# Greatest Guitar Solo **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 4, 2000, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-guitar-solo/39752 "2000-11-04T23:56:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![mske](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ccd318/32.png) [@mske](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mske)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2000, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-guitar-solo/39752/1 "2000-11-04T23:56:41Z")
Since this is the place for polling… And there are polls for the best (and worst) band, I was wondering what the teeming millions thought was the best guitar solo in any song? My personal favourite is Pink Floyd’s David Gilmour in **Comfortably Numb**. Anyone else? ---
**Author:** ![absoul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bc8723/32.png) [@absoul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/absoul)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2000, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-guitar-solo/39752/2 "2000-11-05T00:25:20Z")
Still have to say– Jimmy Page, Heartbreaker solo. although Gilmour is awesome. ---
**Author:** ![Lexicon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ac8455/32.png) [@Lexicon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lexicon)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2000, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-guitar-solo/39752/3 "2000-11-05T00:47:59Z")
Anestesia-Pulling Teeth by Cliff Burton. Awesome. ---
**Author:** ![Ogre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ecb155/32.png) [@Ogre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ogre)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2000, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-guitar-solo/39752/4 "2000-11-05T01:50:15Z")
I assume you meant OTHER than one of my own. 🙂 My favorite has always been Robby Krieger’s solo in The Doors’ “Peace Frog.” ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2000, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-guitar-solo/39752/5 "2000-11-05T01:53:37Z")
Alvin Lee (Ten Years After), _Goin’ Home_. ---
**Author:** ![Lamar\_Mundane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lamar\_Mundane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamar_Mundane)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2000, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-guitar-solo/39752/6 "2000-11-05T02:06:49Z")
If you include Bass, it’s no contest. Schooldays - Stanley Jordan. If you haven’t heard it, you need to, now. ---
**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:** [November 5, 2000, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-guitar-solo/39752/7 "2000-11-05T02:09:44Z")
I like Gilmore’s solo starting “Sorrow”. The first time I heard “Don’t tell me what love can do” by Van Halen, I was in my Buick, and the solo always seemed to be hanging around my back seat. Amazing. or Joe Satriani’s “Flying in a Blue Dream”. _sigh_ ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2000, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-guitar-solo/39752/8 "2000-11-05T02:19:30Z")
[shocked dismay] But Gilmour’s a SHITTY guitarist! [/shocked dismay] ---
**Author:** ![DigitalMuse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecccb3/32.png) [@DigitalMuse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalMuse)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2000, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-guitar-solo/39752/9 "2000-11-05T02:22:46Z")
Jimmy Page- Kashmir Jimi Hendrix- Purple Haze ---
**Author:** ![nineiron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/e56c9b/32.png) [@nineiron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nineiron)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2000, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-guitar-solo/39752/10 "2000-11-05T02:23:06Z")
Eddie Van Halen’s “Eruption,” also known as the intro to “You Really Got Me.” It changed the history of rock guitar completely. ---
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2000, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-guitar-solo/39752/11 "2000-11-05T02:53:40Z")
**Randy Rhoads’** solo in _Crazy Train_ ---
**Author:** ![mske](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ccd318/32.png) [@mske](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mske)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2000, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-guitar-solo/39752/12 "2000-11-05T03:17:47Z")
> [@](#): > > Jimmy Page- Kashmir Big fan of Page on that song. Very musical - it **flowed** which is what a solo should do. > [@](#): > > [shocked dismay] > But Gilmour’s a SHITTY guitarist! > [/shocked dismay] Ummm… O.K…? ---
**Author:** ![toonerama](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecae2f/32.png) [@toonerama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/toonerama)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2000, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-guitar-solo/39752/13 "2000-11-05T03:28:28Z")
My favourite epic of guitar wankery is Steve Vai’s “For The Love Of God” from his Passion & Warfare album. The whole 7-minute track is a guitar solo. Such self-indulgence is probably inexcusable, but you gotta hear this man. He’s a monster player. And he’s got the proverbial air of mystery around him. The story goes that having been sick for a while, he didn’t play guitar for some months. But knowing what he wanted to do for this track, he hit the studio and did it in one take, to favour emotional immediacy over technical precision. And by his own words, his fingers were bleeding profusely by the end of the take. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2000, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-guitar-solo/39752/14 "2000-11-05T03:33:30Z")
Anything by Duane Allman. I like his work on Layla (that’s him outplaying Clapton). If I were to pick a particular song, I’d go with “Whipping Post.” But all of Allman’s work was amazing. Clapton does a terrific solo on “Further On Up the Road” on _The Last Waltz_. Best part is that he makes it look so easy. B.B. King – The Thrill is Gone Keith Richards in “Sympathy for the Devil.” ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2000, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-guitar-solo/39752/15 "2000-11-05T03:45:46Z")
I’m particularly fond of the one Jerry Garcia does in the live version of “Too Hard to Handle” (Hollywood, Calif, August 1971) that appears on FALLOUT FROM THE PHIL ZONE. Of course, the Pig Pen vocal and the drive of the band behind him help. Phil Lesh’s bass is nearly as important as what Jer’s up to. ---
**Author:** ![yojimbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yojimbo/32/232_2.png) [@yojimbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yojimbo)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2000, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-guitar-solo/39752/16 "2000-11-05T04:23:47Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Fear Itself \* > Alvin Lee (Ten Years After), _Goin’ Home_. When I saw the Woodstock movie this just blew me away. Add Richie Blackmore _Sweet Child in Time_ ---
**Author:** ![L714](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dec6dc/32.png) [@L714](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/L714)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2000, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-guitar-solo/39752/17 "2000-11-05T05:05:36Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by RealityChuck \* > \*\*Anything by Duane Allman. > \*\* Agreed, Duane was just awesome ---
**Author:** ![wastelands](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/5e9695/32.png) [@wastelands](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wastelands)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2000, 5:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-guitar-solo/39752/18 "2000-11-05T05:42:17Z")
When I first saw the subject, Eddie Van Halen’s “Eruption” sprang to mind. Another great one is Kirk Hammet’s in “The Struggle Within” ---
**Author:** ![techchick68](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ea5d25/32.png) [@techchick68](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/techchick68)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2000, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-guitar-solo/39752/19 "2000-11-05T05:43:04Z")
Not a solo per se, but Stevie Ray Vaughn’s song “Little Wing”. I love that song and can’t find that CD!!! ---
**Author:** ![techchick68](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ea5d25/32.png) [@techchick68](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/techchick68)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2000, 5:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-guitar-solo/39752/20 "2000-11-05T05:44:08Z")
er, I lost it and can’t find it… \< just woke up from a nap of sorts \> [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-guitar-solo/39752.md?page=2)