and hard rock, and a guitar or keyboard solo was in almost every song. But songs very seldom have solos these days, so Shut Up really struck me. It got me wondering, what would be the first pop/rock song with a guitar or keyboard solo? You can define solo as you like, but I am thinking of a segment of the song with a clear lead by one instrument that could stand alone as a (short) piece of music. And they generally display some degree of technical skill. It should be more than a few chords as a bridge between verses. One song that sticks in my memory is the Animals’ version of House of the Rising Sun with its iconic Hammond solo. My understanding is that solo was possibly the first time that a keyboard was showcased in a pop song rather than just being part of the musical tapestry. That was 1964, but I am sure there are earlier examples of instrumental solos in pop songs. Actually, I just thought of Ben E King’s Stand by Me as another possibility. That was 1961, but I don’t know whether it can be considered a pop song as it is more likely R&B. And the solo in question is strings rather than guitar or keyboard…. ---
**Author:** ![Toxylon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f05b48/32.png) [@Toxylon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Toxylon)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2023, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earliest-solos-in-pop-songs/980543/2 "2023-03-01T14:44:33Z")
Off the top of my head, Del Shannon’s Runaway (1961) has the famous Musitron solo. But I feel certain there are earlier examples. ---
**Author:** ![MrAtoz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MrAtoz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrAtoz)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2023, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earliest-solos-in-pop-songs/980543/3 "2023-03-01T14:50:58Z")
“Rock Around the Clock,” from 1955, the first rock and roll record to hit number one, has both a guitar solo and a sax solo. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2023, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earliest-solos-in-pop-songs/980543/4 "2023-03-01T14:51:39Z")
The first Rock and Roll guitar solos were mimicking Swing and R&B saxophone solos and have been around since the birth of the genre. The first electric guitar solo is pretty well documented. Here it is from 1940. [Ernest Tubb - Walking The Floor Over You - YouTube](https://youtube.com/watch?v=A-0KHkf5V98&feature=share) ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2023, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earliest-solos-in-pop-songs/980543/5 "2023-03-01T15:28:45Z")
> [@Orville\_mogul](#): > > Actually, I just thought of Ben E King’s Stand by Me as another possibility. That was 1961, but I don’t know whether it can be considered a pop song as it is more likely R&B. And the solo in question is strings rather than guitar or keyboard…. This is going to get into the question of what you consider a “pop” song. To me, Stand By Me is absolutely a pop song. It has pop structure; pop subject matter with an easy-to-follow melody; it has a classic four-chord pop progression; it’s a top 10 hit, meant for a mass audience. It’s not like the “serious” music of classical or jazz at the time. (I do NOT agree with that sort of dichotomy, but for gatekeepers, especially of the time, it would be seen as “non-art” music. Hell, even jazz for some at the time would be as well.) For me, at least, pop songs can be Motown, R&B, rock, disco, dance, etc. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2023, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earliest-solos-in-pop-songs/980543/6 "2023-03-01T15:40:25Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > This is going to get into the question of what you consider a “pop” song. Back then, Pop was code for what white people listened to on white radio. R&B was code for black music or “race music”. By 1961, fewer listeners and performers restricted themselves to those boxes, yet for whatever stupid reason, the terms persist. So “Stand by Me” (written by two Jewish guys) is both Pop and R&B (Soul) charting at #4 on the Pop charts and #1 on the R&B charts. ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2023, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earliest-solos-in-pop-songs/980543/7 "2023-03-01T19:36:12Z")
> [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#): > > The first electric guitar solo is pretty well documented. Here it is from 1940. > [Ernest Tubb - Walking The Floor Over You - YouTube](https://youtube.com/watch?v=A-0KHkf5V98&feature=share) That’s pretty firmly in the ‘country’ camp - not pop. ETA: I used go see ET at Gilley’s - Pre- Urban Cowboy! ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2023, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earliest-solos-in-pop-songs/980543/8 "2023-03-01T19:48:29Z")
ETA: Deleting my post 'cause I was talking out my ass. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2023, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earliest-solos-in-pop-songs/980543/9 "2023-03-01T19:56:26Z")
The big band misic of the 30’s and 40’s was ‘pop music’ of the time, and it was full of solos. Songs like In the Mood, A String of Pearls, etc. Solos were a big deal, including drum solos. Some songs were little more than frameworks for a whole bunch of solos. I’m going to guess that solos in pop music go back to the very beginning of whatever we define as pop music. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2023, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earliest-solos-in-pop-songs/980543/10 "2023-03-01T19:57:25Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > This is going to get into the question of what you consider a “pop” song. The thread title says “pop songs,” but the OP asks > [@Orville\_mogul](#): > > what would be the first pop/rock song with a guitar or keyboard solo? So this also gets into the question of how much of a distinction you draw between “pop” and “pop/rock.” Then we could ask, “What are the earliest pop (or pop/rock) songs?” and then “Do any of them have solos?” ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2023, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earliest-solos-in-pop-songs/980543/11 "2023-03-01T20:06:58Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > So this also gets into the question of how much of a distinction you draw between “pop” and “pop/rock.” For the purposes of this thread, maybe we should define “Pop Music”. Although the ‘pop’ in pop music came from the word ‘popular’, pop music now is its own genre. Pop, as a form, originated in the mid '50s. Other music styles, just because they were ‘popular’ shouldn’t technically apply. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2023, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earliest-solos-in-pop-songs/980543/12 "2023-03-01T20:08:51Z")
> [@Sam\_Stone](#): > > The big band misic of the 30’s and 40’s was ‘pop music’ of the time, and it was full of solos. Songs like In the Mood, A String of Pearls, etc. Solos were a big deal, including drum solos. Some songs were little more than frameworks for a whole bunch of solos. > > I’m going to guess that solos in pop music go back to the very beginning of whatever we define as pop music. I agree. You can find solo sections in classical music. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2023, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earliest-solos-in-pop-songs/980543/13 "2023-03-01T20:12:31Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > Then we could ask, “What are the earliest pop (or pop/rock) songs?” and then “Do any of them have solos?” That’s easy. The first Rock and Roll song to hit the Pop charts was … > [@MrAtoz](#): > > “Rock Around the Clock,” from 1955, the first rock and roll record to hit number one, has both a guitar solo and a sax solo. Even without the boost it got from the film, it hit the Pop top 40 a year earlier (1954). It might not be the first Rock and Roll record, but it was the first significant “white” record of the genre and “white” is what defined the Pop category back then. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2023, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earliest-solos-in-pop-songs/980543/14 "2023-03-01T20:19:54Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > I agree. You can find solo sections in classical music. The cadenza, right? ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2023, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earliest-solos-in-pop-songs/980543/15 "2023-03-01T20:24:40Z")
> [@Lucas\_Jackson](#): > > Pop, as a form, originated in the mid '50s. Then, to answer the OP, you kind of have to identify what the first Pop song (as a form) was. Because that song almost certainly had a solo. I think the answer we are looking for is, :There have _always_ been solos in Pop songs. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2023, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earliest-solos-in-pop-songs/980543/16 "2023-03-02T14:11:24Z")
Scotty Moore plays two awesome solos on Elvis’s _Good Rocking Tonight_ recorded in 1954. After that hundreds more. [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/6FeWJHUB8aU/hqdefault.jpg "Elvis Presley - Good Rockin Tonight (1954)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6FeWJHUB8aU) ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2023, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earliest-solos-in-pop-songs/980543/17 "2023-03-02T14:54:29Z")
Benny Goodman did clarinet solos, and Glenn Miller did trombone solos, in the 1930s. > [@Sam\_Stone](#): > > I’m going to guess that solos in pop music go back to the very beginning of whatever we define as pop music. > [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > I agree. You can find solo sections in classical music. ---
**Author:** ![fordgt100](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@fordgt100](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fordgt100)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2023, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earliest-solos-in-pop-songs/980543/18 "2023-03-03T20:24:02Z")
Peggy Lee was 15 or 16 and still in high school when she had a Saturday radio show. Pretty much everything she sang was a hit because Peggy Lee was singing it. Michael Jackson was 10 years old when the Jackson 5 sang “I Want You Back”. Dylan recorded his first album at 20, he was an old man going by the ages of the previous two. The oldest of The Dixie Cups was 20 when they recorded their big hit “The Chapel of Love”. In 1967 Janis Joplin was 24 years old when she took the world by storm at The Monterey Pop Festival. Three years later she was dead. Jimmy Hendrix left us not long after. Jimmy Hendrix was 24 years old in 1966 when he had several top hits in the UK. Four years later he was dead. The winner? Little Stevie Wonder was 13 years old when he had a #1 hit called “Fingertips Pt 2”. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2023, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earliest-solos-in-pop-songs/980543/19 "2023-03-03T20:29:27Z")
Is this meant for another thread? I don’t see a connection to the topic. ---
**Author:** ![Orville\_mogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/aeb1de/32.png) [@Orville\_mogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Orville_mogul)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2023, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earliest-solos-in-pop-songs/980543/20 "2023-03-03T20:58:58Z")
I was confused as well! [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earliest-solos-in-pop-songs/980543.md?page=2)