Sunday, March 26, 2006
Stairway to Purgatory
The only slightly sloppy Page guitar solo in Led Zeppelin's Stairway to Heaven has been voted the best guitar solo ever. Really? Who was voting? 5th grade girls attending Sunday School?
Oh, no. Almost 2,000 readers of Total Guitar magazine, including music teachers and professional guitarists, voted in the poll. Well, if it's readers of a magazine no one has ever heard of, then it's OK.
Don't get me wrong, I like Stairway to Heaven and the solo, especially the end; but there's been some music made since that song came out. Some of it, including the guitar solos, have overtaken the masters. I'd also feel better about this vote if Page had ever been able to reproduce even a close copy of the solo on any live album. He could not. He certainly never did it better live.
Here are the results of the vote:
Top 10 guitar solos
1) Led Zeppelin - Stairway to Heaven
2) Van Halen - Eruption
3) Guns N' Roses - Paradise City
4) The Eagles - Hotel California
5) Metallica - Enter Sandman
6) Cream - Crossroads
7) Jimi Hendrix - Voodoo Child (Slight Return)
8) Ozzy Osbourne - Crazy Train
9) Free - All Right Now
10) Queen - Bohemian Rhapsody
Many of these are outrages. Notice the total lack of Jeff Beck. And those voters call themselves guitar fans.
Oh, no. Almost 2,000 readers of Total Guitar magazine, including music teachers and professional guitarists, voted in the poll. Well, if it's readers of a magazine no one has ever heard of, then it's OK.
Don't get me wrong, I like Stairway to Heaven and the solo, especially the end; but there's been some music made since that song came out. Some of it, including the guitar solos, have overtaken the masters. I'd also feel better about this vote if Page had ever been able to reproduce even a close copy of the solo on any live album. He could not. He certainly never did it better live.
Here are the results of the vote:
Top 10 guitar solos
1) Led Zeppelin - Stairway to Heaven
2) Van Halen - Eruption
3) Guns N' Roses - Paradise City
4) The Eagles - Hotel California
5) Metallica - Enter Sandman
6) Cream - Crossroads
7) Jimi Hendrix - Voodoo Child (Slight Return)
8) Ozzy Osbourne - Crazy Train
9) Free - All Right Now
10) Queen - Bohemian Rhapsody
Many of these are outrages. Notice the total lack of Jeff Beck. And those voters call themselves guitar fans.
# posted by Roger Fraley @ 1:00 PM 
Comments:
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Well, clapton is in Cream, so no big problem there. The huge problem is, no Freebird.
# posted by 
: 6:45 PM
: 6:45 PM
agreed. I always thought the hotel california double guitar "solo" in boring thirds the most tedious on record. i happen to love the 2 classic solos on the Wall - Another Brick - wonderful anacrusis by Gilmour, and of course Comfortably Numb
I meant agreed to clzdwh. (freebird...please!) Actually the most awesome electric guitaring ever occured during the recording of Hocus Pocus by Dutch group Focus, featuring Jan Akkerman on guitar. The piece is an instrumental in the form of a rondo where Akkerman alternately plays the tune and blistering guitar solo. It also features some nifty drumming and falsetto cooing beloved by (continental) European bands. A classic that I'm afraid i could not find on iTunes.
I think the biggest problem is Jimi Hendrix coming in 7th.
Hendrix 7th? Yea, I'd say Hendrix is about the 7th best. That seems about right.
Hendrix 7th? Yea, I'd say Hendrix is about the 7th best. That seems about right.
Unfortunately, it's a popularity contest.
What makes a " best " guitar solo ??? Why isn't the over simple, but musically profounf George Harrison solo, from " Something " on that list.
How can you not include " Because We Ended As Lovers" by Jeff Beck ??
No Alan Holdsworth ?? WTF ??
And to not nod in the direction of Eric Johnson, Steve Vai, Joe Satriani.....and at the very least Stevie Ray Vaughn, is pure folly.
These polss have always been a ludicrous item...as the "best" of anything is noted by individual taste ( or lack thereof).
Lastly, http://www.ericjohnson.com/flash/news.htmol check this site, and if Eric is coming to a city near you....GO.
Mark Dunn
What makes a " best " guitar solo ??? Why isn't the over simple, but musically profounf George Harrison solo, from " Something " on that list.
How can you not include " Because We Ended As Lovers" by Jeff Beck ??
No Alan Holdsworth ?? WTF ??
And to not nod in the direction of Eric Johnson, Steve Vai, Joe Satriani.....and at the very least Stevie Ray Vaughn, is pure folly.
These polss have always been a ludicrous item...as the "best" of anything is noted by individual taste ( or lack thereof).
Lastly, http://www.ericjohnson.com/flash/news.htmol check this site, and if Eric is coming to a city near you....GO.
Mark Dunn
# posted by : 7:53 AM
: 7:53 AM
Could we vote for black people (other than Jimmi) in this poll? It doesn't seem that way. The Kings- Albert, Freddy, and BB. Didn't Chuck Berry invent this stuff? Did Page ever play a note that he didn't lift from Hubert Sumlin, the Wolf's guitar player? And what about Sister Rosetta Tharpe?
That being said, I vote for James Burton's solo on Merle's "Working Man Blues".
That being said, I vote for James Burton's solo on Merle's "Working Man Blues".
# posted by : 4:56 PM
: 4:56 PM
Andrew, I didn't know you were a L. Skynard fan? For southern rock I like Little Feat, Allman Brothers and then about 5 songs by LS. David Spade said there ought to be two categories of LS songs. Free Bird and the others. I agree.
Mr. Dunn, Cause we've ended as lovers is near perfection and who else could do it? I've got the tickets to E Johnson and Satriana. I'll write a review. Who is Alan Holdsworth? Cizdwh, don't get me wrong about Clapton. I like him a lot but he's supposed to be a fan of the blues but he just doesn't get it. The notes you don't play are as important as the notes you do. Listen to the first 4 minutes of Boz Scaggs' Loan me a Dime (Duane Allman is the guitarist) and you'll see what I mean. Mark, with you on Comfortably Numb but have to part ways on Focus. First, they're Dutch. Second the song has yodeling and third, what else did they do? Thanks all for the comments, outrages all around.
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Mr. Dunn, Cause we've ended as lovers is near perfection and who else could do it? I've got the tickets to E Johnson and Satriana. I'll write a review. Who is Alan Holdsworth? Cizdwh, don't get me wrong about Clapton. I like him a lot but he's supposed to be a fan of the blues but he just doesn't get it. The notes you don't play are as important as the notes you do. Listen to the first 4 minutes of Boz Scaggs' Loan me a Dime (Duane Allman is the guitarist) and you'll see what I mean. Mark, with you on Comfortably Numb but have to part ways on Focus. First, they're Dutch. Second the song has yodeling and third, what else did they do? Thanks all for the comments, outrages all around.
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