Top 10 - Non-guitar music solos

By Scott Baietti
Collegian Reporter
September 27, 2006

Popular music in the past decade has had the trend of producing simple chorus-verse-bridge-chorus model songs to help push out quick singles and make money fast. The art of the solo is quickly losing popularity. The exception has been the guitar solo, but even that is becoming a waning pastime. Musical creativity should be honored for those that have ventured to do something truly and uniquely ingenious. This top 10 is dedicated to solos performed on instruments other than the guitar.

10) “Baba O’Riley” Synth Intro – This is not truly a solo, and the synth effect makes it sound way harder than it is, but this is a classic, and recognizable on the first note.

9) “Beat Box” by Matisyahu – Beat boxing is a technique that should be used more in popular music, and Justin Timberlake’s lame attempt is not fulfilling my longing. Matisyahu’s live track is purely entertaining, and goes a long way in offering hope to restore this lost art.

8) “Hook” by Blues Traveler – John Popper wields the harmonica with great finesse. For further proof, check out his contribution to DMB’s “What Would You Say.”

7) “Layla” Piano Coda – Eric Clapton is arguably the best guitar player in modern rock history, but it’s the solo he didn’t play that is his most impressive. Jim Gordon’s piano ending with Clapton and Duane Allman of Derek and the Dominos soloing slide guitar on top is a lovely ending to a classic love song.

6) “A Love Supreme” by John Coltrane – This jazz masterpiece is essentially a 35-minute tenor sax solo in four movements, but it also includes sections of other saxes, bass and drum solos. The song is a benchmark work for jazz albums, and is an amazing feat of musical talent and free range creativity in solos.

5) “Ants Marching” Violin Break – For some reason, violin has become a popular instrument choice for bands choosing atypical instrumentation. Great solos, however, have been monopolized by one man — Boyd Tinsley of Dave Matthew’s Band. All live versions of DMB songs aside, I would argue “Ants Marching” is the best he has done. It is fast, loud and catchy.

4) “Sing, Sing, Sing” by Gene Krupa – Jazz songs are an obvious place to look for solos of all types, and this song has a lot of great solos in all of its many renditions. In general the drum rhythm on the floor tom is a classic, instantly making the song recognizable to anyone (it was the Chips Ahoy song from several years ago). The clarinet solo is also brilliant.

3) “Long Train Runnin’” by The Doobie Brothers – Short and ridiculously amazing, this 12 bar harmonica solo tears up each beat with runs that can make a head turn. The Doobie Brothers have a harp solo that can be rivaled by few.

2) “Angry Young Man” by Billy Joel – Billy Joel had several other great piano solos, but this one is definitely tops among all of his, with several distinct sections. The blistering opening has a similar feel to number 10 on the list, with a rapidly repeated single note, but this one is more impressive because it is played manually, without the aid of a synthesizer effect. The solo continues with an interesting arpeggio-laden section and a melodic harmonica part, then going back to the first part, and finally rocking out before the start of the song. Each of these on their own have potential to be great solos, but together they make a stunning composition only topped by one other non-guitar solo.

1) “Money” Sax Break – Pink Floyd’s genius is evident on many levels, and perhaps the concept album Dark Side of the Moon contains examples of each level. The song “Money,” is in the unique time signature of 7/4, and is the only song in that time to ever reach the Billboard Top 20. Dick Parry’s tenor fits into the strange time so well, that many don’t really even notice the time. Two minutes into the song, Parry makes his introduction to the song with a dirty blues that can hardly be rivaled by any other solo that exists. I am optimistic that one day the pop world will hear another of its caliber, but until then “Money” will stay on top.

baiettis1@lasalle.edu