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The modern news consumer ignores Weblogs and online citizen journalism at his own peril. But not everyone has the time to keep track of what's going on the Web. With this blog we hope to track the highlights of what's being discussed online so when news breaks from the Web, we're ready.

Will Femia is a Weblog enthusiast who, through good fortune and dumb luck, was introduced to the form as his position as chat producer for MSNBC.com careered into obsolescence. On any given day, Will can be found having already spent an unhealthy amount of time squinting at a computer screen.

Send a message to Will at spotter@msnbc.com



I can name that solo in two neeners

Posted: Wednesday, January 24, 2007 11:37 PM by Will Femia

I meant to include this bit of mail in today's entry:

Hey Will,
Isn’t this kind of stuff that makes the net great... A magazine makes a list of the best guitar solos, and a blogger makes it even better by digging up a youTube clip to go with the top 20! Even if you don’t post it I really hope you check it out.

The clips are amazing finds. I spent my whole weekend on YouTube and Yahoo vids sorting out the best live versions, just amazing historic (and now archived!) stuff.

If you're not a mainstream guy, at least peep... Stevie Ray Vaughan, BB King & Albert Collins "Texas Flood" 1988, so great...

They're all pretty much incredible. I wasn't much of a Skynyrd fan and the Freebird - Collins/Rossington clip is one of my faves.

Hope you're well and very best regards,
-CityRag

Will replies:  Outstanding effort!  Really well done.  My challenge to readers is before you click the video, see if you can sing the solo from memory.  Even if you don't agree with the songs, most of the people I thought of are represented on the big list.  There's no Willie Nelson though.  Y'know what I always thought was a catchy solo?  The one in "What I am" by Edie Brickell and the New Bohemians with the heavy wah pedal.  I haven't heard that song in at least ten years and I can still sing the whole guitar solo.  I don't think I saw any Boston on the list.  Their songs are so guitar heavy they'd have to be close to top 100 for something -like maybe the More Than A Feeling solo.  Who else?  It feels like there's a category of pop metal hair bands that's being left out.  Dokken, Poison, Ratt, Twisted Sister, Cinderella, White Tiger Lion, Whitesnake... all those kinds of bands had proud guitar soloists, but nothing from their catalogs is coming to mind so I can't really argue that any of them should be on the "great" list. 

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Comments

Willie is a great story teller, but he isn't a great guitar player. Don't get me wrong, he's a very good one, but not on the level of the guys on this list. There's a different quality to their playing. This is really the elite. If you were doing top musicians of all time, Willie Nelson would be at the top, or very close to it, and few people would disagree.

Chad (Sent Thursday, January 25, 2007 8:00 AM)

It was White Lion, not White Tiger. And, IIRC, Jerry Garcia did the solo on "What I Am". He had a very distinctive sound.

Matt, Winston-Salem NC (Sent Thursday, January 25, 2007 9:55 AM)

I did know most of the songs before I clicked on the links. It is really cool to be able to watch these. Obviously, this list is subjective. Where is Santana, Roy Clark (of Hee Haw fame), Prince, Pete Townsend, ZZ Top? Honestly, when you include all genres, there are simply way more than 20 or even 50 great guitar players. Having said that, what it proves to me most of all is that a lot of really good guitar players suck in concert. Jimmy Page and Angus Young hold up pretty well live, while Randy Rhoads is the best. (Too bad he was stuck with Ozzy as a singer.) Some of the others? Not so much.

John in Cincy (Sent Thursday, January 25, 2007 10:42 AM)

Chad, Willie's solo in Angel Flying Too Close To The Ground would totally make my top 100 solos. Matt, oops, thanks. I don't think that's Jerry on What I Am but he probably deserves a spot in the top 100. What I Am: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wTNGrnRuU54 I think the guy's name is Kenny Withrow http://www.newbohemians.com/mt/kenny/ John, those guys are on the big list of top 100 (except maybe Roy Clark, I didn't see him).

Will Femia (Sent Thursday, January 25, 2007 11:40 AM)

No Zappa? No Santana? No Jeff Beck? Most of the guys on the list can't hold a lighter to these three.

Heidel (Sent Thursday, January 25, 2007 11:46 AM)

Ditto the above entries. Billy F. Gibbons of ZZ Top should be included. He so often flies just under the radar and it's a shame, because he is a master. Don't forget, Hendrix was one of his biggest fans.

Debbie Lake City AR (Sent Thursday, January 25, 2007 3:51 PM)

And no Tom Petty? Heck, even Joan Jett outplays some of the one's on the list.

Melissa, Dallas, TX (Sent Thursday, January 25, 2007 4:53 PM)

It was not Jerry Garcia who did the solo, it was the guy from the Bohemians band using Jerry's signature "envelope Filter" guitar pedal, it's a WAH effect that gets more intense the harder you pluck the strings. Getcha facts straight before saying stuff like that...geeeez.

BRW (Sent Monday, January 29, 2007 11:13 AM)

In My Dreams by Dokken had a reknowned solo, mainly because of the flying fingers in the video.

Robert (Sent Monday, January 29, 2007 12:40 PM)



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