# Songs with VERY short solos that are....perfect



## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

Most of us love a solo that stretches out for a bit, but now and then you get a song with a solo that is a couple of bars...IF that...and it's just perfect. Nothing you could add to it that would improve it....ever.

Jeff Beck has a bunch of these. "Happenings Ten Years Time Ago" is one of the all-time great solos. Same for "Shapes of Things". In almost the same vein as "Midnight at the Oasis" but substantially more concise is Beck's exquisite solo on Stevie Wonder's "Lookin for Another Pure Love" (and more than a couple of nods to Mr. "Rhubarb Red" Polfus on that one!).


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## Guest (Apr 18, 2009)

The Pixies - Wave of Mutilation (UK Surf Mix)

And I almost said Tommy James - Crimson and Clover...


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## Spikezone (Feb 2, 2006)

Here's a couple:

Already Gone (Eagles) - the little harmonic bit after 'Heaven knows it wasn't you who set me free' in the third verse

and (you're gonna laugh)
Circle of Life (Elton John song on the Disney soundtrack - I have kids LOL) - there's one high guitar note between 'the sun rolling high' and 'in the sapphire sky' that ABSOLUTELY has to be there.

I know the 'Circle of Life' is probably a song that most people on a serious music site would probably refuse to recognize and these are not even really short solos I'm pointing out, but just little bursts of colour, but to me in both instances they make the songs-check them out. 
-Mikey


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## noobcake (Mar 8, 2006)

The solo from Californication - by RHCP is short and sweet. I love Frusciante's playing in that song, it sounds so "timid" yet so fitting.


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## davetcan (Feb 27, 2006)

Well I'm not a country fan but

Amazed - Lonestar
Come Away With Me - Norah Jones
Something - Beatles


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

iaresee said:


> The Pixies - Wave of Mutilation (UK Surf Mix)
> 
> And I almost said Tommy James - Crimson and Clover...


Not sure if you realize it but there is a long version of "Crimson and Clover". I know because I have a Tommy James and the Shondells Greatest Hits double album. The long version has a long solo with lots of cheezy fuzz, reverb, and slow tremolo. Right up there with the long version of Wilson Pickett's "Engine, Engine #9"....but this thread is about short solos.

The Replacements' "We'll Inherit the Earth (But We Don't Want It)" has a brief, but powerful, solo by Slim Dunlap that just carries the tune over the top.


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## kw_guitarguy (Apr 29, 2008)

Spikezone said:


> Circle of Life (Elton John song on the Disney soundtrack - I have kids LOL) - there's one high guitar note between 'the sun rolling high' and 'in the sapphire sky' that ABSOLUTELY has to be there.
> 
> -Mikey


I totally agree with this one, that song just wouldn't be the same without that one note!!

~Andrew


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## Luke98 (Mar 4, 2007)

Whatabout the fills in Hotel California? They're all great.


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## Rugburn (Jan 14, 2009)

How about the break in Zeppelin's "Communication Breakdown". Page always impressed me more with his rock n' roll than his blues, although "Since I've Been Lovin You" is pretty damn good.

Shawn


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## Guest (Apr 19, 2009)

mhammer said:


> Not sure if you realize it but there is a long version of "Crimson and Clover". I know because I have a Tommy James and the Shondells Greatest Hits double album. The long version has a long solo with lots of cheezy fuzz, reverb, and slow tremolo. Right up there with the long version of Wilson Pickett's "Engine, Engine #9"....but this thread is about short solos.


Oh yea, I realize it. Even the short version is long. I figured you'd get the joke.


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

I should have gotten it. I just figured that since the "long" version is unlikely to be familiar to many here, that we might not be discussing the same thing.

Back in my band days, one of the solos I loved to do was when we did "California Sun" by the Rivieras ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tYURminupFw ). One note....over and over.

These days, given that one can easily find pedals (indeed, you have one with the Modfactor) that allow one to impose very small amounts of modulation in "doubled" sounds, I'll bet it's possible to do very convincing versions of the the solo in the Honeycomb's "Have I the Right?" ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-juca-sFWBU ), without needing Joe Meek and his wizardry at the helm. Another great solo that is brief and perfect.

Kinda makes me wonder if there is the guitar solo equivalent of Strunk & White's "Elements of Style" ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Elements_of_Style ) somewhere out there. In other words, a set of written guidelines about how to construct a solo that is no longer than it needs to be, and accomplishes everything it needs to do, effectively. For instance, rules of thumb for when to go above the 12th fret, and when bends are properly applied. 9kkhhd


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## Robert1950 (Jan 21, 2006)

The Mandela - Dom Troiano - Loveitis. Had to be 5 seconds at most. Killer vibrato.


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## lbrown1 (Mar 22, 2007)

The Police - Driven to Tears

the solo is incredibly ...weird.....but I like it for some reason...oh - and fits the criteria of this thread - short and perfect


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## ed2000 (Feb 16, 2007)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=50b-Q-Z1bF0
2 notes at the 39 to 40 second mark

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0MphtRYG46Y
about 16 notes at 2:12


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## Apostrophe (') (Dec 30, 2007)

Cinnamon Girl


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## happydude (Oct 15, 2007)

Maybe I'm Amazed. Short and simple, but I love it!


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

Robert1950 said:


> The Mandela - Dom Troiano - Loveitis. Had to be 5 seconds at most. Killer vibrato.


Now *that's* what I'm talking about. Short. Self-contained. Just what the song needed.


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## davetcan (Feb 27, 2006)

happydude said:


> Maybe I'm Amazed. Short and simple, but I love it!


Yes !!!! :bow::bow:


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## Guest (Apr 20, 2009)

New find for me: Glasvegas - Geraldine -- that's in the pocket.


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## Guest (Apr 20, 2009)

mhammer said:


> Kinda makes me wonder if there is the guitar solo equivalent of Strunk & White's "Elements of Style" ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Elements_of_Style ) somewhere out there. In other words, a set of written guidelines about how to construct a solo that is no longer than it needs to be, and accomplishes everything it needs to do, effectively. For instance, rules of thumb for when to go above the 12th fret, and when bends are properly applied. 9kkhhd


Ha! I thought only my wife read that kind of stuff. I suppose we're after the Hemingway of solos....


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## Gunny (Feb 21, 2006)

most of George's solos on Beatle tracks.


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## LowWatt (Jun 27, 2007)

iaresee said:


> New find for me: Glasvegas - Geraldine -- that's in the pocket.


Great pick. I'd add the classic short solo. Led Zeppelin - Whole Lotta Love. The tightest 10 second solo ever. Wakes the whole song back up.


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## Doug Gifford (Jun 8, 2019)

I'll resurrect this ancient thread because …

I was thinking about guitar solos that develop a single idea -- e.g. the ones that do the same notes over and over, thereby illuminating the harmony…

And my mind turned to this solo by Brinsley Schwartz, I think, on Graham Parker's "Nobody Hurts You." I haven't had this album for decades and it took awhile to find it since I couldn't remember what song it was on. Found it and here it is in all its pungent glory. This solo is all (mostly) about articulation.


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## cboutilier (Jan 12, 2016)

Much of the finest moments in country guitar were short little 4-8 bar solos. Roy Nichols was a master of them.


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## Sneaky (Feb 14, 2006)

I’ve always loved the short solo in Cheap Trick’s I Want You to Want Me.


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## keto (May 23, 2006)

Always loved this song, in no small part due to the octaved solo. The sliding bass(? maybe guitar) is cool too.


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## jb welder (Sep 14, 2010)

Doug Gifford said:


> I'll resurrect this ancient thread because …


There was another similar thread a year or two back, something like 'solos 30 seconds or under'.


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## Doug Gifford (Jun 8, 2019)

iaresee said:


> Ha! I thought only my wife read that kind of stuff. I suppose we're after the Hemingway of solos....


Really? I thought everybody would have read it. They should.


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## jb welder (Sep 14, 2010)

Doug Gifford said:


> I'll resurrect this ancient thread because …





jb welder said:


> There was another similar thread a year or two back, something like 'solos 30 seconds or under'.


This is the other similar thread I was thinking of: https://guitarscanada.com/index.php?threads/short-solo-appreciation.177337/


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## leftysg (Mar 29, 2008)

Love Reign O'er Me. The culminating solo after the strings buildup is so powerful.

School's Out has so many tasty shorter fills but the solo, after verse 1 I believe,keeps the energy building. Great tune.

Killer Queen...shorter song with a great memorable shorter solo.


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## Paul M (Mar 27, 2015)

Very short song with a two chorus solo. Less than 2 minutes. A perfect and simple early rock and roll track


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## Doug Gifford (Jun 8, 2019)

Paul M said:


> Very short song with a two chorus solo. Less than 2 minutes. A perfect and simple early rock and roll track


Nice break. Ricky was hip and had the connections and money to get the top players.

Here's a cool trick: if you stop a youtube vid and right-click you are given the option of copying the link with the current time embedded so it will starts playing there. Very useful to skip straight to parts of songs: it adds "?t=##" where ## is the number of seconds from the start.


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## cboutilier (Jan 12, 2016)

Paul M said:


> Very short song with a two chorus solo. Less than 2 minutes. A perfect and simple early rock and roll track


Presumably a young James Burton on that cut.


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## Alex (Feb 11, 2006)

Solos by Elliott Easton of The Cars. “Shake it Up” is one that comes to mind. I learned that a while back and I recall slowing down the “Chuck Berry riff” and repeating it so may times that I became physically ill.....I almost barfed!


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## Lincoln (Jun 2, 2008)

we need another thread for songs with solos that go on waaaaaaaaaaaaaay too long. The one that bugs me is Free Bird.


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## Doug Gifford (Jun 8, 2019)

Lincoln said:


> we need another thread for songs with solos that go on waaaaaaaaaaaaaay too long. The one that bugs me is Free Bird.


I pulled away from home in Gananoque and just as I started to move, the Kingston station K-ROCK started up "Inna Gadda Da Vida." I was driving to a friend's place the other side of Lansdowne (20-odd minutes) and I was heading up his drive when it ended. Since that day I've had a grudging respect for K-ROCK and whoever that DJ was…


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## cboutilier (Jan 12, 2016)

Lincoln said:


> we need another thread for songs with solos that go on waaaaaaaaaaaaaay too long. The one that bugs me is Free Bird.


Why's it bug you? It's just a guitar man having fun. We did it in our acoustic show last week.


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## Lincoln (Jun 2, 2008)

Doug Gifford said:


> I pulled away from home in Gananoque and just as I started to move, the Kingston station K-ROCK started up "Inna Gadda Da Vida." I was driving to a friend's place the other side of Lansdowne (20-odd minutes) and I was heading up his drive when it ended. Since that day I've had a grudging respect for K-ROCK and whoever that DJ was…


That's a good old song, I never minded that one


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## Lincoln (Jun 2, 2008)

cboutilier said:


> Why's it bug you? It's just a guitar man having fun. We did it in our acoustic show last week.


Nothing wrong with the song, or covers of the song. I think it's only the version they play on the radio that grates on me. Maybe it just got over-played


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## cboutilier (Jan 12, 2016)

Lincoln said:


> Nothing wrong with the song, or covers of the song. I think it's only the version they play on the radio that grates on me. Maybe it just got over-played


Certainly overplayed, and the solo is quite repetitive and longer than necessary. It's just fun.


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

Doug Gifford said:


> I pulled away from home in Gananoque and just as I started to move, the Kingston station K-ROCK started up "Inna Gadda Da Vida." I was driving to a friend's place the other side of Lansdowne (20-odd minutes) and I was heading up his drive when it ended. Since that day I've had a grudging respect for K-ROCK and whoever that DJ was…


There was a time in FM radio history, when that was common practice. It didn't have to be a 17-minute tune. Could be an album side. I remember those days fondly.

I've mentioned this previously, before you joined, so older members bear with me. One of the most bizarre football half-time shows I ever saw was a large college marching band performing the entirety of Inna-Gadda-Da-Vida, They had a drum major leading them, and everyone had the complete uniform: tall hats, epaulets, double-breasted short jackets with brass buttons, things dangling from the boots. They high-stepped their way back and forth along the field, doing the whole thing - drum-solo included - though brass and glockenspiels had to sub for fuzzy guitars and wiggly organ. It was 17 minutes of "Am I really seeing this?", only to be outdone by the Superbowl half-time show that featured a re-enactment of the Battle of New Orleans with hundreds of history re-enacters, cannons, stretcher-bearers, and a cloud of smoke that took a while to clear.


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## Doug Gifford (Jun 8, 2019)

A *very* short guitar solo on Duffy's "Mercy."


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## butterknucket (Feb 5, 2006)

Ticket to ride


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## High/Deaf (Aug 19, 2009)

Some Beatles stuff had concise solos. Songs like 'Helter Skelter'. 

I also think of Elliot Easton with solos like the one in 'Just What I Needed'.


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## Robboman (Oct 14, 2006)

As a mostly non country fan who learned 40+ current modern country songs for a band, I observed the following:

1). Almost every modern Country song actually contains a guitar solo. Imagine that! In this day and age. Who knew?

2). Solos are all REALLY short. It seems to be the current template for how they make country hits. Intro with signature lick, verse, chorus, ver, cho, SHORT solo, breakdown, cho, outro with sig lick. Rinse repeat.


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## Doug Gifford (Jun 8, 2019)

Robboman said:


> It seems to be the current template for how they make country hits. Intro with signature lick, verse, chorus, ver, cho, SHORT solo, breakdown, cho, outro with sig lick. Rinse repeat.


What do you mean by "breakdown"?


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## Robboman (Oct 14, 2006)

Doug Gifford said:


> What do you mean by "breakdown"?


Oh, just the part where it gets quieter, drums and heavy guitars back off for a few seconds before going back in to the chorus/outro. Maybe it's called something else... but the pattern repeats over and over from one 'artist' to the next, very formulaic stuff.


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## leftysg (Mar 29, 2008)

You're so Vain...twenty tasty seconds around 2:00 but the song is obviously great anyway.

[h:// video]


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## CDWaterloo (Jul 18, 2008)

If I had to choose one, it'd be the Beatles - Michelle.


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## garrettdavis275 (May 30, 2014)

Pretty much anything Elliot Easton did with the Cars IMO. He's the pinnacle of non-improv solos for me. That man had incredible ears and hands and, most importantly, the good sense to know what was good for the song.


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## High/Deaf (Aug 19, 2009)

Robboman said:


> As a mostly non country fan who learned 40+ current modern country songs for a band, I observed the following:
> 
> 1). Almost every modern Country song actually contains a guitar solo. Imagine that! In this day and age. Who knew?
> 
> 2). Solos are all REALLY short. It seems to be the current template for how they make country hits. Intro with signature lick, verse, chorus, ver, cho, SHORT solo, breakdown, cho, outro with sig lick. Rinse repeat.


And I always thought a breakdown in a country song referred to either their truck or their relationship. Who knew?


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## Dorian2 (Jun 9, 2015)

Someone had to do it.


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## jimmythegeek (Apr 17, 2012)

Does Bernard Butler play that one?


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## SaucyJack (Mar 8, 2017)

I've been listening to some of Pat Benatar's early stuff. Neil Girardo must be included here too.


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## leftysg (Mar 29, 2008)

In the outro of TRex's Bang a Gong there is about a five second lead that has always stuck with me because I dig the song and the positioning and character of the lick after basically the same groove throughout. It's not difficult, it just stands out.


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

leftysg said:


> You're so Vain...twenty tasty seconds around 2:00 but the song is obviously great anyway.
> 
> [h:// video]


We were playing at a frat house party, and for some reason, at the start of the song, my high E string broke. I dashed into the kitchen of the frat house, while my three bandmates continued to play the song, got a new E-string on and quickly tuned up, dashed out to the performance area, and plugged in just in time to play the solo. You don't don't get many heroic moments in life. I think I used up my quota with that incident.


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## leftysg (Mar 29, 2008)

Brian May plays that tasty short solo in Crazy Little Thing called Love and some fine fills as well.


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## Electraglide (Jan 24, 2010)

Not exactly a "short" solo but how often do drummers do a bass solo?


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

Jeff Beck seems to have a knack for short solos that do everything that needs to be done for someone else's song. Check out the 4:30 mark in this Imogen Heap tune. There's a brief moment where he works the whammy bar while playing high up the neck that is sublime.


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## guitarman2 (Aug 25, 2006)

davetcan said:


> Well I'm not a country fan but
> 
> Amazed - Lonestar
> Come Away With Me - Norah Jones
> Something - Beatles


Well I am a country fan, among other things
I always liked the very short and simple solo in the Alabama song "Old Flame". I used to sing the song back in the 80's and I liked playing the solo even though its short and simple.


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