Greatest guitar solo ever, I am told. Whaddya think?

[CTyankee]

[Skittles]

1. as someone commented

what did that guitar ever do to Terry? (start at 2:54 for the meat)

[brewens]

4. Was it Joe Walsh? I'm thinking it may have been. n/t

[House of Roberts]

5. Terry Kath

When first hearing Terry Kath play, Jimi Hendrix was quoted as saying that he thought Terry Kath played guitar better than he did. It was later on reported that Jimi Hendrix also called Terry Kath the “Best Guitarist in the Universe.”

[brewens]

8. I meant the quote came from Walsh. n/t

[House of Roberts]

10. I gotcha.

Didn't connect Joe Walsh to Chicago from that time.

[CTyankee]

6. I dunno. I just have a musician friend who told me to get it on youtube.

I posted it for the fans here. I wish I knew more about such music as I have a professional drummer in my family. And my son and his wife would appreciate this, as well. They play in little clubs in Manhattan and have day jobs (son is a prosecutor of all things!).

[Hugh_Lebowski]

9. Not sure what Walsh has to do with this, but ...

Walsh is a decent guitarist overall (he's great at writing a lick and a solid rhythm player) but his guitar duel with (the much better soloist) Don Felder at the end of Life In The Fast Lane is about the height of his lead playing skills.

Edit: Oh, it's his quote you think? I get it now

[AZSkiffyGeek]

14. He had a great. wacked out solo on Henley's "Dirty Laundry"

Lukather handled most of the guitar work and the second solo, but Walsh's first solo is just insane.

[Hugh_Lebowski]

17. I love this sort of musical geekery :)

Well done!

Both solos are great in terms of feel and fitting in with the song.

Neither is particularly difficult, and are aided by a fair bit of effects. The delay on the first solo in particular makes it sound more flashy than it technically is.

Not that there's anything wrong with any of that. Joe is a stud rhythm player, and came up some absolutely classic licks over the years, and he can knock out a totally passable and competent solo if the song needs it. But Terry Kath was in a different league as a soloist.

When I watch this video I find myself kinda sad that such a scorching hot solo is stuck in such a lyrically banal song. A big part of what makes people remember great solo's ... is because they're in great songs otherwise, esp. one's with some emotional heft, where the solo adds to that impact.

[AZSkiffyGeek]

18. lyrically banal... I love that description

I enjoy much of what I've heard from Chicago's first seven or so albums, but I've found a lot of their songs, as you put it, lyrically banal.
Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is? particularly annoys me - just tell her the damn time - quit spouting your hippy bullshit.

[Hugh_Lebowski]

23. High five! (nt)

[brewens]

2. One of the greats for sure. :) n/t

[CincyDem]

3. Such a loss. n/t

[Fla Dem]

7. Always fascinated by that type of guitar playing. Your hands are doing 2 entirely different actions

at the same time and in this case at a fantastical pace. How does the mind/hand communication work? Sending different signals to the 2 hands.

[Hugh_Lebowski]

26. Long and short is ... with practice, humans can learn to do some amazing sh*t

Been watching the Olympics at all?

Ever been to Cirque Du Soleil?

There's a lot of incredible stuff that animals of all kinds can mentally and physically do

[ProfessorGAC]

28. Nailed It!

I'm very fast. One gets fast by repetition with a focus on accuracy. It helps to know where all the notes are so economical movement gets from one good position to another which extends the range.
There's no substitute for practice, though!
Just play!

[Paladin]

11. Willie Nelson's instrumental break on his version of "Heartbreak Hotel."

Every essential guitar groove, played clean and straightforward on that plinky old plastic-stringed Martin of his. Perfection.

[elias7]

12. Cetera's been called a "monster" on bass

If you listen to some well mixed old Chicago on you tube, he and Kath are so complimentary. Then the horns and keyboard… what a band.

This is of course before Kath died and Cetera went crazy sweet vocal pop. Became a crazy good pop top 40 band, but not quite my style. Nothing compares to their older stuff…

[rickyhall]

13. Terry Kath was amazing except for the playing with loaded guns part.

[Hugh_Lebowski]

29. Loaded, but didn't know it was loaded, apparently ...

I'm not a gun grabber, but I just think they suck, as a thing. If the entire worlds population of guns vaporized into dust in the AM, the world would be a much better place.

[rickyhall]

32. My dad taught me never point a gun at anybody, loaded or not.

[elias7]

15. More great Chicago stuff

Dialogue - live ‘72 - great Kath/Cetera “dialogue” and clean instrumentation/recording

Wishing you were hear - New Year’s Eve, soulful Kath vocals, Beach boys/Cetera harmonies

[cloudbase]

16. My nomination

[rsdsharp]

20. The other half of the Clark-Campbell pact:

[Chainfire]

19. I don't think it is the best

but it is certainly the best from a trumpet playing band.

[tableturner]

21. I value your opinion, Mark Knopfler.

[Hugh_Lebowski]

30. I don't give a damn about any of those (nt)

[ret5hd]

22. My nomination: (SRV of course)

[Hugh_Lebowski]

31. How about if I say that Hendrix laid down the greatest guitar solo ever

from a writing perspective ... and then SRV was the greatest performer of that piece ever.

I was thinking of mentioning Little Wing in this thread, but ... ya beat me

[Zorro]

24. I don't think so

Too much flailing around.

The best guitarists make it look easy.

[CTyankee]

25. I'll report that to my friend. He's a musician...I'll let you know what he says!

[ProfessorGAC]

27. A Hard No, From Me

IMO, it's just ok.
I could list a hundred better in an hour.
Admittedly, I'm not the biggest fan of Chicago, even though I met a couple of the members, and they were nice guys.

[orangecrush]

33. One of the best

Without question.

Chicago without Kath was bubblegum music, imho.

[Lady Freedom Returns]

34. This was filmed live so the language is explicit....

But I say this 11 year old is way up on the list.

[malthaussen]

35. There's no such thing.

Kath is a very good guitarist. Chicago was very big in the 70s.

YouTube Rory Gallagher sometime for some amazing guitar work. Any of his live performances will do. He is not only a virtuoso of the instrument, but performs with great flair and energy, without any of the glittery flash other bands add into the mix. Chicago, OTOH, I understand was pretty boring live.

-- Mal

[CTyankee]

36. Thank you. I will follow up on Gallagher.