# New candidate for worst solo ever on any instrument **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 27, 2019, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-candidate-for-worst-solo-ever-on-any-instrument/840911 "2019-09-27T14:25:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2019, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-candidate-for-worst-solo-ever-on-any-instrument/840911/21 "2019-09-27T23:30:21Z")
^ I forget which show I saw them on, but the Dr. reached over and pulled the cord out of the guitar. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2019, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-candidate-for-worst-solo-ever-on-any-instrument/840911/22 "2019-09-28T00:27:21Z")
[My Pal Foot Foot](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XR9d4ESlpHY) Mic drop. Drumstick drop. Guitar drop. Jaw drop. Kent Clark, out. ---
**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:** [September 28, 2019, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-candidate-for-worst-solo-ever-on-any-instrument/840911/23 "2019-09-28T00:54:12Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Great band! (I assume you know related acts like The Fastbacks and maybe Flop as well?) > > But what part is the guitar solo? It sounds like a pretty straight (but electrified) cover of the Kinks version. They also have that ascending major scale hook. It doesn’t sound to me like any irony was involved, but rather quoting the original source material. Ah, shit. It wasn’t “Picture Book,” but another song on the same album. I have to go listen to the whole thing again to get the cite right. I’m impressed that you know the **Young Fresh Fellows.** WhenI referenced them before here, people only knew about them from a nod on a **They Might Be Giants** song. ---
**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:** [September 28, 2019, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-candidate-for-worst-solo-ever-on-any-instrument/840911/24 "2019-09-28T01:26:30Z")
> [@Ukulele\_Ike](#): > > Ah, shit. It wasn’t “Picture Book,” but another song on the same album. I have to go listen to the whole thing again to get the cite right. > > I’m impressed that you know the **Young Fresh Fellows.** WhenI referenced them before here, people only knew about them from a nod on a **They Might Be Giants** song. One of my very good friends was in that whole music scene with YFF, the Fastbacks, Pure Joy, Flop, etc., back in the late 80s/early 90s. (I didn’t meet him until the late 90s, though.) So that’s kind of how I got introduced to them. ---
**Author:** ![Flare4roach](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/7cd45c/32.png) [@Flare4roach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flare4roach)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2019, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-candidate-for-worst-solo-ever-on-any-instrument/840911/25 "2019-09-28T20:12:45Z")
> [@Cheesesteak](#): > > I’ve always despised the guitar solo in Rush’s [Lakeside Park.](https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwjAtOOS2vHkAhUPpFkKHTmgCdQQyCkwAHoECAkQBQ&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3Dtgeg-xadx9s&usg=AOvVaw3DdDyjkkPdMob9xTefk-Rp) You despise this solo? I clicked the link to hear it since it’s been about 40 years since I can recall listening to this song. It sounds perfectly serviceable to me. I was expecting something dreadful. Hmmmm. ---
**Author:** ![RioRico](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f04885/32.png) [@RioRico](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RioRico)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2019, 7:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-candidate-for-worst-solo-ever-on-any-instrument/840911/26 "2019-09-30T07:29:23Z")
> [@Kent\_Clark](#): > > [My Pal Foot Foot](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XR9d4ESlpHY) > > Mic drop. > > Drumstick drop. > > Guitar drop. > > Jaw drop. Kent Clark, out. I was going to volunteer my own efforts but I can’t outdo this. ---
**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:** [September 30, 2019, 10:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-candidate-for-worst-solo-ever-on-any-instrument/840911/27 "2019-09-30T10:28:34Z")
Interesting how there’s already a disagreement about a Rush solo. I came to the thread to suggest their song “Limelight.” Great song, great guitar work throughout, but Alex Lifeson’s solo just stops the momentum. That’s not always a bad thing, but for me, it’s really bad in this case (the solo gets better towards its end). My favorite YouTuber, Rick Beato, thinks it’s a great solo — a rare example of our tastes diverging. A similar example is the Jimmy Page solo in Led Zeppelin’s “In the Evening.” A rare error by one of the great guitar solo composers of all time. ---
**Author:** ![Cheesesteak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheesesteak/32/3694_2.png) [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2019, 10:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-candidate-for-worst-solo-ever-on-any-instrument/840911/28 "2019-09-30T10:42:40Z")
> [@Flare4roach](#): > > You despise this solo? I clicked the link to hear it since it’s been about 40 years since I can recall listening to this song. It sounds perfectly serviceable to me. I was expecting something dreadful. Hmmmm. It could just be me, but it sounds like he’s not playing it right. As though he has a vision of a guitar solo but can’t make his fingers do it. I’m confident Alex is in fact playing it correctly, but the way it’s written, the pace and transition between notes makes it sound like someone trying to learn a solo. And now the damnable thing is stuck in my head. ---
**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:** [September 30, 2019, 10:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-candidate-for-worst-solo-ever-on-any-instrument/840911/29 "2019-09-30T10:53:24Z")
Lilian Roxon, in the _Rock Encyclopedia_, described Neil Young’s guitar solo in “Down by the River” as like a “full-grown yak choking on a bone.” ---
**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:** [September 30, 2019, 11:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-candidate-for-worst-solo-ever-on-any-instrument/840911/30 "2019-09-30T11:06:05Z")
Kent Clark, the Shaggs — fascinating! A bit Captain Beefheart, a bit Velvet Underground, not as musically competent as these contemporaries, but haunting and prescient — paving the way for Sonic Youth and so much more, decades later. I also dug Icarus’ characterization of Miles Davis’ style. Zen cool. ---
**Author:** ![Two\_Many\_Cats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8dc957/32.png) [@Two\_Many\_Cats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_Many_Cats)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2019, 11:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-candidate-for-worst-solo-ever-on-any-instrument/840911/31 "2019-09-30T11:22:52Z")
> [@JKellyMap](#): > > Lilian Roxon, in the _Rock Encyclopedia_, described Neil Young’s guitar solo in “Down by the River” as like a “full-grown yak choking on a bone.” How could a herbivorous yak be choking on a bone? ---
**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:** [September 30, 2019, 11:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-candidate-for-worst-solo-ever-on-any-instrument/840911/32 "2019-09-30T11:30:22Z")
> [@Two\_Many\_Cats](#): > > How could a herbivorous yak be choking on a bone? Heh! Roxon suffered from asthma, and died from it in 1973 — maybe “asthmatic yak” (band name!) would have hit too close to home. ---
**Author:** ![Sparky812](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eb9ed0/32.png) [@Sparky812](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sparky812)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2019, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-candidate-for-worst-solo-ever-on-any-instrument/840911/33 "2019-09-30T14:09:46Z")
> [@BrickBat](#): > > It’s pretty weak as solos go, but then I’d say one of the thinnest books around would be a list of Ramones songs that even have guitar solos. Just wasn’t a part of their sound. Sometimes, especially on their later stuff, you might hear a few bars that sound like might break into a solo, but they’re just little fills between parts of a song. > [@pulykamell](#): > > Yeah, much of punk is very much anti guitar solo. That particular “solo” is either just poking fun at the whole guitar solo culture or just a cool sounding instrumental interlude. Yes and no. I’ve played guitar for 40 years, and I studied Johnny’s style. He was almost exclusively a rhythm guitarist and only used downstrokes. He disliked long intricate guitar solos and as the only guitar in the Ramones, their style, sound and speed did not allow for guitar breaks anyway. He admitted himself that he never really learned how to play them. If you know the Ramones history, _Road to Ruin_ was their first album to include songs with guitar solos, ballads… and new drummer Marky. The 8-bar solo of 8th notes was definitely deliberate but the intent is vague. It may have been a poke at guys like Van Halen or possible just Johnny being lazy and/or defiant with the rest of the band and Ed Stasium. ---
**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:** [September 30, 2019, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-candidate-for-worst-solo-ever-on-any-instrument/840911/34 "2019-09-30T14:41:11Z")
> [@Sparky812](#): > > Yes and no. > > I’ve played guitar for 40 years, and I studied Johnny’s style. He was almost exclusively a rhythm guitarist and only used downstrokes. He disliked long intricate guitar solos and as the only guitar in the Ramones, their style, sound and speed did not allow for guitar breaks anyway. He admitted himself that he never really learned how to play them. > > If you know the Ramones history, _Road to Ruin_ was their first album to include songs with guitar solos, ballads… and new drummer Marky. > The 8-bar solo of 8th notes was definitely deliberate but the intent is vague. It may have been a poke at guys like Van Halen or possible just Johnny being lazy and/or defiant with the rest of the band and Ed Stasium. Whatever the intent, I think it sounds great! ---
**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:** [September 30, 2019, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-candidate-for-worst-solo-ever-on-any-instrument/840911/35 "2019-09-30T14:45:02Z")
> [@Cheesesteak](#): > > It could just be me, but it sounds like he’s not playing it right. As though he has a vision of a guitar solo but can’t make his fingers do it. > > I’m confident Alex is in fact playing it correctly, but the way it’s written, the pace and transition between notes makes it sound like someone trying to learn a solo. > > And now the damnable thing is stuck in my head. I had never heard the song before, but I don’t think it’s sounds all that bad. It definitely does sound jagged, though, almost like what you might expect out of a post-punk guitar solo. I also think the mixing of that solo is a bit too dry and up front or something like that. I’m not entirely sure how to phrase it. (I know it’s a solo, so supposed to be up-front, but it does sound a bit abrupt and apart from the mix to me.) ---
**Author:** ![RioRico](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f04885/32.png) [@RioRico](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RioRico)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2019, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-candidate-for-worst-solo-ever-on-any-instrument/840911/36 "2019-09-30T23:30:53Z")
I’ll look in he other direction. The BEST instrumental solo ever… is any piano performance of John Cage’s 4’33". Then there was the bluegrass mandolinist who bragged to his bandmates that he could play 32nd notes. “Okay shithead, show us!” So he played one. ---
**Author:** ![Wheelz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wheelz/32/5718_2.png) [@Wheelz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheelz)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2019, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-candidate-for-worst-solo-ever-on-any-instrument/840911/37 "2019-10-01T23:29:50Z")
Regarding the clip in the OP, Shazam identifies it as “The Jones Girl (Take 2)” by the Five Satins. I listened to [the track \*not \*labeled “Take 2,”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_f6GHbe-mdU) and it is vastly superior. The sax solo starts 55 seconds in. I have no idea why somebody thought it was a good idea to release Take 2. (I didn’t find that one on YouTube, but both versions are available on Apple Music, should you wish to compare for yourself.) ---
**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:** [October 2, 2019, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-candidate-for-worst-solo-ever-on-any-instrument/840911/38 "2019-10-02T01:08:45Z")
> [@JKellyMap](#): > > Lilian Roxon, in the _Rock Encyclopedia_, described Neil Young’s guitar solo in “Down by the River” as like a “full-grown yak choking on a bone.” It seems exceedingly unlikely that Roxon wrote that. By the time the song was released (May 1969), the book was already done and was waiting to be published (the last Beatles album listed is _Yellow Submarine_ from 2/69). The comment seems very un-Roxon-like, who did not talk about specific songs and was not negative. Further, my edition (from 1971) has no entry for either Neil Young or Crazy Horse. If it was in the 1977 edition, that was published after Roxon’s death, so she couldn’t have said it. ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Bean](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_bean/32/1760_2.png) [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2019, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-candidate-for-worst-solo-ever-on-any-instrument/840911/39 "2019-10-03T03:25:35Z")
I vote for CC DeVille’s guitar solo in Unskinny Bop. The juxtaposition between the screechy scratchy mess of a solo and the overblown theatrics is hilarious. Ain’t no amount of fireworks gonna save THAT piece of garbage. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/Xk5y4wvsLyY/maxresdefault.jpg "Poison - Unskinny Bop") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xk5y4wvsLyY) It starts at around 3:30 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-candidate-for-worst-solo-ever-on-any-instrument/840911.md?page=1)