speaking of solo's (willie the pee-omp's post)

What are the best guitar solos in indie?
Sometimes it's not redundant lightning fingering (calling Eddie Van Halen) or technical prowess (Curt Kirkwood) or master insertion of minor and pentatonic scales (Richard Thompson) but texture, originality and how perfectly it fits the song - or how perfectly it doesn't fit the song but is wedged intrudingly.

One of my all time favorites is East Bay Ray's in Let's Lynch the Landlord.
And.....

Here are the solos I wish I did (or could do):


first forty seconds of Calvary Cross - Richard Thompson

All I Want Is You - Roxy Music

Jean Genie - David Bowie

Total Trash - Sonic Youth

Complete Control - The Clash (the two notes sung under "You're my guitah hero!!")

All Along the Watchtower - Jimi

Cinnamon Girl (natch) - Neil Young

Marquee Moon (both solos) - TV

the quivering, wailing bummed-out opening notes of "World of Confusion" on Black Sabbath Vol. 4

"Lady Picture Show" by Stone Temple Pilots.

The first part of Calvary Cross on Live (More Or Less) still blows me away. I think he was tuning his guitar to an alternate tuning on the fly. Night Comes In also still sounds amazing. Many thanks to the people who owned the Record Exchange in Boise for all the great $1 albums I picked up there in the late 70's and early 80's. I used to hide records I couldn't afford that day in the Helen Reddy section. They were always there 2 weeks later when I got paid. Who has a Helen Reddy section anyway?

Skook, Richard definitely retunes on the fly. I've talked to him about it after watching him do it in person at a party. After the song is done, he rarely has to re-adjust the peg much. But then, one of the all-time most phenomenal guitarists is sure to have a great ear.
MB - it's warm and fuzzy to know you're still making her scream after all this time...
Next solo:
End solo of "22 going on 23" Butthole Surfers on Locust Abortion



Post Edited (01-10-05 20:27)

Last Night- Tom Verlaine first solo
Reel By Real- XTC
Marc Ribot on many Tom Waits
geez, almost everything on The Name of This Band is The Talking Heads (just got it on Cd)
Deliver Us From The Elements-XTC (the backwards stuff at the end)
Life In The Air- Age BeBop Deluxe
Field of Fire-Richard Lloyd
Shamebird-Roger Miller (not MO

What about the best primal screams in rock history? Aside from anything on "Fun House?"

I always loved the multi-voiced scream that closes the Minutemen's "Political Nightmare."

And as long as we're chaning the subject slightly, I nominate the guitar solo on "Dream Police" as one of the worst. What was Rick thinking? Or maybe he let Robin have that one....

solos (and guitar work):

R Thompson: Poor Will and The Hangman
Ornette: Theme from a Symphony
Swamp Rats: No Friend of Mine
Byrds: 8 Miles High
Jeff Beck: Plynth
Funkadelic: Super Stupid
Dinosaur Jr: Missing Link
Creation: Painter Man
Eno: Baby's On Fire
Bonzos: Canyons of Yr Mind
Husker Du: Makes no sense at all

I forgot about Poor Will, so I pulled out "Live More or Less" for the first time in years. "When I get to the Border" also raises the neck hairs. He makes me feel hopelessly unskilled,and I've been playing for about 27 years. I've seen him live about 6 or 7 times. He never disappoints. The only other guy that blows me away like that is Hidalgo (but not always).

re fiercest primal screaming related to rock:

my wife's, monthly, when she opens Visa bill and discovers my music purchases

Alan Vega's screams in Suicide's "Frankie Teardrop" will definitely raise the neck hairs.

"Fortunately," my wife's arts & crafts purchases mean that she has nothing to scream about when she sees the Visa bill.

Greg Ginn, Black Flag--his playing on "Damaged" is incredible, especially "Depression" and "Life Of Pain."

Rikk Agnew, Adolescents--"Kids Of The Black Hole." That album defined the SoCal punk sound that the Offspring, et al tried to copy but never did nearly as well

Iggy & The Stooges--"Death Trip," "Search and Destroy" and "I Got A Right"