The Best Guitar Solos in Rock and Roll History

Here is a list of some of the all-time greatest guitar solos in Rock history.

Hendrix- Machine Gun

Okay. Most of this guys solos can be on this list but the one that takes the cake is Machine Gun.Voodoo chile is a good choice as well,  but Machine Gun is Jimi’s heartbreaking Opus. His sonic manifesto.  And yeah, you can bring the Star Spangled Banner into the conversation, but both examples demonstrate that no one can get as close to war sonically as Jimi can. Maybe because he served brifly,(he saw no action) or maybe he was able to channel the pain in the air through his electric guitar? Whatever it is, it is uncanny. 

Robert Fripp- Baby's On Fire

Everyone knows how amazing Fripp is, and his usual showcase is his band King Crimson (of course!) Certainly his work in that band stands as great music for many years to come and I believe he really shines as a composer in the context of the band. There’s certainly plently of guitar gymnastics that occur on their albums but my favorite stuff of his is when he appears on other peoples records. Peter Gabriel, David Bowie, Talking Heads, etc. But his greatest collaboration outside crimson, has to be with Brian Eno. PArticulary his work on Here come the warm jets. And specifically Baby’s On Fire. This is Fripp on Fire.

Phil Manzanera- In Every Dream Home a Heartache (live)

What can you say about this guy, other than one of the most underrated guitarists ever? Phil is one of the most versatile players in rock history, always finding a great tone coupled with memorable guitar lines but most importantly he is the perfect complimentary player and in Roxy that’s quite an achievement! However his skill as a soloist is where Manzanera achieves true greatness with his blistering work. There is no better example of this than on Viva Roxy Music- Every dream home a heartache. What he does there is simply the jam to end all jams. Unreal.

David Gilmour- Comfortably Numb

Pink Floyd is considered one of the all-time great Rock bands, and the Wall can be considered the culmination of their work. Whether you like it or not- whether it is a masterpiece or flawed, The Wall stands as one of the great benchmarks in Rock history. It spanned a massive theatrical Live show that has still never been matched. And it had a major motion picture created for it. Yet, the pinnacle of all of it, is the same: David Gilmour’s solo in Comfortably Numb. It all leads up to that great cathartic moment when Gilmour stands on top of the wall and delivers one of the deepest cutting solos ever played. His work on the album version is simply breathtaking and goes to show you that piecing together fragments can sometimes have amazing results.

Mick Ronson- Moonage Daydream

Bowie is one of rocks greatest icons and nothing defines his sound more than his gitar players. And it is his career defining album Ziggy stardust, that features possibly his greatest collaboration- Mick Ronson. Yes, Ronson isn’t as prestigious as fripp, or as clever as Gabrels, or as creative as Alomar, but he was the perfect foil for Ziggy. And on the track moonage daydream, we take off into the stratosphere and our pilot is Mick Ronson. His rhythm playing, song writing, riffs, and solos are all top notch. He does it all magnificently but with a rawness that signifies the edge that music had at that time over other stuff. The solo from the concert film Ziggy Stardust is particulary amazing.

Eric Clapton – While my guitar Gently Weeps

The Beatles are probably the greatest band of all time, but they weren’t known for their amazing guitar solos. Sure, Harrison is one of the all-time greatest rock guitarists, with a signature sound and amazing riffs and chords. And the Beatles have many great solos from him. But when it came time to lay the solo for his own track, While My Guitar Gently Weeps, he decided to call up his friend Eric Clapton. Whatever it was that gave him that instinct, it was the right one, because Clapton delivers one of his own finest solos. The way the solo brings the whole song together is outstanding and becomes one of the top highlights for the Beatles overall. Ironically, when George up and quit the Beatles once, John purposed calling Clapton, in which case the Beatles would have had a different look.

Steve Hunter and Dick Wagner on Lou Reed- Oh, Jim

Lou Reed has always been synonymous with a high standard of rock guitar. He was a pioneer, and his work with other great guitarists over the years, shows his love and understanding of the instrument. In 1974, when Lou chose to hang up guitar playing, he enlisted Alice Cooper's two guitar heroes, Steve Hunter and Dick Wagner to go on tour and reimagine some of the old VU/ solo stuff. And that really paid dividends for Lou with two outstanding live albums: Rock and Roll Animal and Lou Reed Live. Even though Animal is better overall, Lou Reed Live contains one singularly amazing guitar duel that really is a cut above the rest. I mean sure you can think of freebird and others (Jewel by Thin Lizzy, many really...) but this one is just vicious.

Television- Johnny Jewel

You can really list most of Television's work in this category, but the best jam for me is this single that kicked off their career. It's odd that a CBGB punk band would actually be a jam band but Television was able to jam unlike most of their contemporaries at the time. They took their cues from jazz and fringe rock. This culminates in an almost psychic conneection between Tom Verlaine and Richard Lloyd. Both are excellent and they both have very different styles. Even though the recording of Johnny Jewel is amazing, try to seek out some of the live versions like from San Francisco. It's truly amazing.

Lindsey Buckingham- Tango in the Night

Lindsey is a criminialy underrated guitarist and it is no more criminal than his solo in this title track from Fleetwood Mac's 1985 comeback album, Tango in the Night. The song itself is quite beautiful but the solo at the end is just a total all-out emotional assault. The man can play.

Mike Campbell- Running Down a Dream

Another underrated guitarist, who usually has such a good sense of what a song needs, he certainly doesn't overplay or add solos when not neccessary. But when it's his time to shine, boy does he know how to take the reigns. His solo at the end of this classic Tom Petty hit, is absolutely sublime.