My Sharona is one of the all time greates kick-ass wonderful rock songs!
A serviceable garage band tune had one of the all-time great kick-ass guitar solos sat down in the middle of it. Nothing against the band (I really like Doug Fieger’s phrasing and wry humor), but SOMEONE had to have sold their soul for that one. I was young when it came out, and I was making the transition from sometimes having a radio on in the background to actively listening to it, and discovering I had favorite songs.
The first couple times I heard My Sharona, I thought it was boring and switched the channel fairly quickly. One time when I was out at Zayre’s (a now defunct department store) looking at stereos the song came on and I couldn’t turn it off. As a result, I finally heard the meat of it: that nearly 2 minute roller-coaster ride of awesome. I still remember standing amidst the cheap-ass all-in-one Emerson stereos, transfixed. That solo was a kick in the head to a young kid getting his musical bearings at the tail-end of the disco era.
Moving on, there’s something about Lindsay Buckingham’s work that drives me insane. It’s damn hard to pick something though - The Chain really gets me going, and his spare, subdued work in the live version of Silver Spring gives me chills. If I had to pick ONE Buckingham tune, I guess I’d go with I’m So Afraid, in particular the live version from The Dance (again). Just relentlessly builds and builds.
I don’t think anyone’s mentioned the Allman Bros Dreams. If I close my eyes during this three minute solo, I’m transported, just floating wherever the song takes me.
Compounding your problem was the fact that the single edit of “My Sharona,” which most Top 40 (CHR) radio stations played, faded out just as the solo was getting underway. So to hear the full song, you almost had to have bought the Get the Knack album.
I certainly concur that this solo stands up as one of the greats. So let’s get the name of the guy who played it out there: Berton Averre.
So many great examples in this thread!
Let me submit:
Lights by Journey (solo starts at 2:00)
Awake by Dream Theater (link starts at solo; 7:17)
Oh, almost forgot, [- YouTube]These Are The Days of Our Lives by Queen. Solo starts at 2:27, and continues under the vocals through the end of the song. I’d be hard pressed to find a Brian May solo I didn’t love, but I’ve got a soft spot for this song in particular.
It’s terribly hard to pick one, so I’ve created some award categories:
Flashin’: Van Halen “Hot for Teacher”
Jammin’: Dire Straits “Sultans of Swing”
Rockin’: Jethro Tull “Aqualung”
Drinkin’: Joe Walsh “Turn to Stone”
My favorite guitar solo. It’s a shame how many radio stations play the edited version. If you’ve never heard the full solo do yourself a favor and find it on youtube.
I never heard the JB album Truth! I just listened to the track you recommended and was struck by the tone. Really nice! Any idea what amp/guitar he was using back then? I had only heard his later stuff where he was getting kind of “fusion-y”.
I’m definitely a Mick Taylor fan. I have a John Mayall DVD he guests on. I know he was in the Bluesbreakers at one time, it was a reunion show for Mayall’s (65th?) birthday.
I’ll check out the Belgian Stones how when I get a chance.
hey - glad you like it. Beck was playing a Les Paul through a Fender Twin, I believe; not sure what fuzzboxes he was using, but I am sure there is one.
I think he used a Colorsound Tonebender and a Marshall SupaFuzz, but that is from an old messageboard post. Either way, a Les Paul through a Twin with a fuzz pedal driving it must’ve been louder than loud…
I’m surpassingly fond of Zappa’s work in Son of Orange County off Roxy and Elsewhere. Builds and builds, 8 bars at a time. I think Frank gets the most props in this thread.
Somewhere upthread Terry Kath was mentioned. Now that dude could giz out. 25 or 6 to 4 is magnificent work, love love LOVE the wah wah pedal. There is a live version of I’m a Man out there with Terry workin’ it. Just jawdropping in his speed and intensity.
Nitpick: The song is actually “Voices”, track #5 from their 1994 album Awake.
Totally. I blame that (and my bungled url tag in the following post) on operating on only three hours of sleep today. I’ve clearly only been half awake. Good thing I didn’t start hearing voices. 
Wow, I had no idea this version existed. Spectacular.
Scouting around YouTube, it turns out that Nels Cline (Wilco) does a decent Tom Verlaine invitation.
Not possible to find a favorite but I like nuanced rifts so I’m going with:
Stevie Ray Vaughan’s - “Chitlins Con Carne”
this is the kind of music that can’t be written down and duplicated.
I love that song but if we’re going to go for balls out Stevie Ray, I like “Texas Flood” for that. The whole song is practically a solo…and a really good one, too.
I always imagine a thunderstorm. I guess probably partly due to the Love Over Gold album cover.
It’s hard to pick one, but I’d have to say the live version of Sultans of Swing on Dire Straits’ Alchemy. I guess there are a couple of solos in that song, but I’m talking about the one that builds and builds and builds to a furious conclusion at the end of the song. In fact, the one thing I don’t like about that song is how they ended it, they should have just stopped abruptly with a crash at the end of the solo, and shut out the lights. That would have been so awesome. Instead they do that “dunh-dunh-dunh, noodle noodle noodle” thing and drag out the ending.
The extended guitar solo in Tommy James and the Shondells’ “Crimson and Clover” is so amazing and just keeps going up a notch–climaxing in fantastic electric psychedelia. There are probably two or more guitars, so maybe not technically a “solo,” but I don’t pretend to be any kind of musicologist. This is another example of a version that is NEVER played on the radio, and so I didn’t know it existed until at least 30 years after first hearing the song.
Not sure if this is common knowledge, but Chitlins is a cover - the original is by Kenny Burrell, a favorite jazz player of mine, who has a distinctly bluesy approach that SRV clearly liked, too.
Here Kenny’s: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mP0flneNfaQ
That whole album, Midnight Blue, is wonderful.