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Discussion: Great Guitar Solo Breaks
This thread focuses on guitar instrumental solo breaks within a song. I’m referring here to guitar work that made you go “Wow!” the first time you heard it, just as I did, for example, when I first heard rock guitarist Eddie Van Halen’s blazing solo on Michael Jackson’s “Beat It” back in the early 1980s.
I have deliberately limited my input here. It is my hope that other forumites will share their favorite guitar solos (within the context of a song).
Historian’s Great Jamaican Guitar Solo Breaks
(Listed alphabetically here according to the guitarist’s surname. This list, of course, is NOT complete.)
(Please note that not all the soloists below are Jamaican. Blues guitarist Al Anderson and rock guitarist Wayne Perkins are both Americans, but they have been included for obvious reasons.)
Al Anderson: guitar solo on Bob Marley’s “Woman No Cry” (Live at the Lyceum in London).
Rupert Bent, Sr.: guitar solo on Toots and the Maytals’ ska classic, “Never You Change.”
Wayne Perkins: guitar solo on Bob Marley and the Wailers’ “Catch A Fire” (Island Records).
Ernie Ranglin: guitar solo on the Wailers’ “It Hurts To Be Alone.”
Unknown guitarist: solo on live performance of “A Jamaican in New York” by Shinehead. This performance was in Kingston back in either the late 1980s or early 1990s.
Great Non-Jamaican Guitar Solos
(Listed alphabetically here according to the soloist’s surname)
Dean Parks: guitar solo that closed out Rita Coolidge’s version of “We’re All Alone.”
Eddie van Halen: guitar solo on Michael Jackson’s “Beat It.”
Tony Peluso: guitar solo that closed out the Carpenters’ “Please Mr. Postman.”
Richie Sambora: guitar solo on Bon Jovi’s “Bed of Roses.”
Unknown studio guitarist: guitar solo on Tifanny’s “Could’ve Been.”
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