Everyone must be getting ready for the year-end polls as there seems to be a real glut of "All-Time Best" lists coming out right now. Today's goes to Gibson.com, the main site for Gibson guitars, who asked industry leaders, their editors and the site's readers to name the greatest guitar solos of all time.
What makes for a great guitar solo? Is it mind-melting precision or bone-chilling soul? Is it the way it can leave you slack-jawed, wondering, “How did he do that?” Or is it something that you can sing from memory, a melodic passage that weaves itself into the DNA of the song? Or are the greatest solos ever played the ones that somehow manage to do all of the above?

There aren't a lot of surprises near the top of the list but further down their are quite a few we weren't expecting to see. It's great that the voters in this poll remembered to single out guitarists like
Danny Cedrone (
Bill Haley & the Comets),
Chris Gallup (
Gene Vincent),
Wes Montgomery,
Rory Gallegher and
Roy Buchanan. Plus, who would have guessed the two
Beatles records to make the list would be one with lead by
Eric Clapton (
While My Guitar Gently Weeps) and one that is almost a song snippet (the three guitar interplay between Lennon, McCartney and Harrison on
The End).
Jimi Hendrix has the most performances on the list with four while
Jimmy Page,
Eddie Van Halen (2 with
Van Halen, 1 with
Michael Jackson) and
Eric Clapton (1 with the
Beatles, 1 with
Derek & the Dominos, 1 with
Cream) each have three. Guitarists with two are
David Gilmour, Duane Allman, Randy Rhoads, Slash, Angus Young and
Dickey Betts.
We were going to do our regular thing of listing the top five plus every other solo from a veteran artist but, the fact is, if it weren't for two Slash performances with Guns 'N Roses, they would have ALL been by veteran artists.
- Stairway to Heaven - Jimmy Page (Led Zeppelin)
- Eruption - Eddie Van Halen (Van Halen)
- All Along the Watchtower - Jimi Hendrix (Jimi Hendrix Experience)
- Hotel California - Don Felder, Joe Walsh (Eagles)
- Comfortably Numb - David Gilmour (Pink Floyd)
- Free Bird - Gary Rossington, Allen Collins (Lynyrd Skynyrd)
- Layla - Eric Clapton, Duane Allman (Derek & the Dominos)
- While My Guitar Gently Weeps - Eric Clapton (Beatles)
- Johnny B. Goode - Chuck Berry
- Bohemian Rhapsody - Brian May (Queen)
- Crazy Train - Randy Rhoads (Ozzy Osbourne)
- 'Cause We've Ended As Lovers - Jeff Beck
- Sweet Child o' Mine - Slash (Guns N' Roses)
- Hot for Teacher - Eddie Van Halen (Van Halen)
- Since I've Been Loving You - Jimmy Page (Led Zeppelin)
- November Rain - Slash (Guns N' Roses)
- Mr. Crowley - Randy Rhoads (Ozzy Osbourne)
- Whole Lotta Rosie - Angus Young (AC/DC)
- Like a Hurricane - Neil Young (Neil Young & Crazy Horse)
- Sultans of Swing - Mark Knopfler (Dire Straits)
- Texas Flood - Stevie Ray Vaughan (Stevie Ray Vaughan & Double Trouble)
- One - Kirk Hammett (Metallica)
- Cortez the Killer - Neil Young (Neil Young with Crazy Horse)
- Rock Around the Clock - Danny Cedrone (Bill Haley & the Comets)
- Sweet Jane (Live) - Steve Hunter, Dick Wagner (Lou Reed)
- Purple Rain - Prince (Prince & the Revolution)
- Heartbreaker - Jimmy Page (Led Zeppelin)
- Jessica - Dickey Betts (Allman Brothers Band)
- Machine Gun - Jimi Hendrix
- Crossroads - Eric Clapton (Cream)
- Time - David Gilmour (Pink Floyd)
- Are You Experienced? - Jimi Hendrix (Jimi Hendrix Experience)
- Race With the Devil - Cliff Gallup (Gene Vincent)
- Don't Believe a Word - Brian Robertson (Thin Lizzy)
- Purple Haze - Jimi Hendrix (Jimi Hendrix Experience)
- Besame Mucho - Wes Montgomery
- Sympathy for the Devil - Keith Richards (Rolling Stones)
- Blue Sky - Duane Allman, Dickey Betts (Allman Brothers Band)
- My Sharona - Berton Averre (Knack)
- Marquee Moon - Tom Verlaine (Television)
- Hitch a Ride - Tom Scholz (Boston)
- The End - Paul McCartney, John Lennon, George Harrison (Beatles)
- Whole Lotta Love - Jimmy Page (Led Zeppelin)
- Train Kept A-Rollin' (Live) - Joe Perry (Aerosmith)
- Highway Star - Ritchie Blackmore (Deep Purple)
- Dirt - Ron Asheton (Stooges)
- Off the Handle - Rory Gallagher
- The Great Curve - Adrian Belew (Talking Heads)
- The Messiah Will Come Again - Roy Buchanan
- Beat It - Eddie Van Halen (Michael Jackson)
The Gibson website has commentaries on each of these songs and guitarists.
01-10
11-20
21-30
31-40
41-50
Read more...