# Favorite Guitar Riff/Solo **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 4, 2001, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-guitar-riff-solo/74912 "2001-08-04T17:37:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![woodstockbirdybird](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/woodstockbirdybird/32/7905_2.png) [@woodstockbirdybird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/woodstockbirdybird)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2001, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-guitar-riff-solo/74912/41 "2001-08-07T05:02:21Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Snooooopy \* > \*\*Oh, and Peter Buck creates some majesty with a few notes on R.E.M.'s “Flowers Of Guatemala.” \*\* Dammit, **Snooooop** , I was seriously gonna post that, figuring no one else would possibly have picked it. Great minds… Let’s see, guitar solos: _Flip Your Wig_ and _Celebrated Summer_ by **Husker Du** _Complete Control_ by **The Clash** _Birth, School, Work, Death_ by **The Godfathers** Riffs: _Safe European Home_, **The Clash** _Nowhere Is My Home_, **The Replacements** _All My Loving_ and _Ticket To Ride_, **The Beatles** _Louie Louie_, **The Kingsmen** _Pinball Wizard_, **The Who** _You Really Got Me_, **The Kinks** _Sitting Still_, **R.E.M.** _Blitzkrieg Bop_, **The Ramones** _Walking On Sunshine_, **Katrina & The Waves** _We’re Not Deep_, **The Housemartins** _Holidays In The Sun_, **The Sex Pistols** _I Walk The Line_, **Johnny Cash** _Kiss_, **Prince** ---
**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:** [August 7, 2001, 9:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-guitar-riff-solo/74912/42 "2001-08-07T09:19:40Z")
I really did the opening riff of Van Morrison’s ‘ **Baby please don’t go** ’. ---
**Author:** ![pldennison](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/9fc29f/32.png) [@pldennison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pldennison)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2001, 12:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-guitar-riff-solo/74912/43 "2001-08-07T12:23:18Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by bup \* > \*\*“F Hole” by Squeeze has some amazing stuff. Glenn Tilbrook has a _lot_ of amazing guitar work that doesn’t call attention to itself - I guess it’s just not mixed high, or something. > \*\* Ooh, yeah, Glenn Tillbrook has got serious chops. His solos on “Another Nail In My Heart” and “Black Coffee In Bed” are nothing short of astounding. They sound more like bebop solos than rock solos. ---
**Author:** ![Labdad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/439d5e/32.png) [@Labdad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labdad)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2001, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-guitar-riff-solo/74912/44 "2001-08-07T13:07:58Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by SteveinSpain \* > **Another one for Mick Ronson. I like his playing on the live version of Sympathy for the Devil (from the Rolling Stones -“Get you Ya Ya out” disk.** Hmmm - I don’t see a smilie there, so I’ve got to point out that as much as I love Mick Ronson, he never was a Rolling Stone. That was Mick Taylor, and his guitar work on “Get Yer Ya Ya’s Out” was indeed brilliant. Another favorite is Peter Green’s work on the old Fleetwood Mac classic “Oh Well.” ---
**Author:** ![chief](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df788c/32.png) [@chief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chief)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2001, 6:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-guitar-riff-solo/74912/45 "2001-08-08T06:23:48Z")
i believe i did mention Mr. Brownstone… how could that not be mentioned!! 🙂 > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by socialxray \* > \*\*\*\*hardygrrl \*\*said: > > > [@](#): > > > > Bring the Noise by Anthrax,especially the version they did with Public Enemy. > > Eep. > > Hate to interject, but “Bring the Noise” is by Public Enemy, not vice versa. The original can be found on their stellar 1988 album, _It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back_. > > And all this talk about G’n’R and I can’t _believe_ no one has mentioned “Mr. Brownstone.” That song rules on a plane that has been untouched by man since. 😛 The riff is so killer. \*\* ---
**Author:** ![Godfrey\_Daniels](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Godfrey\_Daniels](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Godfrey_Daniels)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2001, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-guitar-riff-solo/74912/46 "2001-08-08T16:31:20Z")
“Between Twilight and Dawn” John Jorgenson, the Hellecasters. ---
**Author:** ![Fibonacci](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/df788c/32.png) [@Fibonacci](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fibonacci)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2001, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-guitar-riff-solo/74912/47 "2001-08-08T17:29:48Z")
Too many to even begin to list. But my all time favorite chord in a rock solo has to be at the end of the solo in The Stones’ Sympathy For The Devil where it sounds like Keith punches his guitar in the gut and knocks the wind out of it. ---
**Author:** ![Fibonacci](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/df788c/32.png) [@Fibonacci](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fibonacci)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2001, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-guitar-riff-solo/74912/48 "2001-08-08T17:33:27Z")
Then again, there’s what has to be the worst guitar solo (intentional) ever, on the Bonzo Dog Band’s “Canyons Of Your Mind.” ---
**Author:** ![Legomancer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/779978/32.png) [@Legomancer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Legomancer)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2001, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-guitar-riff-solo/74912/49 "2001-08-08T17:35:07Z")
I don’t know much about guitars but I know that I get a funny feeling in my tummy at the end of “Wuthering Heights” by Kate Bush. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Zero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c4cdca/32.png) [@Saint\_Zero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Zero)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2001, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-guitar-riff-solo/74912/50 "2001-08-08T18:18:53Z")
If I have to mention a Pink Floyd song, I’ll nominate _Sorrow_, rather than the overplayed “(un)Comfortably Numb”. But since I’ve recovered from liking them, I’ll vote for John Petrucci _Caught in a Web_ or Yngwie’s _Voodoo_. ---
**Author:** ![horhay\_achoa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ccd318/32.png) [@horhay\_achoa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/horhay_achoa)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2001, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-guitar-riff-solo/74912/51 "2001-08-08T18:51:42Z")
“Twice as Hard” by the Black Crowes “Burn to Shine” by Ben Harper “Jessica” by the Allman Brothers “Uncle John’s Band” by the Greatful Dead “Pride and Joy” by Stevie Ray Vaughn Any song off of Hendrix’s BAND OF GYPSIES ---
**Author:** ![horhay\_achoa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ccd318/32.png) [@horhay\_achoa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/horhay_achoa)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2001, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-guitar-riff-solo/74912/52 "2001-08-08T19:00:14Z")
“Twice as Hard” by the Black Crowes “Burn to Shine” by Ben Harper “Jessica” by the Allman Brothers “Uncle John’s Band” by the Greatful Dead “Pride and Joy” by Stevie Ray Vaughn Any song off of Hendrix’s BAND OF GYPSIES ---
**Author:** ![Dijon\_Warlock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a9a28c/32.png) [@Dijon\_Warlock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dijon_Warlock)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2001, 9:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-guitar-riff-solo/74912/53 "2001-08-09T09:30:39Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Venkman \* > **"Funk #49", Joe Walsh/James Gang. I’ve always dug that.** I’ll go you one better than that: the original uncut version of “The Bomber” from The James Gang Rides Again. Walsh goes into a slide rendition of Maurice Ravel’s “Bolero”, which was cut out of all the reissues of that track (rumor is at the insistence of Ravel’s family for copyright reasons). It was only finally re-released on Walsh’s retrospective collection called Look What I Did. Now THAT was a gem of a solo. ---
**Author:** ![rackensack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e5b9ba/32.png) [@rackensack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rackensack)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2001, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-guitar-riff-solo/74912/54 "2001-08-09T16:11:21Z")
Damn kids. 50+ posts and the name “Link Wray” has yet to be mentioned. Where’s my antelope skin – I’ve got a cave to crawl back into. ---
**Author:** ![okielady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/fbc32d/32.png) [@okielady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/okielady)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2001, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-guitar-riff-solo/74912/55 "2001-08-09T16:26:42Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by ModernRonin2 \* > \*\* > I’m just learning guitar, and I’ve found Nirvana’s > main riff for “Come as you are” to be easy as hell to learn, and fun to play. After a few quick scales to warm up, I play it a couple times just because I enjoy the way it sounds. > > I’m trying to teach myself the opening riff from Metallica’s “Search and Destroy”, which just sounds cool. But it’s harder than you might think. > \*\* I’m just learning how to play guitar (see you CAN teach an old dog new tricks - LOL) I can’t wait until I can actually play a song. My best friend can play Seek and Destroy all the way through. I envy him. It sounds awesome. That’s my goal. I heard him play it so often that I knew the guitar parts by heart (in my head - not playing them myself) before I even knew the name of the song. If I can play that song one of these days, I’ll be MORE than satisfied. As far as favorites - Seek and Destroy is definitely one of mine. The rest are too numerous to mention. I’m just a rock/metal freak. ---
**Author:** ![Tygr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/df788c/32.png) [@Tygr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tygr)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2001, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-guitar-riff-solo/74912/56 "2001-08-09T18:07:03Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Grok \* > **Cliffs of Dover** , by Eric Johnson. Abso-damn-lutely. The opening tear from the drums into the guitar on Dire Straits’ _Money for Nothing_. Jimi’s solo in _Watchtower_. Ditto **Sealemon88** for most of Stevie Ray The riffs from _Crazy Train_ …but how very odd it is that no-one has yet mentioned _Freebird_. Believe me, I’m not - I hate that dam’ song. Just that I know there’s a FEW Southerners on the SDMB and I thought most everybody below Maryland worshipped Skynnrd. ;)😃 ---
**Author:** ![musicguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ba0ec/32.png) [@musicguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/musicguy)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2001, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-guitar-riff-solo/74912/57 "2001-08-09T18:12:29Z")
Ok, are we talking riffs or solos? Very different beasts. Oh well, I’ll list a few of each that have moved me in one way or another. Riffs- Day Tripper (Beatles) Mean Streets (Van Halen) The Wonton Song (Led Zeppelin) Ticket to Ride (Beatles) Barracuda (Heart) Solos Sultans Of Swing - (Dire Straits) Yo Mamma (Frank Zappa) Since I’ve been lovin you (Led Zep) Owner of a Lonely Heart (Yes) Custard Pie (Led Zeppelin) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-guitar-riff-solo/74912.md?page=2)