Gibson's 50 All Time Great Guitar Solos

[kenog]

Source: www.gibson.com/lifestyle

Gibson.com's Top 50 Guitar Solos: Full List, Readers Poll Revealed

09.24.2010

With today's announcement of the Top 10 Guitar Solos of All Time (JOHN, PUT LINK HERE), another Gibson.com Top 50 list is in the books. Below, check out the full rundown of all 50 solos that made the list. (You can get more information on each of the entries here: #50-41, #40-31, #30-21, #20-11 and #10-1.)

Plus, take a look at the readers poll and the guitarists who scored multiple entries further down the page.

We'd like to send out a special thank you to every fan who voted in the poll, as well as musicians Bart Walsh (David Lee Roth) and Jeff Cease (Black Crowes), and Gibson.com's entire editing and writing staff.

This is how the full list turned out:

1. "Stairway to Heaven," Led Zeppelin (Jimmy Page)

2. "Eruption," Van Halen (Eddie Van Halen)

3. "All Along the Watchtower," The Jimi Hendrix Experience

4. "Hotel California," Eagles (Don Felder, Joe Walsh)

5. "Comfortably Numb," Pink Floyd (David Gilmour)

6. "Free Bird," Lynyrd Skynyrd (Gary Rossington, Allen Collins)

7. "Layla," Derek and the Dominos (Eric Clapton, Duane Allman)

8. "While My Guitar Gently Weeps," The Beatles (Eric Clapton)

9. "Johnny B. Goode," Chuck Berry

10. "Bohemian Rhapsody," Queen (Brian May)

11. "Crazy Train," Ozzy Osbourne (Randy Rhoads)

12. "Cause We've Ended as Lovers," Jeff Beck

13. "Sweet Child o' Mine," Guns N' Roses (Slash)

14. "Hot for Teacher," Van Halen (Eddie Van Halen)

15. "Since I've Been Loving You," Led Zeppelin (Jimmy Page)

16. "November Rain," Guns N' Roses (Slash)

17. "Mr Crowley," Ozzy Osbourne (Randy Rhoads)

18. "Whole Lotta Rosie," AC/DC (Angus Young)

19. "Like a Hurricane," Neil Young and Crazy Horse

20. "Sultans of Swing," Dire Straits (Mark Knopfler)

21. "Texas Flood," Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble

22. "One," Metallica (Kirk Hammett)

23. "Cortez the Killer," Neil Young and Crazy Horse

24. "Rock Around the Clock," Bill Haley and His Comets (Danny Cedrone)

25. "Sweet Jane" (live), Lou Reed (Steve Hunter, Dick Wagner)

26. "Purple Rain," Prince and the Revolution (Prince)

27. "Heartbreaker," Led Zeppelin (Jimmy Page)

28. "Jessica," Allman Brothers Band (Dickey Betts)

29. "Machine Gun," Jimi Hendrix

30. "Crossroads," Cream (Eric Clapton)

31. "Time," Pink Floyd (David Gilmour)

32. "Are You Experienced," The Jimi Hendrix Experience

33. "Race with the Devil," Gene Vincent (Cliff Gallup)

34. "Don't Believe a Word," Thin Lizzy (Brian Robertson)

35. "Purple Haze," The Jimi Hendrix Experience

36. "Besame Mucho," Wes Montgomery

37. "Sympathy for the Devil," The Rolling Stones (Keith Richards)

38. "Blue Sky," Allman Brothers Band (Duane Allman, Dickey Betts)

39. "My Sharona," The Knack (Berton Averre)

40. "Marquee Moon," Television (Tom Verlaine)

41. "Hitch a Ride," Boston (Tom Scholz)

42. "The End," The Beatles (Paul McCartney, George Harrison, John Lennon)

43. "Whole Lotta Love," Led Zeppelin (Jimmy Page)

44. "Train Kept A Rollin'" (live), Aerosmith (Joe Perry)

45. "Highway Star," Deep Purple (Ritchie Blackmore)

46. "Dirt," The Stooges (Ron Asheton)

47. "Off the Handle," Rory Gallagher

48. "The Great Curve," Talking Heads (Adrian Belew)

49. "The Messiah Will Come Again," Roy Buchanan

50. "Beat It," Michael Jackson (Eddie Van Halen)

Gibson.com Readers Poll Top 25 Guitar Solos

Although the readers poll and the overall list agree on the greatest guitar solo in music history (along with many of the other choices), there are some notable differences. For instance, solos by Terry Kath (Chicago), Marc Bolan (T. Rex) and Lindsey Buckingham (Fleetwood Mac) failed to make the final cut. And, boy, you guys sure love your Allman Brothers, don't you? No less than one-fifth of the readers poll consists of Allman tracks even more than that if you count Duane Allman's work on "Layla."

1. "Stairway to Heaven," Led Zeppelin (Jimmy Page)

2. "Free Bird," Lynyrd Skynyrd (Allen Collins, Gary Rossington)

3. "Blue Sky," Allman Brothers Band (Duane Allman, Dickey Betts)

4. "Layla," Derek and the Dominos (Eric Clapton, Duane Allman)

5. "Eruption," Van Halen (Eddie Van Halen)

6. "Whole Lotta Rosie," AC/DC (Angus Young)

7. "In Memory of Elizabeth Reed," Allman Brothers Band (Duane Allman, Dickey Betts)

8. "20th Century Boy," T. Rex (Marc Bolan)

9. "Sweet Child o' Mine," Guns N' Roses (Slash)

10. "Rude Mood," Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble

11. "Hotel California," Eagles (Don Felder, Joe Walsh)

12. "Comfortably Numb," Pink Floyd (David Gilmour)

13. "November Rain," Guns N' Roses (Slash)

14. "Back in Black," AC/DC (Angus Young)

15. "Whipping Post," Allman Brothers Band (Dickey Betts, Duane Allman)

16. "Since I've Been Loving You," Led Zeppelin (Jimmy Page)

17. "Machine Gun," Jimi Hendrix

18. "Crossroads," Cream (Eric Clapton)

19. "Let There Be Rock," AC/DC (Angus Young)

20. "Statesboro Blues," The Allman Brothers Band (Duane Allman, Dickey Betts)

21. "Keep Yourself Alive," Queen (Brian May)

22. "25 or 6 to 4," Chicago (Terry Kath)

23. "All Along the Watchtower," The Jimi Hendrix Experience

24. "Heartbreaker," Led Zeppelin (Jimmy Page)

25. "Landslide," Fleetwood Mac (Lindsey Buckingham) and "Dreams," Allman Brothers Band (Duane Allman) (tie)

The Top 50 Guitar Solos: Repeat Offenders

Some guitarists' soloing greatness can't be contained by one entry (or even three!). Check out these repeat offenders on Gibson.com's Top 50 Guitar Solos of All Time:

Jimmy Page: 4 ("Stairway to Heaven," "Since I've Been Loving You," "Heartbreaker" and "Whole Lotta Love")

Jimi Hendrix: 4 ("All Along the Watchtower," "Machine Gun," "Are You Experienced" and "Purple Haze)

Eric Clapton: 3 ("Layla," "While My Guitar Gently Weeps," "Crossroads")

Eddie Van Halen: 3 ("Eruption," "Hot for Teacher" and "Beat It")

David Gilmour: 2 ("Comfortably Numb" and "Time")

Duane Allman: 2 ("Layla" and "Blue Sky")

Dickey Betts: 2 ("Jessica" and "Blue Sky")

Randy Rhoads: 2 ("Crazy Train" and "Mr Crowley")

Slash: 2 ("Sweet Child o' Mine" and "November Rain")

Neil Young: 2 ("Cortez the Killer" and "Like a Hurricane")

Edited September 24, 2010 by kenog

[Electrophile]

I'm sorry, but Hotel California over both Comfortably Numb and Layla?

Then again, to each their own.

Edited September 24, 2010 by Electrophile

[Walter]

What about "Beat It" being #50 ALL-TIME!

[BlackDog71]

Lots of great songs on that list. I think the order is a little off in some parts. But then again, we all have differing opinions. Still nice to see that Jimmy tied Henrdrix for getting the most love on the list.

[Electrophile]

What about "Beat It" being #50 ALL-TIME!

Eddie Van Halen did the solo and people are so quick to kiss his ass, I'm not surprised honestly.

[BlackDog71]

Eddie Van Halen did the solo and people are so quick to kiss his ass, I'm not surprised honestly.

This made me laugh really hard for some reason. Maybe it's the fact that I know exactly what you are talking about with EVH. Even though I like his work, he is a little over-worshiped in my opinion.

[Dharmabum]

No Dazed and Confused in the top 50?!

[BlackDog71]

No Dazed and Confused in the top 50?!

Hmmmm.....yes! Good point. Seeing as it is my favorite Page solo, it's a bit strange that it wasn't included. I guess lists are only accurate to the ones who write them though. No list will ever be 100% agreeable to anyone other than the person who made it. I did like the four Page solos that he chose though.

[kenog]

I'm just happy that the list wasn't compiled by Rolling Stone magazine.

[babyzoso]

Rolling Stones magazine list is always crap i know it's bias of me but i don't care i like this list more than any other vh1 and rolling stones list

[SuperDave]

Rolling Stones magazine list is always crap i know it's bias of me but i don't care i like this list more than any other vh1 and rolling stones list

I agree!

Rolling Stone always had a personal vendetta against Led Zeppelin and still do to this day, considering where they rank the band in their various polls, reviews etc.

[danelectro59]

I would've added these:

1) Ten Years Gone - one of Jimmy's finest imo.

2) Two Tickets to Paradise - Jimmy Lyon

3) Aqualung - Martin Barre

4) Runnin' Down a Dream - Mike Campbell

[Walter]

Eddie Van Halen did the solo and people are so quick to kiss his ass, I'm not surprised honestly.

I am aware that EVH did the solo, Electrophile. I can think of at least 25 other EVH solos that could be on that list over "Beat It"!

[Virginia]

What about "Beat It" being #50 ALL-TIME!

I KNOW!!

But how cool that SIBLY was #15/16!

No Reelin' in the Years either ...

[Virginia]

Eddie Van Halen did the solo and people are so quick to kiss his ass, I'm not surprised honestly.

I'd completely forgotten that, although now I remember thinking how cool it was back in 1980-whatever, lol (I used to have a poster of EVH on the back of my dorm room door). Just weird to me now that a MJ song was on the list.

[badgeholder]

"Bodisavta" - Steely Dan, surprised it was omitted, great solo on that one`, Skunk Baxter I believe

[GeorgeC]

Can I add a few?

Black Sabbath: "Snowblind" (Tony Iommi)

the Rolling Stones: "Shattered" (Richards & Wood)

the Beatles: "I Saw Her Standing There" (George Harrison)

the Beatles: "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" (Clapton)

the Beatles: "I Feel Fine" (Harrison / Lennon)

Jimi Hendrix: "Little Wing" (Hendrix)

Dire Straits: "Fade to Black" (Mark Knopfler)

AC/DC: "Live Wire" (Angus Young)

Led Zeppelin: "Tea For One" (Page)

Elvis Presley: "Hound Dog" (Scotty Moore)

Bill Haley: "Rock Around the Clock" (Danny Cerone, IIRC)

U2: "Sunday Bloody Sunday" (the Edge)

Kiss: "Strutter" (Ace Frehley)

Kiss: "She" (extended live version) (Frehley)

Robin Trower: "Bridge of Sighs" (Trower)

Hope the Gibson people will revise their list accordingly.

Aerosmith: "Remember (Walkin' in the Sand)" (Perry / Whitford)

[Electrophile]

They're not going to. I doubt they go searching around internet boards to find out what people think of an arbitrary and subjective list they came up with.

Edited September 28, 2010 by Electrophile

[GeorgeC]

They're not going to. I doubt they go searching around internet boards to find out what people think of an arbitrary and subjective list they came up with.

I know the Gibson people won't do that; I was kidding about them revising their list. I just wanted to throw out some more cool guitar solos for people to consider, although it looks like I duplicated some of what Gibson's already cited. Serves me right for posting at 6:30 AM.

[FieryOceans]

"Bodisavta" - Steely Dan, surprised it was omitted, great solo on that one`, Skunk Baxter I believe

There were 2 solo's in that song. Denny Dias took the first and Jeff Baxter took the second.

These lists have nothing to do with informing or educating the music public about great guitar solo's. They act merely as popularity contests.

Only the Top 40 need to apply. These people only dig with little hand trowels, rarely will you see a list that uses an excavator, it boggles the average mind.

[Geezer]

No Dazed and Confused in the top 50?!

Achilles Last Stand deserves a higher mention than both Since I've Been Loving You and Whole Lotta Love

[dazedcat]

Any professional guitar "list" that doesn't have Machine Gun on it is invalid.

At least the readers had enough sense to include it, although it was way too low in ranking.

[Strider]

Any professional guitar "list" that doesn't have Machine Gun on it is invalid.

At least the readers had enough sense to include it, although it was way too low in ranking.

"Machine Gun" is on the professional list...although it is too low at #29. That a flood of cliches solo like "November Rain" not only is on the list but ranked higher than a transcendent blast like "Machine Gun" is ludicrous. Gibson should know better...but maybe they're biased because Slashed used a Les Paul while Jimi used a Strat.

But then, I'm a hypocrite for even caring about this list and bothering to post. However, while I'm here and got guitar solos on my mind, here's just a few that I feel get overlooked.

Jimmy Page: "Good Times Bad Times"; "Dazed and Confused"; "How Many More Times"; "You Shook Me".

I have no problem with "Stairway to Heaven" and "SIBLY" being on the list, but it's always baffled me why the two from LZII(WLL and Heartbreaker) get the nod over the blazing solos from the first album. It was that first album that announced to me, and the world, the arrival of Jimmy Page. To begin with, there was that muthafucking GODHEAD tone of his Telecaster...driven through a Leslie as on "Good Times Bad Times", or laden with echo as on "You Shook Me" and "How Many More Times". And throughout, the solos bear a searing white-hot heat and blazing aggression. "Dazed and Confused" features not just that glorious rampaging solo, but the psychedelic bowed guitar break, equally mindblowing and groundbreaking...the same could be said for "How Many More Times". Why Jimmy's work on the first album continually gets overlooked in favour of the subsequent WLL and Heartbreaker solos is a puzzlement.

Robin Trower: "Daydream" and "Day of the Eagle".

Oh, there's lots more I could've picked but these two are the first that come to mind. A perennially overlooked guitar player, it's a shame he seems to be forgotten. Tone to die for.

Dave Navarro: "Three Days"; "Ocean Size"; "Trip Away"; "Mountain Song".

Usually these lists are heavy on classic rock guitarists from the 60s and 70s. If there's anyone post 1980, it's almost always EVH and Slash. Well, fuck Slash and especially fuck November Pain. "Three Days" pisses all over that soggy shit. Yeah, I'm disappointed with what Dave Navarro became in the 2000s...all that rock star posturing and hanging out with porn stars. But when Jane's Addiction burst on the scene in 1986, with Dave and Steven Perkins barely out of Sherman Oaks Notre Dame High School, Dave's guitar playing was galvanizing. Here was a band that had punk roots but wasn't afraid to acknowledge Led Zeppelin...they made it cool to play guitar solos again in underground and alternative rock.

Hughie Thomasson, Billy Jones, et al: "Green Grass & High Times".

Eagles schmeagles..."Hotel Cali-boring". You can keep your "Free Bird" caged, too. To my ears, THIS is the great post-Allman Bros. epic trade-off guitar solo song of the 70s...and it's totally ignored. Unbelievable! Not only is the soloing in "Green Grass" better than the Eagles and Lynyrd Skynyrd songs, it's a better "SONG" period.

Eddie Hazel: "Maggot Brain".

Note to Rolling Stone, Gibson, and all other magazines: Jimi Hendrix isn't the only black rocker that can play guitar. This P-Funk classic is a must for any guitar aficionado, and Eddie Hazel deserves to be recognized.

I can think of dozens more guitar solos that get short shrift...solos from bands like Velvet Underground, Sonic Youth, Talking Heads, Stooges, Dinosaur Jr., Frank Zappa, and more...but the above will do for now.

Edited January 13, 2012 by Strider

[Hobstweedle]

Strider said:

Jimmy Page: "Good Times Bad Times"; "Dazed and Confused"; "How Many More Times"; "You Shook Me".

I have no problem with "Stairway to Heaven" and "SIBLY" being on the list, but it's always baffled me why the two from LZII(WLL and Heartbreaker) get the nod over the blazing solos from the first album. It was that first album that announced to me, and the world, the arrival of Jimmy Page. To begin with, there was that muthafucking GODHEAD tone of his Telecaster...driven through a Leslie as on "Good Times Bad Times", or laden with echo as on "You Shook Me" and "How Many More Times". And throughout, the solos bear a searing white-hot heat and blazing aggression. "Dazed and Confused" features not just that glorious rampaging solo, but the psychedelic bowed guitar break, equally mindblowing and groundbreaking...the same could be said for "How Many More Times". Why Jimmy's work on the first album continually gets overlooked in favour of the subsequent WLL and Heartbreaker solos is a puzzlement.

+1

Edited January 13, 2012 by Hobstweedle

[Geezer]

13. "Sweet Child o' Mine," Guns N' Roses (Slash)

45. "Highway Star," Deep Purple (Ritchie Blackmore)

Good joke.

5. "Comfortably Numb," Pink Floyd (David Gilmour)

Number 1 easily.